Looking Back: Y2K

10 years ago was my first New Years Eve with Derek, and we spent it in Texas. It was, umm, memorable to say to least.

Picture it, the end of December 1999. Derek and I have been dating for about 4 months now and just before Christmas he'd dropped the "L" word. In our 21-year-old Mormon niavete this was either commit or break up time. He had invited me down to Texas for New Years, but I told him I didn't think the flights would be good (flying standby) and we didn't talk much more about it.

While I was home I mentioned to my mom that Derek had invited me down and I guess she though this sounded like a great idea because she had my dad check flights for me. He came home with the flight loads and it was unbelievable! A plane that held 144 passengers only had 24 booked on it. If you remember, people were worried that planes were going to drop out of the sky because of the computers rolling over to 2000, so no one was flying. In 30 years of flying standby I have never seen so many open seats.

Derek was very excited that I could come down for the New Year and so on Dec. 30th I hopped on a flight to a very foggy Salt Lake City and from there headed to Texas. I was SO NERVOUS! Flying standby always makes me a little queasy, but my stomach was in knots. Derek picked me up and we made the all too short drive to his parent's house. At this time 8 of the 9 kids in his family were living at home (Shaun was on his mission). Becca, the youngest, was 9 months old, Jared was 4, Jenna 6, Heather 10, Lindsay 12, Megan 15, and Rachel 17. All of them were sitting, evenly spaced apart on the couch, waiting for me. Derek's dad greeted me at the door, his mom was in the rocking chair with the baby and they were all staring at me! It didn't help matters that Derek took about 2 seconds going around the room with introductions, leaving me even more overwhelmed. Thankfully, we had plans that night, so the discomfort didn't last too long.

The next morning I woke up and knew I was in trouble. Not caring that I was in my PJ's, I walked into the bathroom, where Derek was brushing his hair. He said, "Good morning" and my response was to rush to the toilet where I commenced in puking my brains out. I was sick the rest of the trip. It was miserable. No one wanted anything to do with me, in case I was contagious (I wasn't), I was in a strange house FULL of people I didn't know and all I wanted to do was leave. Derek's mom came upstairs at one point to check on me and said, "I can't imagine anything worse that being sick at a stranger's house" and all I could think of was, "Especially if those strangers might someday be your in-laws and you're trying to make a good impression."

So Derek and I rang in New Years 2000 laying on his upstairs couch with me trying not to barf. Did this stop us from making out like crazy - no, it did not. Ah, young love! 2 days later his dad gave him $20 and told Derek to find something I would eat, since I basically hadn't eaten since I'd arrived. To this day I am convinced Jason's Deli is the most delicious place on the planet - either that or I was starving from my 3 day fast, one of the two.

The next day, the 3rd, I got on a plane, still feeling awful, and flew back to college. A few days later I was still sick, so I went to the health clinic and was told I had gastroenteritis (which is a really gross thing to have). So, my first trip to Texas was a disaster, but good things did come from it. Derek's dad decided he liked me because I asked for a priesthood blessing, Derek's mom took pity on me - which I think is better than some future in-law relations, and that trip really was when I decided I was in love and wanted to marry Derek. After all, if I can be puking and he still wants to make-out with me, it must be love. Right? =)