This week, for the majority of the week, Cindy was off on a road trip with her mom to Arizona to throw a bridal shower for one of Cindy’s best friends. This was probably the first time where it was just Cindy and her mom off on a long road trip together. The trip was filled with a lot of fun, coffee, and quality bonding time. The bridal shower was amazing too! Cindy was really happy she got to see her friend, who actually lives in Michigan. She’s realizing more and more how valuable and precious old friendships are, especially as we get older and people move far away.

As for Jake, he couldn’t wait for Cindy to leave for her trip. He jokingly said to her before she left that he was counting down the hours. lol. But really, while Cindy was away on her trip, Jake had a week filled with fun, work, and tying up loose ends. This past week was Jake’s FIRST LAST WEEK of work at his first, real, adult job!!! He focused on wrapping up his projects and writing letters to his co-workers. One thing Cindy is learning from Jake is that handwritten thank you notes and letters go a long way and really leave a good impression on people. Some fun things Jake did while Cindy was gone: he scheduled a bro night with a friend and the two of them baked some pies, he worked on his hobby/not for profit (Intrepid Insight), and he went to the movies with a co-worker.

This is probably the second time since we’ve been married that we’ve spent more than a couple of days apart. You would think the reunion was super sweet and romantic. The reality is it was sweet for about 10 minutes. Then we got into a huge fight that fizzled on into the next day. The details of the fight are not important nor worth sharing. What is important is that we fought, yelled at each other, calmed down, and then talked through our issues. And even though we had to repeat the process several times over the course of a couple days, we are learning how to listen to and acknowledge the other’s concerns. And one of us is learning how to show more grace and be more quick in forgiving (we will not disclose who lol).

All in all, it has been quite the week. And we’re happy we are ending it on a good note. We had an impromptu game night last night and today, we ate the new Jack in the Box Sauced and Loaded fries. (pictured below: Jake holding the to go bag that had the fries in it)