Our First Date

It took a while for Jared to follow up on his ice-cream offer from the Anderssen Wedding. Three weeks passed until Jared breached the subject again at volleyball practice.  Daesha happily suggested an dinner at Cafe Rio because it fit her schedule.

Nate Valdez helped her out by conducting an "unsolicited pre-screening" call to investigate my intentions. It was a non-date, "no different from any of the testimony one-on-ones I take my D-Group guys on." Daesha didn't buy it and she still doesn't buy it: "You paid for my food, we shared testimonies, and I was excited about you afterwards...so that counts as our first date" 

Getting to know one another.

The Fall of 2016 brought us together with mountain adventures, volleyball practice, intramurals, gym-workouts, walks in the park, hammocking and some snuggly Marvel movie dates. Daesha discovered how precious and meaningful "touch" is being a Quality Time & Physical Touch person, and Jared was very moved by Daesha's acts of service in cooking, helping him change the exhaust pipe on his car, and giving head scratches. In the Spring, Daesha learned how to snowboard, traveled with Jared to Grand Junction & Telluride, and we also made a tradition of Tuesday night dinners at Cafe Rio (in honor of that "non-date").

Since our time at CCU, distance has been tough. We miss the 5minute commute, and have belabored the 5hour commute by Frontier Airlines between Denver and DC. Nevertheless, we have made regular habits of online devotionals, evening FaceTime calls, and monthly visits. Overtime these shared experiences, deep conversations, and fun moments have made us the best of friends.

The Proposal

Operation R.O.Y. --> 31 days, 7 phases, spanning 3states each day including a flower + note.