Iowa

Oh, our trip to Iowa was absolutely amazing! There are many aspects of the trip I'd like to post about, but it would take forever to get through it, so I'm going to be breaking it into pieces parts. I'll post somewhat of an overview, the wedding experience, church and the women we spent so much time with, and I will be sure to post something about Brad.

The weather was grand the entire trip. Nice driving weather, which is good when you are driving 12 hours! We broke the trip up a bit and stayed in Warrenton, outside of St. Louis, overnight on our way to and from IA. It was a good "halfway" point.

Most of the way we listened either to talk radio or Christian music, and a lot of the psalms from my Bible on CD. Katie I chatted and laughed a lot as we usually do when we are together for any period of time. It was good to spend uninterrupted time with my best friend.

We arrived at about 4:30pm at our destination, my friend Deleana's. She lives on a pig farm. I'm not talking 4 or 5 hogs, I'm talking hundreds! Oh boy! As soon as Katie and I opened the door, the odor of pig manure about blew us over! Just our luck it was stall cleaning day! UGH! LOL Here are some pics of the farm where we stayed. This is the farmhouse, and you can see Jeepers parked there next to Deleana's silver van. Staying in the farmhouse reminded me of the days I stayed on the farm with my friend Tina, whose wedding I attended this past weekend. It was the main purpose for my trip.

The next picture is of some of the farm buildings. The pigs are in the pen which is in between the silos and that building with the old truck parked in front of it. I was awakened one morning by this horrendous squealing sound. I asked Deleana, "what on earth is that?" and she laughed and said it was the hogs being fed. It's a real highlight of the morning when the hogs get their chow! They get very happy and let everyone know it! Deleana made us laugh when she went on to explain what it sounds like when a pig "couple" decides to mate! LOL So between the noise and the smell, I'm not sure why anyone would choose to raise hogs! Luckily, the following day, the wind changed direction and the odor of the pig manure was not as prominent. We could actually breathe on Saturday! LOL

Deleana was so happy to have us stay at her home and really made us feel welcome. Katie was all excited to stay in the "Christmas Room". It is a room that is decorated for Christmas all year round and is simply jolly. It was really neat the way she had it all done up and like a dork, I didn't take any pics of that! grrrrrrrr! I stayed in a small room downstairs, which was good because it was closest to the computer! LOL

We so enjoyed our stay on the pig farm. It was quite an experience and the best part of the stay there was each night when the three of us, Katie, Deleana and I had our pajama parties. It was like we were all young kids again, sharing stories, laughing and just getting to know one another better. Oh, I will cherish these memories for a lifetime!