We drove to D.C and back! (Part 1)

Are you ready for a story?  It's a pretty good one!

So a few months ago, Jesse's brother Tim got engaged to this awesome girl, Jessica.  She's from Maryland and we were so excited to hear they'd be getting married in Washington, D.C--only 8 hours from us!  But then we found out the weekend that worked best for them was the weekend before Jesse's finals, the one weekend he really needed to buckle down and study.  So we sadly resigned ourselves to the fate of not going.  I, however, was not good at resigning myself.  I LOVE Jesse's family and especially Tim (have I ever told you about how I basically owe my marriage to Tim? Long story short, he made sure Jesse's mom knew I was an ok person even though I broke up with Jesse far too many times before we dated for real--so then she knew it was ok to not have stern talking to with Jesse about us.  Thanks, Tim!) so I was really bummed about not getting to see them, so kept trying to think up harebrained schemes in which we could go anyways.  This was sort of unfortunate, as it kept getting our hopes up and then we'd get bummed when we realized we still shouldn't go.  Then, finally, the week of the wedding, I decided even if Jesse couldn't go, I probably could, and I half-way decided that I would be a crazy adventure woman and drive overnight to MD all by myself! As the week progressed, I was half convinced I was going, half really bummed that I probably shouldn't risk the drive, and half trying but not trying to convince Jesse he should come with me (even though I knew I shouldn't).  

Well, as the end of the week (and when we'd need to leave) neared, I decided that I really didn't want to drive all that way by myself, and Jesse decided (for the fortieth time) that he really couldn't go either, so I officially and really resigned myself to not going.  The problem with having really thought I was going to go, though, was that my hopes were up SUUUUPER high and then came crashing down to earth when reality struck, so I was more than a little bummed.  

But then!  Thursday morning dawned, the morning of the day on which I had planned to drive to Maryland, and Jesse woke up feeling different! He had done the calculations of how much time he felt he needed to study for his finals and realized there was a lot more time that he might be able to use to study, but would more than likely end up feeling burnt out and playing computer games instead.  So, he decided, why not do some studying there in MD and then spend the burnt-out hours actually doing something great--like going to his brother's wedding?! 

So we did it! I rushed around, bought some snacks, cleaned the house, got some gas, and at 8:45 pm we took to the open road! 

It was a long drive, and Nikolai didn't sleep too well in his carseat, so I was actually really grateful that Jesse was along to help soothe him! The actual driving went great though--zero traffic, not much construction and perfect weather.  The only downside was the TOLLS!  $35 to drive through Ohio and Pennsylvania, I kid you not!  Once we got over being angry about that though, we got there safe and sound...at 5:30 in the morning.  We crashed for a few hours in Jesse's parents' hotel room (thanks again!!!) until Nikolai woke up at 8:30.  He and I played in the bathroom (pictured below) for awhile in an attempt to let everyone else keep sleeping (Jesse's folks had gotten in really late the night before as well) before we eventually went and explored the hotel grounds until everyone got up. 

Niko loves his Papa!

Once we were all up and at 'em in the morning, Jesse took off to the public library to study and I went with Juli, Dave and Andy to meet up with Tim and Jessica at the temple (not for the wedding, they were just doing some temple work!).

We had a great day after that--eating at a fantastic buffet, meeting all of Jessica's family (so many siblings, but all so great!) and doing some reception decorating.  We finally crashed late that night, ridiculously excited about the wedding the next morning! 

To be continued...