Why spellcheck will never replace editors...

A sign spotted on the door to my apartment complex workout room:

We apologize for the incontinence; our office will be closed Saturday, June 28, 2008.

Yummy Cake and Mexico

Good choice, readers! The cake was delicious. However, after I chose it, I heard from several readers who said they liked the chocolate one but just didn't vote. I think you all learned an important lesson: make your voice heard! :)

I was gone June 12-18 on a mission trip to Mexico with my church in Waco. It was a really great trip. We divided into two groups and went to two churches each. While the adults attended seminars, we entertained the kids. All of the kids are always so sweet, and they were so excited to get their bubbles and boxes of crayons. One day, we got to take the kids from Casa Sonrisa (a children's home) to the park. That is always one of my favorite activities. Even though most of the kids I had gotten to know in previous years were no longer there, I made friends with some new ones.

My Spanish wasn't too bad, but I could definitely tell I hadn't used it in a while. By the end of the week, it was getting much easier. I really need to try harder to practice regularly.

I really love the Mexico trip. I hadn't gone on the trip in four years, although I did spend six weeks in Torreon three years ago. I decided to make it a priority to go in the future. It is so fun to see the same people at the churches year after year, and I love being able to talk to the kids in Spanish. Also, it was great to spend time with my mom and brother. (My dad was supposed to go, but he ended up having to go on a business trip instead).

Here are a few pictures from the week. I couldn't find my camera charger, so I don't have that many, but that seems to be the story of my life.


Me sliding with a girl from Casa Sonrisa. I fell at the bottom!


My mom, brother, and I with Juan and Marta Meza (the preacher and his wife). My mom and Marta are so alike. They love each other so much, even though mom doesn't speak Spanish, and Marta doesn't speak much English. It's really sweet.


My brother painting a room in the preschool Marta is about to open. I could not show the picture of me painting because I looked so gross! Painting in a non-airconditioned building in 100-degree heat does NOT agree with me.

All in all, it was a great trip, but I was sure ready to see Darby when I got back! It was hard being apart for a week. I think he had the worst of it since he was stuck in Abilene all alone working. I appreciate him for being so supportive of me pursuing my interests. He really encouraged me to go, even when I got nervous about being apart for so long. I am a lucky girl! I got to spend a week in Mexico and was able to come home to my wonderful husband, 2 more days off work, and birthday presents!

And the winner is...

Raspberry White Chocolate Cake! Thanks for your votes. They helped a lot. I will be eating the cake in just a few hours, so I'll report back. I'll also blog about my trip to Mexico. But there's no time now. I've got celebrating to do!

Decision 2008

Okay, all you blog readers (all 2 of you!), I need your help. I have a very important decision to make, and I can't do it alone.

I need to decide what cake I want my mom to make me for my birthday. I know, I know, it sounds kind of silly, but believe me, I have thought about this a lot. I LOVE dessert , so this is a big decision. There are so many cakes that sound good to me, but I don't make cake very often because I don't want to end up eating the whole thing by myself. So my birthday is an opportunity to enjoy really good cake without guilt. Here are the ones I'm thinking about. Leave me a comment letting me know what you would pick.

1. Raspberry White Chocolate Cake



2. Chocolate Banana Cream Cake



3. Caramel Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting



Thanks for your help! :)

Happy "Birthiversary" to Me and Darby

This weekend, Darby and I celebrated our birthdays and one-year anniversary all at once. It's a little early for all those things, but Darby was in a wedding in Dallas, so we wanted to take advantage of the fact that we were already there. We stayed at the DFW Hyatt Regency, which is where we stayed on our wedding night. It's a great hotel, but we did have one complaint. Their cable doesn't include TLC!! (Somehow, we didn't notice that on our wedding night; I guess that's a good thing!) But, now that we're an old married couple (haha), watching "Flip That House" is one of the things Darby and I look forward to most on vacations. From now on, we're going to have to get a cable listing from any hotel before we make reservations!

