I don't think Boyfriend is planning to murder me, so it must be love.

Boyfriend and I have been discussing our vacation plans. This is epic in our relationship because we've never actually planned a vacation together. Sure, we went to New Orleans and Virginia and Las Vegas together. But those trips were never planned. Well, the Virginia one was planned for me and I decided to drag him along at the last minute to spend time with Daddy and to meet my step mother and sisters. But the New Orleans and Las Vegas trips were kind of random.

This is literally how they happened.

The trip to New Orleans:

Unsuspecting Channelle leaves work happily as always and gets in car with Boyfriend. Boyfriend is looking quite mischievous and happy as he gives Channelle her hello kiss.

Boyfriend turns to Channelle and says, "I want to go to New Orleans." Channelle says, "That's nice. When were you planning on going?" Boyfriend, "Tonight." Channelle, "Um...like now?" Boyfriend, "Yeah. You don't have work for the next five days. Let's go." Channelle, "I'm not packed?" Boyfriend says, "Yes you are. Our bags are in the back."
Channelle, "Um...okay."

And so we went to New Orleans in his M3, and it was like a farewell trip since a few months later Boyfriend decided the M3 just wasn't exciting enough for him and he sold it and bought a motorcycle. Which he got bored with and sold anyway after it burned my leg.

And then there was Vegas.

Channelle and Boyfriend are lying in bed, watching Mythbusters on instant Netflix. Boyfriend finally drifts off to sleep around ten, but Channelle stays awake. At ten thirty, Boyfriend suddenly wakes up. Boyfriend stares at Channelle for a few moments, silently staring into her eyes. Channelle is secretly thinking Boyfriend has lost his mind and is about to kill her.

Instead, Boyfriend says, "Get in the shower and pack some clothes."
Channelle, "Why?"
Boyfriend, "We're going on a road trip. You're on vacation anyway."
Channelle, "Where are we going?"
Boyfriend, "I'll tell you in the car. I don't want Roommate to hear. He can't come because he has to work, and I don't want him to feel bad."

So Channelle packs and showers and in the car Boyfriend says, "We're totally going to Vegas."
"Um...why?"
"Because I feel like it."
"Okay."
"You're not going to try to talk me out of it?"
"No."

And so we went drove from Austin to Vegas in a Maxima that we were watching for a friend because the Miata had been totaled by a drunk driver a couple of weeks earlier and we still hadn't replaced the car. Arizona was beautiful.

Anyway, planning vacations together isn't something Boyfriend and I have ever done before. It's like...a sign of commitment.

Not that I'm not committed. I love Boyfriend and I don't want anybody else. It's just that I'm totally freaked out by the idea of marriage. I mean, I am so freaked out by the M word that when my dad calls and asks if I'm going to be married, I get flustered and change the subject. So scared of marriage that when we went to Vegas and Boyfriend suggested that we go look at the Elvis Chapel to see if it was really ridiculous I took off in the other direction screaming behind me that we couldn't go inside a wedding chapel in Vegas after we'd been drinking, that's how accidents happen.

So. This happens to be a step in the more serious direction. Or Boyfriend is planning on taking me away so he can murder me and leave my body somewhere and then convince my family I ran away. But Boyfriend isn't the creepy, murdering, serial killer type, and anyway he knows my family isn't that stupid. I despise them most of the time, but I always call and check in. If I suddenly stopped, they'd know something was up.

I mean, look at Boyfriend. This isn't the face of a serial killer. This is the face of a nerd. And a pretty boy. I never really noticed that before. Boyfriend is a pretty boy. And a nerd. Classic. I mean, I knew he was a nerd, obviously. That was part of why I was attracted to him. He blushed when we first met. So awesome. It made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, making a guy blush out of nervousness.

Anyway, since I don't think the pretty boy factor actually makes him any more or less likely to be a serial killer, I'm pretty sure he really just loves me and wants to take a vacation with me. Because he likes to spend time with me. Probably because of my silly, quirky personality that he finds so endearing, though I have no idea why. I personally think it's obnoxious that I'm so adorable. That's not vanity. That's fact. My coworkers think I'm the most adorable thing ever. Especially when I get mad. And nothing makes me angrier than being told I'm adorable when I'm angry. It completely defeats the purpose of being angry when nobody takes your anger seriously.

I digress. So Boyfriend wants to go away with me for an extended period of time, just the two of us, probably by airplane. (This isn't him being cruel: he's never been on an airplane before and I can't deprive him of the experience. I will personally be heavily medicated for the duration of the flight because landing and taking off terrify me.) Or he might opt for car since he loves driving and we did just get a brand new Hyundai hatchback thing that has a model name but I don't really remember because cars are totally boring to me. I only picked it because it was sapphire blue.

Cars are just dull. Boyfriend freaks out over them and continuously laments selling his M3 because it was an awesome car. Apparently, M3s are very awesome. They are so awesome even Stephanie Meyer's fast car loving vampires love them. Or the blond one did, anyway. Me? Well, I know M3 is a BMW and that's a really awesome brand of German car made to look really pretty and go really fast. It looked like a normal silver car to me. I loved the M3 because it had heated seats. Do you know how awesome that is in winter when you are underweight and anemic and always cold? Heated seats are absofuckinglutely awesome when you're me. Seriously, it's a hundred and two degrees outside and I'm sporting woolly boots, a jacket, blue jeans, and my heater is on under my desk as I type this.

But that's not the point either. My point is that Boyfriend has given me jewelry, he's taken me for weekends away with his family, and has gone away with me and mine. Now we are taking the logical next step, which is extended vacation together.

Frightening.

And yet, I'm not resisting. So that's a good thing, right?