Andrew

Second date in Wichita was with Andrew, the new roommate of my friend's friend. I had originally suggested we check out the Riverwalk, depending on how hot and humid it turned out to be on Saturday. It was raining just before we left, and humid (I can't ever talk about Kansas without mentioning how oppressive I feel the humidity is), so instead we hit up the Wichita Art Museum near downtown.

Museums are cool places to spend an afternoon. Some pieces are really interesting, some are completely amazing, some are a bit odd, and some are so beautiful you want to purchase them. We walked around the entire museum commenting on the pieces we liked and didn't like--turns out we both like our art big and colorful. The museum also has a cool blown glass exhibit right now and the pieces were pretty spectacular.

We were both hungry after the museum, but since neither of us are familiar with Wichita (he just moved here a week ago, I've only been once for a conference) we had to break out our smartphones to find a place. We settled on a hamburger place on 37th called Fizz Burgers and Bottles.

Andrew grew up in Northern Utah, went to Utah State, then went to med school at a school just outside of LA. He's a pediatrician starting his residency at a hospital in Wichita. He is not colorblind, however he failed the inkblot test for the Air Force, so.... He likes soccer (more than baseball), however he only plays recreationally because his parents did not have the foresight to put him in soccer when he was a kid. Instead he was placed in football, and pretty soon everyone was bigger than him. He jokingly said that he had gotten over this.

The burger joint was airing World Cup soccer, and we saw Columbia score twice on Uruguay. I also had one of the most amazing hamburgers ever. Delicious and spicy, it steamed as I took bites out of it. We had sweet potato and regular french fries with a variety of sauces. If you're ever in Wichita you should definitely try this place out.

Andrew is cool (cool is such a generic term, but Andrew isn't generic--I'm just tired). He's nice and polite, at one point offering me his sunglasses because I had forgotten mine and the sun was quite bright. He's funny in a non-overt way,  making comments about artwork or seeing a cockamouse. He rolled with whatever happened, even with my lack of communication about what we were doing. He is easy to be around and I enjoyed our afternoon together.

Having two dates in one day is kind of strange, and I admit I was a little stressed about it. Mainly I didn't want either of the guys to "feel like a number". What I love about the project is that I've been able to meet people I probably wouldn't have before, even with having mutual friends.

Sorry no pictures; I had weathered humidity and rain and, well, my hair was flat.

Grant

This morning a friend and I traveled down to Wichita for a set of dates. First up was Grant, a special education teacher who is a mad KU sports fan (despite going to Wichita State).

We met at our mutual friends' place and from there went to breakfast at Jimmy's Egg. It was incredibly delicious, as breakfast is the best meal of the day. We had good conversation as I chowed down on biscuits and gravy and hash browns. And yes, I talked about my fat cat named Biscuit; she is awesome and always warrants a mention on any first date. There was talk of movies, our families, our jobs.

From breakfast we headed to Sedgewick County Park, a pretty sweet place. However, it was downcast and rain was threatening. We walked around, me wanting to pet all the dogs we passed. He took me to a playground in the park that was built for special education children. It was by far the coolest playground I have ever been to! With thunder rolling and raindrops falling we left early to not get caught in a downpour.

I always like hearing why people have chosen a specific career path. Grant is in a field that is mostly populated by women. He was going to teach music. One day, however, while working as a para he had a little boy give him a hug and talk with him, and right then he knew he wanted to work with special ed children. He told really great stories of the kids he works with. I got the feeling that he really loves his job and the kids he works with. He makes a difference and that's awesome.

Grant is really easy to talk to and has a quick reply for everything. He is sure of himself and what he's doing. He worked his schedule around when I had gotten the timeframe confused, for which I am very thankful. An easy-going nature is always pleasant to be around.

Will

A great night of Greek food in Lawrence with Will. Will and I go to church together, but I've never had a chance to get to know him. We've exchanged hellos and a few conversations at after-church activities. However, I wouldn't say I ever really knew him. He's a PhD student studying chemistry at KU. Right now he's doing a lot of research, and hopefully won't have to teach next school year. When he's done with his PhD he's thinking of going to med school.

Will also grew up on a farm, which I think is pretty cool. I think living on farms and doing farm work is very romantic, and has a warm-fuzzy feeling attached to it. He talked of raising cows and the accomplishment and joy you get when you take them to the butcher (I know not everyone appreciates this, but I love hamburgers and am so thankful for cows). However, when I look at Will I would never think "farmer". And he's not really, it's his dad who has the love-affair of living on a farm.Will is pretty busy with school, and says he doesn't go out a lot. As he put it "There's 7  million people on this planet, why should I have to talk with people I don't like." I completely agree, however we both realized that sometimes to be a professional at work you have to be polite to those you don't like.

