Dating Diaries 5

I was inspired by another blogger, Cjanerun, who wrote about 5 of her past loves. Each story was so different and so beautiful, and in each story she reflected on how that person had influenced her. I find relationships very interesting, and I think you can learn a lot about yourself through dating and friendships. With it being February, love has been on my mind lately and I've been remembering some pretty great valentines-of-the-past as well as some great people I got to date (there have been a lot of them). I think I'd like to take a little look back on some of the loves of my youth. Maybe this will get interesting! This blog could use a little spicing up, after all!

I met Robbie at a fireside at our bishop's house. He had just moved to Riverside from Washington, and we both liked each other right away--we visited quite a bit that night, and before long we were dating. He was a year younger than me, but it didn't matter to me at all. I could joke around with him and have a good time, plus he was cute and really tall and big. He played on our high school football team. If there was anything he loved more than me, it was football. I went to a lot of his games, and he would come to my music stuff. It's too bad I wasn't doing cheer anymore because that would have been really fun to be on the field together.

Robbie and I not only dated, but had a really good friendship as well. We could just relax at home and have a great time together. We spent a lot of nights just watching movies, cuddling on the couch.

I know Robbie sincerely cared about me. Though a lot of our time together was pretty simple, once in a while he would do something extraordinary. One time I mentioned to him that I wished people still treated dates the way they did in old times, getting dressed up and showing respect and decorum. He showed up for our next date to the movies wearing a suit. Another great date was seeing Les Mis in San Diego with his parents--it was one of the most breath-taking nights of my life hearing all that beautiful music live for the first time. We went out to a fancy restaurant where the food was just divine. I really enjoyed his parents and spent a lot of time at their house my senior year.

We also went to midwinter together. I wore my favorite dress ever--it was fitted and rouched with ivory silky material and had some ruffles down at the bottom. We had a fun night, but honestly I had more fun with Robbie when we were one-on-one. It wasn't my favorite formal dance.

Though Robbie and I went to the same church, he was always back and forth about whether he really believed in it. It is the number one thing that made me fall out of like with him and most of my high school boyfriends. I was holding out for a guy who I could share that part of my life with. It got old always encouraging them to find their faith and it wasn't very attractive to me. While it was easy to let go of our dating, it was sad losing a really good friend. Unfortunately, there was a lot of animosity between us afterward and that was kind of how our friendship ended.




Over spring break of my senior year, my choir got to go on a trip to New York. It was my first trip to the Big Apple, and I enjoyed getting to experience it with so many friends. While it was Stevie that I had a crush on, another friend, Chris, started to get my attention during the trip. He was Filipino and a total sweetheart. I had never even thought of Chris before then--he dated another girl through most of high school (she was actually one of the cheerleaders I was always hoisting up over my head). So while it was a total surprise to realize I liked him, it was a good surprise. When we got home, we were boyfriend and girlfriend and had such a fun summer together.

Chris was a really wonderful boyfriend--he did all the things girls wish their boyfriends would do. He would plan everything out, and we'd have these wonderful dates. We went to senior prom together, and had such a wonderful time and danced the night away. We also regularly spent time with both of our families. Chris would sometimes just come over to my house to play nintendo or throw the baseball around with my brothers--I liked any boyfriend that took a real interest in my family, so I really appreciated that about him. At his house, we would go swimming or do karaoke with his parents. To my delight, he started working at a sushi bar and I would go visit him and have him make me delicious sushi rolls. :) We went to Disneyland, went dancing, went to the movies, and just played and played. Since I was completely done with high school and my responsibilities, I was able to just enjoy life before college started up. It was my favorite summer ever.  

For one of our last dates that summer, he took me to Irvine Spectrum and we had a really nice dinner, shopped for clothes, got Golden Spoon, and rode the ferris wheel (I was terrified). After that we went down to the beach and played around on the lifeguard tower. It was a really romantic, fun night. When it came time for me to leave for BYU, we talked about taking turns visiting each other from afar. Despite our good intentions, once I got to BYU I was completely immersed in a whole new world and realized what a separate, exciting life I still had ahead of me. Our relationship didn't last long-distance. Chris had actually said to me that he'd be willing to get baptized in my church if that was important to me. I thought that was an amazing gesture, greater than maybe any other from a boy in high school. It was incredibly generous. I'm sure he didn't quite realize all that joining my church entailed and how much it affects every single part of my life. I appreciated how willing he was to not drink or party when we were dating--he was an example to me of being willing to be flexible for someone you care about, something that I have needed to embrace and learn in my marriage! Chris is one of the few guys I dated that I still consider a friend and like catching up with every so often.

P.S. Chris was one of the best kissers