Andy Walks With Me, Andy Talks With Me...

I've been keeping a secret from you. Perhaps I am finally learning what it means to be cautious, so I'm not going to tell you much, but I will tell you this. Andy has become my best (guy) friend, and I'm so happy that God brought him into my life.

When Andy wrote me online one day in June, everything changed in an instant. We've been talking for 7 wonderful weeks now, and he even came out to visit Sophie and I this past weekend. He's 28, lives in South Dakota and is thisfar away from getting his Architect's license. He loves Jesus and Sophie-- in that order. He even brought her a toy when he first met her :)

Andy stayed that the Ramada in Modesto...

... and I saw his hotel on the 2nd day, and I thought I'd see something like the website boasted:

But in reality, it looked more like:

I was mortified, but I promised him that he didn't have to spend much time there. Breakfast would be made at my place daily and he could even get ready here if he wanted. Andy was gracious and said it wasn't as bad as I thought it was, but we did sing, "Hide your kids, hide your wife" all weekend.

One day after breakfast I brushed my teeth and turned around to capture this snuggle shot. Cuteness squared!

We went to Rainbow Pools on Saturday, which is on the road Yosemite. Sophie wouldn't leave him alone.

That's right, no make-up. I had a blast and Fifi did too. Andy jumped from the cliff twice and I have the video of the first time, but I took it wrong and it came out sideways. Someone should tell him that he better not date me if he wants things to turn out right.

One of my favorite moments of the entire weekend was this conversation:

Me: Andy, I might wear heels tomorrow, but I'm not going to wear make-up.
Andy: You can wear heels, and you can wear make-up or no make-up. Just be you and I'm fine with whatever.
Me: What about sequins?
Andy: Ok, don't get too crazy on me now.

Finally it was Sunday and we were both dreading it. It was a great morning though-- he met the family and came to church with me and I made sure he had In-N-Out for lunch, but then it was back to the airport. It was really sad to see him go (but not-so-secretly I was thrilled that he was upset to leave). We snuck in one last shot and then didn't say goodbye. I'll see him again very soon, Lord willing. Next stop: South Dakota.