Andrew and I went home to Saint Louis this weekend; it was the first time we had been back since the middle of August. It’s always great to come home, but I swear, each time we go back we try and cram as much into one short weekend as we can! I’m always happy, but exhausted when we come back.
We got a bit of a late start on Friday night. On the way to Andrew’s clinical that morning, he hit a pothole and it popped his tire. When he put on his spare tire, it was flat (figures!) So he had to drive on the flat tire which ruined his rim. Just overall a crazy day! He had to get the car towed and then I had to drive to what felt like the middle of nowhere to pick him up. I only got lost a couple of times. 
I love road trips with Andrew. Though we get to see each other quite a bit during the week, we are always doing something. Driving together somewhere, studying together, watching a movie, hanging out with roommates. Very rarely do we get to sit and talk for an extended amount of time. I swear I fall in love with that boy every day. :love:
We stopped at a friend’s house in Troy, which is about forty minutes out from STL to stay the night since we had such a late start. We arrived there about midnight and I went straight to the couch and fell asleep. The next morning, we all went out to brunch and caught up on the good stuff.
I was going to just drop Andrew off at his house, but I had to say hi to his mom, which turned into me helping them move some new couches into the house, and then testing the couches to make sure they were comfortable enough for use, which just turned into talking.
After a brief visit with my own parents and a reunion with my dog, we drove to see one of my best girl friends, Jacqueline. We also met her new boyfriend, who I felt slightly bad for. He was so nervous to meet me and Andrew! I think he was just afraid of making a bad impression, but we really liked him and he seemed real sweet.
Back to my house for family dinner. My dad grilled barbecued hamburgers, hot dogs, and steak. My mom made corn on the cob, baked beans, baked potatoes, and salad. For dessert she made a whole gooey butter cake just for Andrew and then a pumpkin spice cake which was delicious. Man, I miss my mom cooking for me everyday!
That night, we went bowling. Jacqueline and her boyfriend came, as well as Becky and her new boyfriend. I swear I left and all my friends suddenly now have boyfriends! We were introduced and I swore I would be happy as long as I beat Andrew the first game. I didn’t. I only scored 50. FAIL. The second game I scored 30 points more, however, and I crushed Andrew, so I was much happier. 
Next morning we went to church. Always so encouraging and refreshing to see the familiar faces. We had a lunch planned with a group of friends at a wing place afterwards that we rushed to make.
Then, after much rushing around and filling our bellies and talking, we sat down on the couch and just sat to catch our breath for a whole thirty minutes. I then prepped for our engagement picture session, which was the whole reason we really came home this weekend. I will tell you more about that later with pictures, though. I promise.
After our engagement pictures session, we went to dinner with Andrew’s family and aunt. By that time, I had come down with a cold and was trying to hold all the snot in my nose and not fall asleep from all the medications I was taking. I felt horrible.
So we left to drive back to Kansas City about 9:30 PM. We both had class in the morning, so we couldn’t just stay another night, though that would have been much needed! Andrew thankfully drove the whole way back since I wasn’t feeling well, but I managed to stay awake and keep him company. I savor those hours we have to just talk. :love:
Next time we go home, I hope we don’t have nearly as much planned! I feel like I could sleep for a week and still be tired!