Andy & Jessica

Recently, we went on a road trip to San Antonio, Texas to attend Jess’ cousin’s high school graduation. During our free time, we took in some of the sights in central and southern Texas, including former President Lyndon B. Johnson’s ranch. Here, we are just outside the back door of the house where LBJ was born, playing with their water pump (which wasn’t actually hooked up.)

Posted: Thursday, June 3, 2004

Based on the clues Andy gave me, “hard-soled shoes” and jeans, I thought we were going shooting, but it turned out that Andy’s surprise date for me was really horseback riding in Andover, MN. In this picture, I’m riding “Homer” and Andy is riding an Arabian horse named “Bandit.” Notice the puddle of pee under Bandit.

Posted: Wednesday, June 2, 2004

Jessica on the exercise bike/generator. She’s trying hard to get the bell to ring. (She got it!)

Posted: Wednesday, May 12, 2004

This was our third date, the first that involved a camera. It was the last day of the Ice Palace in St. Paul and colder than the North Pole

Posted: Tuesday, May 11, 2004

For our second date, we planned to meet in St. Cloud (where Andy lives) on Sunday to check out a church together. (Andy moved from the cities to St. Cloud just a few weeks before I met him, so he hadn’t found a church yet.) I had spent Saturday at my parents’ house in Grove City. It was snowing like crazy Sunday morning. Andy wanted to go to the earliest service at 9 a.m., probably so he could spend more time with me that day. Because of the road conditions, it wasn’t safe to drive the speed limit, but I’m pretty sure that I drove the speed limit or even exceeded it so that I wouldn’t be late. I got there a little before 9, so we decided to go to the later service. He showed me around his apartment and we goofed around on his computer. We lost track of time and ended up being a few minutes late to the later service. Church was good. I found out months later that during the service, Andy had his hand strategically placed so that I could grab it. He was lucky that I was too oblivious to notice that. I was definitely not ready to hold his hand. I just met him! After church we went to Target and then to look at furniture for my house at Hennen’s. Here is what Andy had to say about our date on his blog:

Interesting Superbowl Sunday
Yesterday was probably the best Superbowl Sunday for me that I can remember. The game itself was okay, but it was before the game that made the day great. I had a great time on a second date that most would be unimpressed by. What can I say? We looked at toilet bowl cleaner together! I hope she gets a chuckle reading that. She showed up early enough to go check out a new church with me, which I liked but will be checking out at least one other before I become a regular attendee. We then went to look at furniture, which was a lot of fun. A quick trip through Target, some lunch, and then some time just talking and getting to know each other a little more.

Posted: Thursday, July 8, 2004

Andy wrote the following on his blog about our first date: “So I mentioned a seven-years-without-a-date streak in a previous post. It did, in fact, come to an end last Saturday. I had a great time with Lager Lover’s friend (also his girlfriend’s sister). We bowled a few rounds and had dinner. It was the first I’d bowled since I was in high school, and the same for her. We did alright for not having bowled in such a long time.”

Posted: Wednesday, June 16, 2004

By the time our first date came, I had seen Andy once and had spoken to him for a few hours on the phone. In spite of that, I was really nervous. He picked me up at my house at maybe 3 p.m. We went bowling because I wanted to do an activity that could involve both conversation and fun. Neither of us had been bowling for years. We bowled 4 games – I won two and he won two. One highlight of bowling was how excited Andy got every time I got a strike (didn’t happen too often). One time after I got a strike, Andy told me that he had just prayed that I would get a strike. I felt selfish because I hadn’t prayed for him to get a strike yet. As soon as I prayed for him to get a strike, he got one, but I didn’t tell him that I prayed that. Another memorable moment was when Andy fell down while throwing the ball once. We gave each other high fives for most strikes and maybe for some spares too, but otherwise didn’t touch each other. After bowling, we called Phil and Katie, who had stolen our date idea and were bowling at the same time in Fargo. It was fun to talk to them because both Andy and I knew them and it made me feel more comfortable and connected with him. After bowling, we went to eat at Applebee’s. I correctly guessed that Andy would order a burger. He incorrectly guessed what I would order. Dinner was just fine. We had plenty to talk about. After dinner, Andy drove me to my house and said he wanted to see the bumper sticker on my car (HESCMNBK – Tell a Friend), which had somehow come up in our conversation. Then we looked around my house a bit. I think I decided I could check to see if he had ideas for what to do with my house since he has an architecture degree and I didn’t know what else to do with him. He was probably just too nice to tell me all the things he’d really want to change. After that, we decided to play the game Bible Trivia at my wobbly kitchen table. I think I probably did better than him only because I picked the cards I wanted to be quizzed on and I chose simple subjects like “John the Baptist.” Andy let me choose his cards and I chose difficult subjects like “death.” At one point, after missing a couple questions in a row on the subject of “death,” Andy asked laughing, “What category is this anyway?” I think he stayed until 10 p.m. or so. He joked that he should leave his cell phone with me and freak out Phil if Phil called Andy the next morning to see how things went. When Andy left, he didn’t go for a hug. That was fine with me.

Posted: Tuesday, June 15, 2004