I’ve lived in my new home in North Carolina for nearly half a year now and so far I have managed to avoid making a single commitment that would tie me here. At first it was because my husband takes our car to work every day and I can’t go anywhere. Then it was because my occasionally anti-social self didn’t want to meet people.

Now it is because when the military sends my husband away, I want to be able to spontaneously call up my sister-in-law and get in the car to drive to Ohio for a week. I couldn’t do that with a job (another benefit to working from home!) a pet (sorry, babe–it’s not going to happen,) or a weekly mom group (I would love a weekly mom group; I just try to convince myself it’s good I haven’t found one yet.)

When my husband walked through the door after being gone for a week and informed me that he had 45 minutes at home before he had to leave again for two weeks, I knew I either had to get in the car and go somewhere or spend those two weeks cursing the Marine Corps. Just kidding–I never do that.

My sister-in-law was dancing in the opening night of the Nutcracker ballet in Cleveland that Saturday and I briefly entertained the idea of going before deciding it was crazy to drive 13 hours there and 13 hours back alone with a baby. He still eats every three hours and needs entertainment and I had never driven more than four hours by myself anywhere. Oh, and there was a major winter storm passing through the east side of the U.S. and it would be right in between myself and Cleveland.

I might be crazy, but I’m not stupid.

An hour later, I had made plans to drive out of my way to stop in Maryland on the way to Cleveland and drive away from North Carolina to visit my husband’s town on the far side of Ohio on the way back, adding hundreds of miles to the journey and making the driving part of the trip a grand total of 30 hours.

Sometimes I think God turned off the part of my brain that reminds myself to only try to implement realistic plans.

The morning our adventure was to begin, I woke up early and ate a nutritious breakfast and packed up the car without a hitch. It was all going smoothly–too smoothly. I buckled the baby into the backseat and turned the key in the ignition.

Click, click, click, click, click.

Funny. That has never happened before. So I turned the car off and tried again.

Click, click, click, click, click, click, click.

Well, poop.

My neighbor came over and helped me jump start my car. Thankfully, it started, but he advised me to go to a mechanic and get it checked out before a 30 hour drive. Seeing the wisdom in his suggestion, I drove off to Advance Auto Parts to have my battery checked. The employee checked my battery and informed me that it was a miracle my car started at all. He changed my battery for me and then decided to check the car version of vitals and discovered I was extremely low on oil, so then it was off to the mechanic we drove. When we arrived, the mechanic was busy and told me it would be a two hour wait. I waited for 10 minutes and then he came back and told me he would stop what he was doing to help me. He checked my oil and told me it was a miracle my engine wasn’t dead. Good thing my God is God of miracles or we no longer be driving our car.

Three hours after I had first turned the key in the ignition, I was finally on my way.

The weather was great until I hit the Pennsylvania mountains and it started snowing. I lived overseas for half of my life so it had been eleven years since I had seen a snowfall and I was so excited I was jumping up and down in my seat the entire way. Thankfully the roads stayed clear and I made it to Maryland in good time to spend the night with family friends I have known since I was a little girl. I had two takeaways from my visit with them: 1. Reconnecting with old friends is so worth it, even if it’s been eleven years and 2. They had an electric blanket and it was glorious and I need one.

The following day, I drove the remainder of the trip to Cleveland to watch my sister-in-law in her ballet. I had only met her husband once for a brief 30 seconds at their wedding last year, so I was excited to get to know him and also see my other brother and sister-in-law who were going to surprise her for the show as well. She didn’t know I was coming and when her husband walked up to her holding my son after the show she was beyond thrilled to see him and while she was still excited to see the rest of us, none of us compared to that sweet baby. I have learned that’s how it goes as a parent–we’re just not as adorable and cuddly. That ballet was also my first, and I spent the first half confused out of my mind and the second half outside trying to keep my son from distracting everyone with his constant babbling. Ballets don’t have words; who knew? I still loved watching my sister-in-law dance.

Over the next two days, I listened to my bothers argue over who is the favorite uncle, I watched the Redskins win a football game, I ate way too many wings and sugar cookies, and I relished the time I had to not have to watch my child. The siblings were great too, of course. Thankfully, the winter storm hit hard but it hit while I was safely in the living room only having to watch out a window. It was sad when the time came to say goodbye, but it was time to begin the second half of our adventure to Swanton, Ohio, where my husband grew up.

There was a time when I believed Swanton to be, for lack of a more descriptive word because really there was nothing to describe, sad. It’s quiet and small and there’s not even a coffee shop. I don’t know what changed (yes I do–I moved to the middle of nowhere in NC and now everywhere we go is more exciting) but while driving through Swanton, I was amazed. A grocery store! Sidewalks! Stores within walking distance of houses! All things that I no longer take for granted now that we live near absolutely nothing. Living in the bay area of California truly ruined me.

I stayed with a couple who has always basically been family to my husband and his family. Being with them, it is impossible not to laugh. There I had a few days to rest, enjoy the freezing cold of the snow, and enjoy the warmth of their house which was far warmer than ours because I am a cheapskate and I refuse to turn on the heat in our home. My son was introduced to many of the people who were so important to my husband growing up and I was able to reconnect with one of my business team members who lives in the area. She took me to the Toledo zoo and while I had so much fun, my extremities felt like they were going to fall off by the end of the night.

The morning came when I said my goodbyes again and packed up the car to head back home. It was on my way home when I accidentally flew past an unmarked cop truck and then stupidly tried to outrun it that God reminded me why he gave humans the wisdom to create cruise control. Apart from that, the drive went without a hitch and both my son and I arrived home in one piece–praise the Lord!

I always get these crazy ideas–for example flying a 10 day old baby across the country and then flying him across the world two weeks later–or getting married at 18 and moving across the world to live in a brand new place with a Marine–or buying a house before I’m old enough to buy alcohol–or eating an entire box of mint Oreos in the hospital after I delivered my son and definitely did not need sugar–and then I actually do them. It’s pretty seriously backfired before and I’m sure that in the future it will backfire again but it definitely keeps life interesting.

Life is too short to stay home when you could be driving 2,000 miles alone with a baby through a major winter storm instead.

YOLO, right?