There's a cat in a bag. And that cat is a frog.

This is an interesting (and anxiety-provoking) blog to write, but I fear for my life if I don't write something because Holly has gently been reminding me for weeks to do so.

While I won't completelyyy let the cat out of the bag and delve into full disclosure here, I will disclose that there is in a cat in a bag. And the cat is actually a frog. I've either caught said frog, or said frog has caught me. (I hope you're all following the theme of this blog and understand that the frog is actually a guy...) (Actually, maybe I don't. I bet this would be a funny post if you all imagined this as an amphibian..)

If you know me, or have read anything we've written, you know Holly and I are both particular creatures who aren't exactly flexible in our approach to dating. We've been trying to balance progressing and growing, while also sticking with our values and standards.

So, you won't be surprised to find that this hasn't been easy for me. I recently admitted to him that the easiest and most convenient thing for me to do would be to find a way out of this. I wouldn't be trying to find a way out because of him, but because of who I am. I'm a chicken, and a creature of habit. Those habits have lead me into complacency with singleness.

But, man. He's making it reallllly hard to find a way out.

He's been patient.

• With my schedule...my rigidity...my "Hey, I'm still trying to figure out what this is..."
  

And kind.

• He gave me an HDMI cord (because he diagnosed the problem with my DVD player, which had been useless FOR THREE YEARS and then provided the solution...)
• Ordered me a new OU car emblem and offered to take my car to wash it so that I could put the emblem on it...

And different.

• Planned a date where he picked me up wearing suspenders with flowers in tow, played my favorite songs (which he had downloaded onto his phone), and took me to a shfancy restaurant...

And supportive.

• Of my job...
• Of my dog stuff...
• Of OU alumni club stuff...
• Of my faith...
• Also, he tolerates my excessive emoji use, which I'm considering supportive.

And flexible.

• When I say "dude I'm tired..can't hang out tonight", He's like "Okay! Hope you're okay! Can I help?"

And considerate.

• I mean...He had queso, and a flower, and brownies when I went over to his house to watch a movie last weekend..
• When talking about my favorite movies, I didn't realize he proceeded to order them on DVD from Amazon that very night...

And funny.

• I don't think I've ever not laughed around him..even when 1/2 of those laughs may be at my own ridiculousness.
• He may or may not have challenged me on impersonations of Smeagol from Lord of The Rings. And he won. By a landslide.

And communicative.

• He's been open and honest about what he's thinking. I haven't questioned what his intentions are.. (though I will admit I've questioned why he has those intentions...)
• He's given me space to vent frustrations, anxieties, and boundaries.

This becomes a little more complicated because I've known this guy for a few years and we had a bit of a rocky start to a potential relationship then. I've learned a lot about grace and forgiveness, and have accepted that people really can change. I know I've changed since the time we initially met, and I'm learning that he has really changed too.

Yeah, I'm not going to lie...I basically had no plan for this part of  frog hunting. I suppose I realized it could happen, I just was so focused on keeping my head above water on 75 different dating sites that I didn't ever map out any sort of game plan. As such, watching Heather process this has been quite an interesting sitcom.

If pressed to consider how I'm feeling about Heather finding a frog, I'd have to say I'm little upset. Of course I'm happy for Heather (and the fact that she now has a functional DVD player) but selfishly I also feel like I'm going to be alone in the trenches...No one likes to be alone in the trenches.

When we first launched the frog blog, I had a work colleague give me a frog hunting (gigging) tool. It's been sitting at my desk at work, and has been the subject of many interesting office conversations, but I never realized it's practicality until Heather said she had a frog in a bag. So let me clear Mr. Frog, I totally believe in innocent until proven guilty but I need you to understand that I'm armed, and I'm not afraid to use it.

Hugs and Frogs,

Heather and Holly