Our First Weekend Together

Brian came to visit me last weekend! After counting down the days for 22 days, he finally arrived. I wasn't nervous until I left work. I had the busiest day of work that I've had in a long time, so it was good to have that as a distraction. When I got off work around 3:30, I rushed home and jumped in the shower, fixed my hair, put on makeup, etc. Then I waited... and waited... and waited. Really, I only waited about 30-45 minutes from the time that I finished getting ready until I saw Brian, but it felt like an eternity.

 
Brian and I met at the Southern Adventist University Student Park. We wanted a place where we could just hang out and talk and it was the perfect place. As soon as we got out of our cars, we hugged... and hugged... and hugged. Finally, it was like he was a REAL PERSON!! I was a little nervous when I was sitting in my car waiting for him to arrive, but as soon as I hugged him, the nervousness went away... and the giddiness hit! I was soooo giddy. :) We walked to the Goliath Wall and spread a blanket on the ground and just enjoyed each other's company for a few hours. We also had an audience of groundhogs who eyed us suspiciously on several occasions. We decided to leave and go back to my house so he could meet my parents. When we walked back to our cars, he took my keys out of my hand, unlocked and opened my car door and then handed me my keys and closed my door. That was a definite first for me!! It was very sweet. I would soon discover that I will rarely ever have to touch my car door, in or out, with Brian around. I've dated guys who open doors, but I've never had someone who opens EVERY door, EVERY time like it just comes naturally. It's not forced with Brian and it's not like he's trying to put on a display for me... he just treats me that well naturally.

Friday, Brian came over for breakfast; I made him blueberry muffins. After we ate, we headed up to Lookout Mountain to do the touristy thing. I was wearing wedge sandals, but had taken my flip flops with me just in case we decided to do a lot of walking. Brian is so sweet and thoughtful... he's always thinking of my comfort or what's best for me or my health or whatever, because he encouraged me to wear my flip flops instead because we'd probably be doing a lot of walking. Then, out of habit, I grabbed my purse, and about halfway through the parking lot, he asked me if I wanted to leave it in the car. I was so thankful that he suggested both of those things. He is so attentive. I love that about him.

We toured Ruby Falls and then went to Taco Bell for lunch. (Friday is Brian's TBD, a.k.a. Taco Bell Day.) After we ate, we sat side by side looking at pictures of Rachael on his phone. We must have been sitting there with our heads together for a long time, because another patron came up to us and commented that whatever we were looking at must be really good because we hadn't moved from that position in a while! And of course it was good; it was pictures of our little girl!

After Taco Bell, we headed back up the mountain to the Incline Railway. When we got to the top, we sat on the lookout and enjoyed the view and the cool breeze in the nice shade. Brian is so easy to be with and to talk to and to just sit quietly with. He is my favorite person to hang out with. W
e rode back down the Incline and then headed to our favorite place of the day -- Rock City.

I had been to Ruby Falls as a child and while the view at the top of the Incline was wonderful, the Incline Railway itself was somewhat anticlimactic. It was really neat to see the view of Chattanooga as we rode up though. :) Rock City is gorgeous! You can supposedly see 7 states from a peak that is located in Rock City. There are also little garden gnomes in one area. It's just a very pretty place. There, Brian and I, toward the end of our walk, sat down on a swing and talked some more... and were eaten by mosquitoes. Totally worth the thousand bites.

When we finished on Lookout Mountain, Brian took me to dinner at a Mexican place not too far away. I'm so glad we both like Mexican food. Our food was really good. He got some kind of burrito... it was HUGE. And I got a vegetable quesadilla that was delicious. We both ended up taking leftovers home.

We left Cancun and went to my office, which is right down the street, so I could show him where I work. From there, we went downtown. Chattanooga has a really great downtown. It's kind of artsy. They have a walking bridge, so we walked down the bridge and then sat on a bridge and looked out over the Tennessee River for a long time and watched the moonrise and the sunset while we talked. The bridge goes over the Tennessee River and Coolidge Park, so I took Brian down to the park to see the carousel where I want to take Rachael and the interactive play fountain that I want to take her to. Then we walked down the sidewalk and they have bronze footprints in the sidewalk showing the steps for different dances: a waltz, a tango, the cha-cha... and my favorite, the kiss. So we danced on the sidewalk in the middle of downtown Chattanooga. And well... when we came to the footprints labeled "The Kiss"... we may or may not have done that too.

We finally left and went back to my house where we just hung out for a little while before Brian went back to his hotel room. It was a really wonderful day.

Sabbath morning, Brian came over for breakfast before church and I made him some eggs while I was preparing our Sabbath lunch. Then we went to church. It was sooooo nice to spend Sabbath with Brian. After church, my friend Brooke came over for lunch and to meet Brian. I made pasta with whole wheat angel hair pasta, julienned vegetables lightly sauteed with a smoky balsamic marinade, tossed with pesto, topped with pine nuts and parmesan and romano cheese. We also had bruschetta, broccoli, and banana pudding for dessert.

We visited with Brooke for a while, and when she left, Brian and I went to Signal Mountain to go to Falling Water Falls. We never really found the falls that we went for, but we didn't look very hard either. We enjoyed the view and each other's company. We had a really great conversation there and on our way back to my house. When we got to my house, the air conditioner was not working so we sat out on the front porch for a long time and eventually fell asleep out there.

Sunday, Brian came back over and took me out for breakfast somewhere with air conditioning. :) We went to Cracker Barrel, which is always delicious. Then we decided to go to the Ocoee for the day and swim to stay cool. We stopped at a few places along the way, but ended up at Goforth Creek. We sat on a rock for a long time and on a rock in the water. It was a really pretty place. After that, we went back to my house and showered then went out for dinner at China Kitchen.

Before we left for dinner at China Kitchen, my dad talked to Brian and I and basically said that they're really impressed with Brian and my dad really complimented me. It was so sweet it made me cry. My parents really like Brian... but then again, what's not to like?! He's amazing.

Our weekend came to a close... and Brian held me close in the car for a long time while I cried over how much I would miss him and how much I love him. Then we finally had to say goodbye when he took me back to my house.

It was the best weekend of my life. Brian was everything and so much more than I ever dreamed he would be... I am the luckiest girl ever.