Sour milk and black olives

February 2005.  I lived in PA.  Joel went to school in Daytona Beach, FL.  I was 17, he was 21.  We had worked together for one summer and stayed in touch via Aol Instant Messenger (remember that?).  I mentioned that my family was coming to FL to go to Disney World later that month.  We decided to meet up.  Two friends in the same state- that was it.  I was a 17 year old girl, to all of my friends, this was a date and they made me nervous.

I made my family leave and go out for dinner before Joel showed up at our hotel to pick me up.  I didn't want them to meet him.  It seems funny now, I have always loved when my family meets my friends.  Like I said, I was nervous.  We went out for dinner with his friend and his friend's fiance (now wife).  We went to Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville and I got some kind of oriental chicken salad and now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure we went to the movies afterwards and saw Hitch.  He dropped me off at the hotel again and that was that. 

Fast forward almost 7 years.

Back to Disney we go.  Joel and I are heading to Disney World for 10 days.  This time with no fun/awkward date/hang out evenings.  And I'm not hiding him from my family, rather they are coming too!  It' crazy to think that in the past 7 years I have not only started dating Joel, but got married and have been married for over 2 years already.  My 17 year old self had no idea.

But that's not all.  When my family boards the plane in Orlando to head back home, Joel and I will be pointing the other direction.  We are flying to Puerto Rico for the next week to go to a friend's wedding.

The fun starts in about an hour.  Joel will be getting home from work and we will be heading to his parents house for dinner.  Thankfully, because the only thing we have in the fridge right now is sour milk and black olives.  Then we are off to my family's house to spend the evening and embark on an early morning start to our travels. 

This time tomorrow I'll be in sunny Florida.