rainy morning walk slowly through Washington Heights iHOP lunch, sparks fly -- We met volunteering with Don't Walk By, a collaboration of churches with an organization called City Relief to serve people experiencing homelessness in New York City. This event raises awareness of organizations that serve the poor daily, providing legal services, medical aid, food, prayer and family support, etc. We were volunteering with Haley's roommates at the Uptown event in Washington Heights. Unfortunately, it was quite rainy...her roommates dipped home for a bit to fetch an umbrella, leaving Haley and Chris (and another guy named Peter) to walk the streets together and connect. Afterward, the whole group went to iHOP (the one on 177th/Broadway) to punctuate a fun afternoon with pancakes. His Story: I immediately had a crush on Haley, she was so fun to talk to *and* she worked for a college ministry - so cool! It took me a while to work up the courage to ask her to get lunch (ostensibly to talk about her job) but eventually I got around to it. Once we hung out, I knew that I wanted to keep seeing her! Her Story: Later that day, my dear friend Rabia asked me what I thought of Chris, confident that he was going to ask me out soon. I was floored! Ever a shy gal when it came to dating, I was positive that he was just a nice guy who wanted to be friends with all of us. I did tell her that he was soooooo kind and easy to talk to. Chris and I spent the next couple of weeks texting back and forth about pancakes and diner food in a group chat with our Don't Walk By team. Sure enough, when he finally asked me to lunch at Saigon Shack "to talk career", I was realllly excited :)