Today was a good day...

Las Vegas, originally uploaded by daniellehampton.

and even though I felt terribly exhausted, my students totally cheered me up. I really can't hang like I used to and stay up all night. This weekend killed me, and I can't even describe to you how amazing it felt the second my head touched my pillow when Lauren and I got home yesterday. Pure bliss.

Today was also a special day because five years ago today Hank came down from Prescott and took me on our very first date! We had met at my friend John's house a few weeks earlier- I was there visiting John (he had just gotten back from tour) and Hank stopped by to get Jsn's tattoo book out of their van. I didn't go outside at first, but when I did it was the most insane moment of my life...total "love" at first sight, and once we got around to discussing it, we both realized we had each felt the same thing. His band at the time, Life in Pictures, was playing a show that night in Phoenix so I ran into him again, and it was another strange slow motion moment when we passed by each other. After that night we started writing back and forth, and because Hank had left for tour that next day our correspondence was pretty sporadic. When he got home we started really writing, and wrote pages and pages back and forth a couple of times a day. We still hadn't talked on the phone, so when he asked for my AIM name after three weeks or so of writing I was apprehensive because I loved our letters so much; I knew it wouldn't be the same once we chatted via instant messenger. Eventually though, we did the whole AIM thing, and then in the same night that started, Hank called me and asked if he could take me out the next day. I had just graduated from NAU that summer and was living in Scottsdale with Autumn and Shirley, so he drove all the way down and we went to Veggie House and saw "Garden State." Afterward we met up with friends at IHOP and hung out for awhile. It was a perfect evening. It honestly felt so magical, and because we had been literally writing novels to each other, I felt so comfortable and it was one of the best nights of my life. So yes, that was five years ago today, and it's currently 11:17 right now...if I remember correctly I think he was just driving me to my car (we had left it at Veggie House) and getting ready to give each other about ten hugs before we parted ways. No kiss on the first date, even though I wanted to. I went to bed that night with the biggest smile on my face and I knew in my heart that something big was happening. When I woke up the next morning to a long email from Hank, talking about how smitten he was with me, and how perfect our date was, I just about died. It was amazing to know that this guy, this guy I randomly met, and randomly developed these insane feelings for, felt the same way...and the rest is history...

So, happy first-date anniversary to us!

In more happy news, I am really, really looking forward to tomorrow. I go into work for just a couple of hours, and then Hank and I are heading down to Phoenix for some shopping and lunch. Then later in the evening we will be seeing one of my all-time favorite bands, The Gaslight Anthem. I'm so, so happy and excited!

I hope all of you had a great Monday!