We've done it again

Yes we've done it again, another semester is completed. We now only have one semester left until Rob starts rotations in the hospitals and comes out of his cocoon (the library). Can you believe it; we're almost done with two years of schooling. Yay!

Since another semester is over we of course had to do something fun to celebrate so we went on a road trip with Jason and Diana. Our trip started by driving to Springfield, IL Friday night. Our hotel looked like it could be the mortuary and what made it even funnier was the cemetery was right across the street. Saturday we visited the Lincoln Tomb. I thought the tomb was pretty neat. There are four statues on the corners of the tomb and they are made from melted cannons. Another neat thing about the statues is that they were built to represent the infantry, cavalry, artillery, and the navy from the time Lincoln was in office.

Once we were done at the cemetery we headed down to see the Cahokia Mounds. The Cahokia mounds are these mounds of earth that were discovered to have been built by people in the time of AD 700 to 1300's. The mounds were surrounded by settlements of people and apparently the mounds had different purposes. The one we climbed to the top of was the largest of the mounds and they think there was some kind of structure built on top. I thought it was pretty neat, especially to think it could have been the Nephites / Lamanites who had lived there.

While standing on top of the Cahokia mound we could see the St. Louis arch. We were that close so we figured we should go see it. We drove over to St. Louis and purchased a ticket to go to the top of the arch. The ride to the top was interesting, you climb into bubble like carts, the doors close and you're on your way up. Once you get to the top you can lean over and look out the windows. After we were done we headed back home.

Our road trip was a success. We all had so much fun just being together, driving and having a few hours to talk, not having an agenda so we didn't stress about being anywhere at a certain time, and not thinking about school. Yay for road trips with our best friends.

1. Finals week. "What finals week on your best things?" That's what you're thinking isn’t it? Well this wasn't a normal kind of finals week. Rob has been so stressed out this semester and really worried about his tests I thought the week would be pretty bad. For some strange reason it wasn't. Not once during the week did Rob come home grumpy or upset about his tests. He came home with energy and excitement. He danced around the house and pestered me. It was quite a change of pace for finals week. I enjoyed watching him come home excited and full of energy. Yes he pestered me quite a bit but it was worth it. I know he was still stressed but it didn't show.

2. Road trips with friends. What made it so fun was that Rob and I were together and we were with Jason and Diana. Did you ever think you could spend so much time in a car with people and never get irritated or tired of them? Well we did it this weekend. Not once did any of us get tired of each other. We all had a good time laughing and talking amongst each other. What an awesome weekend!

3. Ciara Barnes. Ciara made it on my list this week because her mom (Susan) sent me an email. In Susan's email she told me about a dream Ciara had about Rob. All I could do was laugh when I read it. It was so fun to read about Ciara's dream. It was all I could think about the rest of the day. Because it brightened my day and made me laugh I think I'll share it with you. Here's Susan's email about Ciara's dream....

Ciara had a dream the other night with Rob “Tiffany’s husband” in it. She said that he was not wanting to really “get into Thanksgiving, so he was sitting on the stairs (with his legs crossed, indian style) with his arms up in the air (middle fingers and thumbs touching), eyes closed (looking up) with live turkey’s gobbling around him say “ahmmmmmmm, ahmmmmm”. Then my nieces fiancé was at the bottom of the stairs doing the same things with groundhogs around him---tee heeee :-) How funny is that, we got to see her play it out…but you can just imagine how hilarious that was!

4. My phone buddy. So whenever we try to plan anything with the Bowlers it's usually Jason and I who have to do the calling. Rob and Diana both have a thing with calling people so Jason and I talk to each other on the phone the most. I refer to Jason as my phone buddy. The other day he called with exciting news. He is in the process of receiving a promotion and he called to tell me about it. Not only was he really excited about it but I was too. I was so excited for him it was almost like I was getting the promotion. I'm glad that my phone buddy knows he can call to tell me exciting news and I will share in his excitement by being just as excited.

Love you all, have a fabulous week.