Best Date Ever

Today's post title has two meanings...

The first refers to the {best date ever} Josh took me on while his parents were here;

and the second refers to today's date, April 11th, being the {best date ever}.

Twelve years ago today (twelve years!?!) I decided after much soul searching that Josh and I should officially be an item.  We had gone on a handful of dates and spent our spring break together at the carnival in Target's parking lot, where we both got sick on the tilt-o-whirl, but we had yet to make anything official.

April 11th, 2000 after my baby-sitting job ended, I drove straight to Josh's house and we went on a walk to Hearthwood, the elementary school at the end of his parents' block.  We meandered slowly, finally landing on a bench where I said to him, "I've been doing some thinking, and I think I should be your girlfriend."

I don't remember exactly what he said, but I do remember his smile.  He was ecstatic.

Over the last twelve years we have been through a lot together- graduations, illness, pregnancies, car accidents, births, job changes... Through it all, we have remained close, and I am so grateful. 

When Josh proposed three years later (in August 2003) he said to me, "In the future we will have good times and bad times, but I know the good will always outweigh the bad."  I feel lucky to say that this has been true.

---

Now onto our best date ever...

While Josh's parents were here, he and his dad got the school's snow machine up & running and Josh took both the twins and his mom out for a spin.

Then Sunday before they left, Carol suggested Josh take me and offered to watch the kids while we were gone.  Knowing we wouldn't have another opportunity like that, we took it!

We rode the trail that leads from Marshall to Russian Mission.  We stopped a handful of times to take pictures and enjoy the scenery.

The sky was blue and it was gorgeous, albeit cold.  The wind wasn't terrible, but when you are on the snow machine going between 20 and 40 MPH, the air is brisk!  I wore full gear, gloves and mittens, and my scarf wrapped around my face.

I held onto Josh for dear life when we hit bumpy patches, and giggled like a school girl when we went fast on the straightaways.

When we stopped we just talked about how amazing it is and how blessed we are to be living in this beautiful place, surrounded by nature.

Josh got the hang of the snowmobile very quickly.

And he encouraged me to give it a try, too. So I did.  It was really fun to drive, but you aren't really in control.  Josh said it's more like herding something.  It starts to drift, so you pull back a little... kind of like that.  (If that makes any sense!)

I so enjoyed our adventurous outing, as I have enjoyed the last twelve years.  2011 was by far the most trying of our years together, and even so, Josh was right.

The good outweighed the bad.