First Friday - Part II

Once we got in the car and headed on our way downtown, the girls started apologizing. We guys felt a little uneasy at Julianne's mom's comment, but who wouldn't? We did pick up one more guy on the way down (I told you it wasn't a date) and afterwords found some sweet free parking downtown.

Hopping out of the car, I asked one of the girls where to go from there and she gave me a dumb look.

"Um, I really don't know."
"Okay. Do you know where we are at least?"
"Um. One second." Collaborates with female associates. "Nope. We don't really know where we are. But the Towers of the Americas is over there!"

The Tower of the Americas is a large tower with a restaurant on top of it, much like the stratosphere in Seattle, so it's not the hardest thing to find. Needless to say, we were already lost.

We started walking into the busier part of town, found a cop, and asked him for directions. He pointed us down the famous Riverwalk and said to keeping heading down it to the end and we should find First Friday. Awesome! We now know where we are going.

As we started what we thought was a short walk, everyone began making small talk. I talked to Sydney first (aka Syd) which was nice because we already knew each other, so talking was fairly easy. Then came her sister, Jessica. Now this girl is a hoot if I've ever met one. She is fun, outspoken (which in my opinion makes her more fun), and laughs at everything (double fun!).

Then came Julianne. Honestly, we didn't have much to say. I asked her a few questions about herself and said very little about me. Now you may be thinking, Don't you like this girl? Why are you not talking about yourself and letting her get to know you? I'm glad you asked! At the time I had gotten over the brief infatuation I had and I didn’t feel like I needed to impress anyone. If I ever felt like I wanted to pursue anything, then I would break out of my shell, but I wanted to wait and have that be my call.

Finally, we got to the end of the river and found a restaurant. We found a table and I sat at the head. Julianne just so happened to sit to my left. So we talked the whole time at dinner and after about an hour we started to leave.

On the way to the car, I noticed I was walking alone in front of the group. I didn't mind. I was a little tired and enjoyed the ambiance of the city. Suddenly a face popped up on my right. It was Julianne! So here we go again. I recall this conversation was about sports and she talked about soccer (her favorite sport) and I talked about volleyball (and you know about how I feel about volleyball. See "Missing Volleyball" post).

Sydney started complaining about her feet hurting and asked if she could switch shoes with Julianne. I kept walking, but within seconds, Julianne caught up to me and started talking to me again. What is going on? Maybe she’s trying to get me to notice her. I actually felt a little self-confidence bolster inside of me.

By that time we were approaching the car and took the girls home. On the way to our house, no mention was made about Julianne's subtle actions, and I didn't think too much of it at the time. However, I did start to feel comfortable around her insomuch that I started opening up, and y'all know where that got me.

First Friday

Downtown San Antonio has a concert night the first Friday of every month called (drum roll, please) "First Friday". A lot of restaurants invite different local bands to come play creating a fun atmosphere to hang out in. One of my roommates suggested that we should go, and I just couldn't say no.

So my two roommates and I started making plans. Seeing as none of us had been downtown, we thought we'd get some locals to show us around. And who else but Syd and Julianne? So we called them and set it up.

That night we went by Julianne's house to pick them up. Now, we three boys aren't the youngest looking college students around, especially when we all have trimmed hair on the head and scruffy hair on the face. I'm only 23, but that night we could have ranged anywhere in the mid 20s to low 30s. So when the three of us knocked on the door and Julianne's mother opened it up, she had her suspicions and worries. When Julianne, Syd, and Jessica (Syd's sister) came to the door, the mother looked at us, looked at them, then at us again and said, "Now boys, I'm a little worried that you older boys are taking out these young girls."

Gulp! Stunned for a bit, I tried to put her mind at ease with the only thing that came to my mind:
"It's not a date."
Good one. Now she feels much better. *Sigh*
"Um, we're picking up another person on the way down so there's, um, no date here," I said, with a grin and a chuckle.

Not the best first impression I've ever done, but I think Julianne's mom judged us collectively so at least I could get another chance later on.

First Day of Work and FHE

On June 1, I woke up early and headed for the shower. I got to bed at a decent hour the night before, so once I got passed the normal morning tiredness, I felt very awake. I got out of the shower and put some slacks and a nice dress shirt on. I tried to not be too excited, but between the nerves of the first day of work and not knowing what my job actually entailed, the jolty feelings were hard to keep down.

When I got to USAA's campus, I met with some college reps who directed me into a long meeting room where all the interns were seated. Finally, someone stood up and started welcoming us to USAA. Then the all-day orientation began. I don't wish to bore you with the business protocols, so let’s just say I was glad when it was over.

After the long day at work (in which I did nothing) and grabbing a quick bite to eat, I got in the car with my roommates and drove to the church building for Family Home Evening. I kept my eyes out for the short black haired girl I had met over the weekend. My roommates and I were walking down the hallway when she popped up and said hi. After we got through the sorry-I'm-horrible-with-names-so-can-you-remind-me-what-your's-is bit, Syd (the girl) asked us how work was and if we were enjoying San Antonio, but something caught my eye. To the left of Syd stood a cute, short, blonde who was politely listening to our conversation. Her straight hair ran just passed her shoulders and her green eyes stood out from the rest. Actually, her eyes are kind of big and were what stole my attention in the first place. I took a quick glance and if she had 1/2 as much personality as she had looks, she would be a catch.

Thankfully Syd turned to her and said, "Everyone, meet Jules! She's my," then in a corny and high pitched voice, "best friend." They exchanged some sort of gang-type handshake and I think I rolled my eyes.

"Jules? Is that really your name?"
"No, it's short for Julianne." Good.
"Oh, okay. So y'all are from San Antonio?"
giggles "Did you just say y'all?"

