Ahh Virginia! And the Giants win the Superbowl!

So Superbowl weekend we track down some fabulously priced tickets to Dulles in Washington DC. So Henry fly's from Hartford to Dulles, (I don't think the flight is even an hour) and I make the big trek east from SLC. Henry's mom (Cheryl) graciously let me stay at her house for the weekend so that I wouldn't have to pay for a hotel. We have a fabulous time getting to know each other. The rest of the short weekend was spent with Henry, Rick, Cheryl, and Grandma Bowles. We had a blast, especially when Henry's much loved Giants won!!! Monday came and our eyes were more than misty as we parted at the airport. One item I must note though, Henry literally got on the plane with me sitting at his gate in Dulles, flew to Hartford and then drove home before I even boarded the plane to fly to my layover in Denver. And of course when I got to Denver my flight was postponed another few hours due to the weather. I don't think I will ever fly in the winter this much again!!!!

Escape Artists!

So here's the story. I get home late one night from work and grocery shopping to find the south gate open and Brody and Cali missing. Of course what does any Mama do when her babies are missing.... PANIC! I drove the streets calling, whistling, crying hysterically, searching. My mom and dad even drove through the area searching. By the end my mom and I were hoarse. It was so late, that I couldn't even call the pound to see if they had been picked up. After reaching exhaustion my mom and I crawled into bed with hopes of finding them the next day. The next morning I awoke from a phone call from my sweetheart boyfriend Henry with the news that he had found them. Yes, Henry who was 2400 miles away was the one to track down my pups. He had discovered them at the animal control facility in Fruit Heights. The pups had been sent to jail for jaywalking in Woods Cross. Now mind you this is Brody's SECOND offense! So after paying the $100 fine and bringing my furbabies home, my mom and I fashioned a very high tech way of keeping them from escaping through the now broken gate. I have definitely learned my lesson and both are now wearing ID tags.

Avon CT-the Rest of the trip

Day 2- Luckily the night before I had received my luggage, so I did have clothes to wear. for this trip. I was staying in this quaint little hotel called the Avon Old Farms Hotel. I would recommend it to anyone who happens to need a place to stay in Avon, very cozy. So anyway, it is Friday and after meeting Grandma and Grandpa Becker, Henry decides to take me to my old houses in Summit, NJ with a short detour to New York City, where I got a real taste of Henry's driving......We stopped at FAO Shwartz and just had a blast. Next we were on the highway to Summit where we drove through my old neighborhoods, houses, and school. We stopped for dinner at Benihanas where of course I had to call and rub it in to my parents that I was there.

Day 3- Henry took me to see the Producers off Broadway in Hartford at this fabulous theatre. We had a great time. Later that evening we picked up Henry's fabulous cousin Christian and they took me to La Trot, where we were serenaded by violin.

Day 4- This was Sunday and I went with Henry to his ward. Now one problem was that the night before I had gotten sick with the flu. After Henry had gone home to Grandmas, I had called him up (now this was a test of love) at 3 in the morning needing cough medicine. So of course he comes over to the hotel with half the pharmacy. I take some Nyquil and zonk out. Now my next problem is that Henry's ward is at 9 a.m. and now remember I didn't take the Nyquil until about 3:30 a.m. so I have to fight to stay awake in sacrament meeting. Then to sunday school where people kept saying things like "so you are from the mother ship, I hear" which I guessed was some joke about Salt Lake. Everyone was really nice and knew Henry well. After that we had a fabulous brunch at my hotel, I would also recommend this. Then that night we went over to Grandma and Grandpas where I got to meet Aunt Cindy, Uncle Tom, Tait, Christian, and Henry's Dad. It was definitely an experience I will never forget :) After that it was over to Henry's Dad's house to meet Liz and Henry's adorable sister Emma. Let's just say by the end of the day, I was SHOT!

The next day I had to board the plane and go back the same way I had come. With misty eyes we kissed each other goodbye.

