Our first date.

I promised myself I wouldn't get nervous when I picked Maria up for our first date but I could feel the butterflies in my stomach. I still was thinking about what we should do and what I would say. My dad offered me these simple words but they made the most sense. He said "just be yourself." So I promised him I would take his advice and have a good time. I remember driving from Bellmore to Bayside which was about a half hour ride. I listened to the radio and was feeling kind of excited and nervous at the same time. When I arrived at Maria's sister's apartment I walked up to the entrance and gently knocked on the door. Maria answered the door and she was so nice as she said hello and invited me inside to meet her sister and niece. I felt welcome and finally relaxed and greeted them. Maria's niece was less than 2 years old and was so cute. I spoke to her sister Fe briefly and told her what a cute daughter she has. It was time for us to go so I said it was a pleasure meeting you and your daughter and then we proceeded to go see a movie. The movie we saw was a comedy starring Rowan Atkinson who was playing his famous character Mr. Bean in a feature length movie. He was so funny in the movie we both couldn't stop laughing. It was a very good movie selection which Maria suggested. It was a good ice breaker as we laughed a lot throughout the movie. Maria told me she was a big fan of the Mr. Bean tv series and I actually enjoyed watching his show too. After the movie we went to dinner at Applebees and we talked while we waited for our dinner. We had a nice conversation as I was curious what it was like for her living here and what it was like living in the Philippines. I remember thinking how cute Maria was and how lucky I was getting to meet her. I also spoke about myself discussing the things that were important to me and the reason I was seeing the psychologist that arranged our meeting. I felt at ease and was glad I had this opportunity. We both were enjoying ourselves and were both alike in some ways and also different in some ways. As our dinner arrived we continued talking and finally took a break to enjoy our meal. I noticed Maria ate small portions while I had a much bigger appetite. I teased her and jokingly said she was eating small portions so she could have a bigger dessert. We did have a nice dessert and went to the mall for a little while and walked around. Maria said she would like to go out again and I was delighted. I drove her home and gave her a kiss on her cheek and made sure she got inside her home safely and I told her I would call her during the week. She said she looked forward to going out again and I told her I felt the same way and then headed home. I was so happy and felt like we were meant to meet and I felt my mom was also looking over me and she approved.