We started filing into the room where we played Bingo that night (only at FHE would a large group of college students play Bingo). As we were looking for seats, I thought that I didn't want to do anything to try and impress Julianne. I had just read a chapter in "10 Habits of Highly Effective People" and had made a goal to just be myself and not try to be someone I wasn't. If she was going to like me, she would like me for me. On top of all this, I still needed to find a solid group of friends. So when we sat down, I sat across from Syd, and Julianne sat a few chairs down from her. While we played Bingo, Syd and I would fight for pieces to put on our boards and I would make funny comments with the guys around me, but every so often I would sneak a glance down the table at Julianne just to see if she was looking back at me.

On the way home from FHE, my roommates and I started talking about the people we met that night. I eventually spewed out to one of my roommates, "Dude, you should date Jules!" Someone might ask why I said that, but it's very simple. Whenever I see a cute girl, I always suggest that one of my friends date her. I feel like it makes it look like I'm not interested and therefore I don't get any outside pressure to jump into it too fast. Plus, I get to see what the other guy's opinions are about the girl. I don't remember their responses, but regardless of what they said, I was already figuring out when I would get to see Syd and Julianne again.

The Basketball Break

My first weekend in Texas kept me busy. We arrived late Friday which means we had only Saturday to get settled in. When your room has nothing in it but your suitcase, you have a lot to do. So we ran around picking up the essentials and then some hoping we'd have something to come home to on Monday. After a long day of errands, we decided to take a well deserved break and took some guy's offer to play basketball that night.

We drove out to a church building where the guy said they were playing. We walked in to find about 20 people playing ball or waiting to play. I took a seat next to some people and started making small talk with the crowd. I eventually got to a cute girl with short black hair and a spunky personality. We started asking the general get-to-know-you questions, and I found out she went to the University of Utah but took the summer off to come home and work. I told her I spent a lot of my weekends in Salt Lake because I would snowboard with a good friend of mine. We tried making any connections to mutual friends, but even in the small Mormon world we live in, we couldn't find any.

As we started winding down our conversation, she said she'd see us at Family Home Evening that Monday, and I thought that sounded swell.

This is an important part of the story. I had no idea nor inclination from our conversation, but that night at basketball I met someone who would later make me a very happy guy. And that's how I met my girlfriend's best friend.

Oklahoma and Flat Tires

While en route to San Antonio, I flew into Oklahoma where I met up with one of my roommates. He planned on driving from Oklahoma down to Texas and I figured that with the cheaper flights into Oklahoma, I could drive down with him and give him a second driver.

I flew into Oklahoma the weekend before starting my job. When we touched down on the tarmac, I looked around and the flattest sight I've ever seen, and I thought it was beautiful. I had found myself in the country where fields of crops were growing as far as the eye could see and all the roads were only two lanes wide because that's all the traffic required. Neighbors had acres of land between their houses and groves off trees surrounding each house on every side. I had stepped out of beautiful San Diego and found, in its own way, a beautiful new landscape.

I stayed with my friend's family for the night before leaving the next morning for San Antonio. Half way down, I asked my friend if he would like me to drive the rest of the way. He said that would be fine and at the next gas station, we switched seats. I had just got on the freeway and pulled into the fast lane when I noticed a constant bump on the left front side of the car. At first I ignored it, but then I started thinking the worst. I turned to my friend and asked him if he had felt it while driving. He said that he had and that it was probably just the roads.

Immediately after he had said that, a loud bang came from the front left tire. The car slumped down and I quickly jerked the wheel to the left in an attempt to get into the shoulder. The gravel and brush slowed us down and I pressed the brakes until we had come to a stop. We looked at each other, and if memory serves me right, we started laughing.

The tire had blown to smithereens! We threw the spare on, asked the cop who stopped by where the closest tire shop was, and started down the two lane highway going 55 mph. It only set us back a few hours, but the memories were well worth it.

San Antonio

I spent this last summer in San Antonio and it might have changed my life. So much happened in the short 10 weeks! I found a fun job, discovered a new city, and met a beautiful girl. But like Billy Mays always says, "Wait! There's more!" I have a plethora of stories to tell and I wish I had written them down earlier, but I have a few weeks at home which means more time to blog. Stay tuned!

Missing Volleyball

This needs a little background information about me. I played volleyball competitively and nationally since the 7th grade. I enjoyed every minute I was on the court. When I moved, jumped, dug a ball, or just watched teams play, I became excited and wanted to play more and more.

When I went to BYU, I played for the men's team and fell in love with the sport all over again. I grew stronger, faster, and more agile than before and boy did it feel good. Every morning we had work outs and we all talked to each other, pushed each other, and laughed at each other.

After my mission, I played for a few months, but found it hard to play and study. I began to lose my focus in volleyball because I needed to focus on my math class or history class. I even felt that I would be cut before the season even started. So to put my mind at ease and focus all my energy into one thing, I walked into my coaches office and told him I would be leaving the team. He talked to me for a few minutes and said I could take the month off and come back in January if I wanted to, but I knew I wouldn't. Not because I didn't want to (and all I wanted to do was play), but because I knew I had focus on school.

Now I still have the team issue clothes and shoes, and everytime I put them on, I think of what could have been. I miss the sport so much. I play when I can, but it's just not the same. I'm not as strong, fast, or agile as I was before. I don't have the time nor the luxary to have coaches teach me new skills. I don't have trainers to push me. I don't have a team with whom I can work and become friends. I just miss it.

But so goes life. Boy, do I miss it, but I feel I made the best choice for me and my future family. I am proud of my decision.