My boyfriend is a hitchhiker.

Midnight. Middle of the week. I'm home alone, fast asleep in my bed. My phone rings...finally waking me up after the 15th call from a number I do not recognize. I silence it, not fully aware of what's going on. Then the doorbell rings...several times. I'm startled awake and my heart starts pounding as I try to put two-and-two together. I want to curl up under the covers and ignore it...but curiosity gets the better of me. So, armed with absolutely nothing, I creep down the stairs and slowly open the front door. No one. Wait. My eyes adjust slightly to the night and I see a dark shadow standing in the middle of the street holding a cardboard sign. Common sense would say I run back into the house, lock the door, and call the cops. However, common sense doesn't work the way it should after midnight. I take a couple steps forward only to see...MAX?!?

Yes. My boyfriend, whom I was certain was thousands of miles away, had hitchhiked all the way to San Antonio to surprise me. He mentioned hitchhiking before, but I never thought he was serious about it. Besides, I'm pretty sure it's illegal. Regardless...it was the BEST surprise I could have hoped for. He spent the next few weeks here and we had many more adventures together (of which is a completely different story). However, when the time came for him to leave for Mexico, I refused to let him hitchhike. I wanted him back alive. So...he bought a car...maybe not so much to please me as much as he wanted to teach himself to be a mechanic...which is bound to happen when you pay $425.00 for a vehicle. And mechanic he did become.

                                              

After making in to Mexico and back...with only some minor repairs...we took the green machine up to Dallas. We made it! ...but not without a little help from AAA...and a few hours in the Auto Zone parking lot where Max fixed the car...

 

And I did what any helpful, worried girlfriend would do: ate truffles.

I don't know what I should be more uneasy about...the fact that my boyfriend is a hitchhiker...or the fact that he's now driving around in a car that he calls "the 4-2-5 ride".

Airport

I wish I could say it was the crazy Christmas rush at the airport. OR the 2 hour drive from Council to Boise on slick, snowy, foggy roads. OR the huge line at security. Unfortunately none of that would be true. The truth is this: I read the wrong line. The flight I THOUGHT I was two hours early for was long gone by the time I got to Boise. So...50 dollars and 6 hours later...I will spend this day...the WHOLE day, in the airport. Thank heavens for free wi-fi. I will take this opportunity for a much-needed blog update.

(Oh and is it so bad that I hope the flight I was SUPPOSED to be on crashes so that I don’t feel so bad about missing it? Ha okay that’s awful. I would never wish that. I’m actually secretly excited to see if I can keep myself entertained all day long with nothing to do! But I DO wish I didn’t have to be at the hospital at 7 tomorrow morning…this is going to be a very short night.)

Well…I just spent the last 6 days in Council, and it was FABULOUS. A little cold, yes, but I can handle anything for a week. I couldn’t get enough time off closer to Christmas, so I came home a couple weeks early to celebrate my birthday and Christmas. We did all the things I love:

Chinese food. (Although my stomache rarely agrees) 

Gingerbread houses and hot cocoa.



Children's Choir concert in Cadwell...Oh how I miss it.

And of course...snow. Lot's of snow.

(Wi-fi too slow to upload snow pic...guess it's time to quit.)

Salt Lake now...next stop, Austin. Now how to get from Austin to San Antonio...?