Progressive

Thursday night, to celebrate the almost end to a long, hard week (and 'cause Twilight was already sold out, I kid) Mikael and I headed out on the town.

In Waco the opportunities for weeknight entertainmnet aren't exactly limitless, but, we still managed to keep our options open (and avoid crashing the Fourth Annual Education Summit I saw advertised).
 

After finally discovering a way to save ourselves from wasting half the evening on either the "I don't know, where do you want to go" game, or Rock, Paper, Scissors-ing to pick a place, we were able to spend most of the evening actually enjoying our date night, instead of fretting over last minute plan making.

(Thanks Gwen for fashioning our "fortune teller." We might still be in a parking lot deciding where to get dinner if it weren't for you.)

For round one we headed to Food For Thought, which proved to have surprisingly good veggie pizza.

(If Mikael weren't a cheese eater I'd say we'd have a big problem on our hands. Thankfully, he's avoiding meat, not dairy, which is good news for me!

I can live without bacon now and then, but I refuse to live in a world without cheese. I think he understands and appreciates this about me, I'm a woman of principles afterall.)

While there I snuck a peak at an apartment finder. I dread the thought of moving again, just five months after I last unloaded boxes (and frankly, I still have some to unpack).

But, I've never had such an exciting reason to relocate either. ;)  (*Update; we might be staying put. More on this soon.*)

Anyways, after dinner we set out to make a quick trip to the nearest HEB for some essentials. Technically we only went for some emergency Corn Huskers Lotion, because I have the hands of a 70-year-old cotton farmer, or a corn husker apparently.

But, instead, we ended up getting so much more than we bargained for, namely hand soap, a couple of bananas, some fuzzy socks (which were just too soft not to snatch up)... oh, and an opportunity for Mikael to become ever-famous on some sorority girls' Facebook pages...

*Actual Event/Proof Waco Really Is Wacko!*

A group of giggling girls came down our aisle and up to Mikael.

"Uh, Sir, would you mind taking a picture with us, for a scavenger hunt we're on?"

Mikael, being a good sport, said sure, while I looked on laughing. And that's when they informed him one of the teeny-boppers from Baylor actually had to get a piggy-back-ride from him.

Awkward!

I'm pretty sure I gave him an approving nod. I definitely didn't shake my head "no" at least. Why would I? I was too busy cracking up at it all, and also trying to pretend I was deeply interested in buying body wash at the same time.

He complied. I continued laughing. They ran off and on to their next task.

And then we left, marveling at a scavenger hunt that would all but encourage pledges to be kidnapped at the most ghetto grocery store in town... Super odd. Super funny. But, I digress...

*

In my mind a date night is not complete without some form of dessert. So after the yummy pizza, and the laughs, we opted to go get really sweet coffee.

Lucky for me Mikael just so happens to live a few miles away from my favorite, magical, local shop. SCORE!

And even though the place was literally spilling over with hipsters, it was nice to steal a few quiet moments - and drinks (well technically we paid for those) - with the man I love.

You know you've found someone special when you can be in a crowded room together and still catch glimpses of your future just looking in his eyes. (Too cheesy? True though.)

To summarize, 'cause this has now become a college essay (*or because it was 2:56 a.m. when I originally wrote this and I wasn't sure how to close), I really like date nights. And lattes. But mostly date nights. And pizza.

And, I guess the thing is, the reason I'm writing about all this now, is because I'm worse than anyone I know about struggling to just be present. Enjoying each moment as it comes does not come easily for me.

This week was fine evidence of that, how I can let worry and fear and stress (are those all the same thing?) take over what is actually a really wonderful life.

 

But Thursday was a chance to set all that aside for a second, and to focus on the blessings instead.

It was a wonderful opportunity to look across a table and thank God for delicious grilled vegetables, but also for a man who didn't jerk his hand away when he realized he was trying to hold sand paper.

It was a time to thank Him for providing me with more than I need. For laughter. And lattes.

And a Thursday night that felt like an escape from it all!