Our second date...the night I fell in love with him?

The next day I spent wandering around Balboa Park. Arlan & I had made plans to meet at this fountain. Not a bad picture for being scanned from a throwaway camera photo!



We had not made any plans about what we were going to do and ended up going on a harbor tour. It was on a boat something like this one...
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It was a beautiful tour and timed perfectly, just as the sun was setting. And then we did this...

Haha, what is funny is that this huge statue was not there when we met, it was put up when we lived there! The aircraft carrier in the background is now a museum. But the more interesting thing is that the FishMarket where we ate the first night is just to the left of where this picture was taken, and the water is the bay where we went on the Harbor Cruise.

After the cruise we discussed a couple options and then decided to go to the beach. I had been to SanDiego a few times and even been out sailing, but I had never been to the beach! (These next few photos were taken at other times but help to paint the picture) We drove over this bridge to Coronado Island...


We sat on this beach, of course it was dark at the time. The night before had been a full moon and the skies were clear so it was actually quite bright out there.


The first thing I did when we got there was walk into the water. It was the first time I put my feet in the ocean and was very exciting! Although this picture was taken a few days later, it was at the same beach and it reminds me of that night.


This is part of my journal entry from that night. It seems I couldn't have written it better myself - oh wait I did write it LOL... "After talking about a couple options we decided to go to the beach. Now I was really excited, I had never sat on an ocean beach before! We went to Coronado Island and it was absolutely perfect and incredible. The full moon was last night so it was still very bright. It illuminated the waves as they crashed in... I wish I was a better descriptive writer so I could better describe just how breathtaking it was. The smell of the sea air, the amazing sight of the moonlight glowing on the waves and an absolutely great guy hugging & kissing me in the moonlight telling how truly beautiful I am. Even the sand was great, it had no stones in it, just incredibly soft silky sand! We sat and talked alot and the more we talked the more I like him. As we talked and he answered my questions it was like I was checking off all the points of what I am looking for in the man of my dreams! hahaha I literally caught myself saying check, check, check."

So there you have it, that was our second date. And although I did not admit to it at the time, I believe I fell in love with him sitting there on that incredible beach! As we were sitting on the sand I had found a couple shells that had small holes in them. I later put them on strings and gave one to him. He still has it hanging in his truck and I have the other hanging in our van!

Note this was written in 2009

The day I met my husband

Once I finally got to SanDiego and the beautiful 85 degree weather I was able to call him and we made plans to meet at Seaport Village. I got there early and wrote out some post cards to friends while I waited. The weather was beautiful and I sat on a bench where I could see the water. That day I wrote in my journal "The aroma of the seawater was nearly intoxicating and somewhat relaxing seeing as I was incredibly nervous"

This photo is of the exact spot where Arlan & I first met!! There is some blonde lady in the picture and when I took it I was slightly annoyed that she was standing there, but now I can say that was exactly where I was standing when we saw each other!!



Now Arlan had some plans for this evening, I was just along for the ride!! I realized at some point in the evening that everything we were doing was based on things that I told him I wanted to do, loved, or had never seen. The very first thing we did was walk across the street to go up to the 40th floor of the Hyatt Hotel where they have a lounge that overlooks the ocean. If you time it just right you can see the sun setting over the ocean. Unfortunatley we were a bit too late and missed it. He knew that I had never seen an ocean sunset! But while we were there he ordered us a shrimp cocktail (one of my all time favorites!)

This picture is a side view of the hotel so you can't see the huge viewing windows on the top floor.


Then we walked through Seaport Village and made our way to the Fish Market. We had the option to dine on the balcony over the water. It was probably still 75 degrees so I jumped at that opportunity!!


So we sat outside overlooking the water which is really beautiful on a clear night, especially with a full moon! We ordered a fish sampler and another shrimp cocktail for appetizers. The shrimp was so good and so huge, I had to eat them in three bites!! Then I ordered a pasta and shrimp dish (delicious!) At the very moment my meal was placed on the table there were fireworks. Literally!!!! I was in shock and I asked him in utter disbelief "Did you plan this?" He laughed and said no, but wished that he would have thought of it. It was an amazing moment, sitting on the balcony over the water, eating delicious shrimp, with a fireworks show!

After our meal Arlan ordered me cheesecake for dessert, which is my absolute favorite. We then walked along the boardwalk back to Seaport Village where my cousin was going to pick me up. As we walked he actually asked me if he could hold my hand and later if he could have a hug! I was amazed at how special I was being treated and how could I refuse after being spoiled with shrimp, cheesecake AND fireworks!!

Here is part of what I wrote in my journal that night... "I'm still cautious, afterall my intentions were to only meet a nice guy that would take me out and do fun stuff while I'm in SanDiego. But I do hope he is for real, I like him already."

Haha that was only the beginning!!

Note that this post was written in 2009 and the photos are ones that I took in 2008 when I was at shopping at Seaport village.