The Best Date I Ever Had.

Dating in Provo is an interesting ritual. There ought to be an entire field of Anthropology devoted to studying the Provo dating life. The date usually begins with a guy picking up the "ward menu" as they are called, and finding an attractive girl: who, inevitably says "yes" because her mother taught her never to say "no" to a first date. Now the guy tries to come up with the most creative thing he can possibly think of without exceeding a $15 limit. So the couple usually ends up going to DI and buying clothes for each other and them wearing those clothes to a cheap restaurant. Then they'll head to someone's house to watch "The Princess Bride." Maybe if they're feeling romantic afterward, they'll take a walk around the botany pond on the South end of campus. I have been on this date a thousand times. I've worn the DI clothes, prayed publicly in the cheap restaurant and I can quote every line from Princess Bride. I've already told you about mine and Mark's first date (thank goodness it wasn't like this), but here is the story about my favorite date:

Mark called and asked if I wanted to go out. I told him I was busy painting, but he was welcome to come join me. So he came over and we painted. It was fun: kind of cheesy but fun. Then things took a drastic turn from the normal Provo date. Mark and I decided that our work was good enough to be in a museum . . . and there just happened to be one nearby. 

Mark's Painting

My Painting

On any date in Provo, your date usually tries to impress you with how obedient and spiritual he is; you bless your food at Taco Bell and he has you home at 11:45 just to be safe. So when we decided to take our art work up to the local Art Museum I was feeling pretty adventurous. Although I'm pretty sure it doesn't say it explicitly in the museum, taping your own artwork on the wall is usually frowned upon. But that's what we did. We found a little corner of the museum in a dark room and taped up our paintings (with scotch tape of course, so as not to damage the walls). Then we continued through the gallery enjoying the art. A few minutes later, we spotted a security walking into the room where we had taped our crude paintings, at which point we made a hasty retreat. Speed walking out of the museum, I realized I had never done anything so daring in my life. And although we hadn't hurt anyone or damaged anything I felt like the most defiant person in Provo, which was nice for a change. I'm sure the security guard laughed and took down our painting, and Mark and I of course, went back to being our non-deviant selves, but for about 15 minutes we were Bonnie and Clyde . . . not your typical Provo date.