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.