Love Story

our first date...

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So in my last "love story" post I mentioned that our first date happened on "accident." After a small bit of awkward freaking out, I met D's mom and she convinced me/told me that I would just stay with them in their guest room. I was secretly so excited and of course a bit nervous. I was full of butterflies.

Panera & The Summit

Our date started with an early dinner at Panera where we sat next to two very colorful men who were also on a date together -- that was entertaining. I still remember what I ate -- a blueberry fields salad! Following dinner we strolled around The Summit (outdoor mall). No holding hands, just silly flirting.

Driving Lesson

David was shocked I didn't know how do drive a stick, so after strolling, we went to a church parking lot and I had my first manual driving lesson. D was so sweet and patient. I think we laughed a lot as I kept stalling his little green volkswagon.

The Bluff

After I successfully shifted up to gear 3 and back down to a stop, we headed out to the bluff -- a little cliff hidden by trees that over looks the city. We dangled our feet over -- but still no holding hands. David answered a call from one of his best friends, Patrick. I couldn't really hear what his roommate was saying, but David was laughing nervously. We sat and watched the sun set. My heart was skipping every other beat. When we got in the car to leave the bluff I remember thinking to myself "wow I feel so calm. hanging out with david feels so natural." Right after I said that, David said, "man I just feel so calm right now." My heart nearly stopped.

O'Henrys

After the sun had set we headed to D's favorite coffee shop. I was being a silly girl andwanted to drink my coffee the same way he did. Did I think that would impress him? So, I got my coffee sans sugar and made some awkward comment about how we drank our coffee the same way. We sat and chatted about family and school. I only drank about half of my coffee -- I didn't like it.

Big Fish

After coffee we rented Big Fish. We sat next to each other on the couch & I think we were both being strategic about what we did our hands. You know how that goes -- dangling your hand in hopes the other just grabs it. Finally, thanks to some of my strategic playing with the family dog, David grabbed my hand. My stomach almost leapt out of my body. I was on cloud nine. When the movie was over, David walked me to my bedroom door. He didn't kiss me, but that meant so much to me. I had never not had a guy try to kiss me on a first date and I felt so respected. I slept in my clothes that night -- I was so nervous about staying in their house.

Back to Camp

We had to drive back pretty early the next morning. We held hands all the way back. Sounds so silly, but I loved every second of it. As soon as we pulled in up to camp we had to detach and pretend like we weren't in any sort of relationship. It was quite hard - girls you know how we are, we read into everything & without the ability to "flirt" I was lost without all the little signals. We had to sneak little moments together. One of my favorite things we did was during our team huddle (we lead the soccer/ultimate clinic together) when we all put our hands in, we made sure our hands were on bottom together.

Oh! How I love my husband! I love thinking back on the beginnings of our life together. I'm truly blessed.