Minniesoooda

I took a trip out to Minnesota this summer.  I know what you must be thinking.. why Minnesota?  It's not the typical place you'd think to take a vacation to.  But for me, it was a chance to visit some family as well as some great friends of mine who were out there selling insulation for the summer.  

It was a sudden decision.  I bought my ticket only a week before I left.  I didn't even really plan anything that I'd do there.  I just went. 

It was the first time I had flown on a plane by myself.  I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous.  I started freaking out on the way to the airport.  But once I got in the airport, I was fine.  And then five hours later, I was in Minnesota!  

Nick and Josh picked me up from the airport.  They made plans for me to join them at the midnight premiere of Batman, so we figured it was best for them to pick me up and take me to my aunt and uncles after the movie.  So after a lot of hugs, we got in the car and drove to the movie theater where we met up with most of the other guys out there to sell insulation.  So it was me and a bunch of guys.  Can't say I was too disappointed with those odds :).  It was a lot of fun though.  Catching up with Nick, Josh, and Sam (the boys I went to visit) as well as meeting many new people, can't say I wasn't enjoying myself.  And then the movie started.  I've got to admit, I was a little disappointed.  I think I had a little too high of expectations.  It was still a good movie, but I didn't love it.  Then finally at 3:30 in the morning, we made our way to my aunt and uncle's house.  Luckily my cousins Taylor and Jayden went to see the movie at midnight too so my aunt was still awake when we got to the house.  The boys (which for the remainder of this post will mean Josh, Nick and Sam) all walked me to the door, met my aunt, and then said goodnight and left.  

I slept in the next morning.  When I woke up, my aunt had a super yummy breakfast made.  Some sort of peach pancake type thing.  It was delicious.  We sat and talked while eating and then I explored the house.  It was fun to finally see where they have been living the past nine years or so.  My favorite room was their newly built theater room.  I spent part of my day in there watching some TV while my aunt tutored a neighbor kid.  When she finished, my uncle got home from work, and we got the boat all ready to go boating.  I found out that Josh had contacted my aunt before I came out and planned a couple things with her, boating being one of them.  So as I said before, I didn't plan anything, but Josh did for me.  Anyways, we got to the lake, which was five minutes away from their house, and got the boat out on the water.  The boys drove to a park by the lake and that's where we picked them up.  We spent the next couple of hours tubing.  It was a blast.  We might have had a little too much fun.. Sam nearly got his eye scratched out by Josh.  We stopped for a quick bite to eat some pizza on the beach and then we went out on the lake again, this time just enjoying the boat ride while my two younger cousins, Alyssa and Amberly, took a turn on the tubes.  After we were done, I left with the guys to get some snacks and then we went to my aunt and uncles house to watch a movie.  It felt good to just relax and watch the Princess Bride after a long day of boating.

The next day I spent the day with my aunt and uncle and the girls.  We went to the Mall of America.  The mall that has a theme park in the middle of it.  Now that's my kind of mall!  We only went into one store, and then spent the rest of the day in line and riding rides.  It was fun.  We then went to IKEA for some late lunch and wandered around the store for a bit.  When we got back to their house, I sat around and read for a while until my aunt and uncle were leaving to go to a neighbors for a BBQ.  I went with them and met some of their friends and listened to them chat about this and that.  Not too long after, Nick came to pick me up so I could join him and all the insulation boys for dinner.  We went to Buffalo Wild Wings and had a good time eating, talking, and watching UFC on the TVs.  We walked back to the boys' apartment once we finished eating and just hung out the rest of the night.

My aunt and uncle let me borrow one of their cars on Sunday morning to go to church with the guys.  I met up with them at their apartment and then got in one of their cars to drive the rest of the way to church.  We left with plenty of time to get to church and yet still ended up arriving late due to the fact that we got lost.  I made fun of them because you'd think that after three months, they'd finally know how to get to the church.  But no, apparently there are multiple routes to take and every week they somehow take a different one and get lost.  But church was good.  Josh and Sam both spoke in sacrament which was awesome.  I picked a great week to visit.  Nick got asked to speak the next week.. so unfortunately I missed out on his talk.
After church was over, we made our way back to the boys' apartment and just sat and relaxed for a while.  We made some cookies and then headed over to my aunt and uncles for dinner.  We ate, talked, and played cards for a while and had a good time.  Taylor then showed the guys that they could play video games on the big theater scene.  I thought I had lost them for the remainder of the night.  But they only played one game and decided to put in Dance Central so I could join in.  It was so much fun.  After that, the girls tried to get us to watch Sons of Provo with them.  But after five minutes they had to go to bed and we quickly turned it off and decided to go over to the lake.  When we got there, I went to the swings and started swinging.  Josh joined me while Nick and Sam went off exploring.  As we were swinging, Josh and I had a good conversation about life and started to reminisce about our past.  I still find it amazing that I met him at EFY and five years later we are still the best of friends.  Anyways, it was getting late so we decided it was time to leave so the boys could get back home.

I spent the majority of the day on Monday alone.  My aunt left early in the morning for girls camp, my uncle, Taylor, and Jayden all had work, and Alyssa and Amberly had volleyball camp.  So I decided to go for a run around the neighborhood.  That run lasted maybe two minutes and then I decided to just walk.  So I walked  around for a while exploring the different scenes of Minnesota and ended up at the lake and sat on a park bench for a while.  It felt good to just relax and get some exercise.  When I got back to their house, I ate some lunch and hopped in the shower.  I then spent some time taking a nap and reading until everyone got home from their various outings.  We ate dinner and had a family night lesson.  Not too soon after we finished, Josh and some of his co-workers came and picked me up to take me back to their apartment to hang out for the last time.  When we got there, Josh hopped in the shower so I hung out with some other guys there selling for the summer.  They were trying to teach me how to flick a playing card across the room.  We started making jokes about them putting their number on a card and then flicking it toward a girl.  It's hard to explain, but it was really funny.  After Josh got out of the shower, we went over to Nick's apartment to see how he was doing because he had an earache from getting water in his ear while boating.  So then we just spent the rest of the night there hanging out and enjoying my last night with them.  

That night as Josh was taking me home, there happened to be the coolest storm!  Now, many of you may know that I LOVE rain.  I get as giddy as a little kid on Christmas morning.  I'm weird, I know.  But I was in heaven.  There was lightning all around us and pouring rain!  I'm pretty sure Josh was trying to have a serious conversation with me, but I was too distracted by the weather.  I'm sure he was a little frustrated.  My bad.  So he decided to pull over somewhere so we could sit and enjoy the storm together.  

It was a great night.

But great nights always have to come to an end.  

Tuesday was pretty much the same as Monday, excluding the walk part of my day.  I sat around and read all day until Taylor got home from work and took me to the airport.  And then five hours later I was back in Salt Lake.

And that, my friends, concludes my trip out to Minnesota.  It wasn't the typical vacation people plan and take, but it was just what I needed.  A nice relaxing break from work and life at home to spend time with people I love.

:)