Back Together Again.....

Alright, where were we? February 2004. My brother Beau came home from his mission to Texas in February. My parents flew me home so I could see Beau. It was sooo good to have Beau home. We were inseparable before he left (besides when he was at college). While I was home visiting I stopped in at the Grocery Outlet to say hi. Drew was there, of course, and ended up walking me out to my car. As I was getting in my car he said, "Hey make sure you save an hour or two for me tonight. I want to catch up with you." I said, "Uh yeah, sure! Sure, sounds good." I thought to myself, "WHAT? He wants to catch up with me? Since when?"

He came over after closing up the G.O. So it was around 9pm or so. He ended up staying until 4am. We just talked and talked; catching up we did (no, not like that...really, we just talked.) We hadn't talked like that since we dated back when we were 15. For the record we were 18 now. The details get hazy about what we actually talked about. We can't remember if Drew was already broken up with Emily, or if the relationship was simmering out and he was about done. Whatever was going on with that, we talked about it. We have tried really hard to remember but all that we can recall is loving catching up with each other and it feeling so natural and comfortable. Sometime during our chat we made a run to Taco Bell (for Drew, I have never been a fan of that place). I am only mentioning this minor detail because I remember while we were driving to Taco Bell Drew randomly showed me this song that he liked and turns out it was an EFY song called Distracted. It solidified to me that he was on the path I was hoping he was on. I know that seems simple, but it was enough for me to know where he was at with the church. Honestly, none of us knew. When he was dating Emily it seemed serious enough that we weren't sure if a mission was in his plans or if he cared about church at all. He was of course still going. He was just a mystery when he was with Emily.

I flew back to Rexburg the next morning. I think we were both wondering what would happen from there. Well, here is what happened. haha He called me about once a week and we would talk for a couple of hours. Then our birthdays rolled around and I found a package from him waiting for me after getting back from class. That is when I knew that more than just being friends was happening here. You would think that would be obvious, but when you're the one in the middle of it all, you don't want to jump to any conclusions.

Side note: During my first semester at BYU-Idaho I had my track changed from winter/summer which I was on, to the "normal" fall/winter track all college students are usually on unless you go to BYU-Idaho. I needed to do that in order to be in the Culinary Arts program, which I got accepted into that semester as well.

So until the semester ended, Drew and I were talking on the phone a lot, texting while I was in class, and e-mailing. Because I changed my tracks, I had a small debate whether I should go home for the summer or just stay in Rexburg until the fall term since my original plan was that I would be there in the summer going to school. I didn't want to go home just because Drew was there. I wanted to make sure I was making the decision separate from my feelings for Drew. So I did. (Although it wasn't easy because Drew was begging me to come home al the time.) Home still felt right when I prayed about it and seemed like the best option for earning more money to pay for more school. So home I went.

My brother Zach picked me up April 26th. We rolled into Portland around 5:30 or so. We made really good time. Always did when Zachy J was driving. As soon as I got home, I text Drew and told him I was home. He asked if I wanted to go see a movie that night. Again I was surprised. I literally had just walked in the door and he was already wanting to hang out. Honestly, I was in heaven. It was what I wanted for so long but kept pushing away all my feelings. We went and saw 13 going on 30 that night. It was so fun. That was basically our first date ever. He walked me to my door that night, gave me a hug and told me it was so good to have me home. From that night on, we were inseparable. We went to concerts, we had picnics, we watched seasons of 24 and Alias, we consumed a lot of Oreo's (Drew has an obsession), we hung out with both our families a lot. When he wasn't at work he was with me. He helped me look for a job (which was awful by the way. It was hard to find a job for 4 months. There was not a lot of options and I a horrible attitude about the hunt. Drew was a saint for doing that with me.) We really spent every free minute we had with each other.

(I have always loved the way he is looking at me in this picture.)

We both said then (and now) that it felt like we were picking up where we left off. It again, just felt so natural and comfortable. With feeling so natural and comfortable comes all those firsts. (For us, second firsts.) The first time we held hands again is one of those controversial subjects between Drew and I. He remembers us holding hands while we were watching Alias at my house. I remember it the same way but at his house. The natural and comfortable feeling went out the window when it comes to the kiss. LOL Drew had a fun idea, so we thought we would do a little "vlog" of us explaining the details of that horrid event. It saves me some typing and provides you with some entertainment besides reading. For your viewing pleasure, here it is.

(drew apologizes for bad video quality. had to use front facing camera on iphone, not nearly as good as back camera)

So, after that kiss, I really didn't want to kiss at all....ever again. But we talked about it, we figured it out and thats all that we need to expound on that. I was once again, impressed with Drew and how he handled that whole situation with me. I made a fool of myself but he made me feel completely comfortable. Even after that he still wanted to date me! haha

(A "safe" kiss. haha We were shmoopy.)

Tomorrow: The DTR, the BIG date, and one moment he's here....the next moment he's gone.