Needless to say we avoided temptation and went to bed early.
We boarded Hurley at our vet's and took off EARLY in the morning for Raleigh.
Unfortunately for us we didn't take into account that the "snow" storm coming in that night would actually accumulate to anything, so we entered our terminals with only half an hour to spare til take off.
Yes, I said terminals.
Plural.
When I bought these tickets I thought I was being an awesome planner by buying them seperately.
I planned on only staying in CO through the weekend where John was going to stay one full week.
Both leaving from Raleigh on the same day, just coming home on different days.
Naively I assumed since we were leaving on the same day from Raleigh that we'd still be on the same flight.
Def wrong.
Both our planes left at the same time, but he was flown to Detriot then Denver where I was flown to Dallas/FW to Denver.
Of course a delay in Raleigh for de-icing our planes made John almost miss his Detriot-Denver connection but he still managed to get there about an hour and a half before me. How that all worked I don't know.
When having to explain our seperate flight story, we've just told people that we don't play well in tight spaces, so we flew seperately. ;)
My dad picked us up at DIA and immediately hit up Chipotle.
John is hopeless.
Since my dad had to run to a meeting John had to eat in the car, that hopefully gives you a clue how obsessed he is with those stinkin burritos.
Dad dropped us off at my mom and dad's house where I patiently ate my burrito on a table as opposed to my lap.
We walked across the street to visit GG (my grandma!) and see her new house.
We ended up staying at her house for several hours just talking about everything.
I absolutely adore this lady. Luckily John is an awesome sport and she thinks he's great, so it was fun!
She's an 84 year old ball of spunk and although she's convinced that she's deteriorating, I think she's awesome and I hope I have her spirit at that age.
We then trekked to the other end of town to see John's mom whom he hasn't seen since our wedding TWO years ago.
It was great and you could tell that she was just thrilled.
Next day we met up with John's mom, his bro, Jerrod, as well as Karen, our sis in law, and our now 4 year old niece, Audrey, for breakfast at IHOP.FOUR years old!
I couldn't believe it. He also hadn't seen here since our wedding, so this was probably the last mental picture he had in his mind. :)She ran up to him just laughing away and gave him the biggest hug I have ever seen from a little one.
Once she let go she kept laughing and stated, "You're cute."
Oh geez.
It's begun at the young age of four.
It was a great breakfast and it was so awesome to see John in such a state of awe.
Audrey was just talking away about anything and everything and he couldn't do anything but sit and smile for the most part.
Last time he saw her she was hardly speaking whole words, so this was an awesome transition to see. :)
After this we went up to Golden Bell in Divide, CO where my dad is now working.
Let me tell ya, being away from CO for two years has kicked my BUTT altitude wise.
OMG.
I got winded getting out of the CAR.
Sadly, no joke.
Anyways, after eating out in Woodland Park, we went back into COS and picked up Audrey from her babysitters and went to spoil her at the toy store.
Dangerous for an uncle that hasn't seen her in a while
DANGEROUS!
One Barbie, pink tiara, and dress up mermaid outfit later, we actually had to hit up the Cingular store where we witnessed another shameless bout of flirting from this little bundle of joy.
My phone literally died while at the toy store and before the trip we found out I was up for a free upgrade, so figured let's go ahead and do this.
We had a sit down with Audrey and told her that if she behaved for a little bit while we got this business done we'd take her to the McDonald's play place and let her play.
Well after a while she got restless and that's where it all began.
She walked up to the salesman (whom J and I went to high school with by the way) and said with batting eyelashes, "I like your shirt."
He laughed and offered to get her a balloon.
"Ok, but it has to be pink," she responds.
Oh really. WOW.
So he came back out with a PINK balloon and handed it to her.
"What do you say Audrey?" I asked.
"Thanks guy," she says.
"Audrey, his name is Steve, say thank you Steve."
"Hi Steve!" She says coily as she WINKS at him.
OMG.
It suddenly occured to me that Steve probably think's his is MY kid.
I told him that she wasn't but he didn't believe me.
Well two hours at the McDonald's play place later, we returned Audrey to her rightful "owners" and headed out to Scott and Katie Hyskell's home for dinner.
Scott and Katie are our best friends from high school.
True story, Scott and John grew up on the same street along with another kid, Casey, since elementary school.
Well all three of these boys married Katie's.
Go figure.
Scott and Katie had bought their first house within the last year so we were SO excited to see the new digs.
It was so great.
Scott's mom and dad also came over with one of Scott's nieces and nephew.
Mr. & Mrs. Hyskell were like John's second parents, so it was great to see them see each other again.
We ended up staying at their house until after midnight (past 2 AM east coast time!) just talking, laughing, and reminiscing about old times.
Next morning I went to breakfast with a girlfriend from ELEMENTARY school, Lexi Butler.
Man I love that girl.
We've known each other since 2nd grade and although we haven't always been close ALL these years, we have always managed to pick up where we last left off and have a BLAST just talking and reminiscing about more old times.
We met up at the most awesome "cafe," Montigues which was a fave in high school. Love it.
For the rest of the day I hung out with the amazing Kristen Cook, whom I've known for about 5-6 years now thanks to our wonderful Dana Fraley (my college roommates and Golden Bell counselor with Dana).
We went to Park Meadows where I was reminded of what a REAL mall feels and looks like.
Yes, that was meant to be offensive Fayetteville.
We met up with my mom later and picked up my bro from DIA who was coming home for Spring Break. Kristen is like another sister (whether he likes it or not!) to him so all four of us went out to eat and had a great time just hanging out.
LOTS of laughter and fun times.
Drew, mom, and I checked into a hotel in Denver that night, so I would already be in Denver for my 6 AM flight the next morning.
With a 3:30 wake up call and a shuttle ride to the airport, I was on my way back to NC.
Once I got home that Saturday afternoon I was able to collect my thoughts and look back on my crazy quick trip.
I saw who I wanted, what I wanted, where I wanted.
As much as it all felt the same it also felt so different.
I'll be honest and tell you it was the weirdest thing to get into bed with John in my parents house let alone two doors down from them.
Buildings, restaraunts, landmarks I had always known and seen were gone or being torn down for expanding roads and highways.
As many things were different there were still a lot of the same.
Same friends. Same family. Same stories.
Good times.
Those are the things I'll make more crazy trips back for.
I wouldn't miss it or the shameless four year old flirting for the world.
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