I woke up today incredibly thankful to be in love with the man of my dreams: Clayton. #hearteyesemoji If you are anything like our friend #Reba, you are rolling your eyes and exclaiming, “Oh Lord.” But I don’t care. If you aren’t like #Reba and like cheesy relationship posts, read on!
I am extremely grateful because today is our first anniversary of our first date! 365 days I have blessed to be with this man. 365 days of flirty texts, gifs, and memes sent back and forth. 365 days of genuine smiles and laughs. 365 days FREE of fighting. 365 days of the best relationship of my life. #sorrynotsorryReba
In celebration of our first anniversary, I figured I would share the story of our first date! Also, I’ll share some of my favorite photos from our shoot with Five Ever Imagery. #yourewelcome
August 5, 2018
When I woke up, I was so excited because Clayton and I had decided to “do something” but we hadn’t decided what yet. I met with my friend, Paige, for coffee to get some of the #predate jitters out and to tell her how cute he was. While I was with Paige, Clayton gave me several options: dinner and movie, shooting clays (taking the shotguns out and blowing up clay pigeons for those #noncountry folk), floating a nearby river, or taking his side-by-side four wheeler out for a ride. It was a beautiful day so I opted for the four wheeler.
I said goodbye to Paige and went home to change. I wore my denim shorts, my #durango boots, and my “Drinks well with others,” tank top with my rose gold Aviators. #classy He offered to pick me up but (me being the nervous, perpetually single girl who assumes I would want to leave because he wouldn’t like me) I told him I would prefer to meet at his house. On my way, I pulled over and actually thought about turning around. “What if he doesn’t like me?” “What if I don’t have a good time?” “What if we don’t get along?” I finally #KaneBrown’d myself right out of it and said, “What if it goes great?” And I am SO glad I shut that voice up and took a chance.
I pull up to this very cool, rustic, wooden gate and enter the code he gave me. #fancy He is standing outside and I say, “Where should I park?” “Oh, wherever is fine!” “Oh my God. He is so hot. I am so nervous. Maybe I shouldn’t have worn these shorts.” I park along the fence and say #fckit, grab my purse and get out of my car. I throw my keys in my pocket and shut my door. As I turn around, I am greeted by Sammie, the sweetest #rescuepup I have ever met. She is a pit lab mix and is so happy! As I look up from the wagging dog, he is walking toward me.
He wore these gray and blue plaid shorts, black tennis shoes, a black #Ariat hat, and a D&B Supply t-shirt... with Aviators. Seriously? “Oh no. He is so much cuter than he was in his profile… there is no way he will be into me.” We do the whole, “Well, it’s nice to officially meet you,” ordeal. Then, we jump into his blue Blazer towing the trailer with the Rhino and cooler full of beer and head to our starting point for our ride.
Now, anyone who knows me knows my friends and family are VERY protective. I mean, borderline crazy protective. My mom wouldn’t even let me shower if I was home alone without calling her before AND AFTER I got out until I was 18. #facepalm Anyway, because they all care so much or whatever, I let Paige, Katie, and Mom know where we were parking and what the general idea was as where we were going. After all, if this Guy From Tinder was going to murder me, they needed to know where I was last.
As we park, we are talking about our childhood and crack our first beer. “So… are you a natural redhead?” “Nope, but I should be.” We had laugh after laugh about life, love, and lagers. #alliterationwin We jumped in the Rhino and away we went!
With some liquid courage now in my blood, I was ready to #engagefliration. I mentioned how I loved his place, how great his Navy tattoo was, and how he had a great smile. “Man, that smile. He is WAY too hot for me. Oh well. He can just be my hot friend if he doesn’t like me.” I would brush his hand, nudge his shoulder, bump his hip with mine… with nothing in return. “Alright, he isn’t feeling it but at least we are having fun.”
We drive for about 30 minutes before we reach the first stop. He tells me this is one of his favorite places to stop and shoot. There was no one out there. It was quiet… and there was no cell service. “Now would be the time to kill me.” He ensured me he would have done it by now. #nervouslaughter #frombothofus Before we knew it, we were down a couple more beers and ended up at a restaurant down the road.
