May 17, 2007

On the evening of May 17, 2007, Chad and I shared our first kiss

in the street before saying goodnight after a fun night of 

hanging out with friends.

That night changed my life.

I remember hugging him goodbye and not wanting to let go.

We had been flirting with the idea of becoming more than just friends

for quite a while.  However, I was in denial, and Chad was defeated.

At this point, we had pretty much decided to just be friends.

We had become such amazing friends that, to me, the idea

of taking it further, and having it not work out, was really frightening.

But that night...

That night we had a great time together. And Chad offered to walk

me out to my car as I was leaving (as he always did...a gentleman even then.)

Unlike tonight's cold rain and wind, that night was warm

 and there was even a smell of flowers in the air.

It was clear and the stars were really bright.  

I have always loved Spring.

When we got to my car, we hugged goodbye, as always.

But this time, unlike all the times prior,

I didn't let him go.

We hugged for a long time, him leaning against his car,

and me, leaning against him. 

He didn't try and let go either.

Finally, he leaned down and whispered in my ear, "I really like you."

That's when the butterflies came, and I, in return,

got on my tip-toes to reach his ear and without

reservation or judgement whispered in return,

"I like you too."

He then kissed my forehead...

Then my cheek....

Then, my lips.

It was long, and slow, and gentle.

It went on for a few minutes.

I remember feeling a rush of butterflies in my stomache and feeling

so comfortable--the kind of comfort you get after a long

day at work and you get to finally put on pajamas and crawl into bed.

That's how it felt.

When a car drove by (we were in the street, after all),

we were startled and stopped the kiss.

I looked up at him, and we both smiled.

To which I said the most witty thing EVER: 

"Well, see ya tomorrow I guess."

lol...smoothe.

I got in my car to drive home and remember having a big smile

and the thought of, "Woa, where did that come from?" in my head,

and touching my lips, trying to actually believe not only what had just happened,

but how I ended up feeling when it did.

The next day Chad and I had made previous plans to take a bunch of friends

to join us up at the "Sunset Spot."

Nobody had heard yet of our kiss the night before, and what it meant.

This is the picture we took:

The days that followed for me were so confusing!

I won't bore anyone with the details, but inevitably,

Chad and I got together and the rest is history.

(Actually, there were lots of ups and downs between that moment and now, but that's

like 3-4 other blogs!!)

1 year later, May 17, 2008, Chad and I revisited our Sunset Spot

and took this picture:

And, one year after that, May 17, 2009, we revisited our spot and took

this picture:

Chad always (like, ALWAYS) teases me, along with the rest of my family that

if we do something fun together once, in my head,

it is tradition. 

Well, this is one of those traditions...Deal with it! lol

2010 brought on new changes in that we got engaged!! So, we

did not make it to the sunset spot. 

BUT!

We did take a photo.....at our engagement session with Ken Kienow 

in San Luis Obispo:

Now, we are married, so our new anniversary is 

November 20, 2010. However, this day will always be

so important to me and will forever stand out in my mind.

And, I know it will in his as well. We always talk about our

first kiss and try to go to how we felt that night when we get into

arguments. Chad even mentioned our first kiss in his vows.

It was one of the most profound experiences of my life

in that going into it, I had literally no idea how this decision

would crucially impact the course of my future.

We are planning to go to our Sunset Spot sometime this weekend

when it stops raining! It is, of course, tradition :)  

(Plus, how cool would it be to see ourselves age through pictures

year after year at this same spot?!)

I have never felt more comfortable, or beautiful, or....content.

I feel happy, too, but happy fades with other outside factors.

The comfort, beauty and contentness, has not faded since May 17, 2007, and after 

4 years...I have faith it never will.

I love you, Chad Michael Adams!