From 269 to 801 With 2,000 Miles In Between

I'm warning you off the bat that this might be kind of a long post. So for those who aren't so interested, or are short on time, here's an abridged version:

My last few weeks of living in Michigan were fun. Then Nathan flew out to be with me and help me move back to Utah. We did a lot of fun things. Then drove from Kalamazoo to Tulsa to Santa Fe to to Taylorsville. It was mostly fun. We had lots of good time to talk and figure stuff out. We reached our destination late Saturday night. And now I live in Utah again.

Here's some more detail:

Between my last blog post and when Nathan came to the midwest, I spent my time practicing cello, selling my belongings on craigslist, cleaning, and hanging out with friends I knew I'd probably never see again. I had one rehearsal for the Gershwin Lullaby CD project, and got the music only a few days before, so lots of concentrated time was spent practicing lullaby versions of tunes such as "Soon," "Someone to Watch Over Me," and "How Long Has This Been Going On." Cello pal Zack and I spent a day in Chicago at world famous violin shops trying out cellos that cost more than any car I'll ever own. Wish I could have bought one. *Someday* Zack and I also had "the best date ever," walking around the city, sharing a chicago pizza, people watching, and forgetting where we parked. :) We didn't get back to Kalamazoo until close to 4 am.

Nathan flew into Chicago the next morning, so after a good three and a half hours of sleep, I was headed back to the city. And in my tiredness, I drove to the WRONG AIRPORT! So lame. But luckily Nathan loves me and was patient while I found my way to him. I spent another day in Chicago with him, and was careful to remember where we parked this time! We went to the Chicago institute of Art, which happened to be the same day as the grand opening of a new Matisse Gallery. So we happily ate complimentary red velvet cake as if we had planned it. It's so cool to stand in front of original pieces of art that I've studied and seen in art books.

We also hung out in Millennium park and had fun with the bean.
And ate delicious Chicago pizza at Giordanos. YUM!
Then we walked out to Navy Pier. And rode the ferris wheel.
We drove back to Kalamazoo that night. The next morning, I had my first recording session for the Gershwin CD. I've never done professional recording before, and it took a little while to get used to. I was more nervous than I thought I'd be. It took 14 takes for Mr. Kevin Cole and I to both find our groove on the first piece, but after that it was smooth sailing. It actually was a lot of fun. And the recording studio happened to be right next door to my house! Who knew! After I was done recording for the day, Nathan and I headed to South Haven beach.

We hung out on the pier, and walked along the sand as the sun set. It was kind of picturesque. Such a beautiful evening.
That night, Nathan got to meet Joe Tucker and Zack Boyt. Enough said. :)

The next day, I finished up the Gershwin recording, and sold the rest of my furniture. We pulled a classic Nathan and Jamilyn and walked around the Mountain Home cemetery. That night, we made dinner for the missionaries, and then rented and watched the entire Office Season 4.

Tuesday, I finally picked up my repaired cello from the shop in Grand Rapids. It took more than two months, and $2200 to fix up that sickening crack from the American Airlines flight back in February. But now Woodruff is back and he looks great. It's a good feeling. The rest of the day, Nathan and I spend packing my stuff into my car and getting things ready to leave. We ate dinner that night with Ishtar at Food Dance, then headed to the Union to hear some good tunes. We had fun walking home, then spent the rest of the night with Joe, Caitlin and Zack. Kalamazoo definitely went out with a bang!

Wednesday, we hit the open road headed south-west to Tulsa, Oklahoma to visit our good pals Lynsie and Steve. The drive was beautifully uneventful until we hit a nearly-tornado level rain storm around sunset. Nathan was an amazingly cool and collected driver, and got us safely there around 12:30 am.

That night, Lynsie- who is 8.5 months pregnant- went into labor! So exciting! But since she was early, they gave her some pain medication that slowed the labor, and by the next afternoon she was released from the hospital with baby still inside. It was an adventure! That evening, we went to see the Blue Whale of Catoosa off of Route 66. Steve also gave us a car tour of Tulsa, and we walked along the Arkansas River walk. We fell asleep watching Sherlock Holmes from RedBox.

Thursday we headed toward Santa Fe along the historic Route 66. We stopped at POPS soda shop, which has over 500 different kinds of soda for sale, and a gigantic LED light soda bottle out front. It was really fun. We filled up on gas, and took lots of cute pictures. But by the time we were out of gas again, a few miles away from Amarillo, Texas, we realized that we were missing the credit card, and the camera. AGH! Then on top of that, about five minutes later, our back left tire blew out on the freeway. We had to unpack the entire trunk full of my stuff to even get to the spare tire. Then the wheel was rusted on. Thanks to the Texas highway patrolmen, the handyman with a big hammer, and the tire shop at the Amarillo Walamart!! We ate dinner consisting of Bleu Bell icecream, Walmart deli macaroni salad, and whole grain Pringles. Mmmm. With low moral, we declared how much we HATE Amarillo, and finally got back on our way. By the time we hit Santa Fe, we were so grateful for a hotel with a swimming pool and soft beds!! Somewhat of a bad day.

Saturday, we spent the morning sleeping in, and lazily swimming and sunning at the hotel. Santa Fe sun is gorgeous! Then we hit the road again for the final leg of our road trip adventure. The GPS estimated arrival time said 3:30 am, but all day we watched the minutes melt away, and arrived back home in T-ville by 10:30 pm instead. What a beautiful drive!! The canyons between south-western Colorado and Provo Utah are gorgeous at sunset!! We were so tired and sick of driving. Sometimes the only thing keeping us going was the thought of a Cafe Rio reward- which meant we had to get there before it closed! And we did. One pork burrito, enchilada style with black beans and medium sauce, and two mahi mahi tacos with tamatillo were the perfect end to quite an adventure.

Sunday, we got to go hear MG pal Sarah C.'s missionary farewell talk. Then spent the rest of the night with the Beckstrom fam- together again for the entire 2010 summer! It was so fun to finally meet little Olive, and spend time with Caroline, Caleb, Andrew, and Hyrum, who have all grown up so much! Family is a good thing, folks! A very good thing!

And now I'm "home" in Utah. Living with Mom and Dad. I don't know how long this will last. It's so fun to FINALLY live in the same city and state as Nathan. This hasn't happened for more than 3 months at a time since high school!! I'm really excited to spend all summer with him, hanging out and seeing where things go. Official blog update: Nathan and I are together. A real boyfriend/girlfriend type thing. But we're not getting married for a while. Probably a long while. We're just going to spend this year dating and making sure we're what each other wants, and focusing on school and saving money. The way we see it, there's no need to hurry or rush. We've got plenty of time. And better to be ready than not.

I'm back in Utah. Things with Nathan and I are going well. And that's that.