The 2nd Date - Kim & Josh

Well, evidently we all needed a little break from blogging, but here it is, better late than never...what you've all been waiting for...date #2! Thanks for hanging in there with us!

So your votes were tallied last Tuesday night and I was super excited to find out that Josh G. was the big winner. Really though, I was the winner. In the less than stellar history called my dating life, I've had very few second dates, so to get a second date with someone I had such a fun first date with was quite the treat! 

Josh began "juicing" shortly after we went out the first time. For those of you who are unaware of what "juicing" is, let me fill you in.

1. You get your veggies

2. You get your fruit

3. Squish the guts out of them in a juicer and voila! Juice!
4. Chug...because your that hungry.

5. Repeat many times each day so you don't starve. :)

I've been poking fun at him about it for some time now, but agreed to that being part of our date...I was feeling adventurous.


Josh came over around 6 p.m., juicer in tow. He got a big hug and we discussed our current state of being...both of us were super tired due to real long days at work. (My student asked if I was sick that day...it couldn't be because my eyes were going crossed eyed during my small group and my speech had slowed significantly...yea, it was that kind of day.) We new that this would add a new dynamic to this date...delirium, but we were up for the adventure. We decided to take a little trip to HEB, only the coolest grocery store on the planet, and purchase some juicing necessities. He let me be the director on this mission, deciding which fruits and veggies to add to our concoction. I was a little nervous as I saw the kale go into the basket...liquid kale...dream come true. :) We joked and laughed as we picked a variety of things like grapes, spinach, carrots, blackberries, oranges, etc., etc. I thought about trying to sneak some chocolate into the mix, but didn't think I could get that by him. After filling our basket with the wonders of nature, we went to check out. I thought it was hilarious when I looked at our things compared to the lady's things behind us. She had about 20 different kinds of meat moving down the belt. The checker asked us if we were vegetarian. For the night...yes. :) 

We headed back to my house and began prepping for Juicing 101. Cutting boards came out, knives were readied, and cutting began. We talked and prepped and prepped and talked. Then the magic began when I got to flip the switch and shove the innocent vegetables and fruits that Josh kept handing me to their doom. Juice came out one way and pulp the other. The juice...not so attractive. The pulp, however, looked amazing with it's carrot orange, spinach green, and blackberry purple swirled together. Josh just laughed at me. Then came the moment of truth...to drink or not to drink...that is the question. Down the hatch! It's...it's...vegetables...in juice form! "That's not the best one I've ever made" is his reply as he gulps his down  within the first minute. (Please refer to juicing step 4.)  I, on the other hand, had to take my time. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't the best juice of my life...I blame the kale, which if you are unfamiliar with this species of leafy green, it tastes like bitter cauliflower. It's powerful stuff! Surprisingly, though, after one glass I was legitimately full and ready for part two!


Part two was all me...don't get your hopes up for originality on this one...it's been done before, but not by me and I wanted to do it first! Josh and I cleaned up and headed to Barnes and Noble. (I'm pretty sure we both would have been happy to just sit on the couch the rest of the night, but we stuck with the plan.) It was drizzling as we walked out and Josh was prepared with his umbrella as he walked me to the car and opened my door. I was really glad we got the drive time because I learned a lot about Josh, what makes him tick, life lessons, things that make him the good man he is. Good stuff. When we got to B&B, I handed Josh an envelope that had some random things for us to do. My personal favorite was getting to read each other our favorite children's books. (I know, it's been done, but I just couldn't help it...I love kid's books!) I cheated and picked 3 of my favorite Mo Willem's books...I could have stayed all night in that one section. I love Mo and you should too! Josh picked a classic Mercer Mayor book. We settled ourselves next to a little train, faced each other in two chairs, and began...we accrued an under-aged audience rather quickly and got a few chuckles from passing adults. My Mo Willem's trio was a hit with Josh. (I knew Mo's power over small children would also work on the big kids.)  :) I felt a presence behind my shoulder as Josh started reading. Sure enough, a little boy kept scooting closer and closer until he was right behind me soaking in every line. It was adorable! 

Josh and his trip

My World Trip

We moved on to various areas of the bookstore throughout the night, looking through the games here, planning future world trips there. We laughed at the random books we found and spent the last few minutes just wandering. We had been there quite some time, when the delirium really started setting in and we knew it was time to call it a night. (I think I ended up with a couple of bruises that night from running into things...typical when I'm super tired.) We headed back to my house, chatting the whole way...we had to to keep ourselves awake and he's just so much fun to talk to! :) We got back to my house and we packed up the Juice Master. I got a hug in the kitchen and a bonus hug at the door as he left. What a great night! As far as 2nd dates go, this is the best...not that I've had much to compare it to, nonetheless...still the best! Thanks, Juan!

Well, dear friends of the blog...there you have it...a crazy, but ultimately successful dating project! Hope you enjoyed the ride!


