Summer Time Is The Best Time

There's nothing like summer. It's the one time of year where you can walk out of your house in shorts, a T-shirt, sunscreen on your face, (and is there any better smell in the whole entire world? My childhood was coated in spf whatever.) feelings of entitlement written all over your soul demanding the tan that you've been yearning for for months on end, and with the sun shining down on you it seems that suddenly all the cares that once were yours have suddenly evaporated along with all other bits of moisture (given that you live in the Western and Midwestern states anyway). Summer is a time where you somehow reconnect with the self and the freckles that have been in hiding all winter long and provides this healing sort of effect that allows you to make up for the lost time winter has taken from you. And I mean don't get me wrong, winter isn't all that bad...except that mostly, it is. And it's just that summer and I, we have this pact, and it is that, well, it exists and I will love it until the day I die...and then some.

So when Taylor and I took off for Billings on Saturday morning, our first trip there free of the jackets, close-toed shoes, and tights that confine us (me), I knew the day was likely to hold a treasure or two. As we drove the familiar drive, I stared at the green hills that had replaced the brown "life" that was once there. Animals were aplenty while the creeks and rivers flowed as if they had never been frozen in the first place. Everything was just as it should be; the world was alive and well and as we drove it felt as though we were in our very own movie with the sound of the wheels turning beneath us and the background music cued and ready to create a moment for our very own audience.

In time, the lovely Billings town came into view and we had the whole day ahead of us, with Temple's to attend, the last of wedding gift card's to burn, and Costco's to shop at. And if you know anything, you know that Saturday's at Costco are meant for all things tiny and free; shots of various juices, the smallest of sandwiches, the bittiest rolled up pieces of lunch meat, and more weirdo small cheeses than one could ever dream would be in a single place at once. So with our stomach's filled and satisfied we purchased long-awaited waffle makers, 7 boxes of cereal, popcorn poppers, and giant unnecessary tubs to hold the popcorn which, as it turns out actually makes you feel like Mario in Big World (or Luigi if you have that kind of unfortunate luck).

This day was really panning out in all the ways I had hoped it would, and with that surprise popcorn tub purchase, expectations were really exceeding! But things really only got better when we set out on our 2 hour drive to return to the homeland. The sun roof came open, the air conditioning went off, and we drove there we two, sweating our lives away and wishing we weren't anywhere else but there in that hot, hot car. After a sufficient amount of sweating had occurred, I rolled down my window to allow for some cross breeze there in that Civic, rested my arm on the door, and rolled up my sleeve so as to tan at least one of my arms.

And then we turned on annoying music, car danced like we were in high school again, disregarded the warming milk in the back seat, and felt the sun beat down on us as we relived the days of yesteryear, except this time in more grown-up bodies.

Dancing, not fake sleeping. Obviously. 

If only you could see the moves he was providing. 

Worth it.