Tulsa Excursion Day 3

I know that everyone has been waiting with baited breath to hear about our last and final day in Tulsa; so, here it is. We didn't have a whole lot planned for our last day in Tulsa. We decided to go to their local farmer's market and check out some more local shops. Their farmer's market isn't as nice as Fayetteville but it was interesting to see how another big city did theirs. After we finishing there we headed downtown to take some pictures of some neat looking buildings. That's the one thing that I wished that Northwest Arkansas had more of.
Then we drove about 30 minutes outside of Tulsa to Stone Bluff Cellars Winery. Chris and I don't know a lot about wine so we decided to take a tour. It's a really beautiful place and they make all of their wines there. We learned all about the different types of grapes that they grow and how they make it. We also got to sample some of their wines and we did buy a bottle to take home.
Finally before heading home we stopped by the Hard Rock Casino in Tulsa. We are very unlucky people and never seem to win when we go to the casino. We spent forty dollars and won twenty. I've never understand why people gamble. I would much rather put my money towards something than just waste it away.

All in all it was a really good vacation. It was really nice to get out of town for a few days. It's always nice to come home though! We want to send out a HUGE thank you to my parents who watched all of our animals for us while we were gone. Thank you guys so much we greatly appreciate it. You guys are the best parents!!

Tulsa Excursion Day 2

We spent our second day of our Tulsa vacation at the Tulsa Zoo. I haven't been to the Tulsa zoo in about 9 years and the last time I went with my friend Haley. I would have to say that the zoo has gone down hill in the past couple of years. There were a lot of exhibits that were empty, one in particular was the polar bear exhibit. It was nice to go to a zoo for a change rather than an aquarium.After we got done with the zoo we went over to the Philbrook Museum. Chris and I went a few years ago but the gardens were under construction so we went back to check out the new and improved gardens. I personally liked the way the old gardens looked but I can tell that they upgraded the stonework and walk ways. If you've never been to the Philbrook it is a really beautiful museum set in a beautiful part of Tulsa. It's really worth checking out.When we got finished at the Philbrook we headed over to Utica Square. Utica Square was designed to look like a village with tons of upscale shopping and fine restaurants. I didn't take any pictures but they have the red telephone booths that you would see in London. After we finished shopping and eating we went back to the hotel for a quick rest before having dinner with Chris's co-worker from Tulsa. They took us out to eat at Hideway Pizza which is apparently the place to eat pizza at in Tulsa. There are several locations in the Oklahoma area and unfortunately there aren't any in Arkansas.

After spending time with them we drove down to the downtown area to take a few pictures. We wanted to go to Cain's ballroom but there weren't any good bands in town that we wanted to see. We also took some pictures of Boston Avenue Methodist Church which was built in 1929 and has a tower that goes 255 feet high.

Tulsa Excursion Day 1

Last week Chris and I went to Tulsa, Oklahoma for a couple of days. We had been debating on where to take a vacation this year or if we would even take one. We’ve been taking Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University at our church and have been putting all of our extra money towards debt. Dave always says that you have to “live like no one else, so you can live like no one else” later in life. So this year we decided to go somewhere close and go somewhere nice later. You’d be surprised with all that Tulsa has to offer.

The first day of our Tulsa vacation we went to the Oklahoma Aquarium which is really located in Jenks. We have been to that aquarium several times before but there was a new exhibit that was pretty interesting. Going to any aquarium is my favorite part of the trip. I could spend all day looking at the fish, but that wouldn't be very fair to Chris.

After we got done with the aquarium we had lunch at Pei Wei which we have been hearing about from some of our friends. Needless to say the food was awesome and we left very full! Then we wandered around the Brady district which has some really neat local shops. Our final destination of the day was the Gilcrease Museum. I think that this was Chris's favorite thing that we did on vacation. Their whole downstairs was an archival collection where you could open up draw after draw and see artifacts.

Then I drug poor Chris to the Woodland Hills Mall for some shopping. We asked some locals where we should go for dinner and it was decided that we would go to Brother's Houligan. They serve a lot of food there so I would suggest if you ever go make sure and split your meal. Of course we needed to have some dessert and what better place for dessert than the Cheesecake Factory!

Dog gone cute

Friday I took the dogs to the groomers. This was the first professional haircut that Baxter has ever gotten minus the one that Mayline gave him several years ago. Baxter wasn't happy about being left there but Morgan was super happy to see everyone and get lots of attention. They did a great job cutting their hair and they look even cuter now! Morgan's pictures didn't turn out very well because he hates having his picture taken. But here are some before and after pictures of both of them.

Before:

After:Since we are speaking of pets I wanted to bring up that the place where I work has a homeless guinea pig to give away. Someone dropped off a box yesterday at our back door with a note on it that said "Needs a home." This is the second time this has happened at work and I think that it is absolutely ridiculous! If you can't take care of your pets don't even bother getting one! It makes me so mad when people can't take care of their animals. Animals have feelings just like you and I and they don't deserve to have someone drop them off like their a piece of trash! So if anyway knows of anyone who would like a free sweet guinea pig we'd be glad to give him to someone who would love him. Chris and I can't adopt another one because it wouldn't be fair to Patches. Let me know by tomorrow if anyone is interested!

Update:
I was just reading in the paper about a family writing in on whether or not they should give up their pet due to financial difficulties. According to the Humane Society pets not only provide unconditional love and affection but they decrease stress, anxiety, and feelings of loneliness and can help lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels. I know that pets can be a handful to take care of but please consider all options before getting rid of them! Our pets do really help us out!!