Making a List and Checking it Twice

First of all, the last two weeks have found me in 12 different states, roaming through mountains and valleys, fields and farms, among other things. It feels like I have been gone FOREVER! I know that two weeks isn’t very long but when you throw in hours and hours cramped in a small car with only me and my parents, several national forests and monuments, state parks, and other sites, climbing 754 feet into the earth to see some pretty awesome caverns, cliff dwellings and other Native American ruins, Elvis ruins, ghettos, corn fields, forests, Texas, several capitol buildings, gum on my shoe/new shoes, sweet architecture, tents, hotels, the Parthenon, the Hermitage, family, the Nauvoo pageant, temples, rivers, long bumpy dirt roads, cows in the road, etc… it feels like I have been gone an ETERNITY! Now, all I want to do is clean! I have been living out of a suit case that gets unorganized, smelly, and mostly obnoxious. My car has been the diner of many meals/snacks therefore the resting place of a plethora of crumbs, sand, dirt, and garbage. The outside of my car became the target for every bird across the country with diarrhea, and the resting place of several thousands of suicidal bugs (except for the one that chose my bowl of cereal this morning…I didn’t need breakfast anyway). Vacation was fun, but I’m glad to be back in my own bed, shower, and kitchen. I need my routine back…at least for a week!

(along the I-80 somewhere in Iowa)

Driving down long roads for hours at a time while your parents sleep, gives you some time to think. In fact, I’m thinking of taking up truck driving just so I can think some more. Anyway, some of my thoughts of course turned to me and my plans for marriage. It was nice to have a break from really doing anything about getting married by the way, but I still like to plan for it. Along the road, I noticed several things about me that it would probably be nice for a spouse to know before he decides to spend the rest of forever with me. Maybe it’s just the road, but I thought about how I make lists of what I want in a man, and I think about how I can make our relationship successful by knowledge for one, and work for two.

Since I make lists of what I want, I thought it would also be beneficial to make a list of some of the things he might want to know about me before he takes me on. For example, on the road, I hate staying in disgusting hotels. I’m slightly creeped out by hotels in fact. Therefore, I will not settle for some crappy motel where it smells and I don’t know what kind of creatures live and have lived for many years. No, I decided that crappy hotels are not something I will negotiate. Think what you will, but I am willing to give up some things in my trip if I have to, to stay in a nicer hotel. It’s bad enough that I don’t know whose backside has been wiped on the towel that I use for my face, or what has taken place between those sheets where I rest my head so, a cleaner, nicer environment, free of smells and shady décor and lighting really settles me down a little and calms my soul. Plus, I really appreciate nice amenities while I am on the road and away from my things at home. Call me spoiled if you want, but after much thought and long trips, this is my conclusion and it will not be negotiated.

Sure, you may think this unimportant, but it’s something my parents don’t exactly see eye to eye on. My mom is with me and my dad points out every little in like this one along the road:

I figure, the more you know, the fewer sources of possible argument for the future. Maybe I am wrong but it’s something I can do now to prepare anyway. I also know that there are things about me that I CAN change that might not be very easy to live with. Those, I just have to be aware of and work on. I’m trying to be more aware, and to change where I can.

On a side note: I have now been to 30 states…one for every year of my life! Here are some pics from the trip.

(The Nauvoo Pagaent)

(The Parthenon in Nashville)

(The hole you go down into at Carlsbad Caverns...you have to go 754 feet down)

(One of Elvis's Planes)

(Cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde)

(This...this is Santa Fe)

The end for now.