(To read Chapter 7, click HERE.)
"If I had never met him,
I would have dreamed him into being."
~Anzia Yezierska
As we walked toward the car with him confidently holding my hand, I couldn't help but smile. I was surprised that he wanted to stay longer, but I certainly didn't want to deter him, so I said, "Umm...I don't know. What do you want to do?" He told me he needed to do a little Christmas shopping and asked if I would mind picking up a few things with him. Since I just wanted to spend some time with him, I wasn't about to argue! He asked if there was an REI nearby, so we headed that direction.
Since we are both outdoor nerds, we've found that REI provides endless entertainment for us. We had a blast just wandering around, looking at and talking about cool gadgets (ummm...lego man head lamps? Hilarious!), just having fun together. When he picked up what he needed, we headed out again. We talked in the car about Christmas traditions, which led us to talking about Christmas lights, which then led us to the topic of fun Christmas-y things to do in Portland. I mentioned that the Grotto has a cool Festival of Lights at Christmas, and he asked if I wanted to go! Still surprised he was planning on staying longer, I said that sounded great.
We stopped by my house to let Allee out and get directions, and when we got to my apartment, there was a package slip on the door from the post office. I was confused, because everything I had ordered for Christmas had already come, I wasn't expecting any packages, and I NEVER have things sent to my apartment because they are so difficult to retrieve if they happen to be delivered to the Office. Upon further investigation, I was relieved to find I could pick it up the next day at the Post Office, so I didn't think about it any more that night.
We headed out to the Grotto for the Festival of Lights. It was a beautiful, COLD, clear night in Portland--perfect for a Christmas-y date! We miraculously found a parking spot right next to the entrance and went in. We walked down the path and looked at the lights, then went to check out the puppet show. It was adorable, and we sat snuggled together with his arm around me to combat the cold (it was FREEZING, but I admit I was a little bit oblivious to the temperature) and laughed at the cute show they put on for the kids. Then we headed into the church to listen to the Bell Choir (which was coincidentally directed by a college friend of mine, who had gotten that job at my suggestion!). It was beautiful, and so perfect to sit in the beautiful church and listen to the Christmas carols with him by my side.
When the Bell Choir finished, we decided to wander back through the rest of the Christmas lights and head back to my apartment--after all, it was starting to get late. I thought for sure he would have to leave as soon as we got back, which I was dreading, but after such a perfect day, I couldn't complain. We got back and let Allee out, then sat down on the couch together. We just sat quietly in the glow of the Christmas lights for a long time. It was perfect.
He looked over at me and said, "Is this real?" I smiled and said, "Yeah...I think it is."
We talked for awhile, and I asked him if he needed to get going--by now it was 10:30 PM, and Yakima is about 3 1/2 hours away. He smiled and said, "I think I can stay another half hour." I wasn't about to argue.
We sat this way for a long time, snuggled together on the couch, holding hands, sometimes talking, but mostly in silence, and then finally...
*Now, I'm not one to kiss and tell, but you can imagine what happened next...*
He was sweet and gentle and the timing was perfect. Any remaining awkwardness melted away and everything just felt right and so comfortable and good. He looked over at me and said, "So...I guess this means we're in a relationship?" I laughed, and said, "Yeah, I think that's safe to say."
To be continued...
(To continue to Chapter 9, click HERE.)
Deborah's birthday was at the end of February (and this was the only photo I took!), and I just want to say how extra lucky I am to know this amazing woman! She (still) works at the church I used to work at, and if you ask most of the people at that church, we have so much in common we could practically be twins (the pastor used to get us mixed up and call us each other's names ALL THE TIME...which we thought was hilarious, because CLEARLY we look NOTHING alike). She started there a few weeks before me, and we found out over my first few weeks as we introduced ourselves to different people that we had all this (and more in common):
It's hard to tell from the photos, but it's honestly bigger than she is!! Hilarious. It took her about a week of work before she managed to get one edge small enough that she could carry it around. She drug it all over my apartment until she could pick it up in her mouth. I would randomly hear these crazy banging sounds and for the first day or so, I couldn't figure out what they were or where they were coming from, then I saw her trying to bring it into the room I was in and she kept running into things or banging it into walls, etc. SO FUNNY. She pretty much spends every moment she's not in her crate chewing this thing to bits. 
This is the first quilt like this I've ever made, so I didn't know how it would turn out, but thankfully, it worked. I will admit, the edges were a little wonky, but my sister gave me a great idea for how to finish them, and I LOVE how it worked out.
Considering I didn't really have any of the proper materials to easily make a quilt, I thought this turned out nicely. And thankfully, Sil and Luis love it! :)
