5 days of Everything

Raise your hand if you wanna hear about how last week went?

Ok, put your hand down! Don't you feel kinda silly with your hand raised while you're sitting at your computer?

Well, I'll start at the beginning. How does that sound? Raise your hand if that sounds good. Gosh, you fell for it again. Never raise your hand again when I ask a question.

So... Last Tuesday... The most anxiety filled day I've ever had, especially while at work. Everyone knew I was leaving between 2:30 and 3, which ended up being 3:15. No thanks to my boss who got his section of a report done that I was waiting for. I ran home real quick, hoping to have time to "freshen up", but all I had time to do was change and throw my stuff in my car. I managed to talk to Stacey half of the way to the airport. I think I talked to Kaitlin some. Texted (I know, totally illegal!) Dennis some. Talked to Dennis some. Kept my car on cruise control to avoid driving 100 mph.

I got to his hotel without a problem. Go me and my good sense of direction. And my google maps directions. I got out to walk towards the hotel and stretch. And out he walked... Ahhhh... Shake hands, hug, is there going to be a kiss? No, we agreed to hug. Maybe a kiss. We'll see about that though. Good thing I was chewing cinnamon gum! Just in case you know... A hug it was! Lol, and then a kiss or two. Ok, maybe 3. He claims I initiated that. I honestly don't remember. But I think he did.

Ok, time to drive to the city. Gotta check into the hotel. Maybe now I'll actually have time to "freshen up." Again, with the help of google maps and my keen sense of direction we made it in one piece without swearing at stupid cars and people. We checked in, dropped our stuff off, and headed out to walk around, chat, and have dinner. It was a lovely evening. I was in great company. And you know what, at no point during that initial meeting did I ever feel any awkwardness or uncomfortableness, it all felt very natural.

Dinner was at the Cheesecake Factory. I know, so franchise while in a big city with tons of great restaurants. And we didn't even eat any cheesecake! After dinner we walked around more. Chatted more. Visited more. Finally around 9/9:30 we decided to head in and hang out at the hotel. Which we did. Hung out. I brought a deck of cards so we played a few random card games while we got to know each other and laughed. We eventually turned in for the night.

Wednesday consisted of quickly getting ready. Missing breakfast. Checking out, but leaving our luggage and car at the hotel for the day. We walked from 4th and Market (Old Navy corner) down to the Ferry Building, then down to Pier 33 where we got tickets to go to Alcatraz Island.
Then we saw cable cars.Oh, and McCovy Cove while we were on the "Ride the Duck" tour.
Ok, I get it, you want to see pictures of Dennis! Not the silly things we saw or did! Plus they're a little out of order up there.

So who is this studly guy in my picture? That's Dennis! I know. I need to zoom in and do some cropping. These are fully unedited pictures you're seeing here so cut me some slack!
Dennis doesn't like this picture. But I do. I look good, what can I say? You'd never know that just an hour before I was a sweaty mess from our 15 mile hike down Market Street.
Doesn't this picture look like it belongs in a magazine or something? Dennis found a little nook on the island and crawled in it. I love the brick in the background.So after Alcatraz, we moved down to Pier 39 where we had a not so yummy lunch. Then we moved down to Fisherman's Wharf where we should have had lunch. We decided to take the "Ride the Duck" tour. That's where some of the pictures from above are from.

After that we walked 3/4 of the way back to the hotel to get the car and head to Hilmar. You know what I learned about Dennis during this trip? He falls asleep very easily while in a moving vehicle. We stopped at Cool Hand Luke's for dinner then came into Hilmar. A quick stop at my parent's house to pick up the dogs and make the introductions. Awkward... Back to my house where we hung out, watched TV, played with the dogs. Blah blah blah... A lot of talking happened.

Thursday consisted of the Grand Tour of Hilmar. Yep, we were done in 10 minutes. I lied, 7 minutes. I took Dennis to In-N-Out for lunch. He loves burgers and had never had In-N-Out. We drove around Turlock some. Went to Target (currently there are none in Alaska) and then we went to Costco (our favorite store). We came back to Hilmar and hung out until dinner at my parent's house.

Dinner went much better then the night before. Dennis told his story about being divorced with 2 kids, and he told my parents what his intentions with us are. It went well. After dinner we went to Rylen and Jim's for ice cream and to hang out. We goofed around and visited. It was good. To home, to rest and relax, and to go to bed.

Friday was lunch at Hilmar Cheese with some of my co-workers, and to show him where I work. That went well. After lunch we went to see the movie Fireproof. Slow movie with a good Christian based story. Go see it. After lunch we came back to the house for a bit before getting ready to go to dinner with some friends at the Bistro.

I love the Bistro...
We walked around downtown some before heading home. We knew our time together was coming to a close. Only one day left... *sniff*

Saturday we were on the road by about 9am to go to Monterey. Again... someone fell asleep in the car... I won't name any names, but I was driving so it wasn't me...

We parked at Fisherman's Wharf and walked down to Cannery Row. Had a quick light lunch. By this point we've both stuffed ourselves silly with food all week. It was time to take it easy.
We walked back to the car then drove out to Carmel Valley to taste some wine. Plus Dennis wanted to get a bottle for his best friend/roommate/children's godfather/current babysitter. So we went to Bernardus, which comes highly recommended by my brother and mom.
We then met Chris and Colleen at Forge in the Forest for a very early dinner/late lunch. That was good that Chris got to spend some more time with Dennis being as he was very skeptical at first. Then we headed home. I admit here, I cried a little because I knew that tomorrow I had to drive him back to the airport. He told me to stop, but that he was touched because that shows that I truly do care. And I do. And then he fell asleep.

Oh the way home I was informed that someone needed to go to the grocery store. But it was a surprise. I trusted that Save Mart is easy enough to get to, so I let him drive himself... I worried though, he doesn't know where he's going and he doesn't know which way is north. When he returned, I was surprised. He got more milk and cereal... For his one more morning. And then he came in with 2 bunches of flowers... Ahhh... I know.

Sunday SUCKED! Big time! I tried to hold it together while I drove back to the airport. When we got there I had to run inside and use the restroom. He unloaded. We hugged. I cried. He consoled. We kissed. I cried some more. Then Dennis told me he left a card for me in the car, and another one back at the house in my room. Geez! How was I supposed to read the card, not cry, and drive home? Ain't gonna happen. I stopped at Stacey's on the way home to cry some more and have lunch. Thanks friend! I read the first card there... and cried some more. Geez I was a mess. A mess with puffy red eyes by the time it was time to go to bed.

Yesterday was extremely hard. Hard because now I know what I'm missing. I don't just miss hearing from him throughout the day. I miss Dennis, in the flesh, human huggable Dennis. We're going to see each other as often as possible. Hopefully again in November then again in January. But gosh, however long we decided to date long distance is going to be long and hard! Seriously!

One thing that I will miss while we're apart...
But it's kinda special because every time we see each other will be like another first kiss. Sorry mom... But you said you were surprised that we weren't affectionate around you and dad... We'll do better at that next time. I promise.

Oh, and I'll miss that face. Even that look.
I miss everything about him.

And the dogs miss him too. He passed the puppy test. Riley and Izzie loved him. Can't say he loved them back. But they miss him.