The First Date - Mini Golf at Trafalga

When your as good looking as me, it is abnormal to be afraid of asking a girl out.  I was scared out of my socks.  Katie and I continued to hang out in class, and study together, but we hadn't gone on an official date yet.  One day we were studying chemistry together for a while, and then we went seperate ways.  It was Tuesday, and every Tuesday evening I had Scandinavian Chior.  After class I went home rested for a little and then played basketball with my brother Hansen.  Thankfully Katie still lets me play basketball on Tuesday nights.  I definitely have my sister-inlaw Angie to thank for that.  This Tuesday, however, was going to be a little different.  It was this Tuesday that I would go on my first date with the future Mrs. Facer.  

Katie was a little stressed and common sense said that tonight was not the best night for a first date.  Common sense was wrong.  Onething about Katies is that she works really well when she has a goal in sight.  While that is true for a lot of people, it is especially true for Katie.  That is why, when I got home, I sent her a message promising some miniature golf if she finished her homework by a certain time.  I proposed this idea under the ruse that I was helping her finish her homework faster with a little motivation.   I didn't care about her homework, I just wanted to hang out with her.  I also believe that I had to finish my homework.  Well..... I didn't.  

Katie Wore a pair of jeans that would become my favorite, and a blue shirt with white stripes, or was it a white shirt with blue stripes??  Whatever it was, I liked it.  Lets just say that Katie is a haughty with a naughty baughty! 

 For the first 9 holes, Katie kicked my butt.  I knew I wouldn't lose though.  It was at this point that I knew I had Katie at her most vulnerable stage.  So I made a wager.  Whoever lost, had to give the winner a piggy-back ride to the car.   Katie foolishly accepted.  I bet you can guess the outcome.  Yup, I kicked her butt.  By a whole two points.  She took it like a champ though, and I got to enjoy a effortless ride to the car.  

I decided that I wasn't going to drag the date out, and that I wanted to leave Katie curious.  So I tookher home.  Wetalked about how much fun we had, but that was about it.  I dropped her off at her appartment, gave her a hug, and then went home. I didn't give her a kiss even though we had hung out a lot before our first date.  I actually didn't give her a kiss for a while after this date.  The forbidden fruit is always the sweetest.  

Crayon Art

To be completely honest, I thought that Crayon Art should be chapter 3 of the Facer Adventures.  I will listen to my wife's council though, and write as though it happened before our first real date.  It may have been, but I don't think so.  I do remember that the whole Crayon art thing was last minute though.

It will become evident as Katie and I share our experiences that Martin (my cousin) played a pretty big role in our relationship.  He didn't really influence with advice, but he made it possible for me (and Katie I think)  to keep my identity.  Often when two people date as quickly and as serious as we did,  you see them lose their personal interests.  Over time this will create a problem in relationships, and a once awesome relationship becomes poisened and dies.  

One night Martin told me that he was going to hang out with some girls he met while on his two year mission trip.  I agreed to come and I think that while we were on our way I invited Katie, and we picked her up.  We got to the girls' apartment, and quite honestly sat there for a while.  This gave me ample time to compair Katie to these other girls, and think in my mind.  "Katie wins, hands down, Martin can do better".   I texted Martin at one point and we were trying to think of a way to get out when someone had the idea that we should make some crayon art.  Now I'm not talking about your typical 3 year old drawing, but using a hair dryer to melt the crayons on some canvis. 

Now anyone who knows me, knows that I am a very competative person.  Im sure people can tell that I'm competative even when I am trying not to be.  I Just know what I am capable of, and that I have been very blessed by my Heavenly Father.  I can do pretty much anything.  

This is important to the story because Katie is amazing at anything she touches.  Well art is no exception to that statement.  I always have thought I was pretty creative with art, not the best skilled wise, but original.  So I obviously thought that I would impress Katie with my art skills.  It only took a few minutes for me to determine that I'd better just accept defeat.  Katie was way out of my league.  In my defence, to this point I barely knew the girl, she was still on BYU's Lacross team, she was gorgeous, and a way better person than I could dream of being (she still is all these things of course).

