Project 52 Date Nights - Calm in the Midst of Crazy

This past weekend was insane. We crammed in a 12+hour roadtrip {each way} to Searcy, AR to attend a wedding of a childhood friend AND then back through Nashville for my brother's graduation from grad school. I am a bad sister - we didn't actually make it to graduation, but we were {briefly} there to celebrate at my aunt's afterward.

To get an idea of how crazy this weekend was, here is the breakdown:

Thursday:

• Worked half a day. Finalized packing/cleaning the house in case there is a weekend showing {which there wasn't}. Loaded Sophie in the car and drove 6 hours to Chattanooga, TN.
• Moved all of my stuff {and Sophie} into our Subaru and drove {with Daniel} to Murfreesboro, TN to have dinner with my father-in-law.
• After dinner, we drove to my brother's apartment in Nashville. We didn't even take our stuff in, we just crashed in his bedroom {he was gracious and slept on the couch}.

Friday:

• Up early to drive to Memphis {with my brother now in tow} to see my sister, her husband and my sweet niece {whom we haven't seen since Thanksgiving}. We spent all of one hour there {and they fed us lunch} before hitting the road.
• Drove to Searcy where we briefly visited with my parents.
• Then to a rehearsal at the church.
• Followed by the rehearsal dinner.
• Followed by a bachelorette party.
• I was home around 1AM.

Saturday:

• Up and showered and ready for breakfast at 9AM {my Grandma, Aunt and Uncle come by for a quick visit}.
• Left at 10:30AM to attend a Bridesmaid luncheon {eating all of this food did not help me when I had to wear a super tight dress later that day}.
• Went to the church around 1:30PM to get ready.
• Pictures were at 3PM (I put off putting on my dress until the last moment}.
• Spent the next 7 hours unable to move or breathe :(
• Wedding was at 5PM - it was beautiful. Everything I expected.
• Reception followed - was blessed to visit with MANY people from my teenage years.
• We finally sent the bride and groom off around 10PM.
• We proceeded to go to my parent's house and CRASH {actually I made Daniel give me his suit jacket and then undo my dress as soon as we got in the car so that I could breathe again}.

Are you still with me?

Sunday

• Drove to my aunt's house in Nashville. Where we visited for a couple of hours {celebrating my brother's graduation} before hitting the road AGAIN.
• Then on to Chattanooga, where we unloaded Daniel's stuff and moved my stuff back to my car.
• We stayed up until 10PM visiting with our friends Chris & Courtney {who Daniel is currently living with}.

Monday

• Up at 5:45AM???
• Left at 6:30 - Daniel left for work and I drove home to Charlotte. I made it home in 6 hours. Dropped Sophie at the house and then went to work.

Whew.

So. Our Date. To be truthful, I barely saw Daniel. Between the wedding and all of the visiting. But we did manage to grab a moment of calm {by ourselves} on Friday night. After the rehearsal dinner and before the bachelorette party, we made a pit stop at Midnight Oil. This is my favorite coffee house on the planet - mostly because it brings back such fond memories from college. Daniel and I even went there at the end of our very first date {where we proceeded to talk until closing time}. Unfortunately this date, only allowed us about 20 minutes to sit on the porch, sharing a Mr. Blond. And just talking. When you live in separate places, talking becomes the thing you long for the most. It was my moment of calm in the midst of a very crazy {exhausting, but fun} weekend.