There’s No Place Like Home.

Wow. So much craziness.

Isaiah and I have both been seriously on the hunt for jobs. Have some candidates lined up, thankfully. We’re gonna start the recaps with Branson, because that’s the most digestible trip.

My family used to have an annual tradition of renting a cabin in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. We stopped going a few years ago, because it was getting too hard for the families with 2-3 little ones to make the trek – (We’re spread out all over the Eastern half of America). This year, we wanted to reboot the tradition by going to Branson, Missouri.

The trip was really refreshing, we went go-carting, rented a boat for the day and went tubing, laser-tag (Made Barney Stinson proud), saw the Chinese acrobats and played Quiddler into the wee hours of the morning. (If you haven’t played it, you must). It was fun hanging out with family and seeing kids all grown up and able to actually hold conversations that you want to be part of. The kids were so much fun to be around and we bonded with my grandparents over a pre-marital budget talk the last night.

We know we did everything corny Americana and Branson-ish. It was weird to come from the heavily cultured downtown areas of Berlin, St. Petersburg, Austria and Munich to Branson with the Ripley’s Believe It or Not House and Miniature Golf Empires that dotted the roads.

We ate at a “famous” restaurant called Lambert’s Cafe that made me feel very sadly American. There’s no sharing or taking home of any food and unlimited sides and rolls come with each meal. The drinks were in almost two liter coffee mugs and the amount of food that surrounded us was overwhelming. It was very much like lining up at the trough with the other cows. Strange.

Anyways, we’re glad to finally be home and starting to get everything figured out.

My grandpa took this of us at Landry’s Seafood Restaurant – which was…delicious. It was the last night all together and we laser-tagged it up afterward. I don’t mean to brag or anything, but I got second place out of all the laser-taggers, second only to my uncle (who wins everything). Isaiah came in a close third. I only gave him a hard time about it for a few days, and then just right now, when I was recapping.

These oh-so-Branson-y signs were at the craft/antique mall we went to after the Chinese Acrobats. Isaiah found the love of his life in a 250 lb. Chainsaw artist with boob-sweat and a stronghold on lumber so fierce that Sylvester Stallone couldn’t beat her at arm wrestling. I was only slightly jealous…but what man doesn’t want a woman who could crack him on the head, drag him back to her cave and have her way with him.

We spent the weekend putting together a massive garage sale at my mom’s. The neighborhood she lives in doesn’t take-too-kindly to garage sales. They’re not the garage-sailin’ type. But, we’re two broke students who needed the money and didn’t have enough dignity to deny the easy cash.

The police knocked on our door for twenty minutes the night after the first day of the sale. We were surprised, obviously. Even if you’re a golden-child, seeing the police near your house makes you all: “Hide the pot! Wait…what pot? I don’t know, just hide it!” After we finally answered the door, they were flustered with having to wait so long while we were getting out of the shower…only to tell us we owed the city $10.00 for a garage sale permit. Immediately following this ridiculous encounter, Isaiah thoughtfully said, “Lizzie, my dear…We just got hit up by the man.” I guess being from Chicago…it’s a little mind-boggling that there were, not one…but two cruisers parked outside of my mom’s house over a $10.00 permit. The police in Chicago have so many more better uses of time and tax-dollars.

The rest of the weekend was spent with Isaiah killing every ounce of my pride in Monopoly: “I’m all mortgaged out, can I pay you back next round?” “With interest.” Monopoly really is the humbler-of-all-games.

We also found a show that we LOVE. If you like Louis C.K., check out his hilarious show, Louie, on FX. It had us crackin’ up.

Thanks for all of your patience and kind words in our absence, we’re SO looking forward to catching up on what’s new with you guys. Congratu-freaking-lations, again, to those of you who were married while things have been crazy for us. You are officially graduates, ladies!

Advertisement