We had a fun night, and even though I though she was out of my league, Katie always made me feel like a million bucks.  It is the attribute I love most about her.  She is kind, and never makes people feel bad.  To this day, it is litterally impossible to be sad around Katie.  I decided after this date that I was not going to stop talking with this girl, and I was going to date her.  I honestly had memories of my mission president talking about sparrows. It was one of his lifes phillosophies. In the winter a sparrow must eat 4 times his body weight per day in order to survive.  In that situation there is no coming home at the end of the day saying, "oh well, I tried".  In stead of eating, I needed to make this woman impressed and interested more and more every day.  I had no other option, or I was going to end up on the side of the road in no time.

So, I sent Katie a text at the end of the night.

"you looked beautiful tonight"

Courting Kathryn Paige Beal

My wonderful wife started a blog and encouraged me to read it.  As interesting and wonderful as it is, I find myself missing out on some of the details she has forgotten, so I am going to also tell the same story, but from a different point of view.  I hope you enjoy it.

1: The Bonfire

There was once this ambitious Freshman at college that wanted to be a Chemical Engineer, he was in advanced chemistry until he realized that he hated chemistry, so he quickly switched to the lower level chemistry class.  It was the best decision I (Garrett Facer) have ever made.  At first the move to the different class was uneventful, I moved from one class of 250 to another class of 250.  It was an easier class though, so I was relieved.  

I am the quiet type when it comes to school, and interacting with my peers.  I don't make friends at school, I go to school to get my education.  That's how I was in high school, and I figured it would work in college too.  The only problem with that, however, is the fact that the only girls I were dating were in my ward (a ward is a church congregation, I'm not crazy), and honestly dating in the ward is like peeing in the pool.  Its all warm and great at first, but then you realize your just sitting in your waste, and the more you do it, it just gets worse......  

So I got out of the pool, washed myself off, and started trying to meet girls at school.  One morning I was feeling particularly good about myself, and when I showed up to chemistry I sat on an empty row.  I told myself that a girl was going to sit on either side of me.  Well I was right, and strangely enough there was this one girl, who had the courage to sit right next to me when the row was still empty.  That is like peeing in the urinal right next to another guy when you have enough room for a 1 urinal gap, you just don't do it.  You won't ever hear me complain though.  Class was good, and we talked, and I figured I wouldn't see her again; however I was wrong.  We continued to sit next to each other, and I noticed how kind she was to everyone around her, how her eyes would change color in the light, how she had a pretty smile, how easy it was to talk to her, and how she had a slight tinge of red in her hair, that I really miss now that she has colored it....:(

We continued sit next to each other, and then we began studying together right after class (which was not my style of studying, and I think Katie knows now that I can't study in groups, I need to figure things out on my own).  I enjoyed our time together, and broke up with my girlfriend shortly after Katie and I started talking, because once you have found that treasure in the field, you sell everything you have and purchase that field.  To be honest with myself though, I was very guarded, and did not fully invest for a while.  I just got rid of my baggage. So with that taken care of, and waiting a courtesy week for my ex, I asked Katie if she wanted to go to a bonfire.  I got her number, and Wamo!  thats how it started.  

I picked her up on a Thursday night, and she brought her two roommates as wingmen.  I also had my favorite wingman, Martin, my cousin that lived in my grandparents basement with me at the time.  My kids will probably just call him Uncle Martin, even though were second cousins or whatever we are.  Anyway, we got to the bonfire, and we were sitting there for a while when Martin and I wanted to head over to the creamery to get some starbursts to roast.  When we got back Katie was on the other side of the fire, and was getting flirted with pretty heavily, so Martin and I ate Starbursts and talked with other people.  Awesome first hangout! Right?

We also did get Slurpees from 7-11 after, but I honestly don't remember much about that, except that Katie and all her roommates conveniently  forgot their wallets so I had to pay for everyone.  I didn't mind though. After Slurpees we dropped them off, and Martin and I went back home, and most likely played Halo 4 or watched a movie until some ridiculous hour.  I don't know why but Thursday nights roll around, and I stay up late, that's just how it is.   Well that's all folks!!