What a wonderful trip to Missouri :)

What a gloomy day it is in Virginia! Yesterday we had almost a full 24 hours of rain. We sure needed it! I'm so thankful for the fall weather and the wonderful temps we are being blessed with.

This past Friday, I flew into St. Louis and then drove the hour from the airport to my mom's house in Bowling Green, Mo. My dad was so wonderful and left his truck at the airport for me to use while he was heading to South Carolina with my brother. I picked up the truck and jumped on the highway toward my mom's. I wish I could explain how amazing the weather was. I grew up most of my life in Missouri and never remembered it being so beautiful or smelling so good outside. I drove the entire way to BG with my windows down and a huge smile on my face. What am amazing start to an amazing vacation.

My 1st stop was to my mom's school so I could give her a big hug! I hung out with mom at her middle school while the kids ate lunch and she finished up a class. After lunch, I left and headed to McDonalds so I could check my email and get a soda. I had a hair apt at 3:00 with my very favorite beautician Chelsey :) She recently got married so I wanted to take a few minutes to buy her a wedding present before my apt started. Mom's town has a beautiful gift shop and for Paul and I's wedding, mom bought us these 2 amazing spatula's. I went back to that shop and bought the same spatula's for Chelsey. At my hair apt, I had her cut quite a bit off and color my hair dark brown again. Saying I love it is an understatement. I beyond love it. I think it looks beautiful and natural. She's so talented! After getting my hair done, mom and I headed to Wentzville for dinner and a movie. We went to Olive Garden and shared a Tour of Italy. It's one of my very favorite dishes there but it's a ton of food so perfect for two people. After dinner we realized we were both beyond exhausted. Mom had been busy at work that day and I had been up for about 24 hours at that point. We decided to head home and listen to the rest of the Cardinals game on the radio. Cardinals won! Going to bed never felt so good as it did that night!

Saturday was a crazy strange, Stone women sorta day. Mom was under the impression from a friend of her's at church that our church was having Stake Conference that weekend in Nauvoo, IL. We got up and did a few last minute things around the house and then grabbed our church clothes and headed to Nauvoo. I have to first mention that the temp was 86 and not a cloud in the sky. We left the house, washed the car, grabbed a soda from McDonalds and headed to Quincy, IL. Somehow along the way, I ended up accidentally sticking my middle finger in my mom's tube of lipstick that did not have a lid on it. I did not realize it until it was all over my hands and smeared across my forehead. Mom told me she had "baby wipes" in her truck... which ended up being Clorox Bleach wipes. I sucked it up, used them and prayed they would not bleach my newly died hair. It was a success. We stopped by TJ Maxx in Quincy so mom could buy a new purse and then we headed over to Sams where mom bought me a cute new cardigan sweater and I found 2 Izod denim skirts for $3.58/each. What a steal!!! We were hungry but did not want a big lunch so we settled for a hot dog before we left Sams. You can't beat 2 huge hot dogs for under $3.00 total. We made it to Nauvoo and on our way to the book store, we ran into a couple in mom's ward. They asked why we were in town and mom said for Conference. They informed us that we were a week early. BUMMER! I was so excited to see friends from other towns. You can't cry over spilt milk I guess. After a few minutes of chatting we headed to the book store! I found a book I was needing to read and mom and I had a wonderful time looking at odds and ends, wishing we had a million dollars to blow on church stuff! We left and went to the fudge factory! YUMMMY. I bought mint chocolate fudge to bring home to Paul and mom and I bought a caramel apple to share. We walked around the Temple and then called it a day and headed back to Hannibal where we stopped at Drakes for dinner. I ate a HUGE pork steak and it was beyond amazing. Nothing better then a pork steak.

Sunday we got up and headed to church. I woke up with a horrible migraine. I swore I was going to be sick. 3 I buporphen, 2 Excedrin migraine and about 2 hours later I finally started to feel like a human again. We attended 2 hours of church since we told my grandma we would have lunch with her while I was in town. She took us to one of our favorite places! Fiddlesticks. It was yummy food and I loved spending time catching up with my grandma Becky. After lunch we stopped by my Aunt Susan's house and chatted with her, my uncle and my cousin Jake. It's nice to see family! We then headed to my sister's cemetery where mom and I put new flowers. The flowers that were currently on her grave still looked beautiful so we always recycle the flowers and give them to people who don't have any. The 1st person mom tried to donate flowers to was technically still alive. It was just the head stone with the birth year. We sat and laughed about it for quite a while. Funny memory! Sunday ended with us spending some time with a friend of my mom's from church and relaxing at home :) It was a perfect day.

Monday mom and I spent the day at home together. She called in sick from work so she could drive with grandma and I to the airport. I was so thankful she was able to come with us. I loved having a little extra time at home with mom. We stopped for lunch at Casa Gallardo in St. Louis before heading to the airport. I cried a little when I got on my 1st flight toward Virginia. I was looking forward to being home again with Paul but I was already missing my mom!

My flight's were good. The 1st one left a little late b/c the police had to escort a couple off the flight. I'd love to know what happened... but I guess I'll never know! I read on my 1st and 2nd flight and my 3rd flight I chatted with 2 nice guys about sports, etc. I got home a little before midnight on Monday and was so glad to be back in my own bed again!

Sorry that was more like a moment by moment recap of my trip, but friends/family ask how my trip was and want to know what I did. There you go! That's what I did :) I had the very best time with my mom!