The last month has been absolutely amazing! After Chicago I went to Livingston, Alabama- that tiny town of 3,000 I referred to in my last post. There were only a few restaurants in the whole town, but there was an awesome Mennonite restaurant. They served a specialty item each day for lunch and had fresh breads and baked goods. They didn’t even take credit cards! I was taken there for lunch twice that week and it was delicious. They had fluffy chocolate crinkle cookies that reminded me of holidays at home =)
I stayed in what I swear was an old, haunted plantation… alone. It was this old building with old wood floors. It had three or four bedrooms, a bathroom in each, a formal dining room, an informal dining room, a foyer, a parlor, a study, a kitchen, and several locked doors that I never knew where they led. Apparently a washer and dryer existed somewhere, but I never found them. The floors creaked constantly, even when no one was walking on them. And there was a bell tower on campus that chimed every fifteen minutes. Even at night. Overall I had a good week in Alabama. I enjoyed watching the chapter win an intramural flag football game, but all in all, I couldn’t wait to get home. I was practically counting down the hours until I flew into Little Rock.
I flew home for my week of vacation that Saturday and Jade picked me up from the airport. It was so good to see him! We went to my parents’ house and were just going to have a lazy weekend. Cory and Isabella came over Sunday, but Jade kept wanting to get me out of the house, which I couldn’t understand. I really had no intention of getting out of my pajamas that first day home. He finally convinced me to leave and we left, me not know where we were going. It wasn’t that strange that I didn’t know where we were going. I like surprises and Jade likes to surprise me. When we got on interstate heading west I knew the only thing that direction was Petit Jean Mountain. I started getting suspicious at that point since we didn’t have hiking gear with us, but really didn’t think it was that time. I honestly started looking for signs, but Jade wasn’t sweating or shaky or even talking out of the ordinary. A few turns later I knew we were headed to Petit Jean for sure, but still wasn’t convinced it was actually happening. We went up to Camp Mitchell, where Becca and Brooks married a couple months back, and took in the view while chatting and catching up. A few minutes later Jade asked if I was ready for my surprise and he bent down for his backpack, ending up on one knee. Out came a little box and I did what every girl does in the movies; my hands went over my mouth and I immediately started crying. Jade asked me to marry him and I said yes! It was perfect. My ring is perfect.
We stayed on top of the mountain a little longer to enjoy the moment. As we headed back down, I called Kate to meet up with her. I wanted to share the news and ask her to make my candle for my sorority candle light ceremony. I had planned to attend chapter meeting on Tuesday anyway, but now I could attend and surprise all my sisters with my engagement. Kate was in the UCA library studying so I warned her not to make a big scene before I told her. I got all teary eyed again when I told her. She was so excited for us! From school we went back home, but mom and dad knew what Jade was planning all along. I got to surprise Cory though, which was sweet.
The first three days of vacation were filled with calling or visiting people to share the news because we didn’t want people to find out on facebook. I had dinner with Natalie, Elizabeth, Amber, and Rachel Monday night and it was so neat to surprise them. It was hard to wait until Monday night to tell them, but the screams, hugs, and tears were worth waiting for. I told Uncle Greek and Aunt Polly by pulling out bridal magazines in front of them and loudly flipping through the pages. It took longer than it should have for them to notice what I was reading, but it was priceless to see Aunt Polly’s face when she figured it out. I also really enjoyed telling my Greek family in the chapter ceremony. 85 screams and eager faces wanting to hear the engagement story is pretty hard to beat. Jade and I put it on facebook on Wednesday and it was fun to watch the congratulations roll in. At the end of the week we went to Leslie to see his family and go to Marshall Homecoming. It was a great, but busy week that went by entirely too fast.
After vacation I went to Alva, Oklahoma. I don’t know what was up with my stretch of tiny town visits, but Alva was another tiny place like Livingston. Its size on Google maps will make you laugh. I really enjoyed my week there though! I nearly froze to death in a dorm and I definitely don’t miss dorm showers, but the chapter members were great and there was a Delta Zeta Leadership Consultant there at the same time. It was nice to be able to talk to someone who fully understands the experience. She was super nice and was in her last week of work before vacation. I know how excited she was!
The drive from Oklahoma City to Alva was three hours, and the president and a new member picked me up at the airport. The president is from Wakita, which is where Twister was filmed. Oklahoma is so dang flat! It felt like I could see forever, but it was also really pretty. We went through a thunderstorm at one point and the lightening was absolutely incredible. There are also oil drill/pump thingies of all sizes everywhere. They were in fields, next to houses, by schools… wherever seemed like a good place to drill I guess. The members said you grow up watching videos in school about the danger of playing around them. I guess people will climb on them and ride them like horses, which I thought was hilarious! It was also really windy in Alva. It should have been a duh, but I wasn’t expecting it. It makes sense since there isn’t a lot to block the wind. Everyone referred to Oklahoma City as ‘the city’. “I live in the city” or “we’re going to the city” is what people would say. It took the week to realize the city meant just one place when people talked about it. I was also surprised when the members picked me up that they didn’t have southern accents. They laughed at me when I asked, but I assumed they would. Oklahoma is not part of the south I learned. I assumed because it shared borders with Texas and Arkansas it would have a lot of southern influence. I saw the influence in food, but not much more. On the last night I was there I went to a birthday dinner for the chapter advisor’s sister. It was a family shrimp boil with corn, potatoes, crab legs, sausage, and cake for dessert. That was my first time eating crab legs. They’re tasty, but too much work for me. I’m pretty sure I ended up with crab in my hair at one point. Plus, my fingers were sore the next day.
