Day 35 - Mauren & Jeremy

Two dates in a row? Hope you’re not tired of hearing from me yet…there’s more to come on Thursday!

Tonight I was rescued by Jeremy, who was a last minute substitute for my previously scheduled date who had some things come up he needed to take care of instead. Thank goodness for his willingness to participate in some strange project he knew nothing about. :)

We took it easy tonight and met up for frozen yogurt, which I was glad Jeremy agreed to since I’ve been under the weather for the last few days and needed something fairly low key.

Jeremy had never been to Menchie’s, which is a favorite of Kim and Becca’s. I personally prefer Red Mango, but I must say, Menchie’s peanut butter sauce is divinely inspired, I swear (see picture at the end of the post for proof).

When Jeremy arrived he had…a new piece of jewelry in his nose that I’d never seen before…let’s just say it reminded me of…a bull. As I instructed him on the process of preparing an order at Menchie’s I couldn’t help but think about how on earth I was going to explain this date selection to my friends and family. Seriously, I was a little freaked out.

But I went along like nothing had happened, with the express plan to ask him about his latest accessory as soon as we sat down to eat. Jeremy paid for our frozen yogurt and since we were headed outside to eat, I asked one of the cashiers if she could take our picture for us. She snapped one and I asked for a second one, just in case, when Jeremy removed the large gold loop hanging from his nose and said he had to dispel any rumors with a serious picture, too. THANK GOODNESS!! That thing was totally fake! Seriously, I was stunned when I saw it and RELIEVED when it wasn’t real. Haha!

I’ve known Jeremy for several years through church, but haven’t ever really had a one-on-one conversation with him. I was glad to see that things flowed really well and we enjoyed one another’s company as we sat outside the little frozen yogurt shop for a couple hours to catch up on life.

Like myself, Jeremy comes from a large family. But while I’m the oldest of 7 kids, Jeremy’s the youngest of 10. He’s also the father of a 3-year-old from a previous marriage and speaks of her with such love and admiration. He doesn’t have to tell you how he feels about her (though he will if you ask!), you can just see it in his eyes and smile when he mentions her name.

Something else I learned about Jeremy tonight was that he’s very smart and has a great vocabulary. He might not have a college degree to show for it, but I found myself throughout the night wondering where he picked up some of those words and trying to garner their meaning using context clues. It actually became somewhat of a game and I learned it was something he inherited from his mom, the English teacher. :)

Jeremy’s also a bit of a jack of all trades. Earlier this year he and one of his friends started hosting an online YouTube newscast 5 days a week. It covers everything from local news to other pieces of information they found interesting. You can check out their channel at http://www.youtube.com/theextimes.

In addition to “The Extraordinary Times” project, Jeremy also plays guitar and says his dream would involve something related to music and YouTube. I guess that’s probably why he has his own channel for that, too – http://www.youtube.com/user/rjeremyhoward. Man, I’m just putting plugs in here left and right! haha

Overall it was nice to sit back and enjoy an evening with Jeremy. Minus his little prank at the beginning of the evening, we had a great time! :)

Well, that wraps up date number 9. Beginning Thursday, each of us will go on our last first date of the project and I can’t believe the end is already here! In some ways it feels like a long time in the making and in others it feels like the time has flown by.

Until next time!

Remember: The peanut butter sauce at Menchie's is a MUST. As our gummy bears...wherever you go. And the fudge isn't too bad either. :)