Not too shabby.
I started the week off with a flight to Omaha. I'll admit, I was a little grumpy at having to go cross country so early in August, but the trip ended up being pretty darn fun. Once I arrived I zoomed all the way to Small town Kansas for my first event of the year. Thanks to my good friend A, I had been nominated for the now infamous #alsicebucketchallenge and had only a few hours to complete it once I arrived in the heartland. Thank goodness it was about 100 degrees when I got there. Since I was staying in a hotel, I didn't really have access to a bucket...or a pot, so I made due with a garbage can (it was clean I swear). I found a fantastic shooting location near my hotel, complete with a massive can of coke. The best part was the locals who kept glancing at me from the road.
I know a lot of people, have varying opinions of the challenge, but I loved the creativity of it all...and was more than willing to have a little fun and donate a little money to a cause not many know or talk about. It's been fun watching all my friends...and I'll admit, the celebrities do the challenge.
The next day was the first fair. I always love back to school season...it's weird that I'm no longer a student, but the excitement and newness in the air always gets me a bit nostalgic. It was so incredibly hot outside and we didn't have tents (what is up with that Kansas?) I spoke with a lot of international students. It's fun to get their perspectives on small town America. They always seem to love it.
I then spent two nights in Wichita. It was a great little city! They have a really nice little Riverwalk, where I went running one night. There is a statue called the "Keeper of the Plains" that every night has a flame thing. I stayed after the run to watch them light it up.
Friday after a few meetings, I headed down to good ole Oklahoma. Now, OK tends to get a bit of a wrap for being boring, but I consider it to be a pretty fun place...and one that is filled with quite possibly the nicest people I have ever come to meet.
As sometimes the Universe blesses me with good things, I happened to be in the area (ish) the same weekend, one of my most favorite performers, Kristin Chenoweth, was having two homecoming concerts in Broken Arrow, OK. These concerts were going to be at a theater named after her and were going to be filmed for PBS. Obviously, I just had to be there.
And I don't care how geeky it is, or how not cool her music maybe, I loved every moment and it was incredibly special to see her perform where she grew up. She got overwhelmed a few time and cried, but was very funny and entertaining. I got the chance to meet her and her parents afterwards at a little after party, I somehow managed to end up at (seriously, small town people are awesome).
Afterwards, I tweeted her a photo of her parents that she ended up retweeting:
Pretty darn good way to spend a weekend.
As I left OK, I must admit, I may have been zooming up the highway and got pulled over. True to OK form, the officer was incredibly friendly...he was going to issue me a written warning...and then he asked me to get out of my car....and to sit in the front seat of his car. Since then, I've totally googled this occurrence and apparently it happens fairly often in OK (still of idea why) but at the time, all I could think of was this is how girls like me end up on episodes of Dateline or Law and Order: SVU. I proceed to follow him into the car, and look around. My nervousness is clear as I can't seem to stop chatting...so the officer and I learn quite a bit about each other. (he's a native Okie, farm boy, good looking). He teaches me the ins and outs of speeding while in OK ( be more cautious in the morning). Finally, he gets back to business, and were both on our merry way.
Odd, yes. But good story...and has reaffirmed my belief that Okies are the nicest people in the history of all people.
Afterwards, I jump up to Kansas City to stop off at the Truman Museum (seriously, you learn a lot...not at all a lame hobby). And finally ended up in Omaha.
Now, I'm heading home for a week (amazing). Gonna soak it in...this'll be a long semester! 
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