On Saturday night, we went to Medieval Times (Darby's birthday pick). Darby had been a couple of times when he was a kid, but I had never been at all. It was a lot of fun. The show was pretty cheesy, but the food was good, and we had fun cheering for our knight. The funny thing was that our guy must have been new because he kept losing all the contests. It was hilarious! Darby commented that Medieval Times wasn't quite as fun as he remembered it being when he was 10. :) Gee! Who'd have guessed?

On Sunday, Darby took me shopping at Grapevine Mills mall. What a sweetheart! He waited patiently while I tried on the whole Ann Taylor Factory Store. I got several cute shirts, including some button-down shirts. (If you know me, you know that is a huge victory). Darby also got some nice-looking polos at Old Navy. I love how when guys need a new wardrobe, they can just go out and buy six of the same shirts in different colors. Perhaps I'll get there soon. (See this post). That night we went to The Melting Pot fondue restaurant (my pick). If you ever get a chance to go, you should. It's pretty pricey, but such a fun atmosphere, and the food is great! We were both so full when we got out of there.

The whole weekend was absolutely wonderful. Darby and I had so much fun reminiscing about our wedding day and thinking about all of the great memories we've shared since then. I am constantly reminded what a blessing it is to be married to my best friend. I enjoy all the time I spend with him, even when we're just hanging around the house, but it sure is nice to be able to get out and enjoy the "high life" for a weekend.

Summertime!!

Well, summer has officially begun. We've had two days of 100-degree heat. I always forget how hot it can get! But that's okay, because I LOVE SUMMER!! Here are just a few of my favorite things about the season:
1. Swimming - Darby and I love going to our apartment pool, when we can manage to find a time that it's not swamped with kids. I think I am the only young woman who actually likes to swim, though. Anytime I see girls my age out there, they are just laying out. Don't even get me started on how dumb that is. I even see people using tanning oil, which is crazy with all we know about skin cancer. Ladies, pale is pretty! Repeat that 10 times. (Unless you are dark-skinned naturally; that's pretty, too).
2. Long days. I love that it's still light at 9 p.m. It helps this old lady stay up until a reasonable hour.
3. Mint Mocha Chip Frappuccino at Starbucks - After three long years, it's finally back! However, I don't like that they put chocolate whipped cream on it now. Whipped cream should be white! Just like my skin :)
4. Cajun Cones! When Darby and I go walking, we stop and get a sno cone and then keep walking. We burn the calories as we consume them; that's how we keep our trim figures. It's all about equilibrium.
5. Weddings. For the past three years, every summer has been dominated by wedding stuff. 2 years ago, I was in Whitney's and Kalyn's weddings. Last year was my wedding, of course, and this year is Darby's turn to be in 3 weddings. I have always loved going to weddings, and it's even more special to me now that I've made that commitment myself. Plus, it's a great chance to see friends who have scattered for the summer.

Freedom!

I am wearing the same shirt today that I wore to work on Monday. This is a big step for me. Normally, I try to space out my clothes-wearing, especially if I'm wearing it to the same place. But this morning, nothing in my closet appealed to me except this shirt. I put it on and then realized, "Oh no, I wore this on Monday." But then I thought, "So? Who cares?" It's not like anyone is really going to notice, and if they do notice, what does it matter? Of course, I've known for a long time that it doesn't really matter what you wear, but I've never been able to let go of that self-consciousness before. Now I have so many more possibilities! I love not caring!

Congratulations, Darby!

Darby graduated from ACU last Saturday. His parents, brother and sister-in-law, grandpa, aunt, and my parents came in for the ceremony. It was a pretty long ceremony because the president of Madagascar was there (kind of crazy!) Afterwards, we went to Lytle Land and Cattle for dinner, which was a lot of fun. On Sunday, Hannah, Darby, and I took our parents to Copper Creek to celebrate Mother's Day. It was so fun to get to spend time with both of our families. I just wish Matt could have been there (I guess Senior prom is a good enough excuse). I have a couple of pictures below. I need to get some more from my mom and Debby.

Darby and his parents. His dad hooded him.


Me and Darby. I am so proud of him and can't wait to see how well he does in grad. school!

Princess Peach is Back!

