“Country roads, take me home. To the place, I belong.” -John Denver

Today I’m off on an Ikea adventure with Tahoe Girl. Then we’re spending the weekend hanging out. It’s her mom’s 60th birthday on Saturday and she invited yours truly to help decorate for it! Tonight we’re going to hit up a happy hour and just kick back. I’m really excited for our little weekend.

But part of me is already daydreamin’ about an upcoming trip I’m taking with Match in November. I mentioned he’s in the middle of a TEN day work week right? Well he’s doing a shift trade so he can score himself ten days off in late October/early November. I can’t wait!

We’re heading to Oregon to visit my family, and the in-laws just may be tagging along. We’re talking about having an early Thanksgiving. I can’t tell you the last time I had Thanksgiving with my family. Sniffle. Also Match hasn’t been home to visit my folks since we got engaged back in December of 2009, almost 2 years ago!!

I can’t wait to go home and wander the beaches.

Go back to the park where he proposed and get a picture during the day. You can’t tell here, but he proposed on a cliff side overlooking the ocean with a full moon. It’s that tiny dot in the picture.

and spend some quality time with my family. Match is such a hoot in Oregon. He runs around like a country boy, chasing the goats and driving like a banshee on the four wheeler. We’re also hoping to make a lot of pit stops on the road trip back and make an adventure out of it.

Look at that shit eating grin. I can already see him buying an SUV with a thule ski rack and moving us to the sticks. That boy belongs in the country!

I’m really looking forward to showing the in-laws around my little town and the house that built me. I couldn’t wait to get away from it when I was a teenager, but now I can’t wait to go back. Funny how getting older does that to you.

Match and I are hitting the road tonight! We’re driving 6.5 hours to Oregon to see one of my cousins graduate from high school. It also happens to be our 2 year anniversary on Saturday so I sprung for a cottage for us to stay in tomorrow and Saturday night. We’ll squeeze in a romantic getaway in between the family visiting. We’re packing a nice bottle of bubbly, some wine, and I think I may pack some lingerie to wear.  Match and I haven’t been able to spend very much time together these past few months, and I’m so excited we’re able to get away together this weekend.

Check out this photo of the cottage I found us. I hope the real deal lives up to the picture!

Tonight we’re going to drive up halfway and stay somewhere cheap. That way we can get the most out of our short weekend getaway. My OCDness is having a rough time with the whole “winging it” thing and not having every leg of the trip planned out. I am attempting to unwind and not be all, well, ME about the trip. I may even turn off my phone and not go online. I may.

Phoebe: You’ve got me, Jason Dean. I’m yours. So no more wooing.

Jason: Okay, no more wooing. I guess I’ll cancel out helicopter to Carmel for dinner.

Phoebe: No, no, no, maybe a little bit more wooing. -Charmed

I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this before, but Match’s family is very different than mine. They have beautiful things, they enjoy wine and the finer things in life, and they have a beach house in Carmel they rent every summer. My family drinks beer and boxed wine, and camps out on the beach in the summer. Not that there is anything wrong with that at all! I love my family, but sometimes it’s nice to see how the other half lives.

Thursday morning Match and I are getting up bright and early, and taking the four hour drive to Carmel, to enjoy a much needed vacation. Because of the generosity of his parents, we get to stay in their vacation rental, relax on the beach, and we even get to bring Monkey. (more…)