One Year Cheese

One year ago yesterday, September 21st 2007, I went to the Canyon Inn with some friends. My friend Travis had just quit work and we were having a "going away" party for him. I had been chatting with this guy online for a little bit and we decided to meet up. I emailed the guy and told him that I was going to be at the Canyon Inn with some friends and he should come up if he feels the urge. He emailed back and said that he would be there with some of his friends. I dressed for a mix of hanging out with friends, and taking it up a notch for a possible meeting of this new guy. My friend Katie came with me for the emotional support aspect of it. Some interesting and drama-related things had happened with someone in my group of friends so I was trying to avoid this person as much as possible. Katie and I grabbed some beers and went outside. I texted the guy to say that I was there, and he came over with two of his friends. We spent the rest of the night talking and laughing. I brought up all sorts of inappropriate conversation topics for just meeting someone, and yet he STILL stayed. I ended up forgetting completely about my friends that I had even gone there with. Where am I going with this? Well, that guy was Michael. Even though we had a bit of a break, yesterday was our 1-year anniversary. Though we weren't "together" the whole year, I'm taking it as an anniversary anyways. If nothing else, the anniversary of when we met. It's funny to think back to that night we met. He didn't think I was interested mostly due to the lack of eye contact. Now that he knows me, he understands that I'm just not good with eye contact at all. With anyone. He was wearing a white polo shirt, and I haven't seen him wear one since. I remember worrying that though I really liked him, I wouldn't like him as much once beer wasn't flowing through my veins. The very next day we went to the park and ate Blimpie sandwiches in his truck. He held my hand and my heart hasn't stopped pounding since. On our first official date, we went to Red Lobster. Anyone that can stand to be around me at Red Lobster scores major points. Crab leg shells flying, garlic butter dripping down my chin.... I'm not a feminine eater when you give me seafood. And the conversation flowed, he made me laugh, and there was genuine chemisty. He kissed me and the world stopped moving. And here we are a year later. I'm still flinging crab leg shells, he's still trying to make eye contact, and it works. We've had our moments. We've had our fights. But we are still here, still together. Still "Michael and Jessica". Happy Anniversary, Baby.