It Was a Record Year...

We hit a record in 2014.

Four date nights.

FOUR.

I know.  That just seems extravagant.  Over-the-top.  Pure luxury.  

And that's before I even tell you what we actually DID for those date nights.

- High School Band Banquet.

- Foreigner/Chicago Concert.  

- Movie ("Gone Girl").

- Auburn Men's Basketball game.

WE. ARE. FANCY.

Usually, we only get two.  The band banquet and an overnight trip during Christmas.  We actually paid for a babysitter twice this year.  

I feel so...pampered.

For our yearly overnight trip, we opted for a return to where is all began.

College.

Chris had not been back to Auburn since I was pregnant with Aubrey Kate.  2009.  I've been twice since then.  Once when Aubrey Kate was a baby to see the trees.  And then again when Rhys was a baby for the last A-Day game with the trees.

Apparently, the Toomer's Trees are crazy important to our family.  Considering I never rolled a single tree...ever...that seems weird.  But it's a tradition.  Part of the Auburn family.  Now they're gone and it is BIZARRE.

Every year, we looked at the Auburn sports schedule to see if there was a game we could go down to see and there never was.  This year, there was.  So we went.  It was cold and raining but WE WERE THERE.

We drove around town and campus.  Stunned at how much a place can change in 15 years.  Simultaneously being stunned it's been 15 years since we graduated.  

Walked by all our buildings.  The steps where I sat between classes sunning myself TO WARM UP.  All those cute, tan girls walking around campus in their tank tops and short-shorts...not me.  I was the one in baggy jeans, Birkenstocks and a sweatshirt.

In May.

I had no illusions of being "cute."  Didn't really even try.  And if I'd even considered it, my freshman roommate was quick to squash any of those thoughts.  She loved to holler at me from across the street/room/concourse "HEY DUCKIE" to remind me that I walked weird.  

Just to clarify, I think I walk fine.  But at that time in my life, I was pretty sure she was right.  So I probably tried even less then.

By the time I met Chris, the roommate had moved into her sorority dorm to torture some other poor girl and left me alone.  Although, Chris wasn't all that impressed with me either.  And why would he be?  I was dating his roommate.

I met his roommate in Habitat for Humanity.  Which is what I did in college.  Driving around campus, I was pointing out the places we met.  Stands we set up on the Concourse.  The bar we hosted "Singled Out" in as a fundraiser (which was a huge success, BTW).  Took three years, but we managed to raise the necessary $25,000 to build a house.  We built it.  I hung sheet rock and nailed down roof shingles.  

And those baggy jeans and sweatshirt fit in just fine there.

Anyway, I dated the roommate for a solid year.  

The following Fall quarter came and I ran into him around campus before school started.  Him and his roommate.  Somehow, Chris ended up coming over to my apartment later that night to play cards and watch some college football.  He was there for band camp and I was there for work.  That was August 31st.  By Thanksgiving, we were officially dating.

And the roommate, my ex, stopped speaking to Chris entirely. 

(There's oh so much more to that story but it's water under the bridge.  Mostly.)

That was my last year at Auburn.  I was a hostess in the football stadium Suites that fall.  The Habitat house was built so my focus was on, you know, getting a job...a real job...and getting married.

Sometimes in that order.  Sometimes the other way around.  

Nine months later, we were engaged.  I extended my college career by two quarters to get a minor in Communications.  So I got to spend my last fall quarter in college with a ring on my finger.

Not gonna lie.  I really, really, really liked that.

Once we got married, we didn't make it back to Auburn all that frequently.  We moved to coastal Georgia, then Oklahoma City and then Texas.  All NOT CLOSE TO AUBURN.

In the meantime, Auburn had the audacity to build a whole slew of new buildings.  Including a new basketball arena.  Mom and I had gone in for a look-see when Aubrey Kate was a baby.  But Chris hadn't been at all.  

Most of our buildings...the Liberal Arts buildings...hadn't changed.  The band practice field had moved.  Which was a big deal for Chris.  I'm pretty sure I wasn't aware of where the practice field was when we were in school.  But my buildings, including the library, where I'm sure they've named the fourth cubby on the left for me, were exactly the same.

Here's my building:

Rain.  It does my hair good.

The building was locked otherwise we would have totally wondered around.  

We walked around downtown Auburn.  Looking at all the things available for those who want to decorate their home with Auburn.  In mass quantities.  Stayed at the campus hotel and conference center (shockingly tiny rooms).  Ate dinner at a pizza place I literally never visited in college.  Although it was there (out of my price range).  And then we headed to the game.

In more rain.

For a brief moment there I thought that ex/Chris' roommate I mentioned was sitting just a few rows in front of us.  That man was a dead ringer for him.  Took both of us doing some highly inappropriate staring to decide, no, that's not him.  

And in the one of the biggest NO WAY moments to end all NO WAY moments, I ran into one of my roommates, and bridesmaid, that I have not seen nor spoken with since we left our wedding reception fourteen years ago.  

I saw her walk in and punched Chris.  I hesitated going down to see her because would she even remember me?  I mean, fourteen years.  I've searched for her on Facebook.  Especially when I found a couple of other college friends.  But I never could find her.  

And there she was.  In Auburn.  Pretty much exactly where I left her.

To get her attention, I had to go down and sit next to the ex-look-a-like.  Chris said, "Head on down there.  It'll be like a regular reunion."

But I did it.  Heart racing.  Would she even want to talk with me?  I mean, after she maybe, might, possibly recognize me?  

She did and she did.  It was a great reunion.  Girl has not changed a single bit.  Not even a wrinkle.  Which I might have been jealous of.  

And the reason I couldn't find her on FB is because she's not there.  But Instagram!  

The next morning, I got up and ran, took a shower without an audience and got ready for the Christmas Eve festivities.  

The whole trip was wonderful.  We didn't have to reconnect this trip.  Marching season was good this year.  He was gone more.  But he was happy and a happy husband is priceless.  So mostly this trip was more dreaming.  It's one of the things we've always done well.  And one of the things we believe is vital to a healthy marriage.

Couples do that sort of thing a lot when they're dating but daily stuff gets in the way of doing it often after the wedding.  We're getting to the point of sticking our heads above the water of little people.  Those babies are a huge blessing but they can suck the life right out of you.

We're starting to feel some life again.

It was good to dream.  To remember.  To just be.  

And run into an old friend.

In more ways than just the number of dates, it was a record year for us.  A year we stayed connected. A year we started to see the light at the end of the toddler tunnel.  A year we could begin to picture the next stage.  

Good stuff, y'all.

Minus the memories of "Duckie" and rain hair.