We had great conversation about him being in the Navy (I have ALWAYS wanted a military man), being a #mommaskid, fighting, adventures. The whole nine yards. After another couple beers, we headed back toward the truck as we were supposed to meet Cassey and Paige to go see a movie.
On our way back, I realized I had a couple too many beers #toonervous so I asked if we could pull over to jump in the river. We hiked down to the water and told me some #bullshit story about “Harper’s Trail,” which is the dirt path we followed to the water. He’s so ridiculous but he makes me smile… and blush. “God, he’s so handsome.”
We sat in the water and talked about trips, Face Rock (#MountRushmore), Boston, family, and more. We talked about exes and how we want to be independent but independent with someone. We agreed with literally everything. He looked too hot in that water; I just wished he would kiss me!
We hike back to the Rhino after I get too cold so we can hopefully make it to the movies. As we make it back to the truck, we have effectively missed the movie… and I had FIFTY-SEVEN text messages from everyone making sure he didn’t kill me. I call Cassey and Paige and Clayton says they can come over for a movie on the barn and a bonfire if they want. #seriously #socute They decline his offer so we head back to do dinner and hang out ourselves.
Still. No. Kiss. Not even a touch of the hand! I’m certain by this time he is just being nice and he isn’t interested. There is NO WAY he hasn’t kissed me, touched me, flirted much if he was into me, right?
He makes me dinner of deer (that he killed and butchered himself), green beans, and corn and we eat on the back porch. Then he makes a bonfire and we are sitting around the fire on this bench about on opposite ends. #awkwardascanbe We sat on that bench for 3 hours, talking about anything and everything… when he finally admits he doesn’t know what was “acceptable” on a first date. I told him, “Well, I feel like if you want to say something, then say it. And if you want to do something, then just do it.”
THEN IT HAPPENED. He FINALLY kissed me. After nearly 10 hours of being together, it finally happened. And call me #Janice because OH. MY. GOD. It was worth the wait. I felt this crazy chemistry I have never felt before. Then he says, “Wow. It has been a long time since I’ve been kissed like that.” I knew this was something good. Something different.
I decide it’s getting late for a Sunday and he starts to walk me to my car when he says, “So… I had a great time.” I agreed. “So… maybe we could do it again sometime?” WAS HE NERVOUS NOW?! As you probably guessed, I was quick to say, “Absolutely.” He opens the door (as he does ALL THE TIME – even today), I kiss him, get in my car, put my key in the ignition… and it doesn’t start.
Remember in the beginning of this tirade how I said I put my keys in my pocket? Remember how I didn’t say I took said keys OUT of my pocket when we jumped in the river? Well, I have a key fob which is totally electric… so it no go. Oh, and to top it off, my phone was dead so I didn’t have Randi's (my roommate and best friend) number to call for my spare. You know the only number I had memorized who did have Randi’s number? My mom. Oh yeah. It’s midnight.
I call Mom… from an unknown number… at midnight… after my phone dies and she couldn’t get ahold of me. The phone rang ONCE. “Hello?!” “Mom, it’s Karen. I’m oka—“ “Are you okay?!” “I am okay.” “Where are you?!” “I’m at Clayton’s. My phone is dead and I need Randi’s number because my key is dead so I need my spare to get home.” My poor mother, guys. #sorryMom
I call Randi who is ALSO freaking out… because I totally forgot to tell her I was even going on this date. #facepalm She says she is going to be there in about 45 minutes… which would put me at home about 2 am. Clayton selflessly offers to help out.
He drives me 30 minutes to my apartment, grabs my key, quickly meets Randi, Steve, and Paisley, and takes me back to his house to get my car (at 1 am). The entire time we are laughing because it seems the universe didn’t want our date to end (and to be honest, neither did we). We flirted in accents, made Friends’ references, and joked about dying of exhaustion the following work day.
Once we got back, I said thanks and that I would see him later. He opened my door, I gave him a quick kiss and went to sit down… but he pulled me in for several more goodbye kisses. “Just a couple more for the road,” he says. I texted him to let him know I made it home safely and we said goodnight.
That was the first of 365 days I fell asleep smiling.
We have been together ever since. I cannot believe how much I love this man and our life we’ve started together. I cannot wait for our future, baby, because this is one people will talk about for ages.
Cheers, Karen
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