Our story - part 2

Part 1 can be found here.

So on May 20, 2007 I set out in my little blue Vibe to meet this amazing guy from Kentucky. He lived in Eastern Kentucky, over 3 hours away, so we agreed to meet in Chillicothe for a late lunch after church on Sunday. We decided to meet at a BBQ place near the river but then I got a call from him - the restaurant was closed on Sundays. So I met him at the BBQ place anyway and I remember seeing him walking towards me with a huge grin on his face. Yay!! Better looking than the pictures in his profile. We decided to go to a Bob Evans that he passed and offered to drive. I normally would never get in the car of a guy I just met but I felt like I could trust him. (Girls, I really don't recommend doing this!) I get in his car and there was a little coleus plant sitting on the floor. He said he wanted to get me flowers but he didn't think they'd last long enough for me to get them home. Aaaawwwww!!!

We talked for awhile at Bob Evans, just hanging out chatting - favorite movies, tv shoes, music, that sort of thing. He suggested we go walk around a park nearby and we drove over there. It was a beautiful day with the sun shining and the perfect temperature. We sat in one location and then walked around some and sat in another location. At some point we just started holding hands and I didn't really realize it until he asked if I was okay with holding his hand.

So while we were sitting in the second park bench Jason looks at me and says "I'd like to declare my intentions to pursue you." Wow. Really? Like no more guessing if a guy likes me or not? I said "please do." :) I think that was when I started really falling for this guy. I have bugged him about this to no end, asking him if that was a line from a movie, or if one of his girl friends suggested he say this. No, he just knew exactly what to say right when I needed to say it.

As we were sitting there the clouds started to get dark so we had a decision to make - end the date or find dinner? Yes, we had been talking for several hours at the park. I wasn't ready for the day to end so I agreed to dinner. We headed to Applebees (near the Bob Evans where we ate lunch) and sat there for a couple more hours just talking. When we needed to leave (our waitress was giving us dirty looks) we couldn't decide where else to go. It was a Sunday night and the malls were closed, so we ended up back at his car at the BBQ restaurant.

It was getting late and I needed to get some water for my coleus plant but I couldn't seem to get out of his car and go home. While we were sitting there delaying our goodbye we noticed that the house next to the restaurant had a lot of people on the porch and elsewhere outside. His car looked like a police car (a Crown Victoria) and they had pointed at us a few times. I thought they were waiting for us to start making out or something (we didn't) but he pointed out that maybe they thought we were the cops. Slowly the all went in until no one was left outside. A car pulled up and someone got out and knocked on the door. The person who came to the door pointed at us and they both looked at us. The guy went back to the car and it pulled away. Hello!!

So we consider that day to be our first two dates (lunch and dinner) and our first stake-out. Ha! :) As I drove home that evening I was wondering if this guy was too good to be true. Really. Most guys who start off seeming to be perfect are usually just big smoozes who will say whatever you want to hear. I had been let down by those types a few times and didn't want it to happen again. Was he just another "pleaser" type? He was coming to Dayton to visit me the following weekend, Memorial Day weekend. So I hoped to see a little more of who this guy really was.

A few things from our first date that really impressed me - he opened all my doors for me, including the car door which he also shut for me, he insisted on paying for both meals, and he followed me to the gas station after our date to make sure I got back on the highway alright. I remember thinking that we had the same sense of humor and that I had the best time just goofing around with him. I was really looking forward to seeing him again, but not looking forward to missing him.

I wanted to copy & paste a few bits and pieces from emails I saved after that first date. I thought you'd enjoy this...

Really really enjoyed hanging out with J yesterday. It was so comfortable hanging out with him. No red flags at all, didn't seem the type to be over-anxious to get into a relationship (he didn't pee on my foot).

Great smile, great laugh, and so funny and so CUTE.

And he's just a down-to-earth nice guy. I'm dating someone. I love that. I haven't really DATED someone since last July.

There's a three house distance between us, but we've agreed to make sure we see each other at least once a week. He's said he'd move here if it came to that because he can't see a woman being happy in his little tiny town.

Gotta love that last one! :)

Well, that's it for now. I found more emails from his first weekend in Dayton - what a learning experience!! I'll be reviewing those to prepare for my next blog - and laughing. First impressions are kinda funny sometimes. :)