Last week, Darby and I got Mario Kart for the Wii. It is so awesome! You use an actual steering wheel to drive. The courses are quite a bit harder than the older versions of the game, so it's pretty challenging. But there are extra characters, special boxes, and carts. Now, I have the option to be Baby Peach. She's just like Princess Peach, but tinier! I love it!

Darby's graduating tomorrow! Woo-hoo! I am so proud of him. He has done so well in college (with a super-hard major), and I know he has great things ahead of him in grad. school. I'm excited to start the next chapter of our lives.

I still love radio

Today when I was going home for lunch, the song "Shimmer" by Fuel came on the radio. I've had that CD for about seven years, and when I got my iPod I transferred that song to it. So I hear the song every few weeks or so. But I got so excited when it came on. There's something more fun when you just happen to hear one of your favorite songs instead of knowing that you caused it to happen. I'm the same way with movies. When I was younger, we owned Sound of Music. But whenever it came on TV, I would get so happy, even though I could watch it any time I wanted.

I know that entertainment is moving towards total customization, so you can always watch or listen to whatever you want whenever you want. And often that's a really good thing. But I don't want to lose the joy of turning on the radio and just happening to hear a favorite song.

Things I've Thought about Blogging in the Past Two Weeks...

but obviously haven't

1. Finding a house to rent in Urbana, IL. It's a 3 bedroom/1 bath, and we've already signed the lease. I'm so excited! I don't know what I'm going to do with all that space!

2. The return of new T.V. shows - I was missing The Office so badly! There came a point when even I was tired of watching seasons 1-3 on DVD. The new episodes have been really good so far. I can't believe Jim already has a ring for Pam!

3. The Texas Library Association Conference in Dallas - That's right - I am officially a nerd. The ACU library paid for any students/staff who are interested in going to library school to attend. I heard some interesting presentations, got to stay in a super-nice hotel (The Magnolia), and got free books. All in all, it was pretty good for my first professional conference.

4. A fun weekend in Dallas after the conference. Darby was visiting a friend in Austin, so I spent time playing games, watching T.V., discussing controversial subjects, shopping, and eating yummy food with the always-generous hosts, Kalyn and B.J. Gensic. Then, I drove over to Garland to visit with Grandma and Aunt Katina, eat even more food, see Uncle Al, Aunt Lea, and Amy, and watch Enchanted (which I wouldn't recommend). It was great to see friends and family, but I sure missed Darby!

5. The series finale of Oprah's Big Give. I loved that show! Although it does seem kind of strange to be competing against each other to see who can help people more. Especially at the end, the contestants were fighting with each other more than they were actually helping. But they still did some awesome stuff, and my favorite guy won.

9 Months

On Monday, Darby and I celebrated our 9-monthiversary. I don't know why, but 9 months seems like a much bigger milestone than 8 months. Maybe it's because that's the length of time you're pregnant? I guess we could have called it, "Let's celebrate the fact that we didn't get pregnant on our honeymoon" day, but that's a little wordy. Anyway, I know we're still new to this whole marriage thing, but here are 9 lessons I've learned about marriage in the first 9 months:

