To say I am proud of us doesn’t even begin to cover it.

We were about to load up my baby - Ellie the Escalade - in Nashville to finish our road trip home from a great week in FL visiting my parents when I got a phone call from Aaron.

Now, let me preface by saying, if this had happened a few years ago, we would have been screaming—blaming each other in a parking lot 5 hours from home.

He’d be mad at the world (and probably taking it out on me… and the kids).

And I’d be nagging, giving him attitude, while quietly resenting him for wrecking my car.
(Which, by the way, I don’t. Cars are replaceable—humans aren’t.)

But today?

He called me panicked. In a way I have NEVER heard from him.
I ran outside, and instead of blame or criticism, I led with: “are you OK?” Then I hugged him.
(The jokes came shortly after because we can't help who we are...)

And he didn’t lose his shit either.
He allowed himself to feel disappointed and upset—but he stayed calm.
We cleaned out the car, filed the report, arranged the tow, and figured out a rental.

(Side note: We packed up the first stanka$$, dirty rental, got it on the highway, only to realize it shook and the ashtray smell was unberable, so we stopped back by the airport, got a new rental, unloaded and reloaded - THEN drove home.)

No yelling. No tension. Just teamwork.
That’s growth.
That’s what years of hard convos, owning our shit, and learning to feel our feelings has done for our relationship.

It’s learning to pause instead of react.
It’s choosing to be on the same team—even when shit hits the fan.

Life throws us tests when we step into new versions of ourselves…now this wasn't exactly the kind of test I had on my bingo card but I am proud of how we showed up and so damn thankful for the versions of us that didn’t turn that day into a into a miserable, tension-filled car ride with our kids stuck in the middle of it.

Changing the dynamic of a relationship is possible. Especially if you are willing to put in the work.

The “I have to make light of this because it is who I am” post that came first on social media (with a little more backstory:

He can grill...really well. (Contrary to what many of you think based off of our last viral video. )
And he does a $hit ton of other things most men would hire someone to do:
Build things
Fix broken things (house related, technology related ...you name it, he can figure it out)
Put things together
Works a demanding job to provide us with the best life.
On top of all of that cleans my house better than I ever will. And keeps up with laundry...

He is literally superhuman.

But do not hand him your car keys at 6am before he has had coffee and has only been awake for 15 minutes.

In all seriousness:
1) No one was hurt
2) There was a human walking in the parking lot, Aaron had his eyes focused on not hitting the person but found the pole instead - this was the aftermath.