Stepping off a tour bus filled with sweaty, un-showered men into crisp air and California sunshine... There's really nothing like it. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't trade my experiences on tour for the world. It was one of the best times of my life, faith-strengthening and morale boosting to be sure, and I'll never forget it. But you can only scrub yourself down with paper towels in a public restroom so many times before you have to start filleting off dead skin with a cake knife! Besides, as much fun as I'd had, I needed to take care of some loose ends before they got expensive.
It'd been a month since I left the bay area, and I'd finally gotten a chance to come back down. I'd purchased a van down there which had blown a head gasket as I was driving it back to the apartment. Since it was literally less than an hour after the purchase when it happened, I had been more than a little annoyed. So here I was, returning to the apartment complex parking lot that I'd left it in with only two options: take it to a junk yard for a couple bucks, or let my ex-coworkers blow it up. That idea was, shall we say, tempting... But as I needed the money, junk yard was the resounding winner. I was gonna need to do a little research to set it up and then find my way back to Oregon when all was said and done. But first things first... There was a little lady I'd begun to miss that was about to get a phone call.
When I talked to Melissa, she asked me how long I would be in the area. My answer was simple: An undefined length of time. Seeing as how I had nothing waiting for me yet when I got back home, and I hadn't yet decided whether I would fly back (or where I'd get the money to do so), my schedule was pretty wide open. She and I made a date to go out the next night... Swingin'! I thought that it'd be a great idea to head back up to that same swing club I was at when she first called me, as long as we made it in time for the instructions before hand. So she came to pick me up the next evening, and about half way up to Sacramento, we realized that we weren't even going to be close to making our deadline. Plan B was now in effect... Except there was no Plan B. I had neglected to plan for the obvious side effects of Mormon Standard Time, coupled with the necessities of female primping, and now I had no idea where we were headed. That's when Melissa took over the Party Planning Committee, and pretty soon we were on our way to an infinitely (or eternally) better place to spend our time together.
We had dinner first (if my memory serves me right) at Chevys Fresh Mexican Grill up near Sac-Town. I'd had no intention of sabotaging my intestinal track yet again, since flatulence is always a way to make a great impression, but I would soon learn that in times of hunger, this girl would always default to some chips and salsa. As risky as that is, I have to say, she's a woman after my own heart. Dinner was nice, but uneventful, which is a good thing if I'm eating beans. It was Melissa's idea that she take me to a place that was very special to her. It wouldn't be long before this was a very special place for the both of us, the Sacramento Temple. It was absolutely beautiful at night. The floral arrangements around the grounds were magnificent, a great example of what to expect in California, and the fountain was still running in front of the doors. There is always a peace that can be felt at any of the Lord's temples, but there was something else that we felt as we sat on the benches opposite the fountain. Melissa began to tell me about how the first time she'd been inside this temple, she knew that this is where she wanted to get married someday. It was a touching and heart-felt story, and I was honestly moved by...
Woah!!! Hold on a second, Lady!! This is only the second date! We haven't even held hands yet! What are you, crazy?!!!
........just kidding.
We had a wonderful time, and as she dropped me off at the apartments that night, I was definitely looking forward to see her again. The next day, I wanted to prove just how masculine and macho I was... So she and her mom came to pick me up in the minivan and I went with her to shop for shoes. No really, I did. And as it turns out, I've got pretty good taste in women's pumps. I was even trying to help her mom pick out a new dress. What can I say, I'm a "shoe"-in for the NAVY - pun intended. But before our shopping excursion, we went to see the most romantic movie EVER. Hancock, staring Will Smith. It was like High School all over again; Me and the girl getting dropped off in front of the theatre, her mother telling us to meet her out front after we go window shopping at the mall. We almost forgot to ask for some extra money for popcorn... Yikes! All joking aside, as awkward as some of this could have been, it really wasn't, and as un-romantic as the movie was, it was the first time she held my hand. Funny thing was that since the "right moment" never really came, she just suddenly snapped out and grabbed my hand. This woman knows what she wants! I could almost hear her thoughts; "Gimme that hand! It's MINE!"
The next few days sort of blend together for me. I couldn't tell you what happened when, but I'll never forget some of those moments. She came over a few days after the aforementioned outing at the movies to go swimming at our pool. It was in the hot tub that we had our first kiss. SCANDALOUS!! To all my future generations who read this, don't ever let me hear you telling a similar story, or you're GROUNDED! You got that?! We went to see another amazingly romantic movie, Kung Fu Panda, and sparks flew. It was clear that I was falling for this girl. Later (I believe it was that same night) we were at her house in Napa when her mom suggested we layout on the trampoline to look at the stars. There under the heavens, she held my hand and whispered the 10 words that changed my life: "I think I want to change my status on Facebook."
And that was it. From that moment, I have never been a bachelor. We became an official couple, and to show how much she cared about me, she followed me to the junk yard to sell my broken van for money to buy a plane ticket home. For the week and a half that I was in California, we went maybe 2 days without seeing each other, and when it was coming time for me to go, she and I cooked up a plan for her to come with me. Forget the plane ticket, let's go on a road trip! And so we did. And it wasn't until we were 10 minutes outside of my home town that I realized that I had made a potentially fatal mistake...
Melissa was about to meet Mother!