1. Traditions matter. Darby and I have lots of little traditions. Every Sunday we go to AM Donuts before church. Every Monday, we watch Headlines on Jay Leno. Every day at lunch, we watch an episode of The Office or Friends. We just recently started walking to Peet's every Saturday morning to get 99 cent lattes. None of those things are a very big deal, but it gives us something to look forward to during the daily grind. I think people sometimes think that they'll start traditions once they start a family, but it's important to realize that just the two of you are a family, also.
2. When you have someone else sharing your bed, it's guaranteed to feel at least twenty degrees hotter at night.
3. Believe people when they say you have to plan dates when you're married. I always thought, "That's silly. We'll be spending so much time together after we're married." Imagine my surprise when I realized that every married person in the world actually knew what they were talking about! Darby and I spend more time together than most married couples, but it's easy to not really do anything. When we were dating, we'd go to the park, go to Starbucks, rent movies, go out to dinner. Now, we do a lot of sitting around the apartment. Our relationship is so much better when we actually go out, even if it's something cheap or free.
4. If you can, do the grocery shopping together. I enjoy shopping so much more when Darby's with me. Plus, he can help me carry everything into the house. Same thing goes for laundry. We both HATE doing laundry (especially since the dryers in the laundry room don't dry), but doing it together makes it slightly more bearable.
5. In general, save as much as you can, but splurge on vacations. This goes for single people, too, of course. On the two vacations we've taken (our honeymoon to Niagara Falls and Santa Fe), Darby and I have eaten at nice restaurants and gotten dessert and coffee, which we wouldn't normally do. It makes the vacation so much more fun, and I'd much rather spend money on a trip than just on a daily Starbucks or something.
6. Hang out with your girl/guy friends. I'm in a Book Club, Supper Club, and a Bunco group, all of which meet once a month. It's so fun to have "girl time," and I always come back home with more energy and eagerness to talk to Darby. Likewise, he really enjoys getting together with his guy friends. We're each other's best friends, but we definitely can't be each other's only friend.
7. The world really doesn't end if you go to bed angry. Although ideally I agree that conflict should be resolved as soon as possible, sometimes that just doesn't happen. So we can either spend all night fighting and getting more tired and emotional or we can go to bed, wake up, realize we were wrong, and apologize. I prefer the second option.
8. If you only have one bathroom, you better grab it the second you get home from a long car ride.
9. Be silly. I love making Darby laugh. I have no rhythm, so when catchy music comes on TV, I start dancing really crazily. Now, Darby requests "the dance," and he cracks up every time. Sometimes he laughs so hard that he starts laughing at his own laugh and crying. Then, I start laughing. There's a good 15 minutes of entertainment right there! Really, though, I love just having fun with Darby. It's great to know that he still loves me even when I'm making a fool of myself.

Sweet Surprises and a Decision

On Friday, my sister called me at work and asked if I could come over to pick up my wedding DVD; she said that she had something else for me, too. Darby took me by her house on our way home, and I was surprised with these:



Sorry they're sideways. I don't think there's a way to rotate the picture after I've uploaded it. Aren't they pretty? She found the vase at a garage sale and thought it looked like me, so she filled it with some bright flowers.

Darby and I went back to our apartment, and when I walked in, I was greeted by these:



My sweet husband had gotten me flowers "just because!" He and Hannah hadn't planned it, but they ran into each other when they were at the store buying their flowers. What a coincidence!

Two bouquets in one day! That made my week!

In other exciting news, Darby and I made a decision about grad. school this weekend. Before I let you in on the big decision, I'll tell you how it all went down:

In December, I found out that I had been accepted to:

I was glad to have at least one acceptance, but it wasn't my first choice because it's an online program, and I'd rather go in person. The plus side was that I could do it from anywhere.

In January, Darby was accepted to:

Side note: Don't they have an awesome mascot? He was very excited because Georgia Tech's a great school. We were relieved to have at least one option for both of us. (Him at GT; me doing the online program at UNT).

In February, I was accepted to:

UT! Woo-hoo! But we were still holding out for UW.

In early March, Darby got a rejection e-mail from:

That was a sad day because we had both really wanted to go there. But we knew something else would work out. A couple of days later, I got a letter saying that I had been waitlisted at UW (not that it mattered any more, anyway).

About a week later, Darby got an acceptance e-mail from:

We were very happy! Illinois is an awesome school (despite their lame mascot...Illini, are you kidding me!?!) I started getting really nervous about whether or not I would get in. I waited and waited for my letter. Finally, the Tuesday after Spring Break it came. I didn't get in. That was tough. I knew UT was still an option, but I also knew that Darby would really rather go to Illinois. I started feeling better when I realized that if we did decide to go to Illinois, I wouldn't necessarily have to start the UNT program and could reapply to Illinois next year.

We kept waiting for Darby to hear from UT. He called and they said it was the Circuit Design Committee that was holding everybody up. (Of course, that's the committee that affects him.) When we hadn't heard from them by last Friday, I asked Darby if he wanted just to go ahead and commit to Illinois. Of course, he did, but he wanted to make sure I was okay with it. If I were single, I would definitely go to UT, but I want him to have the opportunity to live out of state, which is his dream. Plus Illinois' program is better than UT's. And it's a really great program for me, too, if I can ever get in! We're both glad to finally have a decision, and as of today, we still haven't heard from UT, so I'm glad we didn't wait around.

