First Date

We met at Panther Prowl within the first few weeks of school Freshman year. My hall mate (DarnBarn) was going to meet some friends and I decided to tag along. We met up with people waiting in line to enter the student center. Inside there was an oxygen bar, laser tag?, a bounce house?, and some other random stuff. But more importantly a cute girl. I can actually tell you the date we met because of a photo I uploaded to Facebook that night.

Later on that night we went back to Xavier's dorm at the Commons to play Guitar Hero. Being the drummer and avid Rock Band player I was, I quickly jumped on the drumset to show off. I played pretty well up until the break in (Don't Fear) The Reaper by Blue Oyster Cult where basically all hell breaks loose. Needless to say, I crashed and burned pretty hard. She still likes to tease me about that disaster.

Like all 21st century great romances, we started Facebook chatting and then texting. I worked up the courage to ask her to go to a concert with me and my roommate at the Hard Rock Cafe that some friends from high school were playing at. Being a fan of live music, she kindly accepted. A few hours before the concert my roommate flaked out and I debated canceling the whole thing. I didn't want her to think I planned for this guy to not show up just get her to out with me but I figured whynatte.

She drove down and we met up at the infamous parking lot next to Freshman Hall, where I would spend most of my allowance paying for her parking that year so she could visit. I'm generally pretty quiet with people I don't know so on the walk to the parking lot I consciously told myself to be talkative. She later told me I didn't follow my own advice. Classic. We walked up Auburn and down Peachtree to the Hard Rock Cafe's Velvet Underground. I don't know who paid the cover charge but since we're Dutch and we probably split it.

We made our way to the stage and enjoyed the live music. We danced a little and held hands. My favorite song from the night was "Sexy Black Dress" by Ben Deignan. You can actually watch the performance we saw!

On the way out I wanted to buy the CD of the band we originally came to see but realized I didn't have the money on me. So she pulled out her wallet and bought it for me. I don't think I ever paid her back for it.

We spent the rest of the night with me embarrassing myself and showing her old YouTube videos I was in. Smooth is not one of my middle names.

The rest, as they say, is history (or herstory depending how much I got wrong). 5+ years later, 103 tagged photos, countless cities, multiple countries and one miniature schnauzer later I am a little less awkward, a little better dressed and happier than ever and it's all thanks to her. She's the Claire to my Phil, the slide to my trombone, the best to my friend, and the Connie to my Nik.

I can't wait to spend the rest of our days together. <3