Day 1 – Mauren & Cordell

Mauren here.

Wow, I can hardly believe this project is officially underway! We have been so overwhelmed by the support we’ve received on doing this project. Within the first 24 hours of being “live” the blog had more than 600 page views from friends and family all over the world! I don’t know if we realized we even knew that many people. ;)

We even had 7 people from France check it out. France! We don’t even know people in France! Well, not that we know of anyway. So if you’re our reader(s) from France – welcome! And the same to all the rest of you, too; thanks for joining us on this journey.

So today was officially the first day of this incredible project we’re calling 40 Dates in 40 Days and I got nominated by scheduling default to be the first participant. No pressure, right?

My date was with a guy named Cordell (don't worry about the shiner, you should see the other guy!) that I’ve actually known for the last 2½ years from church but that I’d never been out with before.

My first memory of Cordell was shortly after he moved to the area and he gave a talk at church. I remember thinking he was quite impressive and may have even had a little crush. No lie, it’s true.

The second memory I had of Cordell was when a group of us went up to Sam Houston State University (SHSU) to watch one of our friends perform in a play. It was obvious to me then that I was not the only girl in the ward with a bit of a crush on him. And for good reason – Cordell’s a stud!

He’s got a great job, owns his own house, is always pleasant to be around, wears a constant smile and…has an undying love of watching movies. Seriously, he’s kind of a movie buff and we always know who to call when a movie night is in order.

I knew Cordell was going out of town tonight to go skiing with some friends so we decided to make our date a lunch date, which worked particularly well since he was in a meeting right up until lunch in The Woodlands (a nice area where I work on the far north side of Houston).

Being the gentleman that he is, Cordell picked me up at the office after his meeting, opening the car door and all, and we headed off to lunch.

When we’d talked earlier in the week we had decided to go to Hubbell & Hudson, a fancy schmancy organic food store located near my office. As you can no doubt guess, The Woodlands + organic food store = pricey. But that’s part of the fascination of the place, too.

Hubbell & Hudson is no ordinary store. Its unique architecture, tight aisles and colorful displays remind me of the kind of grocery stores I saw in New York. The rather tiny supermarket is host to a soup and salad bar, bakery, candy counter, fresh deli, sandwich shop, gourmet food counter, a culinary kitchen for cooking classes, a floral booth with the biggest roses I’ve ever seen and much more. How they fit it all in such a small space is beyond me, but I’m glad they did. It’s one of those stores you just have to visit to say you’ve been there. Really, you should try it sometime. They even have mushrooms that cost more than $22 per ounce. Yeah, that’s a dollar sign. Crazy. Not everything is that expensive of course, but it’s sometimes fun to see what you can find.

Knowing that Hubbell & Hudson is know for it’s sheek, organic and even a little snooty cuisine, I decided to have Cordell do a taste test on a few foods to determine which was better – organic or the everyday brands – and whether or not he could taste the difference.

I picked up 7 different organic items from Hubbell & Hudson the night before and then found their “regular” counterpart for the taste test. The items included string cheese, yogurt, cheese crackers, honey/graham crackers, peanut butter, chocolate and pop tart-like pastries.

After we finished our fancy sandwiches (beware, the chicken salad sandwich is REAL chicken – bones and all) I blindfolded Cordell. One by one I gave him an organic version and a regular version of each food, asking two questions: 1) Which is better (the first or second item)?; and 2) Which is the organic vs. the regular brand?

The looks we got from some of the passersby were entertaining, but the experiment itself was a lot of fun! Overall it’s safe to say that the organic items were his favorite, which caught him a bit by surprise, since sometimes organic foods come with the stigma of “weird”. 

After we finished up, we talked more about our pasts – hobbies, family, how our parents met and more. It was then that I realized just how lucky I am to know Cordell. We’ve spent a lot of time together since we share the same circle of friends, but I’d never really sat down and had a conversation with him. Today though I discovered that he’s the kind of person you could sit and talk to all day. He’s a good listener, who also knows how to communicate. He’s funny, tells great stories (if you know him, ask about his shark bite sometime) and is genuinely interested in the people with whom he’s interacting. Cordell has a lot to offer and will definitely make a great spouse and husband someday.

Overall he’s just the kind of guy you want to be around, and I admire that. What a great guy to kickoff our project!

Looking for more? Stay tuned for Becca’s report on her first date tomorrow night.