The Suite Life of Steph and Trent: Tulsa and Nauvoo!

The Lucky Crickets on the Main Nauvoo stage after our show. We sat here and pose with our adoring fan!

Greetings from Tulsa OK! After Trent and I got back from Europe we had only a few days until our next adventure. On Sunday, we drove to Tulsa (18 hours in a car= no mi gusta). Now, we live in the Staybridge Extended Stay Hotel on 71st street (a very popular street with all the best restaurants including Cheesecake Factory). Apparently we hit the jackpot; we not only get new sheets and cleaning daily, but also free breakfast and sometimes dinner. Feels more like a senior center than a hotel they're taking such good care of us...

our room

stay bridge suites

free breakfast

Our life is a hybrid of the Suite Life of Zach and Cody and Parks and Recreation. Trent's started work with a bunch of Ron Swanson look a-likes and I work with a guy names Jerry who everyone blames everything on. Oklahoma also has a Pawnee county. Altogether, Trent and I couldn't be happier with this temporary lifestyle.

No sooner did I arrive in Tulsa that I had to leave for a Trip to Nauvoo and surrounding areas with my band, The Lucky Crickets. We toured with the Spring Performing Arts Company of BYU by playing backup for them and also playing a few of our own music. Nauvoo was an incredible experience for me and I wish I had written a day-to-day journal entry of it as well. But after Europe I was a little fried...and after eating multiple bugs on stage while singing in 100 percent humidity day and night, the two bar slow interned was not worth the head ache of my blog-readers (sorry ya'll).

So without further adieu, here are my favorite memories from my trip.

the Historic Nauvoo Temple

sundae Sunday at the Mission President's house...with raptor Alex

Saving a lost turtle on the road by helping him cross the street. He was so adorable (I named him Donatello for Lauren Wilkes)

The whole dancer and musician gang in Montrose

building a cheez-it fort with my favorite friends from the trip (Cheez-its are courtesy of Darren and Connie Riggs)

pretending to hitch hike then actually having to after the vans forgot me in Historic Nauvoo

the crazyawesomeamazingtalentedpatience director, Delynne, and her bossing me around.

missing Trent was inevitable so of course I kissed inanimate objects to try to cure my craving for him.

eating at Annie's frozen custard and putting a napkin under her plastic table cloth to signify our love

and permanently keep our memory at the darling joint. I gave a shout-out to her at one of the performances

and she gave free frozen custard to everyone after the show!

learning about agricultural things: did you know the cows develop hairballs that build up in their stomaches?

They're really shiny and lightweight. Most people wouldn't touch them...

and, of course, the bugs. I thought Darwin, AU was the worst for bugs on light but I stand corrected. This picture looks like snow right? But it's hundreds of thousands of bugs waiting to enter our mouths.

Of course there were other favorite moments including the handcart trek, Sunday sociable where I sang Emma's Lullaby, Carthage Jail, the performance in Fairfield with the incredible sound engineer, dance party with DJ BRiggs, and the calling I now feel to pursue my dream and actually become a performer and entertainer to children!

Goodbye for now! I'll update with any new info in the next month or so :) Maybe you'll even see a new COOKING blog!!?!?!?!