Well...I am officially a Des Moines resident!  I left Tucson a week and a half ago, after my CON graduation on Thursday.  I drove to Phoenix and ate dinner with Cjo, Kathleen, Bonnie and Maggie.  Then packed up my car and my mom and I hit the road first thing Friday morning.  We drove from Phoenix to Evergreen, CO.  Evergreen is where my parents have their cabin so we were planning to stay there for the weekend.  We got to Evergreen around 9pm Friday night after a 14hr. car ride.  My dad decided to meet us in Evergreen for the weekend.  We went to the wine bar, Country road cafe (One of the greatest breakfast places), shopped in Denver and hiked!

The beautiful hike!

My dad was supposed to leave on Sunday however he booked his ticket for the wrong day so he got to stay til Monday evening.  After our fun weekend in Colorado, my mom and I left at 7am Tuesday morning to make the 8 hour drive to Wichita.  We got to Wichita that night, made dinner and hung-out with my cousins.  I stayed in Wichita til Thursday afternoon.  While I was there we got inducted into the PEO chapter wahoo better watch out!  On Thursday we decided to stop by Dillons on our way out of town.  Dillons is the local grocery store but they have a good sized selection of furniture too.  I ended up buying a rug and kitchen table with 4 chairs.  However, the table came in a box that weighed 150+ lbs and my mom and I were the only two available to lift!  Also, I had close to zero room in my car to fit both of these items.  In 102 degree weather we had to load the table and rug into an already overflowing car and then we hit the road to Des Moines. 

The table and rug

The drive usually takes about 5.5-6hours however it took us over 7 hours due to a huge storm.  We had to stop at a gas station for an hour to wait out a storm with 100mph winds, hail and the craziest lightening I have ever seen!  Finally, at midnight, I arrived in Des Moines.  My parents spent the weekend with me and we got my apartment mostly situated. 

New duvet and pillows

On Saturday we attended the largest farmer's market ever!  It occupied about 20 blocks and had thousands of people in attendance.  They sell bread, pastries, veggies, fruit, plants, desserts, homemade pastas.  You name it they probably had it.  I even got flowers for my new place and Bryan brought some home to me!

The largest farmers market I have ever seen!

The flowers from Bryan and Cjo check out that new runner from Crate!

 We also checked out restaurant week over the weekend.  We decided to try this new restaurant, Alba, which is normally pricey.  However during restaurant week you can get a 3 course meal for $25.  I thought we could walk there but apparently there are two 6th St.  One is East and one is West.  That's the only difference but there are 12 blocks from each other.  Needless to say we were 30min late to our reservation and ended up walking close to 20 blocks each way.  Our feet hurt so bad the next morning!  However, the food was delicious and the restaurant was very neat.  Also, Bryan and I had a new experience this weekend...we planted our first potted plants!  Wahoo gardening may be my new profession haha

The new plant

My parents left Sunday and I have since started a Kaplan NCLEX prep class.  So now the studying must begin. 

Until next time!