Monday, June 21, 2010

The story of the boy.

Two years ago today, it was a Saturday night, and I was getting ready to go out on the town with my friend Rachel. I was in Fayetteville visiting her. I had my first “big girl” job in Little Rock. Little did I know, that Saturday night would change my life.

Saturday, June 21, 2008
Rachel and I had dinner with several friends. At Red Lobster. Classy, huh? I remember talking to my friend Sarah about ranch dressing. About how bad it is for you. I remember exactly what I was wearing. We then headed to Dickson Street. We ran into Rachel’s friend Adam at Buster Belly’s. All of our other friends had gone on to a different bar and we were in a hurry to meet them. Rachel quickly said hi to Adam, who she knew through a...”mutual friend.” OK...she knew him through his ex-girlfriend. Details. I stood awkwardly (I’m good at that) behind Rachel until we left to find our friends. I don’t think I said a word to Adam or his friend.

Well, we ran into to Adam and his friend Dave again later that night at On the Rocks, which is where Rachel and I had gone to find our friends. We started chatting and immediately clicked. I laughed at his “jokes,” and I even told several corny jokes. He bought me a Blue Moon, and my friend Colleen took the two boys back to Adam’s apartment. Adam and I rode in the back of the SUV. I had my hand on his knees and we were basically holding hands. [Insert awww] But he didn’t get my number. My phone was dead. I have serious phone problems. Somehow Rachel gave her number or something…anyways, Colleen took us back to Rachel’s apartment, and I begged her to please call them and tell them we were going to come back over to hang out. I finally (after some serious begging) talked her into it. She had no interest as it was after 1 a.m.

Sunday, June 22, 2008
Apparently, the boys were eating some breakfast at a little cafĂ©. But the second we called, they rushed back to Adam’s apartment. We went over there and played cards until 5 a.m. Yep. He had me call my cell phone from his phone so he would have my number. My phone was still dead. So that means I didn’t have his phone number. It was all up to him. But then he didn’t send me a message the next day. His friend Dave called Rachel inviting us to a barbecue, but I said no. I figured he wasn’t interested since he didn’t call me, so I headed back to Little Rock.

Monday, June 23, 2008
Sometime that Monday afternoon I got a message from Adam asking if it would be OK for him to call me that night. Of course.

The beginning
And that started our three-hour long conversations and endless texting. I was so tired at work every day, but so happy. I started visiting NWA on the weekends, leaving at 5 a.m. Monday morning to make my three-hour commute to work. You see, he couldn’t come visit me because I lived with my parents. And that would a weird way to get to know each other, right? Don’t judge. I had just finished graduate school and wasn’t sure what I was doing. I didn’t see the need to waste money on an apartment.

How it worked out
It’s weird to think back and wonder, “What was I thinking?” I’m the person who overanalyzes everything. But I didn’t with us. I just did what I felt was the right thing to do. I didn’t think about the fact that I didn’t even live in the same town. In fact, I lived three hours away. But I still had a group of friends in Fayetteville, so it was so much fun when I visited. By September 2008, everything fell into place. I got offered a fantastic job in Fayetteville (I moved for the job…not for a boy. Seriously! I tried to get an internship at that place during grad school! It didn’t hurt that Fayetteville also came with a cute boy). I moved the day before my 24th birthday. I have the best friends here. A wonderful job. I miss my family, but I see them as often as I can.

Love
I truly believe in the advice, “Follow your heart.” Don’t be afraid to take a leap. Don’t spend your life wondering, “What if?” Life’s not black and white. In fact, there was a lot of gray area in the early stages of our relationship. But isn’t that what life is full of?

You never know if today could be the day that will change your life.

2 comments:

Ragan said...

oh, such a very, very lovely love story. i think it's funny, though, that it never occurred to you guys just to write down you numbers ;)

love allison and adam - congrats, friends, on a very magical two years!

Rachel said...

Aww, I remember that night, so glad I let you convince me to go to Adam's with you that night! You guys make a great couple!!