So, bring on the long johns. We're moving north!

Santa Fe

I meant to post these pictures early last week, but I lost the cord that connects my camera to the computer. It had fallen behind the desk. Grrr...

Darby and I had a lot of fun in Santa Fe. The weather was gorgeous. Sunny and in the 60's every day. We stayed in a little casita, which was really fun. We really enjoyed watching cable TV :)

This was our bed. The flat screen TV swings out from the wall on the right.


This was our little kitchen. We enjoyed making hot cocoa and eating our yummy desserts from Cafe Paris.

We ate at so many good restaurants in Santa Fe. Our favorite was definitely Cafe Pascual's for breakfast. It's a famous Santa Fe place that has really great omelettes and breakfast quesadillas.

Our favorite day was the day we went hiking. We did a 7.5 mile hike up to a 9,500 foot peak. It was challenging, but not too bad. It took us about 4 hours, and the worst part was that I needed to go to the bathroom for about three of them.

This is the first picture we took when we got to the top. We couldn't figure out how to get the camera to work, hence the looks on our faces. When we saw this, we laughed so hard. We tried to take a better one...


I'm not sure if we succeeded. Oh well!


This is the view from the top. The town of Santa Fe itself wasn't that pretty (everything was brown), but this view was great.


Here's me on the way down. We had to walk down a bunch of slushy snow. I fell...twice! I think this was before I fell the second time.

Overall, it was a great trip. We both enjoy the same activities (eating, going to museums, walking), so we're good travel companions. It was definitely hard to come back to work. I can't wait until we can go on another trip!

The Blog Fast is Over!

Well my 40 blog-less days are over! I have to admit that I might have cheated a little. At first, I was only allowing myself one blog, 3191, which is a daily photo blog. I considered that a little different than a blog because it doesn't have words and is intended for a wide audience. After about a week or two, I started reading cooking and organizing blogs. I just didn't let myself read any personal blogs. Although I wish I could have stayed away completely, I was pretty satisfied with the experience. My productivity definitely increased, which made me feel better about myself. And the blogs I missed the most were those of my friends, not the random ones I read. I think I can cut out a lot of those completely, so I don't feel like such a stalker. I also enjoyed taking a little time every day to pray a prayer devoted specifically to one person. I think I will continue that. All that being said, I am glad to be back, and I look forward to returning to blog-reading, perhaps with a little more moderation.

My New Passion

I have become obsessed with getting rid of stuff. Knowing that I'm about to move inspired me to evaluate what things I have that are actually worth packing and unpacking. I HATE packing, so this is great motivation. However, I think I might be going a little too far. I mean, so far, I haven't gotten rid of anything really valuable or sentimental - mainly just old clothes and unnecessary trinkets. But I find myself constantly thinking, "What can I get rid of?" Sitting in church on Sunday, I was taking a mental inventory of all the items in my closet, trying to decide whether to keep them or not. I'm scaring myself.

I keep thinking that once I get my clutter under control, I'll be able to stop worrying about it. But now I'm wondering if I'll ever feel like it's under control. Is this a never-ending project? I don't want to turn in to one of those people who gets rid of everything and doesn't even have any pictures of their family. I get a high every time I find something to give away. What will happen to me when that high is gone? I'm an uncluttering junkie!

Evaluating all of my possessions has really made me think about the underlying problem, though. Why do I feel the need to acquire so much stuff in the first place? How much money could I have given away if I hadn't used it to buy things I would end up discarding in a few years? Or what one or two really nice possessions could I have in place of the million cheap things that end up breaking or wearing out? It's an interesting exercise. I'm definitely trying to evaluate every new thing I bring into my life from now on. I don't want to feel overwhelmed by my things and feel like I'm always in need of more space to store them. I want to be able to truly enjoy the things I have, and I think that starts with having fewer things.

