Our Love Story: Part II

Last week I shared the first part of Andrew and my love story. So today, I thought we'd get to the good stuff! So get comfy, it's a long one folks...

Following graduation from Sonoma, I moved back home and started looking for a "real" job. Meanwhile, Andrew moved to Danville to live with our good friend Rich since he had bought a house there after graduation. And their third roommate would be Laura (remember, MY roommate for three years in college?). As time went on, I kept in touch with my close friends from college. Including Laura and Rich, so I would hear updates here and there about Andrew, but that was the extent of it. 

After a couple years, Andrew ended up moving back home to San Diego where he grew up. Even though he moved back down south, he and Rich also remained very close.

Rich would often travel to Sacramento for work, and since I worked downtown, we would often get lunch together. During one of our lunches, he mentioned that Andrew would be flying up soon, for a snowboarding trip. One of Andrew's childhood friends lived in Sacramento as well, so they were planning on staying Thursday night at his place, then driving to Tahoe early Friday morning. So we decided that we should all get together and go out downtown Thursday night.

At this point, Rich was clearly already in matchmaker mode. Which brought up that old attraction that I felt at Sonoma. One day, Andrew sent me a message on Facebook, saying he was looking forward to seeing me. Which began the conversation.  

The weeks leading up to our night out in Sacramento, Andrew and I had a few conversations on Facebook, but nothing really. Even though it was supposed to be just a "casual night out with friends," I was super nervous to see him. So I enlisted my best friends Emilee and Jen to come along.  Plus, Rich and I were really close and our other friend Danny would be there, so having a group setting settled my nerves, slightly.

When the night finally arrived, Andrew's flight was delayed (little did we know this would become a theme in our relationship). We met in Midtown, and ended up having a great night. The conversation was really easy between us, and I definitely felt a spark. Surprisingly, I felt really comfortable around him and not my usual, awkward ball of nerves. It was so fun being back together with our old group of friends, reminiscing on college days.

When we finally left the bar, the boys walked us back to my friend's apartment. Since they had to be up early for Tahoe, they were eager to get back to where they were staying. So we said goodbye, but not before a goodnight kiss.

The next day at work was beyond brutal, but I couldn't help but smile. I had zero expectations. I mean, Andrew lived in San Diego, so I chalked it up to a really fun night with old friends. Later that afternoon I was driving to San Francisco for a friend's birthday party, when I received a text message from Andrew. I was very surprised, since I hadn't given him my number, matchmaker Rich took care of that one. Andrew told me how much fun he had, and that he hoped to see me again the next time he was in town.

Still, I didn't have any expectations and assumed I wouldn't see or talk to him again for quite some time. But, little did I know that was just the beginning.

As weeks passed, Andrew would text me regularly and also called, which I loved. This was all taking place just before I was leaving for my sister's wedding in Hawaii. I'll always remember a cute message he left me about waiting until the last minute to start packing (which he still gives me a hard time for). While in Hawaii we exchanged text messages constantly. My family teased me to no end about this new guy that I was always talking about. It was really fun.

Upon returning from Hawaii, Andrew send me a message that he would like to see me again. He wanted to plan another snowboarding trip with Rich, and hoped I could come, and also wanted to plan an official date while he was in town. At this point, I started to feel like this could actually turn into something. I knew he eventually wanted to be back in Northern California, so I figured why not.

I took a Friday off, and drove down to meet him at Rich's house. I think it was the first time I ever really had that feeling of butterflies in my stomach before seeing someone. Both nervous and excited, in the best way possible.

Our first date was a beautiful day in January, we went wine tasting in the East Bay. The first stop was Concannon Winery in Livermore.  It was such a fun day, I felt completely comfortable with him, like I'd know him forever. I am perpetually nervous, and surprisingly, I didn't feel that way around him. He made me smile and laugh more than anyone had in a long time. Next we headed for a different winery that had bocce ball, and played a couple games. I was terrible, but it was still such a fun day. I'd say a perfect first date, possibly the best date I'd ever been on. 

That night, I headed home for a friends birthday party. I remember feeling so excited about the possibilities ahead, I knew I definitely liked Andrew. A lot.

The boys were heading up to Tahoe to snowboard that Monday. All weekend I would get texts from Andrew and Rich trying to convince me to call in sick Monday, and join them. Of course, I couldn't say no to them. They picked me up on Sunday evening on their way to Reno, then we would go to North Star at Tahoe on Monday.

Reno was so fun. We ended up going bowling, gambled a little, it was a great night. The next morning we were up early to go to the snow. I was actually really nervous because I hadn't been skiing in at least four years, and obviously, wanted to make a good impression. Unfortunately, things didn't go quite as planned...

We were having a great day, and I was doing surprisingly well for how long it had been since a pair of skis were on my feet. Then after lunch, Rich convinced me to go down the back side of the mountain. I went against my gut, and followed along. As we started down the mountain, I noticed a black diamond sign. WHAT?! I was not pleased, I tried to make them stop but there was really no way around it. They promised to go slow with me, and that I had done harder routes earlier in the day. Okay fine, I thought, but I was still mad and slightly terrified. Thankfully, I made it down the steepest part no problem. With my confidence renewed, I started down the small slope towards the ski lift. And that's when I caught an edge. I went tumbling down the mountain, and came to a stop sitting up with my legs twisted behind me. I knew immediately it wasn't good.

Andrew and Rich came rushing over. I was mortified. Surprisingly, it didn't hurt. I figured it was just my ego that was bruised, and tried to click back into my skis. That's when I felt it. My knee was messed UP. I'll save the gory details for another post, but it ended with a ride down the mountain with a paramedic towing me in a sled. Not my finest moment. Andrew followed me down the mountain, and sat with me while I iced my knee and the other guys got a few more runs in. I remember feeling awful, not only did I embarrass myself beyond belief, but I ruined his afternoon of snowboarding. I thought for sure that would be the end of any possibility that something might happen between us.

Thankfully, I was wrong. Because of my knee injury, Andrew drove up to stay with me the following weekend. Even though I was barely mobile, we had an amazing time. There was never a shortage of conversation and things felt completely natural between us. Even with my messed up knee, I hadn't been this happy in a long, long time.

flowers Andrew sent

ignore how awful I look in this photo

After that weekend, I think we both knew we wanted to see where this could go. We continued phone and skype dates, as well as texting throughout the day. The more I got to know him, the more I cared for him. So I decided to book a flight to San Diego so I could see him again a few weeks later. It was on that trip, that we both decided this was something we wanted to continue. And our long distance love officially began...

xoxo,

Theresa