 Kim

The 2nd Date - Becca & Britt

Oh. . .

Hi Blog. . .

. . . If you didn't notice by my last entry, I thought I was done writing you. I have already detached myself from you emotionally and put you in the past. . . then I was informed that y'all wanted to hear about the second date. Greedy! :) I don't know why it took me so long to write this with all my free nights, but this was a night to remember.

My second date was with  date #10, Britt. I was so happy that I'd get to spend some more time getting to know this awesome guy. Thank you voters! I got a hold of him Wednesday morning and we made plans to meet up for crepes later that evening. I love me some crepes!

As the day wore on I started to get nervous. Truthfully, I had been nervous about the second date since the beginning of the project. I can do first dates. I know how to act and present myself, but second dates seem to happen a lot less often for me. I don't know why. It's just how it is. So I'm a bit of a novice and I tend to freeze up. I finally decided to think of this as another "first date" and I was good to go.

The doorbell rang at 7 and there was Britt, looking handsome as ever in a light blue shirt. (You can't go wrong with a blue button down shirt. . .you just can't. That conclusion was actually reached my freshman year in college. Still true today. :)) He walked me to his car, opened my door, and we set off for some amazing crepes. I had never had a sweet crepe at Cocoa's, but was not disappointed. As we sat and ate our food we got to know each other better. I tell you what, Britt is one intriguing guy. There's a lot about him that I didn't expect. It was fun to be hear about his life experiences and see what we have in common. (We both did x-country and hate running . . . I'm sure we're not alone in that, but it's still true.)

After crepes we decided that bowling was going to be the activity of the evening. I warned him that I would kick his trash every other game, but he didn't seem too intimidated.  As we started off to our destination we passed by a property that was protected by 10 foot high stone walls with cameras on all the corners. I had driven through this area before and had seen some of the amazing buildings that covered the lot. Upon further investigation I found that the property was owned by the Catholic church and there was a religious library on the grounds that was occasionally opened to the public. I expressed to Britt how I had been wanting to go inside the gates and explore the grounds and he pointed out that we had just passed the open gate. WHAT?! No way! We flipped the car around and found that not only were the gates open, but there was a sign that said "Free Concert" and an arrow pointing inside. "You wanna go in?" he asked. I was so excited I'm surprised that I got out an audible "Yes!" We parked and I tried to "be cool" as we walked down the cobble stone pathway to the chapel.

The sounds coming from the chapel were like that of a medieval minstrel. After the song ended we opened the door and were met by a woman dressed in a brown monk costume. (AWESOME!!!) She asked if we had our tickets, to which we replied "no".  She then looked us up and  down and with her free hand hurriedly waved us in. "You can sit in the 3rd row from the back in the middle, but you'll have to wait till the cameras are not pointing at the back curtain." (Cameras? Yes, folks. This concert was being recorded. Score!) She handed us a complimentary CD and we went to our seats as quickly and quietly as possible. Of course for me, that meant knocking over  3 hymn books as I tried to turn around and take my seat. Real sly. :) Once we had sat down I looked up to see who would be our entertainment for the night. My jaw dropped as I gazed upon the longest beard I had ever seen in real life. That baby had to be 3 feet long! In addition to his amazing beard, he was sporting a matching monk uniform and an acoustic guitar.  Britt and I looked at each other and smiled. We couldn't have planned a cooler night!   

The concert was full of great music, "listening to the silence", and some sing alongs. It seemed like everyone there knew all of his music and didn't have a problem joining in. The melodies weren't hard to follow and the words were easy to pick up, so as soon as the camera turned on us I gave it my best shot. I could see Britt kinda mouthing the words from the corner of my eye. We looked legit! The concert ended with everyone joining hands and singing a well known hymn and then we were free to wander around.

The buildings were beautiful. The  murals inside the dommed chapel were breathtaking. As we walked around the courtyard we saw the library. This is the building I had been wanting to visit since I found out I could. Unfortunately it was closed for the evening, but we had a pretty interesting conversation with another couple that had been drawn to it. They told us how they had tried to get tickets to the show for 3 months and were put on the waiting list. They continued to call for updates on tickets, and finally were told that if they showed up they could probably get a seat. You should have seen their faces when we told them that we didn't have tickets at all, we just saw the sign and tried our luck. It was meant to be!

After the concert we played with the idea of bowling but decided that we should probably call it a night. I usually stay up pretty late, but I didn't want to keep him out too all night. I'll have to show him up in bowling another time. Britt drove me home and walked me to the door. I really had a lot of fun being around him and having an exciting adventure only 5 miles from home. He's just so chill and easy to be around. It was by far, one of my best second dates.

Well Blog, I hope you're satisfied. Sorry for making you wait a week. I hope it was worth it. It was for me. :)

Pictures are coming as soon as I find the camera.

Sayonara!

Becca
.