My last blog post about getting home from my mission in December reminded me that not only is December a special month because of the holidays and returning from serving a mission... but it's also the month when I had my LAST first date!
It all began when in August of 2011 when I was on my mission. I had 4 months left until I went home. Out of the complete blue, I get a letter from my long lost friend, Elder Dan Wouden who was serving a mission in Honduras. I hadn't heard a word from him since the day I got to Los Angeles (he told me that writing letters was too much work...haha). I was pretty shocked and to be honest had completely forgotten about him! I read it and noticed that it was written clear back in May- it took three months for that letter to get from Honduras to LA! The letter described some great experiences Dan was having, as well as some advice for me on how to be a better missionary. I knew Dan was pretty much days away from coming home from his mission, and I didn't have his home address. So I tucked that letter in the back of my suitcase and didn't think about it again for another 4 months!
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Fast forward 4 months.
About 2-3 days after I got home from my mission, I remembered that letter and that I needed to contact Dan and thank him for his words of wisdom. The idea of Facebook still freaked me out, but I got brave and messaged Dan thanking him for his letter and telling him that we should catch up sometime and talk about our experiences. Within like 60 seconds of sending Dan a message, he wrote back saying that he was going to be driving from Logan to Salt Lake that night, and that he wanted to swing by and see me. I told gave him my address and he said he was on his way!
At this point, I hadn't even started wearing pants. Skirts and sweats were my comfort zone, mostly because those were what fit! I didn't want Dan to think I was a freak and still only wearing skirts, so I found one pair of jeans I could squeeze my extra ten pounds into and waited for Dan to come. Well, Dan called saying that he missed the exit to my house, and was lost. It took him an extra twenty minutes to finally arrive after he patiently listened to me give him poor directions (I have a horrible sense of direction!).
When I opened the front door for Dan to come in, I immediately noticed something completely different about him. Dan had a light in his eyes that was definitely not there before, I couldn't believe how different he was- yet still the same in some ways. Dan and I sat in my living rooms and talked for a good six hours about anything and everything, but especially our missions. During this marathon pow-wow, he brought up dating and what was going on in both of our love lives. It was then that Dan slipped in the comment, "I should take you on a date sometime."
I'm pretty sure my eyes got HUGE as I was taken totally off guard. I then replied that I needed sometime before I went on any dates- I hadn't even been home a week! I wasn't rejecting his offer, more just asking for some time. Dan handled it well and we continued talking through the night. Dan was so good to just sit and listen to me for hours as I talked about the only thing I knew how to talk about anymore- missionary work. It was the only time I didn't feel awkward for the last couple of days and it meant so much to me that he would drive all the way to Morgan and drive home so late.
The next week.
Apparently Dan didn't think I was totally weird, nor was he swayed by my reply to the idea of us going on a date... because I got a phone call the next week from him. He asked me how I was doing, if I was handling all the adjustments, etc. Then he asked me, "I need to go Christmas shopping for my 5 sisters, will you come help me pick out their presents?" That sneaky guy. It sounded more like a service project than a date, so I said yes! I needed to serve someone!
I met Dan at Fashion Place Mall and it was all uphill from there. We first went and got chocolate shakes from Arby's, because apparently it was Dan's first rule of shopping that you can't shop empty handed. One must shop with a drink or something to sip on. That actually worked out perfect, because anytime I felt like I was out of things to say, I could just take a swig of that chocolate shake and Dan would carry on the conversation. He has such a talent of being able to talk to anyone about anything.
After we picked out presents for everyone, Dan took me to Olive Garden to grab some dinner. We had a great time and Dan was hit on by our waitress... story of my life. We talked so long at dinner, that we were cutting it close to make it to a session at the SLC Temple. As we drove to Salt Lake, Dan showed me a few good songs he had found since he'd been home- one of them being the Katy Perry song "Teenage Dream". We didn't listen to the whole song, just long enough for Dan to lip sync the chorus to me! It was then I realized that Dan was really comfortable around me, and I was so attracted to him at that moment!
We missed the session at the Salt Lake Temple, so we decided to do baptisms for the dead instead. I was so grateful to go to the temple. Dan baptized me and watched my make-up run all over my face. It was then I realized I was very comfortable around him too.
That was honestly the best first date I'd ever been on! I think a lot of it was due to the fact that I'd known Dan for quite awhile before, and that we were friends. It wasn't the awkward kind of first date where you hardly knew the person. I totally needed to meet/date/marry someone who I knew in a non-romantic way first... I had always had a really hard time being myself on dates, I felt too much pressure. Dan did a great job too by not using the word "date" the entire night... it would have freaked me out!
Loved reading the story of you two cuties! You guys are adorable!
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