texas : part one

so unlike my usual self, i am not going to separate texas into 100 posts but rather just two so as to actually blog and not talk myself out of it like i've been doing the last few days. 

so here we are - the pictures taken on my handy point and shoot that i felt like posting. 

first off. 6am flight to dallas (xie xie priceline) and arriving at 10 am and feeling starved to death.

i walked past pizza hut on the way to baggage claim and it called my name. 10 am too early to eat pizza? no way.

i don't feel like this has ever happened before in my life so it felt very necessary to document.

such a nice momma to clean up the mess i made haha

i took a few pictures of thanksgiving on my other camera so we will jump right to black friday but really thursday night activities. i'm never one to care about black friday and i was really tempted to just stay home but decided i never regret going on an adventure so i went and it was so entertaining.

since i was with a mom we did a classic kohls, walmart, and target run. walmart was my favorite because everyone was being absolutely nuts! sooo many people shoving and pushing and grabbing everything they could. i couldn't help but join in and ended up buying a lot of dvds. not because i really cared to have them but how could i really pass up them up for only $1.99?

and that boy would be my nieces little friend dorian.

i was so happy he came and just carried everything for everyone. a true gentleman.

after getting home around 4am we went to sleep for awhile and then got back up to hit up some texas grown thrift stores! they were all 25 - 50% off and i found some real gems! double win.

we tried finding another thrift store but the gps took us to this nice neighborhood instead.

 are you obsessed with those trees as much as i am?

i liked it so much that i got out of the car to take a look around and left mickayla to

 figure out our whereabouts. doesn't she look so happy about it?

i was really so happy we stumbled upon this west oak historic district

and so happy that after we made a loop around the town the gps brought us back to this quaint street and it turns out God just knew how much i love historical homes because that thrift store didn't even exist.

so because i'm always very into making the most of situations (yes b this will have the change of plans tag! i was just excited i remembered) i made her park the car, get out, and stroll this street with me.

then i made her take pictures like the one above so as to create the illusion that she was loving her life.

while in reality she was probably bored to death because what 17 year old likes that stuff?

the next day we went to tricia and dale's favorite chinese buffet and might I say it did not disappoint!

of course none of it was very authentic but i could eat their cream cheese wontons and spring rolls all day every day. i gave them two thumbs waaay up.

twins

this was really exciting. i always fail at yogurt places but i finally got something delicious!

mine is on the left. blueberry and vanilla yogurt mixed with raspberries, blueberries, and almonds.

i have rarely felt more successful than i did in that moment.

another exciting thing is the new "gift of lights" which really isn't a gift since you have to pay to go through it. so we just drove as close as we could without paying, stared at the nice lights and massive speedway, and called it good.

this was definitely a highlight. sam was so sick most of my trip but the last day or two he starting feeling better and he was a completely different baby! i cherished the short time he was willing to be my friend.

i really enjoyed my time at night by the christmas tree either trying to finish the april ensign or having such nice chats with my sister. and having to wear that flannel every night because i didn't pack appropriately and froze the whole time.

next up would be the pictures i took at the airport since i had an hour and a half to kill. i took one look at everyone just sitting at the gate and decided i would rather go exploring and i'm so glad i did!

such a fun little adventure with myself.

and who knew terminal D would bring so many fun things!

real life shoe shining chairs! andy anyone?

and to end the trip i saw not one but two std bears* in both airports.

i'd say that was the icing on my texas trip cake.

*this term comes from a trip we made back in 2007 to disneyland and saw a bear like this on a random bench on the huntington beach pier. it was so dirty and gross that we feared it contracted std's, hence it's name. now that i type that story out it feels somewhat uncomfortable but made so much sense at the time. i've come to realize they are all just rocky mountain chocolate bears but they will always be std bears in my heart.