Travel Day to Denver

I am breaking my posts up into 2 separate posts for each day we were in Denver. I HAVE to talk about Monday, December 29th first.....our "travel day." The trip honestly could not have started better....seriously.

So we were originally supposed to take a 10:15am flight, however the flight was overbooked. Since we weren't in any real hurry, we decided to volunteer to give up our seats. In return, we each received a $400 voucher for another flight! So basically our flights are pretty much paid for when we have to return in late February / early March for the retrieval. Cha ching! $800 saved! We also got a voucher for free lunch. :)

We figured we should take advantage of the opportunity while we're not the frazzled parents we saw trying to comfort their restless and bored children at the airport. You could not give us a big enough voucher to stay at the airport any longer than necessary once we are those parents. Of course, OUR children will never act out, scream, cry or have any tantrums.........and for all of you parents out there reading this and shaking your heads....let me have this hope, I'm infertile myrtle for crying out loud!

So, we get on the plane on a flight a few hours later and we find out we're on some sort of list which has been chosen to get a free upgrade for TV on our flight. So Adam and I got to enjoy some tv on our flight. So a little Judge Judy, People's Court and a nap later, and we arrived.

So I have to go back for a minute to when we were still waiting for our flight. Since we spent about 7 hours in the airport, we had a lot of time on our hands. I am currently reading the book "The Case for Christ" and you know how your mind wanders sometimes, so you have to re-read the page? So, that happened. I had just finished staring...not in a creepy way....totally a loving way....and maybe in a little "I want to steal your baby" way, at an adorable baby who looked like she could be ours. So I was thinking about how much I wanted a baby and had to re-read the page I was reading....anyway, I glanced down and read the first line referring to Jesus......"But who was he really? Who did he claim to be? And is there any credible evidence to back up his assertions? That's what we'll seek to determine as we board a flight to DENVER to conduct our first interview." How CRAZY is that? I am a HUGE believer in signs. Also, I was using this Pug bookmark that I LOVE to mark my pages. When I stood up to board, I left it on the seat and realized it once we were on the plane. I was so bummed because I frantically searched my pockets and purse to see if I had put in there and just didn't remember....but couldn't find it anywhere....and I searched everywhere. So we arrive in Denver, I put my hand in my pocket.....and there's my bookmark! I checked that same pocket on the airplane at least 3 times before. I think it was another sign that Adam and I have an angel watching over us......more to come on that, it will give you the chills.

Okay, so while we were on the plane, our flight attendant was seriously a wacko. She literally told the man behind us that he needed to put his bag all the way under his seat because she wouldn't want him to feel guilty if the man sitting next to him by the window "died trying to get off the plane in an emergency because his bag was blocking his forward progress." What is this football? We were a little slap happy at this point so we were cracking up. Oh and did I mention that there were about 5 babies on the plane and they basically surrounded us the entire flight? SURROUNDED...literally. Everywhere we turned there was a smiling or screaming baby staring at us.......mocking us.

Okay, so we get to Denver and get our rental car....a PT Cruiser....which we got 1/2 off! It was supposed to be $75 and they only charged us $38! So we were off cruisin in our PT Cruiser......here's the BEST part of the day....as if the day could get any better. We were pulling out of the Thrifty rental car lot and had to stop to turn in our form to the guy who checks for dents etc. He seemed like a nice enough guy, but not really the type who would just start talking to you. Well, he did....and the conversation went like this:

Angel Man to Adam & I: "So how long have you two been married?"

Adam: "Too long....ha ha" "We actually just celebrated our 5 year anniversary."

Angel: "You two have that look of love, the ones newlyweds have."

Adam and I: "Yes, we're very lucky."

Angel: "I don't know why, but I feel like 2009 is going to be a good year for you two. You're heading in a new direction and good things are going to happen for you. Happy New Year."

Adam and I: (I now have tears in my eyes) "Thank you SO much. You have no idea how much we needed to hear that. Happy New Year."

I mean who says that? When we pulled away, we could NOT believe that the guy at the Thrifty Rental Car Lot had said all of that to us. I repeat, the random guy working at Thrifty....who knew nothing about us, gave us something to talk about the whole way to our hotel. What an angel.

So we were driving to our hotel, Adam sobbing with emotion......okay, maybe it was me that was sobbing......Adam was just crying....okay, he had tears in his eyes....okay, neither of us were sobbing.......but we were definitely emotional. Anyway, in the 30 miles between the airport and the hotel, we passed through "Aurora, Colorado." We live in Aurora, IL! Weird!

Our hotel was in an awesome area. Imagine a dream shopping area and any restaurant you can imagine. That's where we were. Nordstrom, White Chocolate Grille, Pottery Barn, .....the list goes on and on. It was basically "upscale suburban heaven."

We had some dinner and saw "Yes Man" which was pretty good, but to be honest we were so tired, we really just wanted to crawl in bed and go to sleep.

We came back to the hotel and went to sleep....and I dreamt of the thrifty guy while Adam joyfully cried in his sleep remembering how much money he saved that day.....it was a magical day in every sense.