Through the Mud and Dark to SAU We Go!

I sit here, barely awake, amazed that I'm still running at 1:45 am on a Saturday night. This post has been long overdue and expected by a few people. I will do my best to successfully tell you the tale before I fall asleep at my desk. My close friends would laugh if I was to say that "adventure" was my middle name. It's not. My middle name is Marie.

It all started and ended 3 weeks ago to be exact.

Sabbath potlucks are amazing. Free food that is of a better quality than what we pay $6-10 bucks for. We had just finished our meal and Christine, Danika, Kirk and I decided that we wanted to go do something with our beautiful Sabbath afternoon. After discussing it, we decided to grab a few long boards and head to downtown Chattanooga. As our luck would have it, the clouds spat on us almost the entire time. However, despite the rather gloomy, we had a great time exploring the art district, walking bride and the park.






























While returning to school, we decided that we were going to the SA party which started at 8:00 and then hit up some ice cream afterwards. The theme was "Iles Royale". They were trying to play off the Casino Royale James Bond theme. "Iles" is the name of our gym. As we dropped Kirk off at the guys dorm, Danika made sure that he understood that he was to arrive at the party tonight in a suit and tie, and with 29 other guys ready to escort us.

We had a great time getting ready: hair, makeup and dresses. This was the first time I was able to wear my "banquet"-type dress I bought while in Colorado last summer. And yes, thankfully this time I was able to fit into it! (I have had trouble before, you know, buying a dress in the summer but then not wearing it till... anyways...). We looked very fine. And we knew it. I ran down to my room to grab a coat when I heard that it was starting to rain and grabbed by small orange-stripped Gap umbrella. As we stepped outside, the three of us gawked at the torrent of rain that pounded the ground. The gym is across the street from the dorm. But it was raining--movie rain, the kind that instantly soaks you so that your clothes cling to your wet skin. "We can make it to my car and drive over", a suggestion that I regretted a few seconds later. I might as well not have had an umbrella at all. My umbrella was useless because it was not designed to keep rain from slamming against you sideways. We ran to the car, jumped in and surveyed the damage. Wonderful. We had just spent a few hours beautifying ourselves, only to be have it washed away in a matter of seconds. I wouldn't have mind so much if there had been a video camera rolling...A 60 second drive and we were at the gym. Walking into the gym made the note that if we had simply waited 5 more minutes, we would have missed the downpour. My feet and shoes felt like I had just jumped into a pool.

The gym was set up like a veggie casino. You were given an allotment of tickets at the entrance and there were tables contained every kind of game to play except for actual playing cards. There were also brightly colored drinks and sandwiches. We settled on playing Clue, sat down, and waited for our entourage to arrive.

When they finally did show up, it did not consist of 30 guys, but only 2: Kirk and Mitchell. Josh also sat down and played with us.


So around 10:30 pm, we decide that it was time to go and get that ice cream that we wanted. It was a good idea, however, I guess we forgot where we were for a second. Collegedale is not the most happening place on a Saturday night and everything was already closed. After a few failed attempts, we decided to drive through Wendy's and get Frostys. Now the next thing that we didn't think through very well was where we were going to eat them. Someone suggested the park near Four Corners (the main intersection in Collegedale) and so we headed over to that area.

Remember when I mentioned that I had regretted the fact that I had suggested that we drive over to the gym? This regret became 1,000 times greater, beginning with the fact that while I was pulling into Domino's parking lot, I guess I decided that the Acura was going to become a 4-wheel drive car and go bulldozing over a curb. (Didn't see that one, eh dad?) Yea. I can't say that no one noticed though I wish in beyond all measures that no one did. But it was pretty obvious, I mean, the when you try to take a car over a hump that is supposed to block off an area not to drive in, well, it's obvious. I wanted to disappear.

After piling out of the car, we quickly turned around and got right back in. It was to cold and windy to sit in a park and eat our Frostys. So there we sat, talking, laughing and having a good time. At that time, I thought to myself how fun of a day I was having and ending it with eating ice cream in a car, in nice clothes was an interesting end. (However, we were a little bummed that we didn't go in somewhere. Hey, we did look nice after all!) But my night was not over yet...

Around 12:15 am we decide to head back to school. Curfew was in 45 minutes.

I should have seen what was coming next. I kinda suspected it because we had rolled down the windows, then rolled them back up a few times. I also noticed the radio flickered once.

Don't you hate certain sounds? I do. I have found that some sounds I really don't like. This is one of them--that stomach-twisting-grinding sound when you turn the key in your car.

Note to self: Buy jumper cables for the car.

We debated calling someone from school to come and pick us up: Chris? Ryan? Karalee? But then the guys had the great idea of walking the Greenway, a walkway that goes from Four Corners to SAU. Why not. I grab my camera bag and umbrella, lock the car and we head off. We walked behind Domino's and began to cross an open field. I'm sure we would have been a sight to see and hear. As our heels sunk into the mud, the guys laughed, I kept repeating to myself that this was just an adventure, and Christine agonized over the fact that she was wearing Karalee's shoes. Our muddy footprints showed up nicely on the cement of the walkway. Thankfully, it had recently been a full moon so there was quite a bit of light, but even that didn't help when the guys started making comments about the fact that a murderer had been seen on the walkway. (Ok, I don't really now if that's a "fact"). So there we were: 3 girls, 2 guys, in dress clothes, walking the Greenway at 12:00 am. I was shivering, partly from cold, partly from fear, and partly from the pain of my feet in my muddy heels. I was on an emotional roller coaster. I had gone from extreme light-hearted laughter, to extreme embarrassment, to worry, to fear, to complete and utter annoyance at people in our group and our circumstances when I slipped and almost fell on some mud. I would have cried. Christine said that she would have to.

We walked the 2 miles back to school and made it on campus with 15 minutes to spare before curfew. Danika headed back to the dorm while the guys walked Christine and I over to the Campus Safety building before heading to their dorm. The guy behind the desk told me that he couldn't help because my car was off campus, but that we could wait for another guy who was coming in who would have some jumper cables that we could borrow. While waiting, we were able to call into the dorm and explain what had happened so that we wouldn't get in trouble for missing curfew. Sitting there in the Campus Safety building I realized what I sight we must have been! The guy who came in must have realized that too because he drove us down to Domino's and jumped my car for me. Once we were in my car and headed back to the dorm, I realized the humor in everything. It felt so good to laugh about it!

Oh, what a day!