# 23 - Go on the Anheuser-Busch tour

Anheuser-Busch is huge in St. Louis.  With its lines of Budweiser, Michelob, and Bacardi (plus more) it's easy to see why.  The original brewery is located in St. Louis and it offers a variety of tours.  There's a free tour, a beer school, and Brewmaster's Tour.  Beer school is $10 per person and the Brewmaster's Tour is $25 per person so we decided to stick with the free tour this time.

We decided to double date with friends from my old town and made an afternoon of the tour, dinner, and Ted Drewes.

Two downsides to how we planned this tour - The first is that it was Memorial Day weekend and the Cards were in town.  I don't know if it's always as crowded as it was but I assume it was extra crowded because of these 2 factors.  We arrived at the brewery at 2:30.  We stood in line to receive our tour tickets and were told that we would be on the 4 o'clock tour.  There's a gift shop and some history and memorabilia displayed in the main room but we were done browsing by 3.  So we took a seat on the ground and talked with each other while waiting for our tour to start.  I thought the time passed fairly quickly but it was excruciating if you ask my husband.

We finally started the tour and were part of a group of maybe 30 people.  The tour took us around the brewery grounds, including outside in the 90+ degree heat (downside number 2).  We were able to see the finishing tanks, Clydesdale stable, and packaging plant.  However, the line to the packaging plant had been shut down so we weren't able to see the hundreds of bottles and cans packaged every minute.  That would have been fun.

Overall, I found it just okay.  The brewery grounds are beautiful and it was interesting to learn about the steps involved in brewing but it was more walking and waiting than learning.  If I were to go back to the brewery I would spring for the $25 Brewmaster's tour which is more in depth and gives you access to more places.  Plus, you pay and schedule your time beforehand so you don't have to find something to pass the time for an hour and a half before it starts.

# 1 - Read 30 books - For One More Day by Mitch Albom (book 7)

I love all of Mitch Albom's books.  They're sweet and interesting and full of important life lessons.  This one was no exception.  It's a story about change and regret and disappointment and baseball.  But at the heart of it, it's the story of a boy and his mom. 

I am lucky that my mom is still here and that we have a great relationship.  She lives 2 hours away and I get to see her fairly often.  I call her every morning on my way to work.  I shudder at the time in my life when I went weeks without talking to her.  I don't think I've ever heard her raise her voice to me or my sister, or even my dad.  She's calm, supportive and loving.  She's the best grandmother and a perfect listener.  She avoids conflicts and confrontation which partly explains why her and my dad have been married for 30+ years, and she encourages me to back down in my disagreements with my husband sometimes.  In the bigger picture, it can be easier and more important to just let some things go. 

I imagine that if she were to head to Heaven before I do, I will miss her everyday like the character in the book misses his mother.  Our lives are difficult and can be lonely but when you have your mom on your side, overcoming the hard times seem possible because someone believes in you.  I have two girls and I pray that we'll always have a strong relationship.  I know that the teenage years will be tough and they'll hate me or be embarassed by me but I hope that they always know I love them wholeheartedly.  I hope they know that I will always be proud of them and that I will stand by them even when things don't turn out the way they hoped.  If in the end of my life my children think of me the way I think of my mom, I will know that I was a good one.

(Me, my mom, and my girls at the Missouri Botanical Garden)

Read more about the book or buy it here.

# 1 - Read 30 books - The Last Time I Saw You by Elizabeth Berg (book 6)

The plot of this book is more complicated and entertaining than it seems, especially if you ever went to high school.  It follows the lives of 5 characters who are getting ready to attend their 40 year high school reunion.  Everyone goes for a different reason but also the same ones - to reconnect, to show others how they've turned out, to satisfy the curiosity of how everyone else turned out.  The author does an amazing job of building each character so that you feel like you know them on a personal level.  It was an easy read but also full of lessons to learn.

I graduated in 2000 and went to my high school reunion 2 years ago.  In the age of Facebook, Skype, and email it's hard to convince people to get together in person.  Maybe my class wasn't as close as other classes or the timing was bad or everyone was so spread out, I don't know, but it wasn't very well attended.  However, I still had a great time and am glad I went.  I now live in St. Louis but went to high school in Lacey, WA.  So in addition to the reunion I got to sneak in a mini vacation to a place I hadn't been back to in 8 years.  Everything was different and I found myself glad to only be visiting.  It was still beautiful and held a lot of great memories, but it wasn't home anymore.