We chatted about all sorts of things, and it was a nice pleasant evening. We topped off the night with ice cream (because I never turn it down). 

What's great is now I can see him at church and feel like I know him.

Nick

My second favorite thing about summertime is movies in the park. I finally discovered where this was happening in Topeka. I knew that at some point I'd want to take a date to one of these. Enter Nick.

Nick lives in Lawrence, having moved there with his family when he was 15. For about three years he was pretty angry about this (who wouldn't be after living in California?!). However, he likes it enough now that he even came back after a short stint in Pittsburgh. Since we were seeing a movie, I asked him what kind of movies he generally likes to watch. He said he doesn't see a lot in the theater, and when he does it's almost always a comic-book movie (his favorite). However, we differed a lot  on which comic book movies we like!

One that we did agree on--Captain Ameria: Winter Soldier. The ones we didn't agree on: the new Spiderman movies(he's boycotting them because he liked the originally trilogy and saw no reason to reboot it; I slightly agreed on this point, but still like the first new one); The Dark Knight (I don't dislike it, but I also don't love it). He was also able to pull out a Friends reference, which was pretty darn awesome.

There were a ton of bugs as we sat in the park watching Men in Black 3 (which I surprisingly really liked), but it was awesome anyway. Nick is a cool dude and I'm glad we got the chance to get to know each other better.

Steven

Steven and I have known each other about a year and have hung out in groups before. Tonight that changed. Going on a date with someone who is a friend is different than going out with someone you've never met before. Much of the unknown is taken out of the equation.

He drove to Topeka and we hit up the local Sports Complex for their Friday night deal of Go-Karts, a round of putt-putt and two drinks. We did go-karting first and were the only two on the track. If we had had one more go-around I would've lapped him. Yeah, I'm that fast in a go-kart (really, no skill was involved; I just happened to be in line ahead of him). We then talked as we putt-putted through the 18 holes. We thought since we were already friends that we knew a lot about each other, but it turns out we had never gone through the typical first date questions: family, school, work. Steven is a PhD student at KU in political science (this I did know). When he's done he will have been in school for 13 years. He has a sister who lives in Utah and his parents live in Oklahoma.

After golf we headed to El Centenario for dinner. We were able to talk about things that I don't normally talk about on a first date, because I was already comfortable with Steven from our friendship--dream jobs, dating, past relationships and what we learned, family relationships, our flaws, earning airline miles.

There was a lot less nervousness involved in my date with Steven. But there was still a lot to learn about him that I didn't know from our friendship. Steven is aware of who he is and that's refreshing. He's gotten to a point that he realizes his flaws and tries to be better about them. And that's a really great place to be.

Josh

When I called Josh and asked what he'd like to do, I was a little nervous. What would I find to do in Topeka on a Wednesday night? Watch paint dry? Walk down the barren and deserted Kansas Avenue? He suggested we get dinner so we could talk and get to know each other. He also said he'd drive from Olathe to Topeka (about an hour drive). This dude was getting cool points.

I decided to go to The Globe in downtown Topeka. I love this restaurant, and since it's not extremely busy I knew it'd be a good place to actually talk. It's really difficult to have a conversation when you're talking really loud to be heard over the music/chatter/whatever.

So over our excellent Indian food we talked. Josh is at KU studying mechanical engineering. There are lots of different engineers, and a mechanical one is a "jack of all trades," however he's interested in energy conservation. Yes, I find that completely awesome. Planners and engineers have to work together a lot, since planners plan but don't build (I guess you could say that engineers build but don't plan....). He shared the story of his sister getting proposed to before they headed out on a family trip to Florida. I shared that I feel very strongly that proposals should only happen when you know what the answer is going to be and should be done in a way that the girl would approve of (i.e. don't do it in public if she'd hate it).

Guess what else? I grew up in Pocatello and he served his mission in Pocatello! No way, right?! Idaho truly is a very cool place.

The night was still young, so when we were done eating I suggested we get ice cream. I always think ice cream is a good idea, and Josh didn't disagree. So we headed to Dairy Queen, which is a pretty happenin' place in Topeka. The weather was perfect. We ate our Blizzards as we talked about all sorts of things--movies we've seen, movies we want to see, calligraphy, book binding, sewing, fixing things, red devil eyes, waiting for missionaries, my fat cat, being crafty, people who can get fanatical about tv shows. I may have went into a long diatribe about Brett Ratner and George Lucas. Sometimes that happens.

I asked some strangers to take our picture. At this
point our blizzards were completely eaten, so we are pretending that we are still eating them. Don't we look believable?

