Lieutenant Brown, Chapter 3...

(To read Chapter 2, click HERE.)

"The best and most beautiful things in this world

cannot be seen or even heard,

but must be felt with the heart."

~Helen Keller

Our first date was lovely. Hood River is a sweet little town, and it was a perfect place to meet and just learn about and enjoy each other. I definitely knew I wanted to see him again, and I was so happy when he said he wanted to see me again, too.

I got home that night and had an email from him, thanking me for driving to Hood River to have lunch with him, and saying he'd had a good time. It was really sweet. That week was Thanksgiving, so I spent most of the week working or with my family, but every day I looked forward to an email from him. And every day I got one. Sometimes two.

Sidenote: I didn't really want to tell too many people about him until I knew if it was something or not, so over Thanksgiving, I didn't even tell my parents about him. Part of me didn't want the pressure of everyone knowing about it (because what if it didn't work out?), and part of me just didn't want to speak prematurely and jinx it. Amy and Sterling knew, and a couple friends, but that was it. So if you're surprised by how long this has been going on and I haven't said anything about it, that's why. Thanks for bearing with me. :)

He called me again the weekend after Thanksgiving and we talked for 4 1/2 hours. Honestly, when I got off the phone and saw how long we'd spoken, I was SHOCKED. I don't think I've EVER talked to anyone on the phone for that long in my life. And it felt like maybe an hour or two, but certainly not almost five. It was really nice. At the end of our conversation, he asked again what my next few weekends looked like and if I would be free. When I told him I didn't have much going on, he asked again if he could come visit me in Portland. This time I agreed. But I told him that if he were going to drive all the way to Portland, then he didn't need to worry about what we'd do, I would take care of planning the date, and he said that would be fine.

Remember how I said we have A LOT in common? Well, one of those things we happen to share is the same Master's degree from Gonzaga. I love that he went to grad school at Gonzaga, because it means, not only does he know Spokane, he also understands why I love my alma mater so much, and it also means we are both highly educated people. I think those things are important. Anyway, to put himself through grad school, he joined the Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC), which means he is an officer in the Army (hence the titles of these posts--he is currently a First Lieutenant and will likely be promoted this summer). He's in the Reserves, so he's a member of the National Guard, which basically means he has a commitment of one weekend a month (called drill weekends) and two weeks every summer for 8 years. There is a possibility he could be deployed, but he assures me, at this point, it is unlikely his unit will be called up.

The next weekend was his drill weekend, so we agreed he would come down the following weekend. We continued to email more and more, at least twice a day. At the urging of my friend Debi, the night before his drill weekend was supposed to start, I called him for the first time. (Debi told me I needed to be the one to call him once in awhile so he'd know I was interested and he wasn't the only one making an effort. And since I wasn't feeling well and I knew I wouldn't hear from him for a few days, I decided I wanted to talk to him, too.) We had a really good conversation where I asked a million questions about the Army and the National Guard and what his reponsibilities are, etc. He was really open and honest and patient with my questions and answered them all.

That weekend he left on his drill weekend, and I realized I really missed those daily emails. When he got home Sunday night, I will admit I was thrilled when I got a text from him saying he'd made it home and he would call me the next night. :) He did, and we talked for five hours. :)

To be continued...

(To continue to Chapter 4, click HERE.)

Lieutenant Brown, Chapter 2...

(To read Chapter 1, click HERE.)

"Love is a butterfly, which when pursued is just beyond your grasp,

but if you will sit down quietly it may alight upon you."

~Nathaniel Hawthorne

He lives in Yakima, which, on a good day, is a 3-3 1/2 hour drive from Portland. So when he asked if he could drive down here just to take me out to lunch, I was really flattered, but also a little skeptical. I didn't want him to drive all the way to Portland if it was awkward or it sucked or if he was weird or creepy or whatever. But I will admit I liked that he wanted to do lunch. Not so noncommittal as a coffee date, but not nearly as much pressure as a dinner date. Plus, way more convenient for both of us. So, as politely as possible, I suggested maybe we could meet somewhere in the middle. He agreed to that, and told me he would do some research and send me an email with the name and address of a restaurant in a cute little town called Hood River.

The week of our date was cold and snowy, and all week I prayed he wouldn't cancel. He was the last guy I would agree to meet from this online experiment, and while I hoped it would be something, I went in with relatively low expectations. I begged over and over, "Please, dear God, just let him be normal." :)

I drove out to Hood River in the morning after saying goodbye to my friend Andrea and her kiddos. My folks were on their way up to Portland for Thanksgiving, and thankfully the rain was letting up and the roads were relatively dry. My cute hair wasn't quite as cute anymore after a few stints in the rain, but I felt okay about the whole situation. I just concentrated on not being nervous and continued to pray for him to be normal.

