Day 26 - Becca & Joe

Dear Blog,

Can I just say that this whole project has totally rocked my world?! It has. As amazing as the guys have been, I am exhausted! It's crazy to put yourself out there multiple times a week, plan a fun date, go out with people who are basically strangers, and then BLOG about the whole experience. I am out of my league.  And it's only halfway over! Thank goodness today's date was such a sweetheart!

My original plans were to go to Austin, but due to weather and the grace of God, those plans changed. :)

I decided around 10:00pm that Austin wasn't going to happen and then it hit me. . . I didn't have a date for Sunday. Oy Vey! It didn't take too long for Joe to come to my aid and save me and the dating project. My hero! :)

I knew Joe from church but had only talked to him once prior to our date. He a quiet kinda guy that could easily fly under the radar, but totally handsome with a great smile and west coast style. I was a little nervous that because of his seemingly shy nature, I was going to have to do most of the talking. That was not the case.

We met up after church and set off for the lake. The weather in Houston had been stormy all weekend, but it let up just enough for Joe and me to unload my car and head to the park's gazebo. Once there we set up the easels (music stands), the canvases, the paints, and started to let out our inner artists. I was so excited for this date and today was the perfect day for it. Once we had set up the rain started up again. The sound of the rain on the roof of the gazebo in addition to the classical music coming from the IPOD created quite the relaxed atmosphere. Perfect for getting to know someone. 

I was surprised how easy Joe was to talk to. He had some awesome and thought provoking questions, and I can honestly say I learned a bit about myself as I answered. His responses were equally interesting and I was coming to see that there was more than meets the eye with this quiet guy I'd seen around. Joe has moved around a lot, but did most of his growing up in California. I knew that he was into astronomy, (that was the topic of conversation from our one exchange prior to the date) but was happy to find out that he is getting his degree in Anthropology. How cool is that?! I love knowing what makes other cultures tick.

We continued to talk as we painted. He took a more literal approach to painting his surrounding, while I took the idea of rain drops and then added some color. . . basically polka dots was as artsy as I was gonna get today. As the rain let up the park came to life with people fishing, boys jumping in the lake, and families walking around the gazebo trying to figure out what we were up to. I almost wished I had on a black beret and a little mustache.



After we had finished our masterpieces, (I think they turned out pretty good) we packed up and headed home. Joe was completely helpful putting things away and even offered to take the chair back to the church building. I really felt like he had invested himself into the date and not just his time. It was really nice. It was my pleasure getting to know Joe today. Not only did he save the project, but he brought some new life back into it as well. The second half of the 40 days is off to a good start.

That's all folks/Blog!



Becca