First Date 24 Apr 2004

Russ is quite the date planner. He asked me out to the Azalea Festival at the Norfolk Botanical Gardens. NATO units also had displays for tourism to their various countries of origin. I think Russ was mainly interested in the Strong Man Competition.  (It certainly wasn't for the bonzai trees, as Russ "suavely" asked a man at a bonzai exhibit where "the events" were.)
For those of you who have never witnessed such a "manly" event, it consisted of such "interesting" matches as "pulling the anchor chain" or "tossing an anvil over a high jump bar." You know, these are the types of events we all try at home on a regular basis.
Anyway, the weather was great and we spent hours walking and talking and enjoying the day. It was such a great first date, mainly because we didn't have to go through the awkward "getting to know you" stage since we'd already worked together for 6 months. So we were just able to have easy flowing conversations.
Russ brought a digital camera with him on the first date.  He took this picture by holding out his left arm.  I think he had a plan as he told me to stand really close so we'd both be in the photo.  This photo became the first of thousands that Russ would take in this manner.