High school was good for me; I don't have any traumatic stories to share other than the usual coming of age ones.  I don't know what clique I fell into; I participated in a lot of things.  I was a cheerleader, involved in student government and the National Honor Society and a Freshman Mentor.  I like to think I got along with mostly everyone and pray that I was never a "mean girl".  I had my close group of friends and we still talk to this day.  I don't see them as often as I'd like but I hope that if we have a 20 year reunion we'll be able to get together and laugh about old times and still see the good and fun in each other.  We can never go back, and I wouldn't want to, but it's fun to reminisce about when you were young and carefree.  It's especially fun for me to reminisce with the people back in WA since the people I am around here in St. Louis aren't the people I grew up with.  They don't "remember when..." or burst into cheers with me or sing the fight song.  I've changed a lot since high school and most days my life turned out nothing like I expected (does anyone's?!).  But I'm happy and I'm surrounded by good people so I consider myself incredibly lucky.

I'm glad I read this book, maybe I'll remember to re-read it when it's time for my 40 year reunion!

Read about it or buy it here.

# 22 - Make a new recipe - April

April is an unusual month for us because of turkey season.  Justin spends much of the month at his parents' farm and I'm left to fend for myself.  I spend a lot of that time going out with friends for dinner or eating simple things so I didn't make a new entree this month.  But I still made something I'd never made before when I was visiting the farm.  I wanted something easy and declicious for dessert and this recipe is exactly that.

I used an already made graham cracker crust to make it even easier and it only consisted of a few ingredients.  It was perfect!  Here's the recipe.  Enjoy!

# 1 - Read 30 books - The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne (book 5)

Read this book...now.  It is absolutely amazing.  It's undeniably sad but also inspiring.  There are so many things we can learn from children when it comes to how we should treat people.  I don't want to give much away but please put this book on your must-read list.  You'll be glad you did.  I couldn't put it down and finished it in 4 hours.  I hope it inspires you too.

There's also a movie but I'm a little hesitant to see it.  The book was written from the perspective of naive 9 year old Bruno.  There are some scenes where the author could have easily described the horror of the scene but told it from Bruno's sheltered perspective.  I appreciated that and I'm a little afraid the movie will be more graphic.  I still may watch it though, but not right now.  I don't want the beauty of the book to be entangled with the movie just yet.

Read more about the book and/or buy it here.

# 3 - Take a guided tour of St. Louis

I've lived in St. Louis for almost 5 years and I've done St. Louis things like Forest Park, eaten toasted ravioli, visited the Botanical Garden, and drank Budweiser.  But there is so much more to St. Louis.  I didn't grow up here so I didn't get the Missouri history in school like other locals did.  I find St. Louis' roots very fascinating, how it was so crucial in the westward expansion.  And there's so much more to this city than recent articles claiming it to be "The Most Dangerous City".  It's beautiful, it's friendly, and safe for a city of its size.  The sports fans here are hard core and there are so many things to do for free.  It's a great place to raise kids as we have some of the best attractions and hospitals around. 

I love being a tourist and going on guided tours.  When we went to Seattle a couple of years ago I made sure to book a harbor cruise and a food tour.  Last year we took another harbor cruise around New York as well as a 9/11 Memorial guided tour.  I think they're great ways to get to know about a place in a short amount of time.  I realized that I hadn't taken the time to tour my own city yet!  So I put it on my list.  And luckily, I got a Groupon for a trolley tour of St. Louis for 2 people.

My husband and I really enjoyed this tour.  My husband has lived in St. Louis his entire 40 years and learned a lot on this tour.  Our tour guide was Charlie, and it's obvious that he is knowledgeable and loves St. Louis.  The tour lasted an hour and a half and took through downtown, Forest Park, and the Loop.  We covered a lot of ground but it flew by because we were having so much fun and learning a lot.  I absolutely, without reservation, recommend this tour.  It leaves from Lumiere Place so it's really convenient to find and park. There was a great mixture on our tour, with people from all over the world.  It was fun to see the city through a tourist's eyes and to better appreicate all we have within our reach. 

Read more about St. Louis Fun Tours here.

# 1 - Read 30 books - The Brightest Star in the Sky by Marian Keyes (book 4)

I have read just about all of Marian Keyes' books.  They are fun, easy to read, chick-lit books that take me away from life for a little while.  There are usually silly misunderstandings, love triangles, and strong lead female characters.  This book was a little different.  It was still funny and lives interesected, but there was also a serious subject matter to the book (but I won't give it away because you don't really find out about it until near the end).  It was told through the eyes of a "spirit" (or at least that's who you think it is for much of the book, again, I won't tell) and it was a new concept to me.  I couldn't put it down and absolutely had to finish the last 200 pages even though it took me until 2 in the morning. 

There are a lot of flashbacks, which I loved because you got the whole history of each character/couple, but it was easy to follow.  Each character was really developed and you came to dislike or cheer on each one.  I liked that this book was different from her others.  It was a great read.

Read the synopsis or buy it here.