Friends in Low Places

We waited seventeen years to see him return to Salt Lake City.  

Garth Brooks definitely did not disappoint.

It has been a really long time since Tim and I have had a chance to have a date night.  Last week we were lucky enough to have babysitters for the evening and we took full advantage with a fantastic night together.  I was in charge of the plans and debated just sticking close to home with dinner and a movie, but spur of the moment decided to do something a little more exciting. Both my parents and Jessica agreed to tag team the kids, so we were able to head out early and went to one of our favorite places, Market Street Grill, for dinner.  The food was delicious, but it was really just so nice to enjoy a meal together without the need for a kids menu.  We laughed and talked and had a great time.  

The traffic had been very heavy on the way to dinner so we decided to avoid the hassle and take Trax downtown.  The added advantage was that we would be able to sit and enjoy the ride together without anyone being worried about driving, parking, etc.  I had a bit of a ditz moment while buying the tickets - I put in a $20 bill for $10 worth of tickets and was really ticked to get back all of my change in tokens.  I couldn't imagine where I would use the tokens and started stalking people who came up to the machine in search of someone to sell the tokens.  Tim finally asked to see my handful of tokens and nicely pointed out that they were not tokens, but gold dollars.  I started laughing so hard that the other people on the platform started looking around to figure out what was going on.  I eventually spent my "tokens" so sodas and treats and we continued to laugh about that for the rest of the night.  

We arrived at the arena on time (a big deal for me) and had plenty of time to get ourselves situated and ready for the concert.  Seventeen years ago when Garth Brooks came to Salt Lake my friends and I desperately wanted to go.  However, the night before the tickets even went on sale, the line was all the way around the Smiths and we were defeated pretty quickly.  Since then it has always been a "bucket list" item to see him play.  Since the day they announced this recent concert, I have been scheming of a way to go.  Tim wasn't quite as excited about the concert as I was, but he was happy to be there. Little did he know what was in store.

Pictures and commentary don't do it justice, but the concert really was the most fun ever.  From the minute it started, until Garth finished playing over two hours later, the music was fast and loud and I spent most of the time singing along to every song.  I was kind of amazed that I still knew all the words - I can remember anything important most days - but I can sing a good Garth Brooks song. The music brought back so many memories of my early college days and so many great friends.  But even better, I have now created a whole new set of memories and every time I hear Garth Brooks it will remind me of Tim and what turned out to be an incredible night together.