Red Makes You Look Fat

The weather here on the East coast of Virginia is absolutely incredible right now and will be for several weeks. Highs in the mid 70's and lows in the 60's. It is sunny most days and the leaves are just barely starting to think about changing colors. The weather is like this every Spring and Fall and really is amazing. There are about two months of nasty heat in the Summer and two months of cold every Winter but the bulk of the time is very comfortable. We have really grown to love this area for the weather as well as the beauty and the history not to mention the valuable lessons we have learned.

Then, every once in a while, our exciting adventure in Virginia is interrupted with an experience that make us miss Utah a little bit. We had one of those last weekend. It was about 8:00 in the evening and I was looking on the internet to see if I could find a way to listen to the football game between Utah State University and the University of Utah, when we received a text message from Jenny's sister, Ashley, who is a new freshman at the University of Utah.

Ashley was texting us to tell us that she was actually at the football game which was being hosted by Utah State in Logan, UT. Though I graduated from the University of Utah and proudly wore their crimson red, I later spent six years working at Utah State University where our family became Aggies through and through. Even now, nearly two years later, our closets are filled with dark Aggie blue.

I replied to the text message by asking , "Are you wearing blue?"

Ashley's response struck me as a challenge when she said, "No! RED!"

Now, I didn't want to back down from a challenge and after having been working with college students for so may years, I knew just how to win this little exchange with a new freshman college girl. I texted back, "You look better in blue. Red makes you look fat."

I figured my message had the affect I was looking for because I didn't get an immediate response. I pictured Ashley and all of her friends dropping their jaws in mock disgust and working together to come up with a fitting reply. Then, after a few minutes, Ashley finally responded simply by saying, "Thanks Wade."

I felt terrible and guilty for allowing my competitive nature to get the best of me and I quickly texted that I was joking and that I hope she had a great time. And then any guilt I felt was washed away with a text from Ashley several hours later which rightfully gloated that the University of Utah won the game with a score of 58-10. In the end, Ashley had the last laugh, and I was glad she did.

~Wade