I got into Hood River a few minutes early, found the restaurant, and parked my car. I was feeding coins in the meter when I heard him call my name. I finished what I was doing and crossed the street to say hello. When I looked up at him, he had flowers for me! He gave me a hug and said, "These are for you," as he handed me a gorgeous bunch of orange tulips. :) Then we headed into the restaurant.

When we went inside, he found the hostess and said he had reservations for two. (At this point I was thinking, okay, he's cute, he brought me flowers, and he made reservations. So far, so good!) We went to our table, sat down, and started talking. The food was great and we had a really good time talking over lunch. The waitress commented a couple times on my flowers, which gave me a good opportunity to let him know how much I appreciated them. All through lunch, I was struck by his gorgeous light blue eyes, but mostly, I was interested in how polite and sweet he was. He was a total gentleman. He let me order first, he paid for our lunch, and he opened doors for me. When lunch was over, he asked if I wanted to walk around for a little while and explore the town. I was really glad, because truthfully, I wasn't ready for the date to end.

We spent the next couple hours walking around and talking, and it was really nice. I had a lot of fun and I was really impressed by how kind and smart he seemed. After we'd walked around awhile, we headed back up the hill. He walked me to my car and asked if I'd had fun. I told him yes, and he said he'd had fun, too. Then he told me he would like to keep talking and emailing...and he'd like to see me again. :) I agreed.

On the way home, I called April to give her the report: "April...he brought me flowers! And most importantly...I think he's totally NORMAL!"

To be continued...

(To continue to Chapter 3, click HERE.)

Lieutenant Brown, Chapter 1...

"Once in a while, right in the middle of an ordinary life,

love gives us a fairy tale."

~Gieselle C. Viera

Alright, alright, things are going well enough that I'm no longer too worried about messing this relationship up (he assures me there's nothing I CAN do to mess it up), so let me tell you about my wonderful new(ish) boyfriend.

Let me just get it out of the way right now that we met online. I think you guys know how I feel about that fact, but like my dad said, what difference does it make HOW we met, so long as we did? True enough. You guys also know that I was largely unsuccessful (hilariously, ridiculously unsuccessful, in fact) at the whole online dating thing. I went through some awful dates, met some crazy people, and basically decided to give up on the whole thing. I was largely unimpressed with all the guys I was meeting or talking with, and since I wasn't thrilled with the idea of online dating anyway, I planned on letting the two short memberships I'd purchased expire with no plans to renew them. And yet...

Almost all along, there was this one guy. He was much better-looking than any of the other guys I'd seen on either of the websites. I knew we had a lot in common--the few people I told about him were told he was pretty much me, but male. :) In fact, we were "matched" on both of the sites I'd signed up on (one a faith-based one, the other not), which I thought was kind of interesting. And one day he emailed me. So I emailed him back. And he just kept writing me. His emails were short and sweet, mostly talking about what we did that day or our plans for the weekend, etc. Rarely more than a paragraph or two at the most. Never pushy or presumptive. I had no idea if he was interested in me or not, but because my mom taught me that if someone writes you, it is polite to write them back, I kept returning his emails.

Let me rewind a little. I had decided that I wanted to do the whole dating thing the old-fashioned way (inasmuch as that's possible with online dating), and I was going to let the guy take the lead. So I wouldn't give anyone my number unless he gave me his first, he would have to call me first, ask me out, etc. And I held true to that.

Over the course of a couple months, we exchanged frequent emails (almost daily), and he always ended his emails with "Talk to you later." I just kept writing back, and I was interested that he wasn't jumping the gun or in a hurry. After about 2 1/2 months or so, he told me his subscription was expiring on one site and he wasn't renewing it, so he wrote me on the other site. I wrote him back and told him that my subscriptions were also expiring, so I gave him my personal email. He wrote me at my email (so I knew his last name before he knew mine). After a few more emails, he sent me his phone number and told me he would like to talk to me sometime. I sent him my phone number and told him he was welcome to call anytime. A couple more weeks of emailing, and finally an email said, "I'll give you a call this weekend." :)

I tried not to be anxious about his call, and when he finally did call, I was walking in the door from church with my arms full and I missed it!! (Which actually turned out for the best...he was really nervous about calling, and he says me calling him back let him know that I was interested, too.) So I called him back a few minutes later and we talked for 2 1/2 hours. :) It was really easy and nice and not really awkward at all. We laughed a lot (probably, in part, due to nerves), and it was a really good conversation. So he ended the call saying, "I'll give you a call later this week." :)

When we talked again, it was similar--he was funny and easy to talk to, and at the end of the conversation, he asked what I was doing the next couple weekends. I was really excited, and I told him I didn't really have plans, so he asked if he could come down to Portland and take me out for lunch.

