We're kinda IN LOVE and it's sorta a BIG DEAL

A college friend was being sealed to her eternal best friend this past weekend and even though handsome husband had to work, I decided someone needed to represent. So, I prepared myself in both mind and body to drive the 2 hours and 52 minutes to Idaho Falls. I told myself, this is not going to be a weekend of sleep and relaxing. This is going to be a weekend of driving and many stressful situations that seem to follow weddings like a shark follows blood. The emotions emit into the air and all things terrible strike, resulting in a feeding frenzy often involving mothers, mother-in-laws and a bridesmaids with a roaring bride leading the whole shebang. I loaded up with chips, soda, peanut M&Ms and gum to pass out the morning of the wedding when many teeth were going to be forgotten until halfway to our destination and was on my way...

A request from Steven stopped me. 'Will you come by my work to say goodbye?' Ummm... sure, I guess. It's not like we're in the honeymoon stage anymore. It's not going to really matter if I see you for the last time that morning or that evening. But ok, 10 extra minutes wasn't going to kill me. Although, at the time as I pulled off the crowded highway onto a crowded main street I had different thoughts running through mind. About how instead of 5 minutes at 70 mph away from home I was now 10 minutes at 60 mph away. And how minutes were crunching as I waited in line at the light and how 3 hours was being stretched into 10 pm instead of 9 like I had originally planned.

I couldn't kiss him goodbye because of a cold sore that I think has taken up permanent residence on my lip and I wasn't about to hug a grease monkey in my traveling clothes of cuteness. So I blew a kiss, told him I loved him and was begged to wait around for a hour until he got off work so that we could drive the 5-10 minutes home together. Yeah right. I still had things to do before I left before I put my race car on the track.

My hands were still not on the steering wheel when he called a hour later, telling me he was off work and that perhaps I could come get him. Of course, I told him in his dreams, but that I did need the tank filled. See, the funny thing about living in Oregon is that there is always someone there to fill your tank for you. You hand them a card and they put some juice in your car while you sit in comfort, out of the cold, wind and rain. I have only filled up my own car enough times to count on one hand. And I wasn't about to start counting on the other if there was any way that handsome husband could do it for me. So, I relented in driving the yellow line back to his work so long as I got a full tank out of the deal.

On our way home we talked about things that people that are in love talk about. Things like, will you do the dishes while I am gone and there is peanut butter and jelly and bread, you will have enough to survive two days. And from his end, be sure to drive safe and how much he wished he were going.

I jumped out of the car to switch places and gave him a huge goodbye hug. Looking into his muddy-river eyes I realized that I really did want him to go with me. We have a theory about how therapeutic road trips are for relationships because it was a road trip from Rexburg to SLC that I decided he was the man that I wanted for my own and another road trip from Rexburg to Oregon that made us a couple that would later have the opportunity to walk into the eternities together. It's the advice of the century. If something is wrong, a road trip will fix it. We had a few things wrong that night, actually, and it was a little fight that I think had made him feel that he needed me to stop by his work to say goodbye that evening.

Standing at the mailbox, the car humming beside us, waiting for me to push on the gas pedal, I got the craziest of crazy ideas. "How about you just go with me?" Now, why this is so crazy is that he couldn't really 'go' with me. He had to work the next day and needed to be home for that. But he could drive with me. We could get our road trip in. Crazy. To drive 3 hours, drop me off, drive back home, go to work and then come get me just to turn around again to go back home. Crazy. We're not really the irresponsible, throw everything to the wind for the sake of love kind. The summer we were engaged it would have been easy for me to stay in Rexburg to 'be together' but I chose to go back to Oregon where I wouldn't have to put out money for rent and food and could earn money. Most of that earned money went to gas, paying for trips from Oregon to Idaho, but it seemed like the responsible thing to do at the time. And I am no dainty flower when it comes to driving. I can hold my own in speed and distance. Whenever we need to get somewhere quickly I am the one behind the wheel. And I have zero tickets. Thank you. Those 12 hour trips from Oregon to Rexburg and back gave me some decent endurance skills and I can hold my bladder together like no one's business. Needless to say, I didn't NEED Steven to drive me. And I am not normally sappy enough to ask him to do such a thing when it's so totally dumb. Very irresponsible to use so much gas and so much time. But we went for it.

We're kinda IN LOVE and it's sorta a BIG DEAL. He grabbed his shaver, washed the oil off the arm that I always lean on during these long trips and we were in the car on our way, together. We got our problems taken care of, talked about a few dreams, disagreed about how many kiddos we are going to have and laughed at the ridiculous things we have done. He dropped me off in Idaho Falls into a roomful of rowdy girls and I was in college again while he had to return back to life and drive 3 more hours back down to Utah. Bless his heart. I could have done it on my own. But we had a good time together and I wouldn't take it back, even after him hitting a deer on the way home. Yeah. A deer. Stupid thing. He isn't sure if he killed it, but for sure the 3 cars behind him did. It's times like this that we're just grateful that we still have the opportunity to spontaneously take off together and not worry about who's changing the baby's diapers and who's throwing a ball for the dog. And we'll take advantage of it, even if it's irresponsible and makes us look a little sappy.