Seattle-less

Well, Darby found out on Wednesday night that he didn't get in to UW. I'm still waiting to hear, but now it doesn't really matter. We were both pretty bummed because that seemed like the best option for both of us. But we know that we can be happy wherever we go.

We knew it was never a sure thing that we would move to Seattle, but it was still hard not to get our hopes up. For months, when I've pictured what our lives will look like next year, I've almost always pictured Seattle. Now, I don't know what to picture. If we both get in to UIUC, we'll be thrilled. But that is somewhat unlikely, given the competitiveness of the school. I'd be more than happy to go to UT, where I've been accepted. But Darby really wants to live out of state. He'd prefer Georgia, which would mean I would have to do the online program at UNT. So even though we've eliminated one choice, it seems like we have even more decisions to make. I'm trying not to worry too much about it. Maybe we will both get in to UIUC, and it won't be an issue. But it's still hard to let go of Seattle. Every day, I have to remind myself that we won't be living there. I didn't realize how much I thought about it until I found out it wasn't going to happen.

Of course, I know that there would have been downsides to living in Seattle, as well. The main ones being the distance and the cost of living. Plus, I told Darby, "Now we can just go to Seattle on vacation and not have to worry about school while we're there." I'm not totally certain how much God is involved in every circumstance. That is, I don't know if I'm ready to say that God influences the decisions of university admissions committees. But I do believe that he has a plan for us. I'm hopeful that we will be able to look back and see how he guided us to a particular school.

HILMM - Part 6 to The End

Wow! I didn't realize how long it was going to take to tell mine and Darby's story. I'm getting kind of bored with it, so I'm going to condense the rest of our story into a timeline. Even condensed, it's still pretty long, so you might want to get comfy.

July 25, 2001 - Darby and I officially become "boyfriend and girlfriend"

November 5, 2001 - We have our first kiss after watching Shrek at my house. (Yes, almost four months after we started dating; Darby was a little shy).

January 31, 2002 - We say "I love you" for the first time. I actually say it first.

February, 2002 - We start talking seriously about getting married in a few years. What were we thinking?! We were 16!

2002-August 2003 - We spend countless hours together - eating Frostys (Frosties?) at Wendy's, going to the fountain park downtown, watching movies and playing games at each others' houses, talking at Starbucks, riding bikes on the dam, jogging together after church, wandering around Wal-Mart because we had nowhere else to go.

August 2003 - I leave for my first year at ACU. Being apart is hard. I go to Waco a lot, and Darby comes to Abilene. We see each other about every other weekend. At first, these weekends are wonderful, but we begin to fight increasingly frequently.

December 8, 2003 - We break up. Even though I kind of saw it coming, I am crushed. My friends and family are very supportive, though, and I have a good Christmas in spite of the situation.

January 1, 2004 - We get back together after spending time together at the church New Year's Eve party. I like this line from Seinfeld. "The first break-up never takes. It's like shaking a vending machine. You have to hit it again and again." (my paraphrase)

Spring and Summer 2004 - Darby and I are kind of in a holding pattern. Our relationship has improved enough for us to hold on but not enough for us to be really happy. Not that there weren't good times, though. Darby sent me tons of sweet cards and e-mails letting me know how much he loved and missed me. I went back to Waco for his senior prom, and we had a great time.

August 18th or so, 2004 - After an emotional summer in Waco, we break up again, this time for good (or so I thought). It is a less emotionally wrenching experience than the first break-up because we both realize how toxic our relationship has become. We agree to remain friends, and Darby assures me that he's still happy with his decision to start ACU. We leave separately the next day.

September 15th or so, 2004 - Darby and I meet on the benches outside Moody Coliseum "just to talk." We confess that we still love each other, and we both admit the mistakes we made before. We begin to get together secretly because we're embarrassed to let people know that we're back together again. We spend way less time together than we did before, though. Both of us are cautious; we know that this is our last chance to make it work.

Thanksgiving, 2004 - Everyone knows that we're officially back together. Actually, most people figured it out long before that. We weren't too sneaky.

