Our Dating Story

Today is a special day in my heart. It was on this very day exactly three years ago that Dan and I went on our first date. We had been planning it for about a week and had continued to hang out as friends for that week. I had just got out of a relationship a few weeks earlier, and I had been going on dates with anyone who asked me. It had been a long time since I had gone on a date, so I was just having fun (and enjoying the free meals!) for a couple weeks. One day, as I sat in the Writing Center on campus (where I worked), I received a Facebook chat message from Dan, who was becoming a good friend and running buddy.

The message simply said, "So I hear you're quite the player these days." He was referring to my random dates with people. I laughed and said, "Yeah, you better watch out. You might be next!" Dan replied: "I wouldn't mind going on a date with you." And that was that. We agreed to go on a date and see what happened from there. We're still unclear about who really asked out who. He planned quite an amazing date for a Wednesday night. We confirmed everything the night before at our normal Tuesday night Phi Sigma Pi meeting, and he picked me up at 5:00 on February 25th, 2009 at my apartment in Warrensburg, MO. I didn't know exactly what we would be doing that night, but I was excited. Luckily for me, he has continued to plan amazing things for me, and he loves to surprise me!

As we began driving toward the highway, I inquired about where we were going. At that point, Dan told me that we were first going to dinner at Siki, a Japanese Hibachi Grill in Lee's Summit, MO, which is about 45 minutes from Warrensburg. I was excited to leave Warrensburg, and I told him that I'd been wanting to try Siki since high school. (I really had. I drove by it all the time when I left Raytown, but I had never been). He told me he had called ahead to make sure they had vegetarian options for me, and I foiund that INCREDIBLY sweet of him. When we got there, we were seated next to each other instead of across from each other. My first thought was that it was going to be weird since it was our first date, but it turned out to be just right. We talked, laughed, watched the hibachi chefs put on a show with our food while cooking it right in front of us, enjoyed the delicious meal, and got to know each other better. It was the perfect setting for a first date!

As we ate, Dan told me that he had other plans for after dinner. He said we would be going to a comedy club in Kansas City to see a comedian. I was ecstatic because I'd never been to one before. I asked him where it was, and he mentioned that it was at The Legends. I told him we better get going, then, because that's a pretty long drive. He had no idea, though, since he's not from Kansas City. He didn't realize how stretched out of a city it really is. He had assumed we would just drive right up the street, but it was, in fact, another 40 minutes to get to the comedy club, which gave us lots of time in the car to keep talking. When we finally arrived at the comedy club, we took each other's hand and walked in like it was natural. And it WAS! I knew then that he was special, but I had NO IDEA what our relationship would turn into.

We had a blast and laughed our butts off at the comedy show, and we drove about an hour and a half back to Warrensburg together, talking all the while. We decided then to make things official, and when we updated our Facebook Relationship Status the next day, we had all kinds of friends who were shocked but happy for us.

February 25th will always hold a special place in my heart. On our one year anniversary, Dan was at the Air Force Academy Prep School, and I was student teaching in Missouri. He sent me flowers that were delivered while I was teaching a 10th grade class, and they all got a huge kick out of it! They said, "Does this mean you two are getting married?!" We had previously had dinner at the Miramont Castle in Manitou Springs, CO when I visited the weekend before, which was a huge surprise and the most romantic evening ever. For our second anniversary, I was already living in Colorado, so Dan planned a surprise get-away weekend to Alamosa, CO, where he took me on a winter wonderland train ride, a wonderful Mexican restaurant with giant margaritas, a hotel with an indoor water park, and a crocodile/alligator farm, where we got to play with the babies! It was a beautiful weekend, and this year should be amazing as well. I am taking Dan out tonight as a surprise, but we will be making dinner together before. I'll post more about that later in the week!

This is one of the first pictures we have together!

I will write more tomorrow about all of the difficulties we faced during our first year of dating. I guess you could say that this post will be continued...

If you would like to read the story of how we got engaged, please CLICK HERE.

Have a wonderful 25th of February, everyone!

Janelle