All week people have been talking about seeing the "Northern Lights." Did I know what they were before? No, not really.  I still don't really know what they are. It was all over Facebook, groups were planned, and everyone was pumped. Friday night came, I was tired, it was cold, and I was not about to go up the canyon to where it was even colder and bedtime was postponed even longer. Nothing was convincing me to go until Matt pulled out the peanut butter pretzel card. He had a HUGE container filled with them and promised to bring the whole thing. How could I pass those up? Needless to say, we dressed warm, packed the car with blankets, and drove up past Vivian Park. 

We got up there a little past midnight and it was even colder than we had anticipated. The grass was wet and we avoided the fires because Ashlyn didn't want to smell like smoke (not sure if that was the best idea we had). We sat down on the wet ground and tried to create what some like to call... a "cuddle-puddle." I have never liked that phrase. It's always just sounded gross to me. But that night it was necessary. We kept shivering and readjusting positions as we tried to get comfortable. We glanced often at the sky and as beautiful as the stars are in the mountains... the purpose of being there... the norther lights... were no where to be seen. We waited there for an hour, and we saw absolutely no variation of color in the sky. Surprisingly, we weren't that disappointed. We told stories, laughed a lot, and ate A TON of pretzels. 

We were about to get ready to go when I heard someone call, "Jessica?" I turned and said, "Yes?" and this guy walked up to us. Not to be racist, but as soon as he started talking... we knew he was black. 

He said, "Where you been girl? I have been texting you all day and wanted to see you. I have been looking for you girl!" 

It was hilarious. No, I had not been texting him and no, I did not even know him. But that night Makiki and I became friends. Apparently we already were... I just didn't know it. His two friends came up, Adam and Luke, and said, "Is this Jessica? The girl you have been telling us about?" Makiki responded and said "Yeah man, this is J-Smooth." 

So yes we did freeze, and no we did not see the northern lights... BUT, we did to see millions of stars, we created a successful cuddle-puddle for warmth, made a new friend with the cool name of Makiki, and I now have a new nickname... J-Smooth. 

I would say it was a successful night. And it's all thanks to those peanut butter pretzels.

What we were supposed to see...

What we saw... (still pretty cool)