September 2009: Florida

So, after Dave and I saw each other in August, became engaged, and all that we had already had a trip planned for me to meet up with him in Florida. His family was getting together to discuss their corporation that Dave's great-grandfather had started since his grandmother recently passed. So, I was getting ready to meet his whole family. I was excited! They seemed like a nice bunch as far as I could tell. :D

At least this time we only had 20 days between this trip and the last one. It was, I think, harder to wait this time to see each other though it seemed to go faster. During this time we decided to move up the date for me to move to Michigan with Dave. James would be going to pre-school soon and I was having a hard time watching my mom in so much pain. I knew being with Dave when my mom finally passed would be the best for me. I told my mom I loved her, she happily told me she would see me in December and I left with that, feeling I made the right decision.

So, I started packing up my stuff to move besides what I needed to take to Florida in late August. I arrived in Florida September 4th. Besides seeing Dave I met his sister Beth and their cousin Will. It was so good to see Dave and get a big hug from him. From what I could tell from the plane Florida is very wet. It is also very humid, but very green and crawling. I mean literally crawling. It was amazing all the bugs and reptiles you see on a constant basis. I saw some really cool huge spiders.

Anyway, the drive from the airport to the ranch was nice. Orlando airport wasn't as Disneyfied as I thought it would be. On the way I talked to Dave's dad on the phone and he said he was quivvering with excitement to finally meet me, which instantly made me laugh out loud. I was excited as well to meet him and get some target practice in. :D

When we got to the ranch Dave's mom had made dinner, which reminded me of something my mom would make when I was growing up. Everyone I met was wonderful. Very laid back, which was nice. We stayed up and played board games with Beth and Will. I love playing board games. Oh, and a game of pool with Dave, which we both epically sucked at. LOL! It was pretty funny.

Saturday morning all that wanted to got to shoot some of Dave's dad's rifles, handguns, and his new 20 guage shotgun. We had a great time and I out shot everyone with the 20 guage. LOL! Also on Saturday Dave's family had their meeting while Dave's dad, Michael, and I watched the kids while they played in the lake and made "Hooker Butter." It took us awhile to figure out what "Hooker Butter" actually was. Of course, you would assume it was something really bad, but upon asking them it became clear. "Hooker Butter" was butter made from Captain Hook. We both were like, OH, of course, "Hooker Butter." LOL! Michael and I had a nice chat while the kids played. After the meeting was over we had dinner.

That night we hung out with Dave's siblings and their families. They played card games and drank a stanky scotch (I made Dave brush his teeth before he came to bed, I mean stanky) while I read.

On Sunday most everyone went to Disneyworld. Dave and I stayed behind and had some time alone. We went to visit neighbors that lived down the street from the house Dave's grandmother owned and then we made a trip to Orlando. Dave needed to find an internet connection and so we made a trip to Orlando and stopped at Whole Foods for some Kombucha and amazingly enough they had WiFi. Yeah. There was also a sushi place in the same parking lot and we went there for dinner. Yummy. I'm really liking sushi. :D

Monday most of Dave's extended family left for home while his immediate family stayed and we all hung out. It was Beth's birthday, though Dave's was that week too so we celebrated both. We had cake and then Dave and I took a nap. I guess Dave was snoring because Beth was amazed I slept through it. Ha! I guess having a piece of cake with butter in it will do that to me. LOL!

I think at this point Dave and I were both a little stressed out and took a walk. I think my stress was mainly caused by the fact that I was moving in less than a week when I got back from Florida. When we got back everyone was picking out stuff they wanted that was in the house. Dave and I picked out a camel saddle. It's pretty cool.

Monday we cleaned up the ranch house where we stayed and had to say your goodbyes. Dave's dad pulled me to the side and gave me the double thumbs up. :D I think that's a good sign. We rode with Dave's brother Jim to the airport and then departed. Our airplanes left about the same time so Dave walked me as far as he could and I got to my gate right before they started calling seating numbers.

I thoroughly enjoyed meeting Dave's family and had a great time. It was so good to see Dave again.