somewhere between silence & screaming

Husband’s asleep, and I am not, but I’ve been joyfully remembering some of our history tonight.  I’ve blogged about some of it a couple of times (like how we met and i love you x 3), but I like to continue doing it.  That way, if years go by and I forget some of this stuff, I’ll be able to go back and reference (which i still do occasionally with my blogs from high school… pretty cool to see what God has done since then.)

the lake

So once upon a time, Josh and I were arguing, so he picked me up so we could argue in person instead of via text and phone.  We were in Hendersonville, and slowly came to resolve things as we drove.  I forget how exactly it came up out of the argument, but we decided we needed to do something spontaneous in our relationship.  We had driven to the lake during our argument and no one was around, so we decided, for whatever reason, that the spontaneous move we should make was to jump in.  It was fall, so a little chilly in Tennessee, and we didn’t have a towel or swimsuits, so we jumped in fully clothed.  It was freezing and dark, so we started cracking up, and then Josh mentioned spiders so I almost immediately got out.  We got back into his car soaking wet, clothes dripping all over the place, and blasted the heat to try and dry off, but instead of drying us off, it just got kind of muggy, so then we ended up laughing even more.  Now when I think back on that night, I can’t remember at all what we argued about, but I do think about jumping in the lake together and all the laughter.  In ways, it feels really symbolic of our relationship.  I’ve always treasured that memory.

itch

We were at Josh’s house in high school with a couple of friends who were also dating.  We were all on the couch watching a movie, but as usual, Josh and I were goofing off and talking through the entire thing.  Once again, no idea how the dispute started, but I know it ended with us on the computer trying to determine if “itch” can be used as a verb. (Like “I’m itching my leg.”)  I don’t even remember who was on what side, but I do know it’s a joke that kept us connected through the rest of high school.  Even when we were at our worst, broken up and spiteful, thinking of that little debate always made me smile.  We were never afraid to challenge each other and to laugh together while doing it.  It’s something I love about us.

awkward choir night

Josh and I had been instant messaging for about 2 weeks, and we had one awkward encounter at Wednesday night youth group in the midst of our two circles of friends already under our belt.  I wasn’t allowed to date yet, so when he asked me if I could go to a movie, the answer was sadly no.  However, I told him I was going to a special Bible study at church on Sunday night and that it would probably be okay if he wanted to go to the Sunday night service with me after the small group.  He agreed. 

I was crazy nervous all through my small group.  I know we were studying James, but I can’t tell you anything else about that group.  As I was walking out with the other girls, they decided to go to Cici’s and invited me along, but I told them I was meeting Josh.  There was a lot of “oooooh” and “awww” and general good-natured teasing as we stood at the end of the hallway.  I told them bye, and headed the opposite direction only to find Josh right around the corner.  I still don’t know if he heard our conversation, but I’m glad for that because I would have been mortified at that point if he had.  This is one memory I’m not so afraid of losing.  I still remember him smiling at me, in his gray hoodie, and hugging me for the first time, and thinking that he smelled really good.  I can close my eyes and relive that moment like it was yesterday.  I’m so thankful for that now that I know how that story turns out. 

We headed to the service and sat in a row of pews located halfway up adjacent to the stairs to the balcony.  We were pretty confused because there weren’t very many people there.  Then the service started.  And within about 10 minutes we figured out this wasn’t your typical Sunday night service.  This was a special church choir performance.  Just what a 14 and 15 year old want.  We were so bored.  We played tic-tac-toe, and he braided my long fringe belt.  If you ask us when our first date was, you’ll get lots of different answer.  From me, you’ll usually hear the first movie we saw together the next weekend.  If you ask Josh, you’ll probably hear about my 15th birthday, when he asked my parents for special permission to take me to O’Charley’s since I wasn’t allowed to “car date” for another year.  In reality though, our first one-on-one time together, our first “inside jokes,” and the first indication that this thing developing between us was something worth spending time on happened on none other than the night of this awkward choir concert. 

That’s probably enough for now. :)