The Story of How I Asked out Brandon

First and foremost, I'd like to congratulate my close friends Livia and Phillip on celebrating their EIGHTH anniversary today. You guys make the rest of us look like noobs. I'd also like to congratulate my other close friend, Amy, on graduating from radiologic technology school this evening and I am so honored to be attending! Today is a good day, and not just because my friends are amazing. Today marks a year since Brandon and I met, so I thought I would share the story of how I landed a date with this dark, tall, and handsome Cuban man.

It all started on a Thursday afternoon. I was walking to a friend's house to work on some Spanish homework when I spotted a guy brushing the most beautiful dog I had ever seen outside of his townhome. Now whether I was staring at Brandon or Balto has since been hotly debated, but nevertheless I must have been staring because the guy enthusiastically called out, "Wanna pet my dog?" I thought the invitation was a little weird, but I crossed the street anyway (for the dog). By the way, I was wearing baggy sweatpants and a sweater so... great first impression. We introduced ourselves and I pet what he explained was a Czechoslovakian wolfdog. I must have been really nervous (or just lacking in normal social skills) because I then rudely asked, "Do I know you? Or do you just ask random strangers to pet your dog?" 🤦🏼‍♀️

Well... the conversation was a litttle awkward after that, so I told him I had to go and quickly walked away. Smooth, right? I tried to forget about the whole interaction and focus on my schoolwork, but I couldn't stop thinking about the cute guy and his wolfdog. Naturally, I decided to Facebook stalk him. I began searching through the followers of my apartment complex, but unfortunately I thought his name was Matt? Needless to say that even after a lengthy and in-depth internet search I did not find any profiles and I did not get any Spanish homework done.

Fast forward to around 8:30 PM, a couple of my friends and I decided we wanted to go downtown to Piano Bar. I still could not get Matt (Brandon) out of my head, so I decided to muster up all of my courage (all of my red wine) and knock on his door. Both him and his roommate answered...in their boxers...and said hi. I pointed to the one I wanted and blurted out, "I was wondering if you wanted to go to Piano Bar with me tonight." He stared at me for a few seconds and finally said, "Oh wow, are you the girl from earlier? You clean up nice!" Ouch. We were off to a really great start. 

Once we got to the bar, everyone immediately wanted to dance, and if you've ever seen me dance then you know that this was not the ideal second impression I was trying to go for. He must have liked my moves though because we boogied all night long and he asked me cute questions like what my middle name was and what my family did for Christmas every year (swoon). That's when I decided to kiss him. What can I say, I was a loose cannon that day. He must have been quite smitten with me because the next night he asked if he could cook me dinner. When I got to his house I saw that he had remembered a lot from our conversation the night before, because his counter was filled with only organic ingredients for a Mexican dish, my favorite! I played hard to get for a couple of weeks after that and told him I wasn't ready for a relationship just yet, but oh boy did he romance me. From surprise picnics in the botanical gardens to long scenic drives on his motorcycle to pick sunflowers at the farm in Micanopy, I was head over heels before I knew it.

On October 9th he had a dozen red roses delivered to my apartment in the morning, and in the evening he recited a song he had written for me before asking me to be his girlfriend. From that moment on we were inseparable. Even now there hasn't been a single day that we haven't seen each other, except for when we're visiting South Florida, and we still haven't gotten sick of one another. In fact, we bring out the best in each other. There was a period of time in college that I started to lose myself and my values, and I believe that Brandon was sent into my life to remind me of who I am. I've started ferociously reading again for the first time since my concussion, rediscovered my love for photography, conquered my fear of riding rollercoasters, fulfilled my dream of becoming scuba certified, and reconnected with some of my oldest friends. I'm listening to music I used to love when I was younger, going to church, working out at the gym, getting straight As, and it's been nine months since Brandon or I have gotten drunk. Life is good, and I want to encourage all of the ladies out there to go after what you want! You never know what might happen.

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