wrong way...again

A couple of weeks ago Brennan and I were able to go to Nauvoo to attend the temple. It was our ward's temple day so we were able to carpool with our friends, the Shahas. Little did we know how much embarrassment we were about to experience. Especially me.

We ended up leaving our house a few minutes later than we wanted to, but figured we would still be okay. However, on our way to pick up the Shahas we came to the realization that neither one of us had a clear recollection of where to turn to get to their house. Keep in mind we have been there multiple times. And at least a couple of those times were without looking up any sort of directions. How on earth we both happened to have amnesia at the same time is beyond me. So...we had to call them and ask them. Luckily, we were only about 5 blocks from their house when we called, but it was still adequately embarrassing.

Here's the real zinger though. I was trying to be a good and supportive wife so I volunteered to drive so that Brennan would have some time to work on his homework. Big mistake. We had barely begun on our journey (feeling confident that we had managed to leave early enough to make the session in plenty of time) when I decided to start reminiscing. About none other than taking the freeway in the wrong direction on our way to Nauvoo. *See said story at end of post.* We were on I-80 at this point and just needed to get on I-380 going south. Literally right while I am telling them about my prior mistake I mindlessly get on I-380 going north. In my defense, 2 days a week I work in Coralville for the morning and then I have to drive to Marion, taking 80 to 380 north, so it was a path I am used to driving without thinking. But still...I was horrified! I could not have been more embarrassed. And I was so afraid it would make us late to the session. I figured the Shahas would seriously regret agreeing to carpool with us! In fact, they probably do. BUT! I did manage to get them to the temple on time so I wasn't a complete failure. We did have to drive all the way back to North Liberty, where Brennan and I had just come from, in order to turn around and go the right direction on the freeway, but it was a beautiful day and I just wanted them to enjoy scenic Iowa. ;)

All-in-all I thought it was a great trip to the temple. It felt like Brennan and I hadn't been there for awhile and it was quite refreshing. The company was great too, so thanks for putting up with us Shahas.

On our way home, we even stopped to see the Nauvoo High School viking. Brennan almost knocked the giant thing over (again, embarrassing, but hey, we keep things interesting, right?:)), but luckily we managed to leave with the viking still standing.

This is what the guys came up with, when Wendy told them to be fierce:
And the girls:
Yeah, we got nothin'. Dave kept waiting to even take a picture because he wasn't seeing any fierceness. I think he finally gave up and decided he wasn't going to get anything more impressive out of us.

*Previous embarrassing story goes like this: It was the day before Brennan and I were getting married. We were headed down to Carthage with my friends, Kassy and Whitney, so we could get our marriage license and then meet everyone else in Nauvoo. I was going through the temple that day, so we were on a schedule. Brennan was driving but when we got to the freeway I told him to get on eastbound thinking, "Well I know Illinois is not WEST of Iowa, so obviously we go east." Oh dear. I mean, that was an accurate thought. But Nauvoo is really just south of us. Barely east. And to get there you need to get on the westbound freeway. Once again I have a defense for myself, I had never driven to Nauvoo before. I was always just a passenger and you just don't pay very close attention when you aren't the one driving. Needless to say after heading east for quite a long while I began to realize that nothing was looking familiar so of course I called my dad. He was shocked ("you got on 80 going WHAT???") But by calling him regularly and taking weird, random turns here and there he was able to get us to Carthage on time. Again, I was mortified. Not to mention the fact that I was panicking that I had just ruined my own wedding! If we didn't get our marriage license that day, there would be no wedding. It was not a wonderful feeling.

Moral of the story: Always make sure you are getting on the freeway in the right direction. But when you don't, if your destination is the temple, I'm pretty sure the Lord will help you get there on time. ;)