Chapter 2: The First Two Weeks

October 6, 2013; Sunday.

I was over at a friend's house watching general conference and I got a text from Matt

I knew I wanted to go, but I did NOT want to go by myself. So I asked my friend Ali to come with me. I picked her up that night and said, "So do you know Matt Halls?" She stopped dead in her tracks and said, "Um... yes, that's my [recent] ex-boyfriend's good friend." It was a recent wound and I felt terrible opening it so I told her we did NOT have to go. She assured me that she was fine, that he probably wouldn't be there. So we went.
As soon as I got there I found Matt in the back playing ping pong. He lit up when he saw me, which was the cutest. We sat in the kitchen and just talked for quite a while. (Ali was the perfect wing woman. She knew some people at the game night so she just made herself comfortable while I got my flirt on).
I remember that I was venting about my job and looking back it was like word vomit. I just KEPT TALKING ABOUT IT, but he feigned interest, which I appreciate.
By the end of the conversation we had a date set for the following Tuesday.

October 8, 2013: Tuesday
For our first date he picked me up and we went to Toby Keith's Bar and Grill. We just kept the date short, had dinner and a nice convo and then he brought me home. A few things I remember from that date was him eating fries with a fork and the fact that we were like the only people in the restaurant. Probably because we were at a bar at like 6:00.
He dropped me off that night and I knew I wanted to see him again. I also knew that I was going out of town that weekend for my nephew's baptism. I didn't want to wait until I got home to see him again.
The next day we were texting and I mentioned that I was going out of town Thursday night. So we set a date for lunch on Thursday.

October 10, 2013: Thursday
Matt was on his lunch break from work, so I met him at Spinato's Pizza for lunch. I got all excited when I saw him. At the time he was going to school for construction Management and was working as an intern for Okland Construction. He looked the part. Plaid shirt, jeans and work boots. I didn't hate it. After lunch I was thoroughly disappointed that I wouldn't see him again until the following week.

The whole time I was in Utah we were texting constantly. I flew back into Arizona on Monday night and Tuesday the 15th we had plans.

October 15, 2013: Tuesday DATE 3!

I emphasize the fact that it was date 3 because that has special meaning. In the LDS single's scene (especially for those of us in our late 20's [which I was at the time, am not anymore :(] ) a third date means that both parties are interested in seeing where this goes. If both parties are interested in pursuing this, that means that the physical barrier will likely be breached on date 3.
We were going to a movie. Going to a movie is basically saying, "I'm gonna start holding your hand now" so I had expectations.
During the movie (Captain Phillips) I could barely focus because I was thinking about holding his hand the whole time. "Should I hold his hand? Should I make my hand available to him? Is he going to do something?" Then he leaned forward. I know that this is the international sign for "scratch my back" but I got SO nervous. I sat there and stared at his back... "Should I scratch it? I'm sure he wants me to, but what if he doesn't? I don't want to make things weird..." And then he leaned back and I felt bad that I didn't accept the invitation. I decided I wanted to test him and see if that is, in fact, what he was trying to get me to do, so I leaned forward. Almost immediately he started scratching my back and I felt like an idiot.
I sat back and again, all I was thinking about was holding his hand. I feel like my thoughts were practically audible. "Just do it... just hold his hand... you know he likes you... just do it. JUST DO IT! DO IT!" And then in a rapid, totally unsmooth motion, I grabbed his hand, and he laughed. From that point on, things were super comfortable.
He brought me home that night, walked me to the door and gave me a sweet little kiss goodnight. For some reason the hand holding made me way more nervous. I do remember at that point feeling like holding hands was more of a statement than kissing. Holding hands in public mainly. Plus it was the first contact. I think once we were holding hands, we both knew that we would kiss that night. I really appreciated that the first kiss was just a peck goodnight. I feel like it was very respectful.
From that date on, we saw each other every day.
To be continued...