As I sat in Manchester, New Hampshire, eating a burger smothered in grilled onions and mushrooms in between two grilled cheese sandwiches I realized I was changing... Two months ago I never would have attempted to down this monstrosity that the Red Arrow Diner is known for... but I did it to make my sweetie proud...  and OMG it was fabulous... I couldn't finish it, but it was simply amazing... I'll go back and have another next time I am in town... and pray they have their Dinah Fingers available then too...  Who is this Heather eating this this THING?

This change has been happening slowly in the past two months...  Two weeks ago I found myself making bacon in lil heart shapes....  carrying handpicked flowers through airports (TSA loves that!) and grumbling at my laptop incoherently when Windows 8.1 drives me batty...   I had an epiphany over that burger... I know now what is happening to me...  I am... gasp... becoming Crowell.

How'd this happen?  It's all due to this social media phenomenon where we are meeting people through friends... I've met both men and women online who I consider friends today... many I've never met in person... others I've made an effort to meet... <3 Suzie my fabulous friend who I met when I flew out to be in her wedding a few years back... We'd known and supported each other in a music chat room for a few years before her wedding day... A year later I flew out to see her baby... love her to the moon and back...  <3 Mary, bemary... my fabulous friend from eBay...  I used to buy her vintage linens... and ended up meeting her in Myrtle Beach for a weekend years later... today we are still trying to see each other again in WI when I fly in... <3 Melissa my shoe pusher and fellow SLO devotee... one of these days we will meet...  <3 Shelbi my SLO designer... I finally just got to meet.  There are many more men and women between eBay, Facebook, etc... who lift me up and make me smile daily...  In August I realized one of these men lived in a town I was going to be in for 18 hours so I decided to make him a 'real' friend... and tossed out the cookie of "come have coffee with me"...  We had drinks, coffee and lunch those 18 hours and as I talked to him all I could think of was the chemistry I wasn't expecting.  Chicken shit I am... I didn't admit it til I got home...  which led to hours of video chat and another personal trip back to Richmond a week later to um... discuss that chemistry...
Twenty Four hours later yeah... there it was and what the heck are we going to do about it... Reach for it... explore it... let go and let God with it...  I'm making new friends that I cherish along the way... Tammy in the left picture is THE BOMB!  A sister from another mother...  Accepting me into her existence with a hug and lots of laughter...

Bill then starts talking forever and I'm smiling and saying "time out time out... ya gotta meet my kids... see my life that you will be a part of and see if you really want to be a part of that..."  So he buys a ticket and comes to Atlanta... What?  Man on a mission?  :)  I've become someones priority.

He's got the dogs in the palm of his hands... Cleo and Avery are putty in his hands, the little traitorous kitties... they follow him everywhere... and my kids are just smiling saying "hey"... I'm watching him in my house and thinking... "damn I think he should stay"... anyone that knows me knows I've been hesitant since my divorce to think about living with anyone anytime soon and now I find myself planning on having him in here as soon as he can get down here... I'm making room in my closets... and keeping bacon stocked in my fridge...

My monthly bidding until he moves here is all about how do I get to Richmond or Charlottesville or Norfolk (next week)... where he will be or where he can get to quickly... 15 days in October... not so bad when it's a long distance thing...  Carpe Diem!
He's back now for the week for my birthday... exploring how buddy passes work... and he survived the trauma and drama of non rev travel...  He's passing all tests with flying colors and I'm grinning...  This girl isn't scared...  Who could be scared of something that just feels right... of someone whose cats like to cuddle next to their toes?

I've decided that becoming Crowell might not be a bad thing... So I've decided to blog and document our journey... for our friends and family near and far...  Watch as we grow together...  Join us in our happiness....  Check in here periodically to see what we are up to... and what news you might hear...

To all of you, friends and family... thanks for the support, love and joy you have given us to date...

Bill and Heather 10/2014