My trip Avon, CT January 2008- Day 1

So my first trip to Avon Connecticut was an adventure to say the least.... First my Mom drives me to the airport late one Wednesday night to catch my flight. Well of course I get all the way to the gate, and what's that I hear, yes my flight is cancelled until six am. So then I get to rush downstairs to the ticket agent to reschedule my flight. I call my mother who is more than halfway home and she has to turn around and come pick me up. We go to her house where I get maybe 2 hours of sleep and then back to the airport. I finally get on the plane and fly to Atlanta. Well my flight ends up being so late I almost miss my connection to Hartford. I am literally sprinting through this ginormous airport and get to my gate and nobody is there. I am panicking, thinking I can't believe I missed my flight or it has moved gates. I am tired and cranky so I sit down for a moment, quite depressed. Then I decide to stop feeling sorry for myself so I go to the gate next door and ask the attendant how long ago my flight left since I obviously missed it. I handed him my ticket, and he says lady " your flight hasn't left yet, it is at the gate behind you." I turn around and sure enough I am the last person to board the plane, (not quite sure how I had mistaken gate A4 for gate A6...) So anyway I get on my flight and make my way to Hartford. Once I get there, Henry tries to pull the line "I'm running late." Of course I don't believe him, but did believe he would try and be sneaky like I was when he came to visit me. So when I call him after I arrived I made up some baggage claim number that was different from the actual one so I could trick him into not finding me. Well, of course as always Henry was ten steps ahead of me. I decide to call my Mom and tell her I have landed safely as I make my way over to baggage claim. So I am talking on the phone and not really paying attention at the baggage claim I have arrived at and I start to notice how few people are around me, and then the belt comes to a complete stop. I look to my left and sure enough I was at the wrong baggage claim again!!! It is amazing I have lived this long! As I start to walk towards my own correct baggage claim area I see the back of Henry and as I walk up to him I can hear him laughing because for the past 10 minutes he was sitting watching me chatting on my cellphone while standing at the wrong baggage claim. Then we wait for my luggage to come off the belt. Then we wait a little longer. Then still a little longer.. No bags!!! My bags did not arrive with me because I had landed so late in Atlanta that they had not made it on my plane to Hartford. We give the claim desk my hotel address and walk out to the car. So one other item I must mention (I can't get away with anything!) Is that while I had made up the baggage claim number that I had given to Henry, he had known right away that I was lying because he knew for a fact that the number I had picked just so happened to be apart of a section that was under construction. Now you may start to be feeling bad for me, but don't worry I get Henry back with the Ultimate April fools joke....to come later. He did make up for it though because upon arriving to the car he hands me a present. I unwrap it only to find a beautiful coach purse... oh how I love to be spoiled :)

Henry's first trip to Salt Lake in years...

During Henry's trip to Utah he fell in love with the following: Silver Fork Lodge up Big Cottonwood Canyon, Hires, and Temple Square. We bought a Christmas tree which has a story to go along with it, but you will have to ask Henry yourself for that one. I also took him to Park City and out to dinner to meet Luce (my sister), Derek (her boyfriend), and my Mom. I am sure my family thought I had lost my marbles, but I was growing more and more attached to him by the minute. We exchanged Christmas presents. Henry had gotten me jewelry from the Silver Shop in Avon, and I had made him a Giants quilt. One word to the wise, it is very painful to tie a quilt using 100% cotton, I would not recommend it to anyone!!!

Just a little background on Henry. So he was born in Salt Lake, UT at University Hospital, but only lived here for a year before his parents moved to Avon, CT. From there he moved to Virginia as a teenager and then back to CT in the summer of 2007. The only other trip Henry made to Salt Lake was during his stay at the MTC on his way to his Billings, Montana mission. And that was over five years ago. So I made it a point to show Henry some of the great things about Salt Lake.

Our First Official Date

Our first official date! We went to the gateway for dinner at Applebees, then to the movies to see August Rush. Then Henry took me on a carriage ride around temple square and it was sooo romantic, except he spent pretty much the whole time chatting with the driver...

The Airpoe...Henry's Version

So I am getting all excited to fly out and see this beautiful woman that I have talked to on the phone for every night for who knows how long. I have my bag packed, only to have my flight cancelled due to weather conditions. I fly out the next day on a Friday with a layover in Minneapolis. All I am thinking about is, man I hope she likes me. I finally get to Salt Lake, go down to baggage claim, wait for my bag, for what seems like an eternity. This beautiful woman, I have just flown 2400 miles to see, is supposedly on her way to pick me up. But in all actuality she was trying to be sneaky, but what she didn't know, is how I am always ten steps ahead of her. Because when she called to tell me she was running late, I could hear the airport noise in the background of her cell phone, so I knew she was in the building somewhere. So I am there waiting for my bags, I make my way around knowing she is somewhere close. So I search the baggage claim area because I have this intuition that she is hiding somewhere. This is the best part. I watched her come down the escalator, walk out one door (as she was trying to be sneaky) and walk back in the other door right behind my baggage claim area. So at this point I get a call on my cell phone and it's her. She doesn't know that I have spotted her long before, made my way around acting like I am looking for something. Eventually I see her lean up against a column. At this point I am walking on the other side of the baggage claim area opposite her and I tell her that I see her leaning up against the column. It was seconds later that she spotted me and I nonchalantly made my way in a big circle to meet her. The first thing I thought when we first met, how much more beautiful she was in person than her pictures on the computer. I finally get my bags, and we make our way to the car. Of course in all her hurrying she forgets where she has parked the car and it takes a minute to find it. Of course it is always nerve racking meeting someone in person after you have only spoken to them on the phone, but before getting in the car, before we knew it, our first kiss happened right then and there. The rest is history and I am sure you will hear of more stories to come. Oh and the reason this post is titled Airpoe, is a long running joke between us. It was something Kara said one time when she was speaking faster than her brain could keep up with, so the Airport will forever be known as the Airpoe.