My crush

There's this girl I've been friends with since college. It's crazy cuz I've really been diggin her the past few months. We've viewed each other strictly as friends for the past seven years. But I think all that's changing.

We've been hanging out a lot the past year. With other friends, we've been watching movies, eating out, and just hanging doing everything & nothing. We started seeing more of each other when she started working with me back in August. There was a temp position open at my company and I helped her get a job. We started seeing each other all the time. Coffee breaks and lunches have offered us the opportunity to get closer.

I really never thought of her as more than a friend. I couldn't. Even though I was getting close to her, I thought of her as "off limits" because my roommate liked her. I would never ever make a move on someone my roommate was interested in.

But when my roommate started dating someone else in September, it was like a light went off in my head. Suddenly, the girl I was never to be interested in was available. The news of my roommate being in a committed relationship meant that he wouldn't pursue this girl. It meant I had a chance with her! I went from never having a romantic thought about her to wanting to celebrate and tell her how much I cared about her.

But, no. No, no, no. I wasn't going to make the same mistakes I had made in the past. Instead of being my usual goober self, I decided to get to know her better. Slowly. And that's what's been going on the past three months. And it's been great. She's so chill, funny, and just overall incredible.


Our relationship has accelerated in the past week. I worked really hard on my Christmas gift for her. Since she only had a cassette player, I decided to buy her a CD player. And, I burnt her three CDs. One was full of new fast songs. The second was a random selection of classic slow jams from the past 10-15 years. But the third? That was the masterpiece. That was full of songs I carefully selected in hopes of conveying my desire to be more than just friends. And she gave me the most wondiferous sling bag with little gifts inside each of the many pockets.

So much to say about the past three days but the highlights were:

1. We saw our first movie alone together. With no friends. Just us.
2. Afterward, we spent that whole night just talking and listening to the CDs I made for her. We hung out at her house and I didn't get home until the wee hours of the morning.
3. We spent the day of New Year's Eve with the rest of our friends. We went and watched Green Mile. But it was different. The whole time we were around other people, I felt like we shared a special connection. A little secret. Like things were changing between us.
4. She went home to bring in the New Year with her family. But she met up with us friends later on. About a dozen of us spent the night at another friend's house. I somehow found myself sleeping near her. Under the Christmas tree. And, eventually, we were holding hands in the dark. For the first time. Ever. Things were definitely changing.
5. We all spent New Year's Day being lazy. Just eating random food, watching TV,and playing video games. She was about to leave on her own in the late afternoon. But, before she could leave, I asked if I could get a ride home back to W.Seattle.
6. Instead of simply being dropped off, I asked her to come inside my place. To talk. And we did. For awhile. Talking about the events of the past couple of days. Of feelings. About being more than just friends. And then it happened. A kiss. Our first.

So that's where I'm at right now. The most happiest person in the world. It's a day later and I'm off on my own. I'll see her back at work tomorrow. What a way to bring in the new year! I'm excited about where this is heading. I think this should be good... real good.

...

And that's what I think I would have written if I had a blog on January 2, 2000. A whole decade ago. The best news of all? I'm still with that same girl. We just celebrated our ten year anniversary this past weekend. And I'm still 100%, truly, madly, deeply in love with her.