From Oklahoma I went for my last visit in Natchitoches. I worked Sunday through Thursday and took a long weekend to New Orleans. Jade had the weekend off and drove down Thursday night. We drove to New Orleans Friday midday and didn’t think about rush hour traffic. Not only was there traffic heading into NO but there was an accident. We waited on interstate for nearly two hours, but we had a great view of the Super Dome and an above ground cemetery that was neat to look at. We watched a pretty sunset and played silly games to pass the time and reduce our boredom. By the time we got to the hotel we were starving and were really just wanting to find some food. The most noticeable thing about the hotel was its smell; it had the strongest smell in the lobby! It smelt great- like some terrific Bath and Body Works scent. Our room had an incredible view of the city and huge windows to show it off. We dropped our bags and went to the concierge to get a dinner recommendation. We walked down Decatur Street until we found something suitable for a late dinner. The weather was beautiful so we sat on the balcony and could see the river. At one point a party bus drove by throwing beads everywhere. They were having A LOT of fun. I had shrimp and Jade had a burger (I think). The next morning we went to Jackson Square to get some breakfast at Café du Monde before heading to the Audubon Aquarium. Café du Monde had a crazy line, but I’d heard from several people that it was worth the wait. We actually didn’t wait that long before we found a tiny, dirty, powdered sugar covered table. I didn’t realize that literally the only thing on the menu was beignets. They’re like a different shape of funnel cake, but with way more powdered sugar. This place is like a beignet factory. I bet the kitchen is nothing but deep fryers, mountainous sacks of powdered sugar, and a conveyor belt of beignets that exit from a window. They had more wait staff than I have ever seen. A place that popular doesn’t have to have good customer service we realized. Of course neither one of us carries cash so Jade ran down the street to get cash while the restaurant held me for ransom. Great experience, good pastries, and good coffee. Would I do it again? Probably not, but I’m definitely glad I had the experience.
Jackson square is cool! It is filled with artists and performers. I actually saw some really impressive art. St. Louis Cathedral is also there. I had really wanted to walk around the square and go inside the cathedral, but time never allowed. We spent several hours in the aquarium checking out sea otters, stingrays, frogs, sea horses, sharks, jellyfish, and tons of other creatures. We’re such kids. Jade and I love zoos and aquariums and the like. We had about an hour to grab some lunch and found a close Greek restaurant. I know- Greek in New Orleans? Probably not our wisest choice, but we love Greek food! It was killer food too! We barely make it to our 4:00 tour, which was the Original Cocktail Tour of New Orleans. It was a guided tour of the most historic parts of the French Quarter with some stops at historic bars, drinking optional. We had a great guide who was personable and knew a lot about New Orleans. Did you know the picturesque architecture of New Orleans is not French? It’s Spanish. Who knew!? We even had cool people on our tour, which is more than I can say about the people on our wine tour in Italy! It was a couple hour walking tour the ended at the far end of Bourbon Street. We were free to go from there. We followed the group up the street until we got to an area we knew we could get back to the hotel from. All the sudden there was this marching band coming down the street that I assumed was another party bus or something. A local said the name of the event (I can’t remember it now) and said it is a celebration of life when someone passes away. A famous local who makes potato chips just died and had his funeral. It was a parade that had the fire department in it throwing out free bags of his potato chips. I thought it was kind of cool!
Jade and I got off Bourbon quickly after that. It wasn’t even dark yet and it was already too rowdy for us. We got off our feet for a little while, then headed back out. We went back to some of the bars we’d visited that afternoon to try their signature drinks. After two bars and some friendly conversation (you know how Jade can talk to anybody) we went to a restaurant on Decatur for dinner. We had to leave New Orleans at noon the next day. It was a short trip, but really fun. I wish we could have seen a done more!
Jade drove me back to Alexandria to catch my plane. My plane was delayed leaving Louisiana and so was my plane leaving Memphis, so I never ran into any problems. I got into Nashville a little late and was picked up by the chapter president. I had a good week in Clarksville and the sweet townhouse. It was a much less stressful and sleepless week than the first time. While I was there mom, dad, and Jade went to Hot Springs to meet with seven different potential reception venues. I’m sad to not be a part of that, but thankful they are able to help.
Now I am in West Virginia at my second to last chapter. It’s exciting because I have never been to this area of the country really. I had the craziest flights coming up here though. I was supposed to fly Delta to Atlanta then Charleston, WV. My plane was so delayed leaving Nashville that they put me on an American flight to Washington DC and a US Airways flight to Charleston four hours later. I wonder how the other carriers get their money from Delta? Once again, I’m in a ridiculously tiny town. I was told Athens is the second smallest town in the United States to host a university. The town has 1,500 people, one stoplight, and one pizza joint. The town doubles in size when school gets back in session. There are 3,000 students total, 1,500 of which live on campus. Regardless, this chapter is awesome! They are really great to me. What is funny is some of them have southern accents. Some of them consider West Virginia southern and say there are hicks here. One person said the state gets stereotyped by inbreeding and not wearing shoes. I’ve only ever heard that of the south. See, this is why I love travel! You learn things about places and its people constantly. I love seeing the differences in places.
My week is off to a great start and I’ve got 18 days until I’m home to wedding plan! Pictures are of my candle for my candlelight, the mess I made eating beignets, Jackson Square and St. Louis Cathedral, a crazy eel, a scene from Finding Nemo (which is apparently the only movie I can quote, according to Jade), beautiful Spanish architecture of New Orleans, and the funeral celebration of the chip man.
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