Friday, May 16, 2008
After 16 long hours in a car with Ben, myself, and the overpriced U-Haul trailer following closely behind Polly, my Plymouth Breeze [whom really should not have been towing anything] I am here.
I reside in Salt Lake City, Utah.
The drive was good, no flat tires or break downs, gas mileage was horrible, and all in all I spent about 250 dollars to get here in gas. This does not include the 360 dollars I spent on the hitch and installation of the hitch and the 145 dollars I spent on renting the trailer. Total costs of this move was about 755 dollars. Whoa. Saying that out loud hurts a little bit.
Besides the cost factor, everything else was awesome. I’ve been waiting to see Ben for so long and this last time was the longest I had gone without seeing him—it was torture. When I picked him up from the airport it was like everything that had been holding on to me; the stress, the missing, work, inconveniences, parking tickets—everything was melted away and the only thing holding me now was Ben. Pure bliss and to be quite honest, I couldn’t have gone another day. Not patiently anyways. We got to hang out for the rest of that day and then met up with Beth and Jeremy for dinner and coffee. It was so nice being able to hang out with another couple AS a couple. We had such a good time at the Macaroni Grill and afterwards when we went to Starbucks Ben played Beth’s guitar and we all sang worship songs. It ended a perfect night. The next day we got the hitch installed and the trailer put on and then went to the beach. We drove to Corona Del Mar for a more quiet and relaxed spot. Ben was pretty anxious to wear his new swim trunks which were no trunks at all—they were water polo bottoms—which was basically a Speedo. Think booty shorts/spandex. I’m not gonna lie. The entire beach was jealous that I was the lucky girl who was lying next to him.
After a couple hours at the beach we went to my Uncles to load the trailer with everything that I own. I’m glad to say that I don’t think it’s a lot. We loaded about ¾ of the 4x8 trailer and a few things in the back of my car. After spending a little time with my aunt and uncle, we headed over to Claim Jumper to celebrate Jamison’s 27th birthday. Michelle came too. I also got to meet Jamison’s new girlfriend. She was really nice and I think someone who will be good for Jamison. Hopefully she can shape him up. During dinner, Michelle gave me this amazing going away gift of pictures of her and I in black in white in a beautiful frame. Each picture had a story behind it and I couldn’t hold back the tears. We hugged and then took about a million pictures. I love her so much. I also got to say goodbye to Jamie whom I will miss terribly. She was my best friend at Concordia University. She’s coming to visit in December, so that will be nice. Thursday we left for the long drive and arrival to…home. We left a little later than originally planned but we were in no rush. The drive started out really normal and as soon as we got the 15, we stopped to eat at Carl’s Jr. and then the realization of what was about to happen came. I was moving to Utah. I didn’t have to remind myself of when I was leaving. So many times Ben and I would be caught in that particular hug; the one that says “I don’t want to say goodbye.” And then we’d look at each other and realize this time—there’s no goodbye.
W e i r d.
So we get going and it isn’t until about 200 miles that we stop for gas and figured out that we get about 13 miles to the gallon because of that darn trailer. I had been reading a little bit of my newest book, Leaving the Saints, and was just in amazement of the Mormon religion and their weird wedding rituals. I couldn’t get that out of my head. Anyways after a while we pass through Las Vegas and eventually stop to eat at this really awesome Mexican restaurant where we sat behind this big group of old men who had just finished a game of golf and they were making Ben and I crack up. I don’t even remember half the stuff they said, but it was funny. We started out for the last stretch when about an hour later I needed to stop for a bathroom. I had to pee so bad that when I went in I just saw the bathroom and asked the cashier if I needed a key and he said no. I walked in and to my surprise there was a urinal. I immediately thought, “Oh. That’s weird. Co-ed bathroom. Must be a Utah thing?” and used the bathroom. The entire time I’m thinking to myself how weird that would be to be in here with a male. I open the door and Ben is right outside and I say to him, “Ben! It’s a co-ed bathroom!” He looks at me and laughs and says, “No. It’s the Men’s bathroom.” I was so embarrassed. I didn’t even think that I could have gone into the wrong bathroom. I hid in Ben’s sleeve for a couple seconds before we got our energy drink and headed for Draper. I managed to get a horrible headache and slept for an hour before I awoke. I really didn’t want to sleep because it wasn’t fair to Ben—He had been driving the whole way. We ended up stopping off at this desolate road to take a “catnap” and rest for about 30-45 minutes before finishing the long drive. We finally got here at about 4am and laid down for a little bit before saying goodnight and passing out in our own rooms. We woke up at about 11 the next morning and had some coffee. I was able to hang out with Jini for a little bit and just catch up on my plans for living here. I met this awesome woman, Grace, who was such a sweetheart and writes bible studies. Evan and his friend were over when I was looking at this wedding invitation when I noticed it was for a Mormon couple. Not discerning one bit I start raving on about the crazy Mormon rituals of marriage when I look up to see Ben giving me that “Stop. Please Stop talking. Please.” Look. Turns out, Evans friend was Mormon. I didn’t even think of that. So, I learned my first lesson today with Mormons. I was kind of embarrassed. I’m glad that happened the first day instead of a little later. I got an awkward Mormon experience out of the way. After, we went to Nate and Bekah’s to unload my stuff. We met up with Meredith and she is a doll. I’m excited to start meeting more people. I also got a p.o. box today. We ended up eating over at Nate and Beckah’s and watching the first 2 quarters of the Jazz game (6) with a couple other couples and it was so nice to just be in company with awesome, older, mature folks until we went to Ben’s to finish the game watching with Evan and Beth, Evan’s girlfriend. Ben took me back home and we said goodnight for the first time.
It all is still hovering overhead and nothings settled. It still feels like I’m only visiting. I think once I start something consistent like a job or something it’ll start sinking in that I now live in Utah and I no longer need to remind myself and ask, “When do I leave?” when planning around things. Ugh! SOOOO WEIRD!! But awesome. Completely awesome and perfect.
Day One: Successfully Completed.