Shopping Extravaganza!

 It has finally arrived! The time has come for my yearly shopping trip to Albertville with my friends. For me, this is the third annual trip. We have progressed each year- the first year there were just four of us and we left at 7am and returned at 1130 pm; that turned out to be a long day.... too long. The next year, we ammended it and spent the night (the four of us). We still got home late that night, but got WAY more shopping in. That year, I got smart and opened a savings account for the trip so I'm not spending too much money. This year, we finally got more people to come! There were seven of us total that ended up making the haul. We left around 930 in the morning and went to the Mall of America for that night, then stopped at IKEA (my new favorite store!) on the way to the hotel. We drank a few bottles of wine and had some great conversations, then went to bed. The next morning, we stopped by McD's for some brunch and we were off. We spent a fun-filled and shopping-filled day in Albertville (I changed my pants in the back seat of Kristina's car) before heading home. I got my Christmas shopping about 75% done and had a great time with some good friends. I look forward to each October and that sweet time away from my family. I love my husband and children more than I ever imagined possible, but I need a break every so often! Now I just have to wait until next year!