Memory Mondays – Week 3 (by Josh)
Hi, Josh here. I wish that I would have started posting sooner but, as you can see, we’ve been busy just about every day in the garden and then I get lazy at night! I’m so proud of how beautiful Rachel has made our blog. She’s designed everything, written every word, and customized all of our photos. I’m so lucky to have such a beautiful and talented wife! Every project she does is always so impressive to me and she just has such a wonderful eye for design and creativity. I often wonder how all these brilliant ideas just come from her creativity. All of our yard improvements were her idea. I’ve loved Rachel’s ideas for our yard ever since we bought the house and it’s just wonderful to see them finally take shape. My wife is truly my hero in every way and this blog is just another example!
This week’s Memory Monday is very special to us as today is our 8th anniversary of our very first date. I thought that Rachel’s post about it a couple of Mondays ago was perfect and just brought back all of those vivid exciting memories again. Rachel and I often say how much we feel like the same person because our emotions, words, history, and love are just so in sync always. Sometimes we will have been completely silent for a few minutes and then say the exact same words at the exact same time. We find out almost every day that we did something in the same way or at the same time even years before we met. We really are soul mates and I love to think back to those very first experiences together.
I had those same emotions that Rachel mentioned a couple of weeks ago on May 3, 2002, when we went out for dinner at the Crocodile Cafe (now sadly out of business) and a movie at Fashion Valley mall. I was so nervous to actually be going out with the girl of my dreams! I couldn’t and still can’t believe how I was able to interest such a flawless hot model. For some reason, Rachel always says that she feels that way about me, too. It was tough to look across the table into Rachel’s eyes for more than a few seconds before getting so intimidated and scared of her beauty, yet I couldn’t stop greedily peeking over at her to catch another glimpse of perfection! I always thought that the food was very good at this restaurant so I wanted to take Rachel there to try to impress her and give her the best first date possible, however I couldn’t help pretty much ignoring the food when I was so filled with butterflies.
I’m also still extremely embarrassed to remember that I ordered us crabcakes as an appetizer when one of Rachel’s least-favorite foods is seafood! She always tries to give me credit that she hadn’t told me about that yet but I really feel like she did. We talked on the phone several times before our first date and I know that I was fascinated by everything about her. I’m sure that I asked what kind of foods she liked so I still feel that was unforgivable. Even worse was that Rachel was so sweet and not wanting to offend me (not that it would have at all) that she actually ate them so politely. My poor Honey! I’m still so sorry about that and I still bring it up once in a while that I can’t believe I ordered the crabcakes!
I also have to reiterate that I definitely requested that Rachel bring me any extra merchandise she had for the band she was in. I was so proud of her and her bass playing that I wanted to show that off at every opportunity with a shirt and a sticker on my silver box that I used to carry around at the time. I was so grateful that she remembered and brought those things to me! I know that is something that is embarrassing to her but there is no reason to be as I know that I asked her if she had anything extra that she wouldn’t mind me having to show off my pride in her band.
Speaking of Rachel’s band, I can’t help but think so fondly back to Rachel and my very first meeting when our bands played together on the same night. It may sound cliche, but it truly was love at first sight and I was just so hooked for life from that very first meeting.
I had been recording music for the past year or so. For the recordings, I would do the vocals, keyboards, bass (Rachel would later end up improving greatly on this on our future recordings), and guitars through a home studio program on my computer. I’ve never done percussion so that was all electronic. While I was able to layer everything together with software for the recordings, I wanted to have a full band for live concerts.
It was a tough process teaching 4 other people all of my music and then practicing enough to make it all sound competent live. After a couple of months of rehearsals and small gigs we were all feeling a bit more comfortable with each other and were starting to get a bit more confident in our show. Rachel and I could probably do an entire series of posts on our band memories so we’ll have to do that sometime in the future!
One my early concerts was at a local goth club, which seemed to be one of the few venues in town that was fairly friendly to our style of industrial rock music. I think that it was in late February or early March 2002 when we played in the middle of a concert that had 4 or 5 different bands playing. I’m glad that it ended up being one of our better sets as unbeknownst to me Rachel had been watching us play before she was scheduled to play bass with her band.
After the set, I was stepping off the stage and felt like a mess. I usually put a lot of energy into the concerts so I was trying to just recuperate a bit off to the side of the room. When I looked up, I couldn’t believe this awesome Goth model beauty standing in front of me. I still remember the feeling of literally gasping when I looked at her for the first time. WHO IS THIS PERFECT CREATURE AND WHY IS SHE BLESSING ME WITH HER PRESENCE?!?!
Rachel was so sweet and wanted to complement me on the show! I couldn’t believe what I was hearing and didn’t want to be pinched to wake up from this dream. Words can’t describe the sense of awe and attraction and intimidation that I had for Rachel from the first moment I saw her. I stupidly just thanked her and was too dumbfounded to say much else. I assumed that she was way out of my league but that she was such a nice person to give me encouragement about my music, anyway.
After the extensive packing up that goes along with playing a show I couldn’t help but be tempted to go back around the club looking for that girl of my dreams. She was everything that I could have ever wanted looks-wise and I could tell in her face and words that she was such a wonderful person, too. I was crushed when I couldn’t find her anywhere in the club. I was about to give up and just realize that I didn’t have a shot anyway when I turned around from the back of the room and saw her up on stage playing bass with a band! She was in the next band and she was playing great bass! Could she be any more perfect?
I had to just stay and be mesmerized by her for the rest of their set and then I knew that I would kick myself forever if I didn’t at least just try to have a chance to get to know her better. I thought that there was no way that such a top model coolest musician above and beyond awesome angel could have been interested in me. I wrote my name and phone number on some slip of paper and approached her as she was packing up her equipment. I was so nervous but figured I could use our common activity of music to have some sort of excuse to talk to her. She looked at me with those gorgeous piercing eyes and I wasn’t sure if I could ever get a word out! Fortunately, I stammered out something about if she wanted to talk about music or concerts that she could always call me. She sweetly thanked me and accepted my dumb slip of paper.
I couldn’t keep my mind off of Rachel all day every day until she did call me! I couldn’t believe my luck! I can’t believe that she told me later that she didn’t know I was interested in her and she worried that I only wanted to talk about music. I couldn’t believe that I almost blew it because I felt so unworthy and nervous to be talking to her. Rachel and I talked more and more and I just knew that she was the one. I loved her more and more with every word and I couldn’t believe that she felt the same way. We set up our first date for that Friday, May 3, and the rest is blissful history!
I still get such butterflies thinking back to those times. It feels like Rachel and I have always been together yet it also still just feels like yesterday that we were going on that first hopeful date. I can’t believe that it’s been 8 years of dating and 3 and a half years of marriage. I love every moment that Rachel and I spend together and she’s been my life since that first moment I laid eyes on her. Thank you, Rachel, for making all of my dreams come true and for going out on that date with me 8 years ago! I love you with all my heart!
