La la la love story-ish, pt. 2

sooooooooooooo..... finally a continuation of this post.

I went to D's bday party.  Back in the day he lived in a casita guest house behind a larger house he sat for 9 mos out of the year.  I didn't know this at the time, and thought that the main house (where the party was) was his actual house. I remember thinking he had a worldly decorating style and was really impressed that there was quinoa and organic foods in his cupboards...ehhh wrong.

Summer 2005

Anyways, went inside, super nervous, he was nervous, I shook hands, I looked around and didn't know anyone, said I could only stay for a bit but wanted to say hi, and suggested that we take a Happy Birthday shot of Jack Daniels (to ease the nerves).  I ended up staying a long time and somehow spent almost all my time in the kitchen, chatting with D and meeting his friends and family.  I remember standing in the kitchen and realizing he was a lot shorter than I remembered and I shouldn't have worn my platform flip flops.  I slouched while we talked. He only left me once to go to the bathroom, and I was so shocked that he stuck by me the entire time instead of joining his party.  Eventually he mentioned that he lived in the guest house and I went with him to 'get the tour.'   There were a few people in there, but we didn't notice.  He was pretty drunky drunk by then and kept asking "Why are you here?  Like I thought you wouldn't come.  And you never talk to me at work...why are you here?  Like I'm really glad you're here...but just surprised" etc etc etc.  I think I admitted that I had a crush on him and one thing led to another and we had a very sweet first kiss. I remember telling him he was missing out on his party and all his friends were going to be mad that he was MIA, but he said he would much rather be with me :) I left shortly after (I had a test the next morning) and he walked me to my car.  He invited me to hang out the next night and made me promise that I would call him when I got home.

the first birthday of mine that we celebrated together Oct. 2005

D's birthday 2006 and almost our 1yr anniversary

back in the days of disposable cameras

I saw him at work the next day and it was soooo awkward.  He kept trying to hold my hand in the break room in front of other people, and I kept putting my hands in my pockets because I didn't want anyone to think I was another one of Dave's "ladies."  Oh gosh.  We hung out later that night.  We chatted in his hot tub for a while and I kept thinking to myself  "seriously, first date and he's already got me in a bikini?"  Then he did the unthinkable...."So, Rachel...."  I was barely clothed, in a hot tub, and he didn't even know my name?  I had visions of just getting up and leaving right then and there.  But I stayed...I gave him a second chance and stayed to watch a movie and ended up staying the night (no! no hanky panky AND I slept in my bathing suit!) hehe.  And don't think I let him get away with calling me the wrong name!  No!  I sternly corrected him and still remind him about it to this day.  He even calls me Rachel sometimes, because he knows it KILLLLLS me.

Halloween 2006?

The next day he took me to meet his mom (to pass some "mom test" I presume), and then later that night we watched North Shore.  During the movie I hinted that I was kinda seeing other people and he took the leap and officially asked me to be his girlfriend because he thought this was something special and he didn't want to lose me to someone else (feminists would not be pleased with this statement, but I thought it was cute).

first trip to Cali for my birthday - Oct. 2006

And that was that!  Happily ever after!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!                 NOT.

There were enough good times to get me hooked, and enough bad times to make me question my sanity.  We would be on top of the world, and every three or four months, D would have an emotional crash and burn.  I never ever gave up and for whatever reason, kept telling him and myself, "I'm not saying we are going to be together forever, but I believe that for this time in my life, we are supposed to be together."  It was just me being stubborn (I've always been the one to dictate the course of my relationships) and living with a big case of denial.  But I loved him and felt like I knew him better than anyone else and that okay, you can't change a guy, but he can most definitely change himself, and I would give him something worth changing for.  It worked!

I tell D all the time, we definitely would not be where we are now if we didn't learn from the lessons in our past and we are much better off because of it.  Get all the big drama out in the open early on so that you aren't dealing with it later on and so you have a completely clear picture of the person you are with and don't find out when it's too late.  We have both grown up and matured and become very committed people and now that all that drama is behind us, it is smooth sailing :)  Part of me does miss the youth of the old days though, sharing a twin sized bed, playing video games, scraping by with almost empty bank accounts, driving broke down cars, D working as a lifeguard, me a nanny, studying at flying star, having house parties, ditching classes, being carefree...but all those things have been replaced by ONE even better thing:  "OUR."  Our house, our dogs, our decisions, our things, our families, our trips, our time, our friends, our future...Life is good.

Here's to six years!  Huzzah!  Huzzah!