6. The Visit, and What Became of It

It was August 3rd, and we were finally on our way to Colorado to visit him. I could hardly sit still for the trip. The anticipation was killing me! I couldn't wait to be in his arms again. It seemed like an eternity since I had seen that ruggedly handsome face. The drive took two days. Mostly because we had to stop at a hotel in time for my sister to swim in the pool before bed...


We finally arrived in Meeker, Colorado on August 5th. It was a pretty small town, but every stop light lasted at least two minutes longer than it should have at 11 o'clock at night (I think there might've been two stop lights? Maybe...) We pulled in to the little motel where we were supposed to meet him, and there sat his big red Dodge Ram. I jumped out of the rented van and he met me half way. It felt so good to be close to him again! He was just as beautiful as when I left him. We were sure happy to see each other. We said goodnight to my parents, and drove to the ranch house where he stayed. He showed me to where I would be sleeping, which was in the living room of the main house. We sat there for hours talking and holding hands, just catching up. Neither of us wanted to go to sleep, but he had to get up early, so we had to.
The next morning I awoke to the smell of wood smoke, coffee, and frost. It was glorious. I knew why he loved it  there so much, and I hadn't even seen it in the daylight. After getting myself together, we headed in to town to meet my family for breakfast. We then headed out to the place my family was staying the rest of the week, which was closer to the ranch. It was such a cute little place, with cabins and a central lodge room, with a ping-pong table and many stuffed animals on the walls (I'm not talking teddy bears, but the kind that had once been alive). We got my family settled and we ventured out to the river that ran through the back yard. It was really cold water! I know because I pushed my mom into it and she screamed bloody murder. While mom, my sis, and I played in the river, the men sat in the lodge and observed. I was a little frightened by the thought of he and my dad in there alone, but I pushed it aside. After all, they were big boys and could both take care of themselves. Then the fight broke out. Just kidding. They had a nice time together, and after the women got all dried off and changed, my family went to rest in their room, and he and I decided to take a nice walk beside the river. I can't say that I was totally in the dark about what happened next. But I acted surprised. It went a little something like this:

Not really. That came later. Here's what really happened:

We sat on a rock by the river, watched a lightning storm, and suddenly he asked me to turn around. He was down on one knee, looking extremely nervous. He said "Hannah Joy McGee, will you make me the happiest man in the world? Marry me?" What do you think I said?
What an end to our first full day together after seven weeks!

The week we had together ended all too soon. Before we knew it, I was headed back to Oklahoma to endure the rest of summer without him. I'm not going to lie, it was a miserable trip back. I made it better, of course, by listening to sad, sappy love songs.
The next month went slowly. In September, he decided to fly home for a week. I was elated. I picked him up from the airport and we spent the next week together like it was our last. Then something happened. Something wonderful for me, but not for him. His job ended (long story) and he had no reason to go back to Colorado. All his things, including his truck, were still there, but his brother had been working there as well, and he brought them all home with him when he came back. All was well again. I had my man with me again. I was a happy girl.
We had agreed to get married when I finished college, which meant we were looking at several years. Let's just say that didn't last long. It went from two years, to one year, to eight months.
We finally decided on May 19, 2007 as the day we would become Mr. and Mrs.