Summer of Love III

 Summer 2010 was going to be the best summer of my life. It turned out to be the worst, but still had its moments.

Even though a lot of things happened, these are some of the things that I remember best from that summer.

1. Kolton and I went to dinner and a movie (Salt) with some married friends. The movie ended at nine and I figured we would all hang out for a bit afterwards. I was wrong! Those married friends were outta there! (I completely understand this now) Where Kolton and I were still unmarried we did not quite understand this and still wanted to hang out for a bit before heading home to our separate houses. We ended up going out for ice cream and sitting outside on Kolton's tailgate while we ate it. I don't know why this was so fun, but it just really was and I always think about it. We were just sitting outside, eating ice cream and visiting on a perfect summer night.

2. I worked at the Mud Lake Market that summer and I loved it when Kolton would walk in at the end of my shift to take me on a date or something of the like.

3. One day during my lunch break at the MLM, Kolton called me up and invited me to come with him and some mission friends to the wedding reception of one of his mission friends. Of course I agreed and ended up rearranging my schedule so I could get off a bit earlier than usual. He came to pick me up and after a bit of talking, we realized that the reception was a few hours further away than we had originally thought. We ended up still meeting with the friends and eating at Mama Inez in Pocatello. I'm pretty sure you have an idea how very much I enjoyed that.  

4. Another favorite is one night when Kolton was on his way home from a mission reunion. I hadn't seen him all day and he was headed home late at night. I'm sure all he wanted to do was go home and go to bed, but he stopped outside my house on the way home and said hey before going home and going to bed. 

5. One night when we were in the thick of second crop Kolton came out to ride with me in the baler. They had finished a few days before but for some reason he wanted to see how it was done on the Newman farm. I told him what field we were in and he came running to the tractor when I got close to where he had parked. He had brought plenty of snacks including popcorn (my favorite!) and some Motrin for my headache. It wasn't a super long baling sesh, but I loved visiting and snacking, and loved it even more when he told me I was going to slow, took over the wheel, and let me sit in the buddy seat.

5.5 Before we headed back to school, we had a bit of business to take care of. Mostly Kolton. He got a day off work and we spent it running errands like finding an apartment among other things. I don't know why I enjoyed this day so much but it was just fun to run around town and make semi biggish decisions together. Although I did think it was unfortunate we were looking for men's housing instead of married. 

6. Not exactly a good memory, but still definitely important was right after Brody died. I remember thinking that someone needed to tell Kolton because I needed him there. When he did show up he just hugged me and cried and let me cry. He did this repeatedly over the next few weeks, months, and still does. He just hugs me, gives me the comfort I need, and lets me cry. He doesn't try to tell me that it's all going to be okay or that he knows how I feel, or that it will all work out some day, he just lets me cry. And that has meant more than anything.

7.  On the way home from yet another friend's reception, we were driving, laughing, teasing, joking, and I started thinking about how much fun I always had with him, how much I enjoyed being with him, and how easy it was being together. I realized that what I had been wondering about recently was true and I didn't have to wonder about it anymore. We went to my house and hung out for a bit. As he was getting ready to leave we were standing by the front door. Supposedly, this is something that should be easy to say, but it took me over twenty minutes to finally work up to courage to say it. He was trying to leave, but I wouldn't let him open the door until it was out in the open."I love you, Kolton." He said it back, but what meant even more was a couple weeks later when he was leaving and said it FIRST.