Celebrating 100 Dates

          I don't know if all bloggers started out as writers of "Dear diary"s or journals, but I know that I did.  In 3rd grade my teacher, Mrs. Varness, introduced her class to writing in a journal.  Three days a week we would have a writing prompt on the board and we had to write at least 3 complete sentences on topics ranging from what we did over the weekend and what we hope to do when we grow up to what we would do if we were president.  I loved writing in that journal and, believe it or not, I still have it and love rereading my 3rd grader self's thoughts (10/9/96  I wonder if my parents give me money when I lose a tooth.) and feelings (10/17/96 If I was the principal at [school] I would make it so that kids wouldn’t have to take shots. Then I’d make a teachers day off. Then I would quit.).  Sadly I don't have a record of the writing prompt, so sometimes it's a game trying to guess what I'm responding to (11/22/96 I would be s[h]ocked.  I would cry. My eyes would pop out of the sockets.).

          Ever since then I've periodically kept journals, sometimes hand-written and sometimes electronic.  In 2010 I saw people making facebook photo albums called 365 Challenge where they would take a picture each day to post and write a little about what happened that day.  I loved that idea but even though I almost always have my camera with me that doesn't mean I remember to use it, so that would not work.  Instead I challenged myself at the start of 2011 to write at least a few words each day before bed that summed up some part of the day even if was just "2/9/2011 is over." or very slightly expanded thoughts on the day "4/23/2011 You know something is wrong when smiling and laughing cause your muscles to be sore within a few short minutes. Random thought of the night."

          I like keeping a journal because it is fun to look back and see what I was up to and how I was feeling through the years.  I like reflecting on parts of my life and seeing how they shaped me into who I am today.  I never dreamed that 2011 would be such a pivotal year for me.  My goals for the year were simply "to get a job for the fall, to be less stressed, and rediscover myself and be happy with what I find.  Maybe I’ll actually get in shape this year ;)  Yeah, that’s a joke.  My big hope for the summer (we’ll see if it happens) is to take a stunt driving lesson.  I’ve been toying with the idea of becoming a stunt coordinator.  It isn’t useful in the grand scheme of life, but it would work my brain and might make me happy.  Here’s to the New Year!" (1/2/2011).

          At the beginning of 2011 I was in the middle of my second year of teaching with only a yearly contract, so I didn't know if my classroom would still be there for me in the fall.  I also did not know that nearly all of my plans would change within a few months, nor did I know that I actually would get into shape by that summer and happily postpone my plans for stunt driving school.  That was the year I quit teaching, went back to school, and met D.

          I am SO happy that I chose 2011 to keep a daily journal because that allowed me to record my thoughts and feelings through the beginning of our relationship.  It also allowed me to keep track of our dates which is how I know that last Saturday, January 19, 2013 was our 100th date!  

Maybe we can keep this balloon to refill when we hit 1000!

          I consider a date any day that we spend time together.  Since our schools are 3 hours apart and even our parents' homes are 45 minutes away from each other, we don't get to see each other as often as most couples do.  There is no chance of us randomly running into each other to get to spend time together.  So each day that I spend with D, whether it is a relaxing day playing video games side by side and watching shows, or a day of adventure and going places, to me, each time I get to see D is special and therefor a date.

          For our 100th, we took my aunt out to lunch, although she generously refused to let us pay (we'll be faster at grabbing the check next time, hehe), went to church with D's family, enjoyed a family dinner together, and watched Robot Chicken.  His parents were nice enough to let me stay the night so we could share our 101st day together right away and it was the perfect start to our next 100 dates.  D's mom made us an egg scramble to go with coffee cake for breakfast, yum! Then, we got to look at puppies and other cute, and some less-cuddly animals, and he helped me try to adjust the focus on my camera to take pictures of all the amazing plants the store was also selling.  When we got back we had dinner with his family and watched Resident Evil 5 and The Lorax with them.  With such a fantastic weekend it was really hard to return to school.  At least I know that I get to see D again next weekend!

Here's to the next 100 dates!