Coming to the End!

The summer has flown by and Darin's internship is coming to an end. I flew back to Arizona a week and a half ago so that I could get ready to teach school. Today was the first day of school and it should be a good year. We are looking forward to finally being settled down somewhere, but we know that it will take a little while before we finally can. We had a good summer in Arkansas and were able to see some pretty landscape and escape the Arizona heat. Darin graduates in December and it will be interesting to see what happens after that.

Eureka!

Darin and I had the opportunity to visit a little town called Eureka Springs. It was a quaint little town that was originally established as a resort town. It reminded me of Park City--old and expensive. Even though it wasn't the most economical town it was very cute and quaint with a lot of Southern charm. I enjoyed walking up and down the narrow streets looking at antiques and crafts and Darin enjoyed stalling the car on a steep hill (which was very scary).

We got to see some gorgeous old houses and an old "haunted" hotel. The legend is that the hotel was once a cancer treatment center and people who were dying of cancer were sent there. The doctor who was over the hotel was greedy. After his patients died, he would stash their bodies down in the cellar for a few months so that he could continue collecting the money for their care. They say that the people that died now reside in the building (which was more recently turned back into a hotel) and haunt the guests. Townspeople told us that this hotel has been shown on TV haunting shows and there are annual ghost hunter conventions here. They actually offer ghost tours through Eureka Springs but I didn't want to scare myself unnecessarily.

We had a great time and enjoyed this small town. However, next time we grace Eureka Springs with our presence, we will avoid a near death experience outside of the "haunted hotel" by not stalling our car on that steep hill.

Nauvoo for a Weekend

We decided to be spontaneous and go to Nauvoo for the weekend. We left Friday after I got off work and drove to St. Louis to spend the night, it took us about five hours. The next day we got up and looked around downtown St. Louis for a little bit and then went on to Nauvoo.

It took us about four hours before we got there, but for the last few miles we put down our convertible top and enjoyed the weather and the driving by the Mississippi River. In Nauvoo we went on a horse-drawn cart ride around the restored part of the town. We went to the Land and Records office and learned more about our ancestors that were in Nauvoo. We also went to some of the shops and homes downtown. At night we went to a performance by the BYU dancers. It was a good show. We stayed at the Hotel Nauvoo, a restored pioneer home. It was a fun day.

The next day we started on the long drive home. We went through Carthage to see the Carthage Jail and then drove home. It was a short trip, but we are glad that we were living close enough to Nauvoo to go there for a weekend.

Summer Concert Fun

We had the opportunity to attend a Carrie Underwood - Keith Urban concert on Thursday night. It was a free concert that Wal-Mart put on for all associates that are here in Bentonville, Arkansas for the Shareholder's Meeting that was on Friday. It was free to all associates and to the general public if there were any seats available. The concert was at the football stadium for the University of Arkansas and we got down there pretty good time to go to the concert. We waited out in the blazing sun for a couple of hours and people butted right in front of us. I had to hold Meredith back from saying anything to them because we butted just a little bit too. I didn't want her to make a scene. It was hot and humid. Everyone around us was smoking...how nasty. Once we got in the arena was all ready very packed. We had to sit on the side more than half way up from the field.

Now for the concert - Meredith really liked Carrie Underwood. She thought that her songs were better and she was a better singer. I liked the part of the concert with Keith Urban. He interacted more with the audience and put on a good show. There was a part that he went into the audience and gave away his guitar. It would have been cool to be the person that got the free guitar. It was so fun to ride home in our convertible. Maybe Arkansas isn't going to be so bad!!!

Arkansas Here We Are!

I cannot believe that this school year is done! I have really enjoyed teaching fourth grade and I cannot believe that I am looking forward to teaching for a second year. I never thought I would even make it through the first year.

If you didn't hear Darin and I have just moved to Bentonville, Arkansas. Darin got an internship from Wal-Mart and he has been enjoying his time in a cubicle. We actually moved down here on my birthday and so for my birthday dinner we got frozen dinners from Wal-Mart (because all of the other restaraunts were closed) and cooked them in our hotel microwave. Darin is pretty much at work all day and I stay home in our duplex. I have been especially bored because I was so used to doing so much for school.

I cannot believe how green Arkansas is! I am not used to all of the forests because Phoenix is the complete opposite--dry. Arkansas is very humid and it has rained in the two days since we have arrived here. We have a nice little forest area behind our duplex. We have seen some really pretty birds including a couple of cardinals. One thing that I am really concerned about is at church last Sunday one woman pointed out that we missed the spring tornado season, but we will be here for the fall tornado season. Yikes, tornadoes.

There is a small resevoir next to our duplex. I don't know if the water is good for swimming, but perhaps Darin and I will rent a canoe or something.

I am really grateful that Darin could have such a great opportunity at Wal-Mart and I look forward to enjoying my time in the South. I am sure that we will have many interesting experiences here.