Here’s part I and part II, if you haven’t read them.
It really wasn’t a dating “game” to us but that was the best title I could come up with. After that first date, we were obviously both hooked. In January of 2009, I began student teaching so my schedule wasn’t the typical “college schedule.” I was in High Point, NC. David was working for the athletic department at Carolina which meant he had to be at every home baseball and football game. So that basically left weekends available for me and since home games often fell on the weekends, I would drive down on Saturday or Sunday and watch the game and then we would usually do dinner.
Early on, of course, there were times where one of us already had something planned so we wouldn’t get to see each other that weekend. At first, it was fun to drive the hour trip to Chapel Hill and see a game and go out to eat. And then the more we were together, the harder it was to be apart.
A few Favorite memories from the dating days
~ He used to always call and sing, “Sweet Thing” by Keith Urban to me. Except he never knows the words to songs so it was always, “Na na na na, you’re my sweet thing…”
~ The first time I introduced him to my parents was at Corbin’s basketball game. I thought this was a great idea… he tells me otherwise. He couldn’t really talk to them… it was loud and they were focused on the game.
~ Kaitlyn and Kenzie came to High Point to meet him and Kaitlyn called him “Dan.”
~ The first time he got to spend much time with my family was when we all went to Gatlinburg… which turned out to be the same weekend of the Final Four 2009… he could have chosen to go to that but came with us instead. {Awwww}
~ Late one Sunday night, I was driving from Chapel Hill back to High Point and it started snowing. I was so scared I was going to wreck my car. And then it was snowing so hard that the snow started sticking to the exit signs on Interstate 40 and I just knew I was going to miss the exit. Somehow I made it back all in one piece but I think it was the scariest two hours of my life.
~ I went on vacation with his family that summer to Hiwassee Lake. It was on that vacation that I got hired at the same job I still have today.
~ We had been on one or two dates when he happened to be coming through Winston {where my parents live} and we were supposed to meet up for dinner. When I got home, I found out that my dad’s brother had fallen off a ladder, was in the hospital and my dad was possibly traveling to Knoxville, TN to be with the family. It was a hectic evening trying to figure out when he would leave, what car he would drive, etc. So I didn’t have my phone with me. And I didn’t know that David had been calling for… two hours maybe? {Meanwhile, David had stopped by a Bojangles to change clothes since he had been working outside.} And then when I finally dug my phone out of my bag, I told him about my uncle falling off a ladder and that we’d have to reschedule. He told his Dad about it… who promptly told David to move on. This has become known as “The Bojangles Diversion” and was even mentioned in our wedding ceremony.
~ I remember the weekend before Valentine’s Day, David asked me if I had plans. {You know, in case I was dating somebody else and had already made plans with him…} It was still pretty early on and I wanted to spend time with him {him as in David… there wast any other guy!} but I hate it when guys spend like $50 on red roses for the day {I don’t even like red roses} so I told him as long as it was low-key and he didn’t get me roses, that we could hang out. So he grilled me steak and we threw football on this {surprisingly} warm day for a North Carolina February afternoon. {To this day, he’s never gotten me flowers because he swears I don’t like them. When in reality, I don’t like $50 red roses on the same day that every other girl gets red roses. $10 farmers market flowers? I’m down with that.}
~Although most of our dating was on the weekends, sometimes he would surprise me and drive the one hour trip to High Point mid-week. Those were my favorites.
