Texas Trip - Day 3

...hang in there, it will take awhile to get through this one...

Monday morning woke me somewhat early.... I want to say 6, but admit I could be mistaken as I was up off and on throughout the night. I could hear Richard coming down the stairs, but he went outside to sit on the front porch rather than come into the family room where I was sleeping and disturb me. I had no idea of that at the time, so I ended up laying there for awhile, until I heard him come back into the house. At that point I got up and went into the kitchen to meet him.

We sat around the kitchen table and chatted for a half an hour or so before Kim and Merce got up. It was nice being able to have some quiet time again with one another. I admit my mind wandered into thinking about being able to have breakfast with this man every morning...and I really liked the feeling.

We got ready for the day and then went to a late breakfast at Cracker Barrel. We had fun and took our time, just laughing and talking... and then we decided to go to a local museum. Turns out the museum was closed Mondays, so we went miniature golfing instead. Turns out that a couple of schools was having some sort of field trip at the course, so it was a bit of a zoo, but we finally got our clubs and made it out to the course. I admit I haven't been mini golfing in awhile, but I wasn't overly bad. We got in about 12 holes before the heat defeated us and we went inside to cool off.

By the time we got our drinks and had cooled down a bit, it was time to head back to the house to load up my suitcase and get back on the road. We had a plan to leave town by 1:30 so we could meet his parents for dinner at 6. We got back to the house, loaded up and hit the road. Sadly, this is the first that my camera came out since I'd hit Texas, as I took a few shots of Kim and Merce before we left.

Richard and I left town and headed north. We were leaving a little later than we had planned, so I didn't get any shots of the scenery (again, I'll have to get shots the next time we're in Texas). As before, had no problem filling the time with talking, and even sang along with a bunch of 80s and 90s music on my mp3 player (lots of Roxette... yes, he's as dweeby as I am!)

We were already running late, so Richard took a moment to drive me past his old school and a few other spots from his childhood, before he called his parents to let them know we were nearly there. Since we were running late I didn't have a chance to check into the motel and change, so I was stuck meeting his parents in my jeans...but at least I had a nice blouse on, so it wasn't too bad...from the front. Being me, I had sat down on a dirty bench at the golf course so I had a big dirt splotch down one leg that I couldn't wipe off.... so I just made sure I didn't turn my back on his parents. Man there are times I go nuts being me... one day without a stain of some sort would be great.

His parents were sweet...his mom, Dixie, is darling (I felt bad that she still wanted to meet me even though she was starting to get a migraine), and his stepfather, Don knows more jokes than anyone I've met. We had dinner at a cute mom-and-pop Tex-Mex place, where I went with the Carne Guisada again (hey, I really loved the stuff!) and I think we had a nice time before they headed home. Richard is insisting that his mother liked me (at least he says she said so), but apparently I kissed Richard a time or two too many while in their company.... which made me feel bad because I don't remember giving him more than a couple of light pecks. I really do need to think more sometimes....

So we left the restaurant and headed back into San Antonio, passing China Grove (from the song...how cool is that?!) and while Richard insists it was a dog, I am still claiming it was a Chupacabra that I saw along the roadside. It had large ears and was tall and lean, and doing some kind of running bounce... it was dark though, so maybe he was right.... but maybe I was.... who knows. We did, however, pass a cowboy in full regalia riding his horse down the sidewalk just down the street from my hotel, which was freaking amazing!

We decided to go see a movie, so we checked me back into my hotel, and then we went to see the late show of "Thor". We'd just settled into the movie when I dumped about a third of my sprite down my front in the dark, and tried to brush it off like nothing happened (yeah, right.... he totally noticed but was nice enough not to say anything about it, other than to ask if I was alright). The movie was great... and it was nearly midnight by the time we headed back to the hotel. Being as geeky as I am, Richard drove us past a huge cemetery that stretched on for blocks... (yes, I love cemeteries...deal with it...turns out he does too). It was a beautiful cemetery...but its a bummer that it was in an unsafe part of town. The area was freaky enough that I was happy that Richard had securely locked my door when he closed my door at the theater (I love how he does that, just makes sure its locked before he shuts the door for me...it makes me feel so safe).

We arrived back to my hotel... he escorted me back to my room (me in my dirty bum pants and, thankfully, now dry shirt) when he kissed me... or I kissed him. At this point that part is a bit fuzzy. It was serious kissing, but he broke it off and started talking about how much he loved and respected me. He was holding my hands at this time, and then said how he'd planned to do this the next day, but that he just knew that he had to do this now. He then got down on one knee, pulled out my ring and asked me to marry him.

Oh. My. Holy. Heck. I mean, I knew at some point during this trip that he was going to officially propose, but I didn't expect this... with me all tired and in my stained pants and citrus soaked blouse.

