{"id":161,"date":"2013-05-07T08:50:00","date_gmt":"2013-05-07T08:50:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/demo.codestag.com\/raiden\/?page_id=2"},"modified":"2015-01-11T02:42:58","modified_gmt":"2015-01-11T02:42:58","slug":"abou","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/lifewithrachel.com\/?page_id=161","title":{"rendered":"The Secret"},"content":{"rendered":"

On January 26th, 2014, after about 2 months of dating, I asked you\u00a0to be my girlfriend. Just a few days into our new relationship you\u00a0let me know that long before I chose you, you had already chosen me.\u00a0I created this website to be a digital scrapbook our first year together as a couple.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n

Why I Kept This a Secret<\/h2>\n

This website is going to be my gift to you\u00a0on our one-year anniversary\u00a0(or at least one of them). I knew it would mean the world to you\u00a0to find out that for the entire first year we were together, I had been writing down all the details of our experiences together and documenting\u00a0how we grew closer together as a couple.<\/p>\n

How We Met and Started Dating<\/h2>\n

The story is set in Rochester, NY during one of the coldest winters on record. We met at church. It was a normal Sunday like any other until I saw you\u00a0and had to reassure myself that you\u00a0weren’t an angel. Apparently we had a mutual best friend named Sarah who had invited you\u00a0to our mutual home church, The Father’s House. I was attracted to you\u00a0immediately.<\/p>\n

It was not uncommon for a group of friends to go out for lunch after service and that Sunday was no exception. Everyone headed to a diner nearby and of course, I made sure we sat directly across from one another at the end of the table. We laughed at each other’s silly jokes as we started to realize the underlying connection and attraction we were sharing. Soon after, lunch ended and we went our separate ways. I wasn’t sure if or when I’d ever see you\u00a0again, but I was glad I did.<\/p>\n

It wasn’t until about a month later that I got your phone\u00a0number. I’ll never forget the moment I realized I liked you\u00a0either. In the midst of my socializing at a large Thanksgiving event, I noticed that you\u00a0were sitting alone\u00a0and\u00a0didn’t really know anyone yet. I wasn’t about to pass up a golden opportunity like that.<\/p>\n

We talked for a little while, asked the typical “get to know you” questions, and after a nice conversation I decided to continue socializing with my other friends. I kept a close eye on you\u00a0as I did though, because I wanted to make sure you\u00a0didn’t leave before I could get those digits (you later informed me that you\u00a0weren’t going to leave without giving them to me either). I entered your\u00a0name in my phone and asked you\u00a0to fill in the contact information. You\u00a0did, and we started talking immediately.<\/p>\n

We went on 2 dates, the first of which was at your\u00a0favorite coffee shop, Starry Nights Cafe. Your\u00a0eyes were captivating. I think I just stared at you\u00a0for most of the night, not saying a word, but yet saying so much. I also remember wishing I had kissed you\u00a0after walking you\u00a0to your\u00a0car, but first date kisses can be messy and misunderstood, so I waited.<\/p>\n

Our second date was even more amazing. We met at Starry Nights again and then went to a local pool hall, one of my favorite places and things to do. I won’t sugarcoat it, you\u00a0were terrible. But, amidst your\u00a0constant shenanigans I did a lot of laughing and we had a great time. Later, we headed over to a local bar called Murphey’s Law. We both ordered drinks and sat by the fireplace. There was no one else around and we had another delightful conversation. You really opened up to me. Upon getting in the car, you asked me to kiss you. I guess you\u00a0couldn’t resist anymore. It was beautiful, and everything a first kiss should be. I drove you\u00a0back to your\u00a0car and we kissed again in the parking lot, for a long time.<\/p>\n

We went on several more dates over the span of a several weeks. One night, you\u00a0chose the venue,\u00a0a local wood-fire pizza joint called Napa’s. I ordered pizza and you got salad. We both shared an entire bottle of wine. After arriving back at my apartment slightly tipsy, we talked on the couch for a while. Somewhere in that conversation, in the middle of some kissing, I confidently asked you\u00a0to be my girlfriend. You\u00a0said yes, and the journey began.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Why I Kept This a Secret This website is going to be my gift to you\u00a0on our one-year anniversary\u00a0(or at least one of them). I knew it would mean the world to you\u00a0to find out that for the entire first year we were together, I had been writing down all the details of our experiences […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-161","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifewithrachel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/161","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifewithrachel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifewithrachel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifewithrachel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifewithrachel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=161"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"https:\/\/lifewithrachel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/161\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":690,"href":"https:\/\/lifewithrachel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/161\/revisions\/690"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifewithrachel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=161"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}