Today in 1996...

...Duane and I had our first date! It didn't start off as a first date, but it definitely ended as one. Originally I was going bowling with Duane's sisters (I worked with Lorie, which is how I met Duane) and some of our friends from work. I showed up to pick up Lorie and Jo, and it ended up that Duane was going to the same bowling alley to meet up with some of his friends. Lorie and Jo weren't ready yet, so I gave Duane a ride to the bowling alley.

There had been some"chemistry" between the two of us for a while, some bad and some good. We'd known each other for almost a year by this time. Let's just say our first impressions of each other were not good at all. Over that year, we got to know each other, and had really started to "flirt" by the time this magical bowling night occured. By the time we got to the bowling alley, we weren't interested in hanging out with anyone but each other. Over the next several hours we were inseperable, and the evening had definitely turned into a date!

Fast forward to the end of the evening when I took Duane home. I came in the house, talked with his sisters for a bit, and he walked me to my car. We had our very first kiss in his parents driveway, with his sisters and mom watching us from inside the house. (Hey, I know it was our first date, but we'd known each other for a year) I knew right then that what I was feeling for him was more than I had ever felt before. That was it, we started dating "officially" and have been together ever since that night. Now, 12 years later, I couldn't love him any more than I do. I Love you Honey! Happy 1st date Anniversary.

Countdown

Well it's finally here, Duane will be home in about 28 hours and we are so excited! The only bad thing is that he has to spend most of that time on an airplane. The time change is hard, but it is much easier to get used to when you get to China than it is when you come home. He has been 14 hours ahead of us for 5 weeks. When he gets home on Saturday night, he only really has Sunday to recover, then it's back to work on Monday. Crazy!!

Just to give you an idea of how weird that flight back to Utah is, just check this out: He is leaving China at 11:20 am Saturday morning (China time). He flies for nearly 16 hours and lands in San Francisco at 12:40 pm (SF time...only an hour and 20 mins later!), then has 3 hour layover and gets to Salt Lake at 6:30 pm local time. So after traveling for 20 hours, he gets here only "7 hours" after he left China. The other strange thing, is that 6:30 pm here will be feeling like 8:30 am in China, so he will be at the beginning of his day (as far as his body knows).

We are getting all ready for him to get home, and even made him a fresh batch of salsa last night. Now, he just needs to hurry and get here before it's all gone!