All I could do was cry and say yes.

I hated to have to break the mood by asking if I could have my engagement ring, because he'd actually pulled out the wedding band and had put THAT on my finger. Sorry, but I wanted the pretty ring (forgive my moment of girly-ness, but I knew what the ring looked like and dang, I wanted it). We were both laughing by this point anyway, so I figured it was safe to tease him about how he'd put my ring on the wrong hand... so we laughed some more and he switched the ring over to the right finger.

He was all serious when he sat down and then began telling me things he hoped and planned for the two of us, and the life we would build together... re-iterating again how much he loved and respected me, and how he was honored to have me be his. He is the kindest, dearest man, and I look forward to having him be the Priesthood holder of our home. I loved seeing this very serious side of him, and the things he had to say had me crying even more.

He gave me another sweet (and completely chaste) kiss and then excused himself for the night... leaving me completely dumbfounded, and giggling to myself (though I blame that on how tired I was by this point).

This was so not what I expected from this night... but it didn't make it any less special, and it will certainly be a night to remember.

Texas Trip - Day Two

Day two in the big and bold state of Texas.....

Day two dawned freaking early.

Remember it was already into Sunday by the time I got back to my room.... let alone crawl into pjs, brush my teeth and get settled in my room.

We'd agreed that Richard would pick me up at 7:30 in the morning. Why so early? He was going to drive me 4 1/2 hours south down to Mission (down by the border) in order to go to church at his ward. Somehow this boy was actually excited to show me off... and I was looking forward to seeing a bit more of where he was currently living.

So my alarm went off at 6 am.... which my body rightly translated to 5 am back home. I hit snooze, rolled over, and passed right out again.... for about 7 minutes until my alarm went off again. No point in hitting snooze again, so I climbed out of bed and headed for the shower.

The nice thing about taking a long drive was that I could dress in normal clothes, and just hang my dress up in the backseat....I still had time, so I did a thorough job of ironing and was still doing good for time as it was only around quarter after 7. At that moment I got a call on my phone from Richard. He was outside and was it okay if he just came up now or should he wait in the car?

I'd just finished ironing my dress, but still had to blow dry my hair and paint my face. Luckily I have that down to about a 10-minute routine, so after receiving a perfectly chaste good morning kiss, Richard patiently waited in a chair by the window for me to finish (strange how being all girly and dolling myself up in front of him was not an issue....) I did, however, make sure that I opened the curtains before letting him in the room.... no impropriety here, thank you very much.

By 7:30 I was taking a last couple laps around the room to be sure I'd packed everything, then he hauled my bag down to the car and drove me around to the front office to check out and pay my bill. Since I knew I was staying Sunday night down in Mission I only needed to reserve a room again for Monday (when we would be back in San Antonio) then we hit the road for Mission.

I'll tell you this much, Texas is flat-out gorgeous. Considering we were on the road at a good clip, and not stopping for pictures (there were a few I wouldn't have minded taking, but they will have to wait until my next trip down south) I was just drinking in a lot of the passing scenery. Its pretty flat, with a lot of mesquite and cactus, but still amazing to gaze at. I am used to having mountains and lakes and trees to look at, and this was refreshingly different, and still a pleasure to behold. We'd drive along and the brush would continue on as far as the eye could see; breaking only occasionally for the entry to yet another ranch, or for some longhorns grazing in a field, or the odd oil pump, drilling away to untold depths.

What was also amazing was that during the long drive south, Richard and I kept up a non-stop conversation with no effort. I knew we had no problems filling the hours with phone calls and Skype, but it was nice to have that easy camaraderie in person. I also discovered that Richard is infinitely patient, as the poor man had to answer question after question that I peppered him with about the things I was seeing. It must have been worse than driving with a toddler... he'd just finish answering one question when another one would pop into my head. But he'd just smile and answer me, and sometimes tenderly kiss the back of my hand, which he held for the drive down (turns out automatic cars really can be good for something...like freeing up a hand to hold!)

We actually made good time (maybe it was my incessant questions pressing him to drive faster?), and we were able to unpack my things and I had a chance to chat with his sister (Kim) and brother-in-law (Merce) before it was time to change and head to church. We'd met and talked before on Skype, but it was nice to get to meet them in person.

By this time the temperature was soaring. Up to this point I didn't know what all the fuss was about.... I'd flown in the night before and it felt nice out... not too hot and the humidity just added a slight cooling touch. When we'd left my room that morning it was still cool out... but by the time we hit Mission it was nearing 105 and I was a puddle of melted girl. I am not a fan of heat under the best of times and this was pretty draining. Luckily it wasn't a long drive to church (his a/c is rather spotty).... and we were back into air conditioned coolness.

