Kindergartenism #26:
Me (referring to Kelsey's shirt that says "Champion Talker"): "Do you think your shirt is true?"
Kelsey: Oh yeah! I'm the biggest champion! Well, in my family anyway."

Kindergartenism #27:
Raziel and I were reading a book together about animals and their babies. The last page showed 2 human babies, which somehow caused Raziel to blurt this out.
Raziel: "When I grow up, I don't want a honey."
Me: "A honey? What do you mean?"
Raziel: "A honey to marry."
Me: "You don't want to get married? Why not?"
Raziel: "I don't know."

A lot has happened since I last posted. Mike and I have started consistently seeing each other for the past 3 weeks, many times 3 or 4 days in a row.

As we spent more time together, we started acting more like a couple. He first started kissing me the day before New Years Eve. He started holding my hand and putting his arm around me. We would cuddle on the couch when we watched movies. So after a couple days of this, I decided I needed to ask him where we were headed. Basically, he said that he doesn't like to put a label on feelings. He told me that he really likes me and has really enjoyed hanging out with me. I told him the feelings were mutual...and that was the end of the conversation. I left feeling like I could've said so much more. And I didn't really feel like anything was defined...which I suppose happens when someone says they don't like labels. He's been engaged before, so I really don't blame him for not wanting to jump into something defined right away. It's only been 3 weeks (2 weeks when we had the conversation) and he's clearly making an effort to see me. The week I went back to work, we still saw each other 5 days of the week. The change that I did notice was that we spent considerably less time "alone" all week...we mainly saw each other in group settings. He made it a point to invite me to these events or to make sure I was going...but we didn't have much time to ourselves. As a result, he's seemed to back away a little. He hasn't kissed me in over a week. Not even a little peck. Part of me thinks that maybe he felt like we rushed into things too quickly and backed away as a result. If that's the case, I totally support it...I just wish I knew for sure. I'm left sort of confused because he still wants to see me a ton, but he's not as intentional about showing affection...especially around our mutual friends.

I felt torn about what to do for a few days. I had some friends telling me that the fact he doesn't want to define or label anything isn't fair to me and that I need to ask him about it again. I had my family constantly wanting to know our "status". I had another circle of friends telling me to just be patient and enjoy the stage we're in. If he's not wanting to or ready to define anything, pushing him to discuss it will only push him away. I've decided to just be patient. While the girl in me is dying to know what he's thinking or feeling and to have a "defined" relationship, it has only been 3 weeks. We're still getting to know each other. His life is kind of up in the air as far as his job. I'm going to wait it out another couple of weeks and see how things go before trying to bring it up again.

This whole "dating" thing is all so new to me. I don't really know how things are supposed to work. Which is why I think I dwell on it so much. But I'm learning that there isn't a "right" way to do things when it comes to dating. The only "right" thing I can do is be myself. He's told me that he likes me and clearly he still enjoys spending time with me. I'm going to continue to be myself and see where things go. I've realized that I need to let go of the urge to control the outcome. God is in ultimate control. If both Mike and I are prayerful about the whole situation, it will work out the way it's supposed to. And I need to trust whatever that outcome is.