Thank you so much for the donations to my fundraiser for American Cancer Society! We have raised $245 toward resources to help assist cancer patients and their families.Whether you donate money, time, or just a kind gesture of help to those around you, I will consider this challenge a success. ❤️

This one I have written at a high level before but not in the level of detail below…. don’t worry I do have other stories and will write many more during this month!

Tell me about the first date you ever went on.

I have mentioned this before, but I joined the LDS (formerly Mormon) church when I was 12 years old. My dad said it was a purposeful decision to make sure I wouldn’t be a pregnant teen. I guess technically it worked because I got pregnant with my daughter when I was 20, 1 month after my 20th birthday to be exact.

Anyway, that church (and frankly a lot of churches) gives strong guidelines for dating practices. The age where it is acceptable to date is 16. I looked more forward to my 16th birthday to date than I did to drive or any other milestone. I had been boy crazy for years. Since church dances began at 14 I had a few guys I had my eye on.

One of these cuties was a guy named Andrew.* Again not a real name. Andrew and I were good friends and his family was literally one of the best in our church. Not in a Mormon royalty way (although their style was very classy), but one of the most involved and genuinely kind families there was. They were beyond inclusive and reached out to many people in acts of service frequently. They still are.

Andrew’s parents threw a party for his 16th party that was very similar to the dances I loved going to in the church gymnasium. However, during the party Andrew asked me on a date the night of his birthday, I was chosen by the birthday boy, wow ow! I was so excited and he was the perfect guy for a first date!

We had planned on eating at Uno’s and then going bowling. We were going on a double date with two other people who were also on their first date with each other, but they were more experienced in dating. The guys were supposed to pick me up but ended up being over an hour late. Apparently, the other woman took a very long time to get ready and took a phone call while the guys were waiting for her.

We arrived to Unos and ordered a delicious pizza! We ate it and spent a good amount of time getting to know each other at the restaurant. With the hour delay and the length of time at the eatery we did not have enough time to go bowling before everyone’s curfew. It was just a simple date and really focused on getting to know you. At the end of the date we gave a hug and it was really sweet.

It was the level of pure innocence and purity I wish I could go back to in dating… maybe someday I will!