Church with Richard was quite the experience. For starters, I don't remember ever being in such a small congregation... if there were 50 people in attendance I'd be surprised. Everyone was nice and friendly, and I was introduced to what seemed like everyone in a very short time. Sitting together in Sacrament meeting was a bit of a hoot at first because, as I stated before, I am a bit taller than he is, and so we had a few moments of whose-arm-is-going-where before the meeting started. I wasn't worried about introducing myself in Relief Society, although the sisters apparently gave Kim a hard time about being sure to be there to introduce me. The time came for me to be introduced and my future sister-in-law was nowhere to be found! So I introduced myself (I'm not that shy really, so it was pretty easy). It helped that, including the primary age gal we had in the class and myself, there was I think only 13 women in the room. In fact, the Relief Society joked about how I really ought to join their congregation rather than haul one of their members all the way to Utah, where there are already more than enough members of the church. I think there may have been one gal not-so-thrilled with my news though. As soon as she heard I was marrying my boy her face sort-of fell. I think there may have been a bit of a crush there, because she didn't look my way again for the rest of the meeting.

I can't count how many people who couldn't wait to tell me what a wonderful man I was getting in Richard... which was oddly touching. That and his Bishop kept glancing at us during the meeting and smiling at us.....I'd accuse Richard of paying everyone off, but somehow I am sure that it was completely sincere.

After church we had to wait while Kim and Merce met with the Bishop, so Richard and I sat quietly in the chapel and just talked. It was nice to just be alone with him again, no matter how brief the time. Then we all drove over to Chuck E Cheese, because Merce's nephew was having a birthday party, so we trooped in and spent the next couple of hours surrounded by screaming kids and being introduced to yet more people. It was kind of fun, but it felt odd to be partying with a huge mouse while still dressed in my church clothes. If I'd only known ahead of time how windy it was in Texas I'd have packed my jeans along... as we were leaving the car and walking into the restaurant a breeze popped up that had my skirt twirling up to my hips! You better believe I held it down everytime we stepped outside again, and had Richard walk behind me to block the wind. That was NOT the kind of impression I wanted to leave behind.

After the party we headed back to the house where we had planned to watch an episode of Doctor Who (that had apparently failed to air because TiVo hadn't recorded it), so we settled for a funny comedy show "Hot and Fluffy" that had me in stitches. They had all seen it before, but apparently its a favorite because everyone was laughing along with me. I found all the big-guy "fluffy" jokes a complete riot...so much that there were tears rolling down my face by the time it was over.

I was getting pretty sleepy by the end, so Richard blew up the air mattress he'd bought specifically for my visit and set up a fan to help keep me comfortable before everyone headed off to bed. I'll give her this... Kim is quite the watchdog.... no excessive kissing when she's around! As frustrating as it was, I have to say I am grateful for her little interventions....

And as for the fan? Well, I actually got too cold in the night and finally had to crawl off the mattress to find the switch to turn it off. What can I say but I am too much of a cream puff to handle what Texas was tossing at me.... what a wuss I am...but, all-in-all, it was a very nice day.

Texas Trip - Day 1

I know, I know...I should have had this up and posted days ago.

Last Friday I ended up working 12 1/2 hours, so, by the time I got home all I wanted was sleep. So much for my plans of being packed and ready to go the night before. Add to that the fact that I failed to set my alarm had me running around like mad that Saturday morning. I managed to get stuff packed and get out the door with time to have a relaxing drive to the airport, check in and still not have to rush to catch my flight. I left Salt Lake for Denver (which was surprisingly flat). I somehow always pictured Denver nestled against the mountains, but I did get a glimpse of them far off in the distance as we sat on the tarmac outside of the airport...stopped because one of the passengers decided to remove his seatbelt the moment we landed on the runway so he could use the bathroom...the pilot actually stopped the plane and we waited until the embarrassed man finished, re-seated himself and strapped his seatbelt back on, to the applause of a group of travelers who were in Denver for a U2 concert.

This is the largest airport I had been in, and I was amused to step off the airplane and be confronted with a large and prominent "Tornado Shelter" sign. Denver airport is HUGE, with a series of escalator style moving walkways, which came in handy when trekking from one end of the airport to the other in order to make my connecting flight. I had a long layover in Denver, but thankfully I had downloaded episodes of the new Sherlock series onto my Ipod, so I was covered.



Back onto another flight, a gorgeous sunset outside my window, and then I was slowly descending into San Antonio airspace. By this time I had been traveling for over 6 hours and I was tired, so I followed the crowd towards baggage claim, and pulled out my cell phone to send out texts letting everyone know I had arrived safely.

