Rest and Relaxation

Home from Afghanistan

December was really just a teaser.  He was home for two weeks for R&R and then went back to Afghanistan.  R&R just happened to be during Christmas. I went to Mississippi to see him and meet his family. I was nervous, but I’m not really sure why.  I love fathers.  I am definitely a daddy’s girl. No one can ever replace my daddy, but ideally I want to feel for my father-in-law some of what I feel for my daddy.  Well, his dad is great. I absolutely love him. Tharius has a great, welcoming family as well as an adorable daughter.  I was initially nervous to meet her also because he had told me how important his kids were in his relationship.  Understandable. Parents should be protective of their kids and highly conscious of who they date and bring into their kids’ lives.  He also has a son, but I didn’t get a chance to meet him on this visit.

My future father-in-law

During his visit, Tharius planned a trip to New Orleans.  He’s a huge Lakers fan and they were playing the Hornets. I’m not really into basketball at all, but I am a big fan of NOLA. We stayed at the Waldorf. I’m already used to staying in nicer hotels, but this is where he set the bar for himself.  From here on out we must take nice trips and stay in nice hotels. Since this was such a short trip there’s not really much else to tell.  It was the first time we spent time together as a couple. The game was fun. And I did try to get into basketball after that…it wasn’t happening. I just don’t have an interest.

At the Lakers v Hornets game

Oh we went to a Thai restaurant. I started liking Thai when I lived in LA; he discovered it in Jackson. I had Pad Thai and he had Pineapple Chicken. It was so good. I really wish I remembered the name of that restaurant. It’s near a mall…. Anyways, now whenever we find a new Thai restaurant (especially on vacation) we must have those same dishes. So it’s not really that we like Thai food; we like those two dishes. And we haven’t found a spot as good as that one yet. We originally wanted to serve Thai food at our reception because of this tradition we have. It was proving to be too difficult in Birmingham so we scratched that.

This visit was the first time I actually felt like I had a boyfriend. Up until this point it was just all virtual.  Realistically, I can’t say I was in love with him. I’d hardly spent any time with him. But I was very fond of him. He must have been fond of me too because he chose to stay with me despite offers from others. At the risk of being a little cocky, I’m gonna say he definitely made the right decision on that.

In a way this was teaching me a lot about myself, my expectations, my faith…. It takes a lot of strength to be in a relationship like this. Fortunately I had a renewed spiritual relationship and prayer works. My life was going in several positive directions and I am still grateful.