March 12, 2014
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Spring Break '14
Usually I get down on myself for not blogging more often, but honestly, with my job and trying to work out after work, I usually end up getting home around 7:30 or 8. By the time, I eat and take a shower, it's 9:00. So, I won't give myself a hard time.
I last posted around my birthday, so updates:
Raelynn and I have seen each other every weekend since we first met. I've hung out where she lives, met the parents and the friends, watched her coach, and attended church with her. She's come up to see me, met the parents and the friends, experienced Crawford, played frisbee golf, and walked around Baylor. Our relationship has evolved to where we talk just about every night. Our conversations have moved from semi-serious "getting to know you" questions to a variety of very serious questions, "how was your day" type stuff, and just silliness. At first, I anticipated every weekend because it meant another opportunity to get to know her, to see her personality, and witness her character. She is doing mission work in Honduras for Spring Break, and I noticed just yesterday that I now look forward to being with her because I know who she is.
The things that drew me to her have been fleshed out. They've been confirmed not only by spending time with her but also by what other people outside of her friends/family have told me. I went to a fundraiser type event at the school where she works, and I had a parent of a girl she coaches come up to me and tell me what a Godly person she was. I went to church with her a couple of weeks ago and watched her baptize one of the high school girls in her small group. She's talked to me about conversations with her pastor about how they want to utilize her leadership skills more in the church. Not that I ever doubted my first impressions of her, but it's nice to actually see and experience those things.
We're both at a stage of life where we know what we want, and we're ready for something serious. In the past, dating generally in the past has seemed like a 18 to 24 month process. You get to know the person and maybe date for a year or so. After that, you start talking about very serious things and taking that next step. You either know or you don't, and if you do, you get engaged. 6 to 12 months later, you get married. While there is no "rush," time is a factor that plays into life decisions. We both want to get a Masters degree. We both want children, but we both want to experience marriage for a couple years before that happens. Do the math, and that, ideally, puts marriage sooner rather than later. That's caught us both off guard a little. We didn't grow up around one another or live in the same place, but we trust who we are with where we are.
Either way, when you start thinking along those lines, I start thinking logistics. I start thinking job, house, land, where to enroll in Masters program, etc. We both were at that place a couple of weeks ago, but we decided just to enjoy the rest of the spring/summer, see how things go, pray continuously, and revisit it in August. I'm not under a contract with my job or signed into a rental lease. I wanted to be in the Austin area even before moving back to Texas. I don't know all the answers, but I wouldn't be opposed to moving down there.
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The job is going better. I was definitely overwhelmed, but much less so lately. I still have a sizable hill to climb, but it's Spring Break, so I'm relaxing a bit. I will be working on it tomorrow though.
