I started attending South Shore Community Church in September of 2006. About 2 months after my first service, I got involved with the worship team. I was excited when I found out I had been placed on the same team as a guy I had noticed on stage before.. a guy that I thought I might maybe have the tiniest little baby bit of a mini-crush on.. a guy that happened to be an Ellenberger boy, and that went by the name of Matt, older brother to Jonathan.

HUH?! Yeah, I know, that's not how the story is supposed to start, is it? But that's how this story starts, people, so bear with me.

Let's just get this out of the way... I met Matt first, I got to know Matt first, and I won't shy away from the fact that I might have maybe had the tiniest little baby bit of a mini-crush on him. It is the truth.

I knew there was a reason I met Matt.
Matt knew there was a reason he met me.
But I didn't know what he knew...

That I was perfect for his brother.

So Jon and I were introduced, and over the course of the next couple of months, he charmed me like I had never been charmed before. :)

In thinking back, a few moments stick out to me as quite significant in the development of my feelings for Jonny...

New Year's Eve, 2006, he tucked me in for the very first time. Really. At the end of the night, we both ended up crashing in the same room. He gave me the couch, (and his sleeping bag!) found a place on the floor for himself, and literally tucked me in, making sure I was snug and warm... all the way down to my feet.

Sometime within the month following New Year's, we both went to a gig Matt was playing. We didn't go together, because Jon had already made plans to take another girl. We did see each other there, though, and I remember feeling the slightest tinge of jealousy when I saw him with her.

Shortly after, he asked me out on our first date. We went to an open mike, and then proceeded to visit one of his favorite beaches. This was after he asked when the last time I saw the ocean was, and I replied, "I haven't seen it." Super excited about the idea of being along on my first trip to the oceanside, he insisted that we head there right then. So he stopped for some Dunkie's hot chocolate and some Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, and we were off. It was cold and lovely.

Valentine's Day, 2007, he sent me an email saying I should probably leave my schedule open for the night, just in case something were to come up. I left my schedule open. Something came up. :)

This past Valentine's Day, we celebrated the first anniversary of our first kiss, and less than a week later, we celebrated the day we became "official."

Aww, shucks.

For as far back as I can remember, my brother has never liked any of the girls that I have dated. Not disliked them as people, per say, but has definitely disapproved of them as suitable girlfriends for his younger brother. Which is why it came as quite a big surprise when he announced that he had found the 'perfect' girl for me. It was even more startling when he told me that he was pretty sure she already had a 'thing' for him.

To say I was intrigued was an understatement.

Matt went on to explain who she was and after a brief description I was reminded of when I had first seen her a month ago while walking into church. I distinctly remember her smile, short red hair and corduroy coat. To put it at its simplest she was the definition of 'cute' and I became immediately interested mostly due to the unprecedented preemptive blessing of my older brother.

Over the next few weeks I made a point to search her out whenever I was at church, mentally rehearsing some conversational stand-up material so that, if given the chance to talk with her, I could impress her with some witty observation or pithy quip. The first time we were introduced I was so consumed with saying the right thing that I completely missed her name. It was lucky I had already cyber-stalked her on MySpace or that would have been really embarrassing. Soon after this, Matt offered to set up a quasi-date in which he and Kayla would meet up with myself and my good friend Matty at The Chatta Box (an excellent nearby Thai restaurant).

I remember having a few conversations with Matt going over our options for seating.
"Should I plan to sit next to her or is that too obvious?"
"Yeah, it's too much, you sit next to me and then she can sit across from you."
"But what if Matty and I get there first? Then we're sitting diagonally from each other which is just...weird."
"Right. Right. OK, the three of us will get there at the same time and we'll have Kayla meet us there like five minutes later."
"Perfect."

So we sat across from each other, enjoyed a nice meal and I tried painfully (but subtly) hard to get her attention. The dinner went really well. I felt very at ease talking with her and noticed we had similar senses of humor which is, to say, we both enjoyed poking fun at my brother's performance of various scenes from Scrubs.

Over the next few weeks I made a point to keep in contact with her through the internet, the perfect casual-yet-kinda-serious way to break the ice without taking the obvious leap of asking for a phone number. I labored over these messages, often re-writing them two or three times, making sure I didn't sound too forward yet making it clear that I wanted to spend more time with her.

As Kayla mentioned above we had some really great dates and sensing she was into me I became a little less casual and started dropping clues that I would be interested in moving beyond a platonic friendship.

She dutifully picked up on this and sent me a MySpace message letting me know that she sensed my interest but wasn't interested herself. Kayla explained how she was still feeling drawn to my brother but really liked me as a friend (oh, those dreaded words). I remember feeling deflated as I read it, trying to convince myself that it wasn't a big deal and to just move on. That's how I deal with rejection, I immediately put up walls and tell myself that I'm better than whomever just turned me down.

The thing is, I couldn't mope...I definitely tried to but it felt awkward and wrong. Despite my best efforts to discredit her I couldn't help but think about how sweet, beautiful and funny she was. I was genuinely attracted to this girl and I wasn't going to let a silly crush on my older brother get in the way. I remember having this moment of resolve where I said, 'No, this girl is really great and I know she's right for me. Screw giving up, I'm gonna go out on a limb and go for it. Worst case scenario, I'm still single which is exactly where I am now.'

And go for it, I did.

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