Back to Houston

Monday

Monday morning I flew out of Tucson to Houston to stay with my grandparents for the week. My flight landed at 3 pm Houston time. Katie picked me up and took me to Target (since I didn't want to bring shampoo and conditioner and what not on the plane) and then to our grandparents' house. When we got there, Julia (my cousin) had been anxiously awaiting my arrival which meant I had to immediately change into a swimsuit and jump in the pool with her. After many squirt gun fights and being pushed off of floaties, we got out and got ready for dinner. Grandpa grilled up some steaks that were SO good. Seriously they were huge. Everything really is bigger in Texas. 

Tuesday

On Tuesday I bummed around the house in the morning while Julia was at baseball camp. I read a book and showered and got ready for the day. When she got back, we had hot dogs for lunch and played some board games. We ran around town for a little bit to do some shopping. We went to Dillard's and a tennis store to get Julia a new racquet. Then we cleaned up and went to George's Pastaria for dinner. Apparently everyone in my family has been there many times, except for me. It was really good so I'm glad I got to go!

Wednesday

On Wednesday Katie picked me up to go to her house and see if I could help her out with anything. Her house looks so good now! Last time I was there it didn't have any furniture so it has definitely come a long way. We ended up going to the outlet mall for a little bit and eating lunch at Escalante's (YUM). After Escalante's, we ran by Target again so I could get some pool toys that weren't guns. Once we got back to the house it was straight into the pool again. 

Thursday

Thursday was similar to my other days in Houston, but after baseball camp we went to Academy and Cavender's for some very important shopping. When we got back to the house, Katie met up with us and we played a few more board games. Then we went to the circus! I was really excited to go since I hadn't been since I was super young, and it was amazing! There were fewer animal acts than in the past, but they've really upped their game with the other acts. Go Ringling Bros, y'all rock. 

We were in the second row and had great seats!

The tigers were definitely the best part of the whole thing. 

They also had a bunch of trampoline performers and BMXers (is that what you call them??) One of the BMX guys had a U of A sticker on his helmet so we were basically besties.

Friday

On Friday morning Katie picked me up and we hung out at her house for a little bit. Then we went and window shopped at Cavender's and then went out to eat at Pappsito's! I haven't been able to go there in my most recent Houston trips so I was super excited. It was delicious of course. After lunch I got dropped off at the airport. My flight was okay but the lady next to me kept falling asleep and getting all up in my space so she was ticking me off quite a bit. I got my bag and headed out to the parking garage to find my car. I knew something was wrong right away because my car wouldn't unlock with the digital key so I had to use the manual key to unlock it. My suspicions were confirmed because it wouldn't start either. This was my first time ever having a car battery die on me, and I was ticked because my dad just changed the battery last August, so it shouldn't have been dead. I checked that the headlights were switched off, because I would've been really embarrassed if I had left my lights on for five days in an airport parking garage. Alas, they were off. I called my mom and filled her in on the situation, then I called AAA and sat on hold for a little bit. They were really confused when I was trying to tell them where I was, I guess not many people request service at the airport. They asked if I had shade or water, and I couldn't find any water in my car, so they set my call as a priority one since it's so flipping hot in Arizona. The lady on the phone said they would be there within an hour, so I walked back into the airport so I could buy some water and charge my phone for a bit. Of course once I walked back into the airport they called and said they would be there soon. So I turned around and went back to my car and waited another thirty minutes while sweating like crazy. Luis from AAA came and saved me though. He jumped my car three times and then checked on the battery. Turns out it was corroded really bad so I had him replace it and my car is fab now. First time I've ever had to use AAA since being a driver, but I sure was glad I have it! 

Saturday

Saturday morning Sydney, Jenny and I woke up bright and early and went on the 5th ward temple trip. Kind of. We met them at the Linden building, but since Sydney had names for us to do, and we were planning on sticking around in Mesa after the temple, we went up in our own car. When we got to the temple we couldn't find the people we knew, and we didn't have any of their numbers, so we just went on in and hoped they weren't waiting for us somewhere (they weren't). 

After the temple we went to the Richardson's house, got lunch, and had a lot of karaoke dance parties. We stayed there for dinner since Sydney's mom was feeding the missionaries, so we got some chicken fajitas. 

Sunday

This morning before church Mollie and Brittany came over to our house to visit with us and to share the visiting teaching message for the month. They are both so sweet and it was a great start to our Sunday. Church was at the Linden building and it was pretty rocking. I got a Diglett and a Rhyhorn during church so it was definitely a successful Sunday. When we got home from church, I saw on Facebook that there were Charizards at the Reid Park rose garden, so I drove on over there. My phone was dying and I wasn't prepared for a full on Pokemon hunt, so I sat in my car and caught a few Pokemon before heading back home. There were so many people there! Like more than on campus. I think I'll have to go back for some serious hunting later in the week.