Josh says he's shy, but I didn't get that from him at all. Conversation was easy and it felt like we were old friends. It was one of those really great evenings. He's a very cool guy and I'm very glad our mutual friends put us in contact with one another. This blog post has not done him near enough justice. To that I say, "Fair enough."

Blair

When Blair emailed me this is what he offered to do for our date: get ice cream then ride a tandem bike down Mass Street in Lawrence. Yes and yes. I've had a lot of ice cream in my life, but I've never rode a tandem bike. And there was no way I'd pass up either.

Blair showed up at Sylas and Maddy's on his tandem bike. He actually built the tandem bike himself, following a youtube video that showed how to weld two bikes together. He used it in college to provide rides to other students. He's given over a hundred rides on it. He also own a unicycle. Pretty cool.

As he went into the bathroom to wash off some grease from the bike, I heard a female say my name. I looked over to see my friend Paige having ice cream with a friend. Lawrence is a small town. Plus, Sylas and Maddy's is very popular. Blair and I each got some ice cream and took a small walk to a Japanese garden off Mass Street. Kids were playing in the park, running around playing tag and making noise.

We finished our ice cream and Blair asked if I was ready to ride. Yes! I was! We got on the bike, went down Mass Street, crossed the river, and hooked onto the levee trail that parallels the Kansas River. And it was beautiful. The weather was perfect and we chatted easily as we rode along. During our email exchanges we had played two truths and a lie, so we spent the time discussing what was true and what wasn't. Blair ran the Chicago marathon. He danced with strangers in a public square in China. He designs audio speakers that cost $25,000.  He bought a house before he bought a cell phone.

 

 What's great about Blair is that he sees the need and importance of travel and friends. He talked of numerous trips with his buddies kite-boarding and driving all night to Texas. I like that he worked  and played. He also is part of various biking groups in Lawrence. We rode back to Lawrence and stopped to check out the sunset. We were able to admire both the setting sun and the almost-full moon. It was such a lovely day and evening with excellent company!

The tandem bike gets a lot of attention. It works when both people are pedaling, making the ride easier. And that's how anything in life is.

Also, Blair bought Tamara's book! And she wrote a personal message in it! Very cool. 

Nathan

Date number two! Germanfest with Nathan! We had a great time, eating brats and German potato salad, playing 'Head or Tails' to benefit the school, listening to the polka music, scoping out the jewelry and silent auction, and enjoying the perfect weather.

Nathan grew up in Lawrence and is from a very large family. He currently lives in Emporia where he works as a speech therapist in a local school. He likes his job because he gets the summers off and is able to travel and see his family. Nathan has a great sense of humor and we quickly fell into a joking pattern with each other. He's funny and picks up on things talked about earlier. It's always nice when someone is listening. He even remember the name of my childhood best friend who lives in Topeka.

             Playing Heads or Tails                                         The evening's MC.


We ran into some people I know, one of them also named Nathan, and we spent a little bit of time talking with them. I bought a Germfest t-shirt while Nathan bought a light-up braided headband for his niece. Or so he says; I think he might want it for himself. At the end of the night we walked up and down Seward Ave, the main drag in Oakland, and talked about the buildings and counted the 7Up signs. We ended the night, perfectly, with ice cream cones.

Second Dates

It has been suggested that I should clarify what these dates are. What they are not is throw-away dates. I truly want to get to know the guys I go out with! They are legit dates! And when the month ends I would love to have a second date(s). :)

Jeremy

I knew right away I'd like Jeremy. There had been a phone number miscommunication, and by the time I got his correct number and called it was nearly six o'clock. Our plans were to attend a Royals game. That started at 7:10. In Kansas City. When he answered the phone, and I urgently explained why I was just now calling him, he wasn't phased at all. He just rolled with it, offered to still meet me at the game (he was already in KC), and was overall positive about it.

Jeremy is a professor at Emporia State University, where he teaches violin and viola and conducts the orchestra. His life has been busy as he finished school and started his career, and he's just now finding time for a social life. He recently had been traveling to various beaches, as the summer is when he has the most free time. He's also a Royals fan, and was able to answer not only my questions but those of the kid in front of us. We also agree that booing the opposing team is uncalled for.

Baseball games are a good sporting event for a date--it's easy to sit and chat while the game is going on and not miss too much. Jeremy is real and authentic in what he says and does; I felt like I was just myself the whole evening. We cheered and talked and even tried to get on the jumbotron by dancing in our seats. Unfortunately, we never made it. We were also attacked by the massive amount of bugs that were enjoying the warm weather with us.

The Royals made an epic (maybe not quite epic) comeback in the 9th to extend the game into extra innings. Sadly, though, the Royals couldn't keep their magic going and lost the game in the 11th inning. It didn't matter though because we had a great time anyway.