Love Story, Part II

PART II
Enter: Day of the blind date.

If you know me well, you know that I am always on time. When I say "on time," I mean a few minutes early. I can't help it. Needless to say, I tried really hard to be a few minutes late to The Natural Cafe because I wanted him to be there first. I didn't know who he was or what he looked like so I figured that if I was a bit on the later side of 11:45am, I'd see a man standing solo and know that it was Jared.

Well, of course, I'm driving (insert: safe speeding) to The Natural Cafe talking to myself and kind of freaking out with nervousness when I realize that I am going to be early. True to my nature, I pulled into the parking lot at 11:43. Oops. Now I became the one standing solo waiting for an unknown man to walk through the door.

To give credit to Jared, he, too, is a timely person. He just knows how to be "on time" and not early. He arrived at 11:45 on the dot.

We met, exchanged hugs, ordered our food (he paid - bonus points!), found a table, and started talking...and we didn't stop talking for 2 hours. We both didn't really touch our food. Blame the nerves and the constant conversation.
It was the best blind date (and only blind date) I've ever been on.

Of course, the only awkward part of this first meeting was our goodbye. We both didn't quite know what to say! I didn't want to initiate a second date because I felt that it was his job if he enjoyed the time with me. He didn't want to seem too eager...so we both said something along the lines of "I'll see you around." Interesting.

Luckily, we'd talked about hiking during lunch and, since he was such a nice guy and easy to talk to, I decided that I would risk it and ask him to hike with me on my day off. I jumped the gun, texted him a hiking invitation, and he accepted. He was going to ask me on a second date but didn't want to do it on the same day as our first date. He had plans to call on Saturday, but seeing as I texted him on Friday night proposing a Monday hike, I beat him to it. Points for me?

Monday's hike to Tangerine Falls came and went.
A formal date to Trattoria Vittoria on the following Friday again went smoothly as we talked the night away.
We made a date night to the Banff Film Festival.
He met my family at the bowling alley...
and pretty soon we were "officially" dating.
I had myself a boyfriend. A real, genuine, loving, wonderful boyfriend.

Our first picture together - March 2012

Love Story, Part I

I fear that this blog may become sappy and cheesey and "corn ball," as my college roommate would say, but I just can't help it.
I want to tell a little story.
The story of how I fell in love because, well, I want it preserved and because I think that it is a fairly wonderful story.

Grab some coffee, sit back, relax, and enjoy...or quick - close this up and go on to your other blog reading.

PART I.

It all began when I helped host a party at a friend's house. My personality must have been shining brightly that night because the host of the party, DW, found his wife very shortly thereafter and mentioned that he might have a match for me.

Now, let it be known that DW is NOT a match-maker. He has never made a match nor does he have any intention of playing matchmaker in the future. He is batting 1,000 (100% success rate - 1 for 1) and I think he'll keep it that way.

A few weeks passed and I was unaware of any matchmaking schemes. One day at church, KW found me and asked if I'd be okay being set up on a blind date. I responded, "Bring it on!" Of course, I thought she was just joking...but she wasn't. She called DW over and he told me of a man with whom I might get along well. Of course, all I got were a few basic facts.

His name was Jared.
He was a Christian.
He went to Reality Church.
He was Italian.
He was ambitious.
He wasn't super tall but had dark hair.

Well, I clearly was feeling free - what's the worse that could happen? You meet for awkward coffee or lunch and then part ways...right?
I gave DW my phone number, he passed it along to Jared, and Jared waited a looooong time to call.

To be fair, Jared got the stomach flu shortly after getting my phone number and didn't want to be sick on our first date (so thoughtful).

Finally, he called.
On Valentine's Day.
During my lunch break.
And yes, I had food in my mouth when I answered the phone. So attractive.
We chatted on the phone for a few minutes and then made plans to meet a few days later at The Natural Cafe for lunch. Friday, February 17th at 11:45am.

Did I know this man? No.
Did I know what he looked like? Nope. Not really.
Did he come with high recommendations? Off the charts. My dad knows some guys that work with him and they all came unglued with compliments the moment they heard that I was going on a blind date with him.
Was I nervous? Absolutely.
Did I know he would be my future husband? Ha ha ha! No way. That thought never even crossed my mind. I just hoped the lunch would be pain-free and as unawkward as possible.
Little did I know...

ENGAGED!

I get to marry this man.
I am one lucky girl.