2005-2006 - We rebuild our relationship, and it's way better than high school. We spend even more hours together walking around campus, playing Scrabble at Starbucks, hanging out with the Westgate college group, doing homework together, cooking for each other, watching Flip That House marathons (oh, the good ol' days when we had cable).

June 11, 2006 - Darby proposes while we're walking in Nelson park.

July 7, 2007 - We get married. Finally! It was quite a six years, but definitely worth the wait. Because we had already been through so much together, the transition into marriage was pretty smooth. Of course, we have our fights, but it seems that we got most of the kinks worked out in high school and college. And we definitely didn't go into marriage with the illusion that the other person was perfect :) Looking back, Darby and I sometimes can't believe that we actually made it. We were both so immature when our relationship began; when we got back together the second time, it was basically starting a new relationship because we had changed so much. I think we are lucky to have already spent such a big portion of our lives together. There were things we might not have had to go through had we been more mature when we met. But, I don't think we would have grown into the people we've become without each other. Each of us definitely tempers the extreme qualities in the other. I can't wait to watch the rest of our story unfold; it will definitely have twists and turns, but we know that we'll face them together.

HILMM - Part 5: The Longest Two Weeks of My Life

After our hand-holding episode, I wasn't quite sure what to do. Darby and I hadn't really talked about any future plans. When he left Daniel's house, I said bye hurriedly, wanting to avoid any potential awkwardness in front of our friends. A couple of days later, I decided to call him to see if he wanted to go play putt-putt with a bunch of people from church. I left a message at his house but didn't hear back from him that night. I was kind of disappointed, but I figured he was already out with friends. (This was before everybody had cell phones...ah, the good old days).

I didn't hear from him the next day either, which I thought was kind of weird. Then, he wasn't at church on Sunday. I started asking around and found out that he had left for camp...for two weeks. I was so upset. He had told me that he was going to camp on Friday, but for some reason I thought he meant the next Friday. I was kicking myself for not telling him goodbye or at least solidifying things a little. I felt sure that he was going to fall in love with a girl at camp and forget all about me. (I was pretty dramatic back then...perhaps I still am). I expressed my concerns to his friend Cody, who made me feel a little better. He said, "When Darby likes someone, he's in it for the long haul." Still, I worried and worried, counting down the days until he came back.

The day he got back, he called me. The first thing he said was, "So, Cody told me you were afraid I wouldn't like you when I got back." I admitted that I had been worried. He said, "Don't worry. The whole time I just prayed and prayed that you would still like me." He had even written me a song at camp. We talked for a long time, and I felt good knowing that we had made the leap to actually talking about how we felt about each other.

When I look back, I laugh at how worried I was. I mean, it was only two weeks, but it sure felt like a lifetime to me at the time.

HILMM - Part 4: The Fireworks

Well, after our rock show encounter, several weeks passed with no real progress. Darby and I talked at church, but he wasn't making a move. Pretty much everyone in the youth group knew about our situation at this point. So on the 4th of July, a bunch of my friends were going to watch fireworks at Baylor. One of my friends, Kristene, decided that if Darby and I weren't going to move forward, she would push us forward. She asked Darby if he wanted to come with us and told him that I liked him. A little embarrassing, yes, but I guess it did the trick. He rode with me to Baylor because he had just gotten his license two days earlier and didn't feel comfortable driving downtown. (I had had my license a whopping two weeks!) He did bring his CD collection along for the ride and made me listen to quite an eclectic mix, including a bagpipe CD. I thought his unique taste in music made him seem cool and interesting. (Darby brought this up to me a few weeks ago and said he's embarrassed by how nerdy he was back then.)

While we watched the fireworks, I tried to keep my hand available for holding, but Darby didn't seem to get the hint. Afterwards, we went over to our friend Daniel's house. The guys were shooting off their own fireworks, and I was scared. I acted a little more scared than I really was, though. My strategy worked because Darby put his arm around me to comfort me and later while we were sitting on the sidewalk watching the fireworks, he held my hand! Finally! After about a month of dancing around the issue, we seemed to have finally both acknowledged our feelings for each other. I was so happy; I could not stop smiling the whole way home and all the next day at work.

But two days later, my happiness turned to tears.

To Be Continued...