A Little Late

So we have officially been back in the States for two weeks. I've been completely overwhelmed with resting, spending time with loved ones and putting the finishing touches on my wedding planning. It is so nice to be back in the land of comfort although my body hasn't completely adjusted back to "normal" food yet. I suffered from severe jet lag for the first week of being back and it was awful! I really didn't realize how much I missed my family and fiancé while I was gone until I saw them. Bradley picked me up from the airport and running into his arms will always be a memory that I will treasure. He had many surprises for me when I got back...deluxe pedicure, full body massage, hot tamales, full tank of gas, etc. I have accomplished a lot of wedding obstacles since I have been back if I don't say so myself. Invitations..check. Finalize flowers...check. Finalize cake..check. Purchase Bradley's ring..check. Guest book completed..check. Decorations completed...eh for the most part..check. In the meantime I have managed to find some pretty good deals on some household decor for our new apartment. Yay!! We had our first wedding shower the first weekend I was back and it was such a blessing. We got so many good things. We also had a huge family Fourth of July/Mom's birthday gathering. It was soooooo fun. I love it when my whole family can be together and have fun and enjoy each other. On the not so fun end, we started class last Monday womp wah! Only 27 days until the wedding and I have so many emotions through me but at the end of the day I'm just ready to be married to my best friend. Once we are married I will begin a new blog based on our first year of marriage...feel free to continue to follow me. Until then...Dream Big, Pray Hard, Live Strong! 

 

Elephant Ride and Sunset Cruise

Today was a long day but so wonderful. We got up early this morning and went out to one of Zambia's 80 National Parks to ride elephants. When we got there we had to sit through an info session on precautions and safety concerns. We then got to meet all the elephants. Courtney and I rode Danny, the largest elephant they had. He was 45 years old and weighed 5 1/2 tons. We rode through the African bush for an hour. When we finished our ride we got to feed our elephants for positive reinforcement. When the elephants got ready to go back to their protected fencing area they all stood in a row and saluted us! It was awesome! We then went up to their gift shop and watched a video of us riding them. It was an awesome video with good music and facts about Zambia....so of course we all bought it and I can't wait to show it to y'all. 

We got back to the hotel pretty early so we decided to get ready and walk to the shopping area here in Livingstone. We ate at Olga's again and then came back and headed to the markets for the last time. I finished buying all the gifts I had left for good prices. Woop woop!! We then headed to board the Lady Livingstone for the sunset cruise. It was the most relaxing experience we had the whole time here. We sat up on the third deck, sat back and enjoyed the ride and the sunset. We enjoyed unlimited snacks

and drinks and enjoyed our last hoorah together. We are now packing and getting ready to head out in the morning. I'm sure going to miss being Africa but I'm ready to see everyone and be back in my norm. Please keep us in your prayers as we travel the next two days. I will post when we get home but that will be the last one. I can't believe this trip is over. Love y'all!! 

Safari in Africa!

Okay so today was so amazing. We got up early and headed to the border of Zambia to cross over into Botswana, which was super sketch but we made it. We got our passports stamped and went on to Chobe National Park where we got to experience the safari. We started off the day in the safari jeep and cruised through the paths of the park looking at animals. The park doesn't have any fences up so it's all nature running its course. The animals just roam through and eat/drink in the park. I was shocked to see how close we could get to them and it didn't phase them. We saw elephants, impala, kudu, hippos, giraffes, baboons, wart hogs, and water buffalo. We also two buffalo carcasses and I thought that was pretty cool. It was awesome and don't worry I'll definitely post pics below. We stopped off at The Safari Lounge to eat lunch and it was such a beautiful view and great food. Probably the best food I've tasted here. After lunch we boarded one of the safari boats and finished up on the Zambezi River. The river brought four different rivers together. On the water, we saw elephants, hippos, baboons, crocodiles, and kudu. The elephants got so close to our boat and I have a few good videos of them. It was a busy but fun day. Tomorrow we get to ride elephants and go on the Sunset Cruise. Only one day left here in Zambia and it will be bittersweet. Until then....Dream Bug, Pray Hard, Live Strong! 

Victoria Falls and High Tea

Today was awesome!! We spent the morning at Victoria Falls where we hiked the trails and spent hours viewing God's most beautiful handiwork. We got soaked from head to toe but it was totally worth it. We saw a ton of baboons which chased us through the rain forest. Courtney, Brittany, and I took a crazy hike down to the Boiling Pot...it was the coolest/most beutiful hike I have ever taken. It was a very steep hike down, but even worse going back up it. When we got to the bottom of it we watched people bungi jump and zip line down the bridge over the Falls...I totally wanted to do it but I didn't. On our way back up, we had to take many breaks because it was definitely a workout. Our legs were shaking and we are definitely going to be sore in the morning.

This afternoon we went to The Royal Livingstone and had High Tea. We got to choose which type of tea we wanted, I chose Pure Green Tea and it was very good. We had multiple desserts and appetizers that were tasty. After we ate, we walked around and saw the beautiful grounds. We then sat out on the sunset deck and watched the sun go down. It was the perfect way to end the evening. We have to get up early to start our Safari tomorrow so until then....Dream Big, Pray Hard, Live Strong!!