1 year later: How it all happened.

I'm so excited to share this story with you all. It's the nitty gritty truth of the day I met my boyfriend, and countless other people who I consider friends. Everything I say here he already knows, so don't feel upset or shocked. Also, if you know me, you won't be too surprised. 

It was hot. Too hot. I woke up sweating, and with a ball of anxiety in the pit of my stomach. "Please dear God, let today go well. I don't know what I'll do if I don't make friends..."  I honestly don't know how many times I prayed that prayer. I attempted to eat some Kashi Heart Health cereal, but it stuck to the roof of my mouth, and, honestly, it's gross. I let it get soggy as I dialed my home number. My mom picked up, and as usual sang a cheerful "Hiya!" 

I can't do this. I can't go to this meet and greet. 
You have to. You'll be fine! Did you eat breakfast?
Not really. I can't eat. I'm so nervous. What if they don't like me??
You have nothing to be nervous about! Just be your sweet self, and you'll make friends!
But what if I don't??
You will.  

We hung up, and I laid down on the bed,  listening to the hum of the air conditioner, and pretending to watch "Gilmore Girls" on the television.
Finally, I forced myself to shower and get ready. I was moving at a snail's pace, occasionally throwing myself on the floor and forcing some deep breaths. I showered, pulled on a super cute outfit, fixed my hair, and forced my contacts to be comfortable in my eyes. I checked and double checked the address, studied the GoogleMap and figured out exactly where I was going. I can walk there! All I have to do is....cross 4 lanes of traffic. No big deal. YOLO. I filled a cooler bag full of soda, chips and hummus (theatre people LOVE hummus), filled my water bottle, and headed out the door. 
Before I was out of the neighborhood, I sent this picture to my best guy friend and my sister: 

                                    Off to the meet and greet! Hopefully I make friends!! 

15 minutes later, I got to the address. I took a deep breath, wiped the sweat off my arms, walked in, up the steps and saw a living room full of pre-teens. ughhh. children. I rounded the corner and saw adults in the kitchen. Let's do this. I smiled big, and began to introduce myself. So many names. So many people. I gave my basics: my school, my hometown, how my family ended up owning a house in this town, etc...There were some girls around my age there, but I wasn't sure what I'd talk about since these people were like...actually musical theatre people. Which I decidedly was not. So I just decided to eat, because I'm good at that. 
I chatted with a woman named Margaret, and I mentioned going to school at MC. She had sent her son to jazz camp there, and as we were remarking on the beauty of the campus, a male voice said behind me: 
"I know someone who went to M.C."
 "Really?? Who??"
 "Emily H."
 "OHMYGOSH I love Emily H!!! She's the nicest!" 

And that, ladies and gentlemen, was the first conversation I ever had with my boyfriend. The second one came a few minutes later when I literally interrupted a conversation he and Amanda and Ellie were having about Sutton Foster. (In hindsight, that was really rude. I'm sorry guys. But also, I'm not sorry at all. ) 
The four of us moved to the deck and talked about life and theatre. This guy (I still wasn't sure of his name...it was something really weird, and I didn't want to get it wrong, so I avoided using it all together), mentioned that he had seen me walking to the party earlier. I laughed it off . "It's my workout for the day. No big deal." To be perfectly honest, I could tell this kid was kind of into me, but I couldn't wait to get home and back online to talk to this other guy I was obsessing over at the time. 

The younger kids came outside, so we decided it was time to move back indoors. We talked for a bit longer, and the two girls left, leaving me and this kid alone. He was fidgeting, and I was fighting off sleep. 
"Well, I should probably get going." He stood, and looked at me. "It was nice meeting you." 
This is the moment that still gets to me. He was leaving. He knew I had walked there. He was clearly interested in me, but he didn't offer me a ride home. I'd be lying if I told you I wasn't upset. I almost asked him if he could give me a ride, but we were practically strangers, and I thought that would be weird. But obviously, his offering me a ride would have been perfectly normal! He left, and I left shortly after. 

I got home, called my mom and told her the good news, and updated my facebook status. I saw I had a friend request. I accepted. "Lan Dando...I'm like a million percent positive that wasn't that kid's name, and his picture is of a Seuss character and, oh look...he just wrote on my wall... Hey! It was really nice meeting you today! I look forward to working on "Seussical" with you. See you next week!" 
Um..ok. 

A week passed, and Dando....? Lan.....do? What WAS this kid's name?!, had been away at a conference. He finally came back, and we avoided each other. We only talked online, and then we wouldn't say anything during rehearsals. 

On July 15, 2012, I posted an article from RELEVANT Magazine called 10 Summer Date Ideas which is a list of fun things to do. He commented on the link and said he knew someone who would like to do "many of them" with me. 
I think we all know what happened next. 

For our first date, we went mini golfing, and got Creamery ice cream.11.25 months later, that's the only thing on that list that we've accomplished, but that leaves room for more fun things to do. 

It's important to note here that I had no intention of dating this guy. I told several of my friends that I just wanted to have a summer fling. I'd never had one before, and I was finally living on my own in a small city, and there was a guy who was interested. Goodbye to the days of wanting a long-term commitment, and hello showmance! 

God's hilarious, isn't He? 

As I look back over the last year, I'm thankful for all the friends I've made from my experience in Seussical, and through Lando. It's been a year of new friends of all different types. 
I've learned much more than I anticipated: Life as a fraternity girlfriend, maintaining patience during a long distance relationship, and loving someone no matter where they are in life. 
Have things been perfect? No. 
Have we almost called it quits? Multiple times, actually. 
Would I trade all of the valley moments for consistent mountaintop experiences? No. It's at the low points where we grow the most. 

So even though today is just the anniversary of when we first met, not started dating, I wanted to share the experience with you all, even though some of you were lucky enough to experience it with us. Special thanks to Rick G. for suggesting that Marcy call Lando and ask him to be in the show. Marcy, for listening to Rick.  Kat & Michael for hosting the meet and greet, and everyone else who saw the whole thing going in a great direction, and nurtured the relationship from day one. 

Lando says: "I just wanted to sincerely thank all of Star's new friends, my new friends, and and our mutual friends for your love, support, and prayers for the last year. We are so grateful to have you all in our lives." 

I second his sentiments, and would add that are both so excited to see what God has in store for our future,
and we are excited to have you by our sides. 
Onward with phase two!!  

Photo by Lois Abdelmalek