Happy 7 Years!

Today marks 7 years of Derek and I being together. We met January 2002. I was dating a few other guys at the time. Yes, I was only dating them. It was the first time I had ever just dated anyone. I had always been exclusive. Well, Valentines Day rolled around and.....wait, let me start at the beginning. Beware though, this will be the long version, for prosperity reasons.

My friend and coworker, Nicole, had met this guy, Paul, while she was out with some other friends. Paul had asked Nicole out on a date. She really didn't want to go alone, which she told Paul. So Paul suggested that he bring along a friend and Nicole do the same. Guess who that friend ended up being? Yep, gullable Brea. I didn't really mind going along. I had no other plans that night. So, Nicole and I set off to meet the guys after they got off work. Paul and Derek were working at All-a-Dollar at the time. Well, we got there a little early. I was starving, and the KFC on the other side of the parking lot kept calling my name. I finally gave in and couldn't wait any longer. When they guys finally walked out, they got into the car to me stuffing my face. Yep, not one of my proudest moments, but I really didn't care. I was pretty self confident back then, and I didn't feel like me actually eating would bother anyone. (Derek still teases me about our first meeting. Hey, at least I wasn't one of those girls who starve themselves.) I'm not really sure where we ended up going that night. I think we went to eat at this Granny's restaurant that doesn't exsist anymore. I remember Nicole dragging me to the bathroom where she said she thought Derek liked me. I said no way, I just wasn't getting that vibe from him. I thought he was really cute and super respectful, but I just didn't think he was enjoying be there. So the date ended, and I think we maybe hugged when we departed. I think it was the next weekend, Paul asked Nicole if she wanted to go to IHOP with a bunch of his friends and coworkers. Yep, I got dragged along again. I had left my car at work, and rode with Nicole. Nicole had brought along her cousin, and so had to leave early. I didn't feel like going home just yet, so I asked if someone could take me back to my car later. Paul and Derek said yes, they would. I am not sure all of the places we went that night, but I remember that there were one too many people in the car. After leaving Smith's, I jumped into the front seat, which Derek was already occupying. We ended up dropping everyone else off and went back to Paul's house to watch a movie. At some point, Derek and I started holding hands, and cuddling. I started dosing off, and knew I should probably go home soon, but the guys thought I was completely asleep and began talking about me. Turned out that Derek felt the same way about our first 'date?' (not sure what you would really call it. I guess we were kind of set up.) and thought that I was wasn't interested in him. He made the comment that he was in trouble. I later found out that that day Derek had told Paul that he didn't want to get serious with anyone, he just wanted to 'play the field'. Somewhere around that point, I actually really fell asleep. I remember waking up and Derek's face was right near mine. He woke up, and without saying anything, we kissed. Only once. We were just laying there when Paul's little sister walked past on her way to get a drink from the kitchen. Derek jumped up and we quickly exited the house. We went and had breakfast at Village Inn and then went to see a movie. I remember that Derek wouldn't let me pay for anything. After the movie, I decided I had better get home. So, there you have our beginning. Yes, we basically spent our first night together, but not in that way! Paul was 3 feet from us the entire time. And we only kissed one time.

I continued dating the few guys. But, I continued to spend more and more time with Derek. But Valentines Day was what did it for me. Out of all the guys I was dating, (even one guy who was said he was absolutely in love with me) Derek was the only one who brought something to me on Valentines Day. I knew he really cared about me. I think he gave me purple roses. I'm not sure. My memory is a little shot. Two days later, we decided that we wanted to exclusively date each other. We dated for one year and 8 months before getting engaged, and we were married 3 months later. We were one month shy of dating for 2 years before we got married. Wow, that took a little longer than I thought it actually would. If you survived reading up to this point, I congradulate you. We may not be the most entertaining couple, and we may even annoy some (my Dad gets annoyed when we're apart because we are constantly calling each other) but we love each other. Always and Forever.