Three Years Ago Today

Brad and I went on our first date three years ago today. I love reminiscing about that night. It was magical. And you have no idea how many times we have gone bowling to recreate our first date since then because we both loved it so much.

But let's be honest. It was not a perfect first date. I love laughing about all the things that went wrong. And today, in honor of the upcoming Valentines Day and because I am so ridiculously excited that I have been with my husband for three years now, I feel like sharing those things that went wrong as a tribute to love and how it can conquer so many obstacles.

Thing that went wrong #1:

When Brad came to pick me up I was dead asleep and he was informed of this fact by my roommates. They essentially said, "Hold on for a few minutes while we go drag Rachelle out of bed. She is not very excited about this date." This was not a confidence booster for my poor future husband. But it wasn't true that I wasn't excited to go on the date. In fact, I was ecstatic. But I had mono and was trying to nap right before so that I wouldn't be yawning through the whole date. This turned out to be a bad idea. I was super groggy once awake. Oh my word it was awful.  And so he had to wait for like ten minutes while I was getting dressed and prying my eyelids apart with my fingers. Mono sucks. 

Thing that went wrong #2:
Brad's friend's car got stuck in one of the crater-sized Provo gutters outside my apartment (it was a double date and the friend was supposed to be driving). The gutters in provo re like 8 inch deep moats. So I played chauffeur and drove the four of us around all night. I am pretty sure this made Brad feel just a little bit lame. When a guy asks a girl out, he doesn't really want to have to ask her for a ride once he shows up.

Thing that went wrong #3

More than 30 minutes after I had woken up I was still really groggy. I was forced to take action. I said, "Um, I will be right back, I am going to go get a Diet Coke." I was really hoping that Brad would not hear that as "This date is so lame I need drugs to get through it." I was also hoping that for some mysterious but fortunate reason there would be 3x as much caffeine in the Coke as usual. Like the gentleman he is, Brad came with me and bought me my drugs to help me get through our date.

Thing that went wrong #4

Our goodbye was awkward. It was entirely my fault. This is not surprising since I am pretty awkward about these types of things anyway. So since I was driving because of the stupid Provo gutters, I had to drop Brad off at his apartment. Because I am a girl, I had never walked a boy to his doorstep so to speak, and I did not do a good job of it. As in, I didn't even get out of the car. (Do you see why I love to laugh at this now?) I was just like, "We should do this again sometime!", while my foot was still on the brake. And Brad said, "Aren't you going to give me a hug?" And I think I probably stammered something brilliant like, "Oh. Oh, yeah, okay," and reached over for one of those terribly awkward in-the-cramped-car-while twisting-your-spine-till-it-almost-breaks hugs, and he suggested that we get out instead. So we did, and that was an excellent idea.

I am so glad that we went on this date, and that these things that went wrong weren't a big deal to us at the time and are hilarious now. It was the best first date because of how well we got along and how much fun we had together. At the end of the date I was really happy and was praying that Brad would ask me out again. I couldn't be happier that on this day three years ago, I went on my last first date. I love you Bradley!