Now, we all know what happened the last time a guy came to meet me in Portland; it was miserable, the worst weekend ever, and pretty much a phenomenal disaster.

So I told him no.

To be continued...

(To continue to Chapter 2, click HERE.)

I Love My Piano...

...I really, really do. And all the other lovely things my beautiful and generous friends and family gave me this year for Christmas, too.

But my favorite gift, by far, was this:

Here's the story: On our second date, as part of our date, my amazing boyfriend and I went to Powell's bookstore--the largest bookstore in the world--because it's a very "Portland" kind of thing to do. We wandered around for awhile, mostly looking at children's books (because that's what you do when you go to a bookstore on a date, right? Everyone can talk about children's books, it's not awkward, and everyone has those memories in common.) We had a really good time, and we talked and laughed about many of our childhood favorites. We looked at a bunch of pop-up books and laughed about how we thought they were soooooooo cool when we were kids.

Later, walking through another section, I spotted a copy of "The Little Prince," by far one of my favorite books, and one that means a lot to me. I mentioned that I loved that book and we moved on.

Fast forward to a few weeks later. He was again visiting me in Portland, and when we got back to my apartment after the movie we'd just seen, there was a package slip on my door from the Post Office. I was a little confused because I wasn't expecting anything--anything I'd ordered for Christmas had already come, and I'd had everything shipped either to my sister's house or my work address. Confused, I put it aside, we finished our date, he left, and the next day I went to the post office to retrieve the mysterious package.

It was from him!

I was totally shocked. For it to have gotten there when it did, he would have had to purchase and send it after only 2 dates, and I definitely wasn't expecting anything from him. He'd already given me an awesome Gonzaga basketball Christmas tree ornament (which I love), so I didn't think there was any reason he'd send anything else.

In the box was a present wrapped up in red paper. I was a good girl (apparently I have tremendous amounts of will power) and waited to open it until Christmas morning with my family. When I opened it, my parents and Sterling all went, "Huh. That's cool." But my sister knew. Amy saw it and immediately said, "ohhhhhh! He's thoughtful!" He remembered I said I loved it, and he happened to find this version. I have never seen anything quite like it. It's a gorgeous, unabridged version of the text in the form of a pop-up book.

It is seriously amazing. Perfect. And so is he. :)

Santa Claus Was Good to Me This Year...

He (aka, my amazing parents) brought me a digital piano! I am sooooo, soooo excited, because I have ALWAYS wanted to learn to play the piano! Now I just need to find somewhere to take lessons...

So, yeah, Santa was good to me. He brought me two amazing gifts: a digital piano...

...and a new boyfriend.

More on that to come. :) :) :)

(PROMISE.)

Meissels and Nusses!

I was soooooo fortunate to get to spend a few hours with some of my favorite people over the holidays! My dear friend Leah was my first friend at college. I hooked her up with her husband, John, who is another good friend from college. Leah and I have been fortunate in that we both live in Portland, so we see each other fairly frequently.

The year Leah and I were both AmeriCorps volunteers in Spokane, she lived with our other dear friend, Sarah (and they lived about 1/4 of a block away from me), who was engaged to one of Leah's old boyfriends, Mike. These four people are some of the loveliest people I know.

Mike is an officer and a nurse in the Army, and they are stationed in San Antonio. I had the opportunity to see Sarah for a couple hours when I was down there last February, but I didn't get to see Mike or meet their darling little boy, Patrick. You can imagine I was thrilled when she emailed me to say they would be spending Christmas in Portland with some of Mike's family this year!

So the five of us (seven, if you count babies) had the chance to get together for a few hours, work on a puzzle (which, by the way, I had forgotten is SO much fun!), and catch up. It was lovely.

John and Mike, hard at work.

Joey and Patrick are only a few weeks apart in age, but this was the first time they'd met.

They got along great! :) SO cute!

Aren't these families lovely? So glad you came to town, Meissels! Can't wait to see you again soon! And thanks, Nusses, for hosting us! Love you all!

Zoo Lights!

Since Amy and I both live in the Pacific NW, and since Amy didn't get any time off for Christmas, our folks made the trek from Utah to Portland for the second time in a month to spend Christmas with us! My mom was totally sick when they got here, so on their first night, she stayed in, Ster was busy, and Amy and I took our dad on a date to Zoo Lights! It was so fun, not raining, and he had a great time!

Aren't they the cutest?! I love my family!