photo from nathan

So, after a full week of staying up until 5AM almost every night for Paint the Town, I was able to relax a little tonight. It was amazing.

Rachael and I were able to go on our first official date, and it was definitely a night I will never forget. The fact that Rachael just ended her year of not dating just added to this special event.

I decided to try to go all out for this date. However, I was in the Bronx all week and was not able to plan everything that I wanted to do for this date. I went ahead and got a personal car service, so at 7:00, we had a car pick us up from my building.

We went to eat at this little Italian place on West 14th Street called Primitivo Osteria. It was amazingly good. Rachael and I decided to tell our story to each other. This whole thing really seems like a script from a movie. We just sat there and talked about how God had worked in both of our lives to bring us together at this specific time and how faithful God has been through it all.

After dinner, we headed over to Cafe Lalo (the little cafe from "You've Got Mail")... We got dessert which consisted of keylime cheesecake for me and a simple chocolate chip cookie for the lady. However, we had to wait for our check for an eternity, but being with someone as great as her made it easier to wait.

Since I had only reserved the car service for two hours, we had to catch a cab back to my apartment. We then decided to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. (Sorry Rachael for recommended that you take your high heels)... We paused to take SEVERAL photos on the bridge with the cityscape in the background (I have to document this night...)

We met up with Bethany and Matt and walked all the way to Brooklyn. After we caught the subway back, the four of us rested at my apartment before they went back up to the Bronx for the night.

All in all, it was one of the most memorable nights of my life and most definitely my favorite date of all time. I feel so blessed to be able to be with such a Godly woman. She never stops amazing me and my heart for her grows everyday.

I am thankful to God that He has been faithful to both of us as He has prepared us for this portion of our journey.

While tonight was great, my family (+ matt and rachael) are going back to Murfreesboro tomorrow afternoon. It has been great hanging out with them the past week... even though I was working most of the week.

Hopefully, I will get to spend some more time with them when I am in Murfreesboro in October.

I am going to bed... I have had 10 hours of sleep total in the past 3 days.

[FIRST DATE PHOTOS]

[nt]