There I was, fairly oblivious to everyone around when I hear this voice from my side say, "Hi, are you here for Richard Gregg?" I look to my left, and then had to look down to find the owner of the voice, for this gal was fairly short. A momentary feeling of being the Jolly Green Giant flashed by me (she wasn't quite 5' as compared to my 5'9") before I found my voice to reply, "Yes". The imp by my side flashed a grin and pointed behind me, "You just walked past him" she laughed.

Aw man....what a way to create an entrance.

I turned to see Richard walking towards me, sheepish grin on his face. I knew Richard was a good 2" shorter than I was, but I admit (and he knows this) that the first thought that crossed my mind was, dang he's a lot smaller than I had thought he'd be, closely followed by, he's also much cuter in person. I should probably clarify these thoughts... Richard and I have been Skyping for months now and, while I knew he was shorter than I am, its another thing to actually stand there face-to-face. The laptop on his end doesn't broadcast the clearest of images either. Regardless, he's not as, uh, husky, as I had thought, but, after those first few moments, I didn't think of it again.

this image was taken later in the trip, but this is Richard

He pulled me into a hug, asked if he could kiss me, and then gave me the sweetest, tenderest kiss. Then, holding my hand, he introduced me to the imp, who turned out to be his niece, Felicia, who had begged to come along. We made our way to baggage claim, where he manfully extracted my heavy bag, re-claimed my hand, and then escorted us out to his car, dragging my bag behind him.

Well, San Antonio is certainly humid and muggy, but that evening it wasn't too bad (but then, by now it was nearly 10 at night by the time we collected my bag and headed out of the airport). There was a few moments of awkwardness, and then everything just fell into a sense of comfort and like we'd done this for years. Richard was a total gentleman and opened doors for me (something I am very much not used to) and we started chatting easily as we drove to my hotel and checked me in. We tossed my bag into my room and then all three of us drove to a local Tex-Mex restaurant for dinner.

Tex-Mex....now there's an experience for you. I figured before I went down that it would be no big deal...after all, we have Mexican restaurants down here. Wrong! The menu was mostly items I'd never heard of and, understandably, given Spanish names that my poor high school Spanish (what little is left of it) failed to translate. I finally had to throw myself on Richard's mercy and ask for translations of what the dishes are, and ended up ordering his suggestion of Carne Guisada, sort of spicy gravy with beef chunks that you eat with spanish rice. Absolutely delicious. I definitely need to get a good recipe of this.

Felicia asked Richard if he'd get her some pico de gallo, and he asked if I'd like some as well. He was concerned enough (he knows I don't like overly spicy stuff) to ask me to try it before I dumped it on my dinner. Silly me was thinking, I eat pico all the time up here in Utah, but dutifully dipped a finger in and tried it first.

Just as I thought, it was just fine...so I dumped it on my dinner and dove in....only to take that first real bite of pico and have tears come to my eyes. Apparently, in Texas, pico is heavily laced with jalapeno. Dang that was hot. So off came most of the pico.

We all talked for awhile and ate our dinner before we finally decided to end the evening and they drove me back to my hotel. Richard walked me to my room, gave me a kiss goodnight and then they left for the evening, with the promise of Richard being back around 7:30 in the morning, as we were going to drive to Mission (4 1/2 hours to the south on the Mexican/Texan border) to go to church together at Richard's ward.

So our time together was short, but it was a very nice end to a very long day.

Life, The Universe.....and Richard

I think the Fates are trying to tell me something.

When I first thought of moving to Utah a few years ago, the Fates tossed a Richard into my path. I wasn't interested so he went and found himself someone new, and I went on my merry little way...no harm, no foul.

Flash forward to two years ago and another dating opportunity arrives....named Richard. I didn't think too much of it at the time, but went on one date with him and the relationship went nowhere. Oh well.

Earlier this year my online dating network tossed yet another Richard into my path. Nice enough guy, but after a couple of emails and phone calls the words "Eternal" and "Companion" were being dropped into the conversation. Uh, thanks, but I am in no way desperate enough to jump back into the world of marriage based on just a couple of IM chats. I backed off for a month or so, but we are talking again now and taking it at a slower pace.

I'm still trucking on when I had another surprise this morning.....you guessed it, yet another Richard. Luckily, this one is easy to ignore seeing as my online dating service is trying to match me up with a man who is into participating in sports and wants a like-minded girl (which we all know is soooooooooooooo not me....and besides, this guy lives halfway across the country!)

Hmmmmm.....think the Universe might be trying to tell me something?

disclaimer: if you are a Richard who happens to be reading this post, my most humblest of apologies, I hold nothing against your name. I happen to actually like it....I'm just a bit dumbfounded why it keeps popping up in my life.