Juxtapose

Once there was a boy named Mark with a blue truck named The Tick.

He was a dairy farmer in Virginia.

One day he decided to go to a wedding of two dear friends, taking place in Arkansas. Also there were many other dear friends, such as a girl named Jen from Michigan and a girl named Cassie from Massachusetts.

He decided it made a lot of sense to streamline his trip and detour by way of Massachusetts. VA-MA-AR. Makes sense... right?

The wedding was a blast. Everyone stayed in a giant yurt and swam and roasted in the Arkansas sun for a week before the wedding. Cassie had fun and decided, later that fall, to make a detour down to VA on her way to, er... well. She just went down to VA. It was October, during Mark's birthday weekend, and they went all out and went to a harvest fest at Mark's ye olde Southern Baptist Megachurch of his youth. They took a really flattering picture together.

Before leaving VA, Mark's mother made a big deal about how Cassie and Mark should hug goodbye. Cassie got flustered and took a not-so-flattering picture. Mark managed to look somewhat possessive.

Cassie had, as many of her compadres had at the time, "Kissed Dating Goodbye" for the time being and refused multiple offers of a "dating" status from Mark. He visited anyways, like a champ, and finally, a year later on her birthday, sucked her in anyways with the gift of a handmade cow-tooth necklace. He was invited to the family 4th of July picnic like he was someone important.

Everyone went camping that summer and got really grungy up in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Heidi and Sar and SJ came too! Cassie was really into Mark's sooty-smelling hoodie.

Nine months later, Mark proposed, Cassie said yes, and they spent the one Valentine's Day of their engagement days sick on the couch with a miserable flu and a cough that lasted a good three weeks (this was pre-Swine Flu days). Good thing V-Day is for suckers anyways, right?

Their wedding ceremony was 7 minutes long but the reception was longer and very fun. They went to Williamsburg, VA for a honeymoon where, in January, it was a good 70 degrees out every day, very fortuitous indeed.

"Pretty cute," she thought, "Good thing I kissed dating hello finally."

Since they got married, they've done tons of fun stuff:

They've gone to the beach.

They briefly foster parented a turtle, Omar, that was going to be squashed by traffic.

They've gone to Six Flags with one half of their favorite West Coast couple, Heidi and Josh, as well as with Cassie's favorite sister, Tess.

And they've eaten ice cream. Lots of it.

The end... or is it?