Ohio

So as many of you know I had a trip planned for Ohio the 26th, 27th and 28th!  Let me first explain a bit about why I was going to Ohio being 36 weeks pregnant!  Over the past 6 years that I've been dating/married to my husband my mother has heard my mother-in-law talk about going on bus trips to the Longaberger Factory in Dresden, Ohio.  Shes talked about how much fun it is, how you can get awesome shopping deals and much much more.  So of course my mom finds out about this Longaberger Bus Trip that was scheduled for October 2011 and she started planning right away!  I think she started talking about the trip in December 2010 and by January 2011 she had me talked into it!  She really wanted to take a trip together before I had kids and thought this would be the perfect one!  So I agreed!  It wasn't just my mom and I on the trip it was also my mother-in-law, sister-in-law and my hubbys great-aunt who is kinda like his grandmother.  So we paid for our trip in January to reserve our spots and then in the beginning of March I found out I'm expecting and that when we left for the trip I would be 36 weeks along!  Needless to say the trip was something I wanted to do with the lovely ladies in my family but I was really dreading it because I didn't want to deliver my first child without my husband in OHIO!  After getting permission from my doctor on Tuesday and having the reassurance that the hospital in Ohio does at least take my insurance in case of an emergency I was set to go!

We left at 7:30am on Thursday and rode on a charter bus for entirely too long with a total of 49 people (all ladies except for our driver).  We had our own private shopping trips at certain shops where we were given extra discounts and then settled into our hotel rooms late into the night!  I got to sleep with my sister-in-law who is an amazing sleeper and is not disturbed by people who get up multiple times a night!  She didn't hear me get up at all which is impressive!  On Friday we spent most of the day at the Longaberger Factory store where I did get one basket, some cute tumblers, a recipe book and thats about it!  After the store we went to the 7 story Longaberger Headquarters (picture below) where we heard a lady speak who has been with the Longaberger Company for over 30 years and after that we had another private shopping trip to another basket store where all I bought was a liner for the basket I got earlier in the day.

picture courtesy of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Longaberger_Company

The picture above is a seven story building shaped to look like Longabergers most popular basket the market basket.  Its insanely large and they've flown a small plan through the handles.  The handles are also heated so that ice doesn't stick to them in the winter! 

We were supposed to shop most of the day on Saturday in the town of Dresden and then leave to head home by 2 or 3 however we had some unexpected weather concerns and we left Ohio at 8:45am to come straight home.  We took a longer alternate route because of the snow (yeah snow in October????).  I was not offended by leaving Ohio early as I was already sore and exhausted from the day before and I was really looking forward to seeing my hubby!  Also if some of those ladies had any more time to shop I don't think we would have been able to fit everything on our bus!  We were already packed to the brim!

Overall the trip went really well and I did have a good time.  I enjoyed spending time with my family and as always I loved shopping.  It was nice to meet some of the other ladies on the trip!  One of the ladies was 80 years old and she was so spry!  It was amazing!  She has 6 daughters, 15 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren.  I do think she had more energy than I did!  I was the youngest person on the trip and most of the ladies were probably in their 50's or older.  They were all so sweet and they all doted on me quite a lot since I was pregnant.  They all wanted me to be first in line for bathrooms and offered me their seats etc.  They were so cute!  Everyone was so nice and that definitely made the trip more enjoyable and comfortable.  I am super thankful that Parker decided to stay put until after the trip!  Now he can come whenever he's ready!!!