As usual, I'm sitting down to write an update on something that happened about four weeks ago. Oops! Luckily I have a fantastic memory. Kind of.
This year I've made 12 goals. 12 in '12. It sounds impressive, but it's not. Some of them are "go to the dentist" and "frame that print we bought on our honeymoon." I kind of have a feeling I may end 2012 saying, "Yay! I did a bunch of tasks this year!" rather than, "I had all these great experiences that I can't quantify." But, as much as I'd like to think I'm not a type A person, I am a person who will spend all day cleaning the study just so I can put a gold star in the box that says "clean the study." Yes, that was one of my goals for 2012, and yes, I am literally giving myself gold stars for goals I meet. As I'm reading what I'm writing, I'm concerned it's going to come across like I have some sort of psychological disorder.
I have even broken up big goals into smaller goals, so I can use more gold stars. Hopefully I'll be able to end 2012 saying it was a success in both quantifiable and unquantifiable ways.
Anyway, all of that to say - one of my goals is to write every week. I've missed one week so far, but I'm letting that slide. Three out of four is OK, right? My goal originally was to write every day, but that just seemed too ambitious. I wish it were realistic - and I hope someday it actually is - but I just didn't think it was yet. And that's kind of a depressing thought. Maybe I'm just not trying hard enough? I don't know. But hopefully I get there by someday.
So, anyway - back to the purpose of writing: the trip recap. Over the New Year's holiday, Dave and I took a trip to Virginia and North Carolina. We've decided we should always celebrate New Year's somewhere warm. It's so much better that way. It's really depressing to celebrate that holiday in the cold. When you think about it, it's kind of sad that people in Chicago get so excited about ushering in the absolute worst month of the year. And some of them do it in short dresses and heels. What's wrong with us?!
We spent the first few days in Virginia with one of my best friends from college and her husband (shout out to the Kris and Garrett for being the BEST hosts). It was so fun. I can't think too deeply about it right now, because it just makes me sad that we don't live closer. My writing tonight is going to be informative and detached. Not gonna get emotional about any of this. But anyway, we had lots of quality girl time, and got to spend a lot of time hanging out at their favorite places. I always love seeing people in their natural habitats - going to their favorite restaurants, driving around their neighborhoods... just seeing what life is like every day. Plus, it was so warm there, and I even got to walk on the beach and dip my feet in the water. In December! I think I was meant to live by an ocean.
It was a weekend of firsts: I watched Pulp Fiction for the first time, and sang karaoke... by myself. Granted, there were only about 12 people in the karaoke bar and about 8 of them were in our group. But still, I was proud. And I decided that "I Guess That's Why They Call it the Blues" is my go-to karaoke song, should I ever decide to sing in public by myself again. I won't, but it's a nice thought, to think about how I once sang alone in public. And didn't sound terrible. I didn't sound good, but I didn't sound terrible. SUCCESS!
So, we had a really great time. And, as I always think after seeing friends who live other places: I hate that we don't live in the same place, but I'm very, very grateful to have friends that make me that sad to leave them.
After leaving friends in Virginia, we headed down to North Carolina, where we met up with Dave's mom's family. We stayed with his Aunt Vi in a town near where his mom grew up. She's one of those people who has absolutely no interest in embracing all the internet has to offer (and she may be so much better off for it...), so I could literally say whatever I wanted about her right now, because she will never, ever read this, but of course, I have nothing bad to say about her. She kept pestering us about how she's never seen our wedding photos, so we told her to get Facebook, and she looked at us like we were crazy. We told her that her memory of our wedding might have to suffice, because I literally don't think we have any hard copies of our wedding photos, except the ones hanging up at our place. She was like, "You need to print me pictures! I need to show my friends!" and we were like, "Your friends could not care less about our wedding photos. They probably want to see our wedding photos even less than they want to see pictures of your grandkids." (Sorry, grandparents)
It was great staying with her, though - she took us on a long driving tour of a lot of places in the area that were meaningful to the family. We drove by Dave's mom's childhood home, and we also stopped at the church where his parents were married, and where his mom is now buried. I can't really explain it, but was really special for me to get to be there. In one sense, I never knew his mom, so it's not really possible to miss her. But in another sense, it sometimes hits me pretty hard that there's this irreplaceable person who raised and loved my husband that I've never known. So getting to know her family more - and experience the place that was home to much of her life - was really important to me. But, I said I wasn't going to get emotional in this post so...
We also met a lot of people that neither Dave or I knew, but who sure knew who he was. We would drive around and randomly stop at some house... Aunt Vi would make us pull over somewhere and say, "your mom went to high school with this woman's son, so we need to stop and say "'hi.'" I kept thinking, "aren't these people going to mind that we're just walking in their homes, unannounced?" No, they absolutely did not mind. The south!
After hanging out with Dave's mom's side (sorry, no pictures), we drove a couple hours west and met up with his Dad's side (no pictures from there, either). I am always nervous meeting new people, but I should've learned a long time ago to never get nervous about meeting someone related to Dave. Luckily (for me), his dad's side is filled with extreme extroverts. I could've been a mute and it would've been fine. Within five minutes of meeting them all, I was like, "OK, OK... so this personality is like, a family thing." I get it. I know all about the genetics. They were all awesome. And they took us to an amazing donut shop. And fed us with delicious barbeque. And now I'm on Weight Watchers (thanks, guys!).
Seriously, though - we spent the evening talking and laughing over more delicious food, and it was really a bummer to have to leave. It definitely made me wish we could visit more often. But thanks to the miracle of Facebook, I can feel a little closer. Now we just need to get Aunt Vi to join.
