Farm Country with Some Old Friends and A Special Day

My old roommate and good friend, Jen, put together an impromptu trip on Tuesday to Farm Country at Thanksgiving Point to take advantage of Two-Buck Tuesday. (Remember that from last year?)

It turned out to be a mini-Glenwood (a.k.a. the hood) reunion - I got to see a couple of old roommates, an almost roommate (the girl who bought my contract when I got married, who ended up marrying one of Eric's old roommates and good friend), and a friend from our old Glenwood ward. It was so fun to get to catch up a bit and see everyone's cute kids.

Farm Country was a fun, inexpensive (it's only $3.50 pp full price! Much better than the usual $10 pp that Thanksgiving Point attractions usually are.) place to go. Elena was excited to see all the farm animals and asked me repeatedly where Farmer Jed was (he's from the Little People movies/books). She eventually spotted who she declared to be Farmer Jed giving horse-drawn wagon rides. :)

Elena in front of the baby chicks. For some reason, she will not smile for the camera these days. I promise she was having fun.

In case you were wondering, baby chicks are the cutest things in the world.

Old roommate Brittny, her cute little girl Bailey, Elena, and Jen's little girl Ariyah with a baby goat. Which, for the record is the second cutest thing in the world.

Side note about Ariyah: she is the happiest little girl on the face of the planet. I always used to think that that title went to Elena because she is a pretty dang spunky, cheerful, sweet girl. But, Ariyah is truly THE happiest child alive. She ALWAYS has the hugest smile and her whole face is lit up. I mean, ALWAYS. She is such a doll.

Elena with a really, really big horse. It's belly was above my head.

(Some of) The Glenwood Ladies -

From left to right: Michelle and her son Camden, Brit and Bailey, Jen and Ariyah, Me and Lily (covered up by her hat). In front: Andrea and her daughter Adelyn, and Elena.

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And p.s. Happy Hoffman Day! :)

This day, 5 years ago, was mine and Eric's first official date (lots of unofficial dating for months prior - this was the first one that we actually called a date - why, I don't know. :)). We went out to Venezuelan food, then to a crazy, for druggies, psychedelic light show at the planetarium that we thought was supposed to be something cool, then we accidentally trespassed on Greyhound headquarters to crack open the geodes we bought at the planetarium and got yelled at by security.

We headed home after that and when Eric said goodnight to me at the door, he told me he wouldn't be able to make our regular Saturday night Latin dancing date. Something about spending time with his family because his brother, Danny, was getting ordained on Sunday. Yeah, right. I saw through that - it was just an excuse not to have to do something with me. I was convinced he hadn't enjoyed the date and was losing interest in me. You see, I had already fallen for him- and even though I didn't totally consciously know it at that point, I had fallen completely, totally, and irreversibly hard for him a month or so earlier. I walked into my (empty) apartment (my roommates were all out), blasted "What's Up Lonely" by Kelly Clarkson, laid in the dark on the living room floor, and bawled myself to sleep. :) Silly Briana. I'm glad I was wrong.

Usually we celebrate Hoffman Day, by going out on a date. When our kids are older, we're going to make it a full blown family holiday. But this year, we'll be spending it a little differently - part of the day at the hospital for chemo (remember how going to the hospital is like a date?) and then heading off with family for a little weekend getaway. Not too shabby.

So, go get yourself some ice cream to celebrate - Happy Hoffman Day to you!