A night out on the "town"????

I've decided to post about our night out last night....not so much because going out is a big deal to us...but more so because last night was HILARIOUS....in more ways than one....and we even made a few more realizations about these crazy Iowans.....

It's no shocker that David has made "friends" here faster than I have....coming from a big fam I always say he loves having people around him...where as I could really care less....I would much rather sit at home on the couch in my pj's and read a book all by myself than go out to some bar and be around people I could really care less about.....but last night I must say was a little different...I'm even borderline saying I'm glad I went out....I know...it's crazy...allow me to elaborate.....
We also don't have many true "couple friends" (and by true I mean where I get along with the girlfriend/wife and David gets along with the husband/boyfriend) but I think we've honestly found our first fun, really true, honest to goodness "couple friends." David's friend/coworker Adam and his wife Nicole are awesome. They've invited us over to grill out a few times this summer and we had a really great time...so when they called us last night to "go out" with them....we decided to go ahead and tag along.

To convince me to go, they described the bar as a "country bar" (ummmm my thoughts = gross) and they then proceeded to tell us that you drink out of mason jars (ummm really??? is this how they're trying to convince me to get dressed and get off the couch to go out??? are they nuts?!) I of course immediately googled the place....and this is what I found Wildwood Saloon (needless to say I was none too thrilled....but decided to let go of my close minded preconceived notions...and see what happened....I mean if nothing else I would have something interesting to blog about right?! RIGHT)

So we get dressed...plug the address in our GPS, Frankie (because we still have to do that around here...we know where NOTHING is) and we're off.....to the middle of nowhere????? (Frankie told us there was 1 road surrounding the place) I'm terrified.
We pull up to the place and I automatically pull out my mental judgment pad....before I get too far ahead of myself, in case you don't know how to judge a book by its cover, let me go over some rules with you. You can tell what kind of bar/restaurant/establishment you are about to enter based on the cars/people in the parking lot. (we pulled up to redneck trucks---there were literally 3 cars in the parking lot---strike 1). I make David wait in the car with me so I can see what kind of people enter before I even get out of the car....and I kid you not....up pulls a truck and out jumps 2 girls in camo (strike 2). I immediately try and convince David to turn around and go back home but since he LOVES to make me do things I don't like to do he gets out of the car. (He knows I have tons of issues doing things outside of my comfort zone and thinks it's HILARIOUS to make me do things I don't want to do....I usually end up thanking him for it later) So at this point I have no other option but to go in as well, and I wish I could have seen my face as we open the door-- in the middle of the restaurant/bar--- a mechanical bull....with a girl in camo...riding her little redneck heart out  (strike 3).  Unfortunately Adam and Nicole see us about a split second before I try and make my break back to un-redneck freedom.

I have to interrupt this story with a few observations I immediately made. First, back home, if you would have entered a bar like this one without someone you knew walking through the door with you....the music would have come to a screeching halt and everyone in the bar would have immediately turned around and gave you death stares (I kid you not...that actually happened to me once) wondering who you were and why the hell you were in their bar. Thank goodness Iowans DGF who you are and/or where you come from...I don't even think the rednecks in this bar even cared for one second bless their little hearts....let me just say....this my friends was very refreshing.
Second thing I noticed: people here aren't huggers. Back home when we go out with friends, and walk up to the group, it's hugs all around....here....you don't even get a "Hey girl!!!!" It's very strange. I immediately wanted to hug Nicole (and I swear David even went for a handshake with Adam) and for a split second it was that awkward moment where people are like huh? It is my mission to make people here huggers....and I don't care how many awkward moments I have to go through to get there....

{back to the story}

So Adam and Nicole are there with a few of their friends (because apparently this is the kind of bar where everybody knows your name)--- some  of whom we had met before and some Nicole introduced us to. And let me just say it was refreshing to also enter a group of people where they treated you like you were apart of the group....there were no awkward moments where they dove into inside stories and excluded us....everyone was open and welcoming. Even the girls (who I had never met before) included me into their conversations....it was very awesome. From that point on it was drinks all around and a very lovely evening (inspite of some of the redneck-ness going on around me that I gave it my best effort to ignore)

All in all the night made my heart happy....not only because it made me feel like we're finally making this place our home....but because it's amazing how having "friends" and doing "normal things" can make a whole year of feeling awkward/anything but normal worth it. The night made it official...it only takes 268 days to make a place your home...and it only takes a few good people to open their arms and take you in as their own to seal the deal.

{Cheers to new friends}