The Beginning: How the Silva's met & our first "date"

Met: August 5th, 2014

Now that you are all up to date on the engagement and wedding, we thought we might share the story of how we met and our first date. 

My awesome friend Devin Minson told me there was this "groupon" for a new beginner series through Northwest Crossfit while I was finishing up my senior year of nursing at the UW. I had always wanted to try out crossfit because I loved the idea of a pre-programmed, competitive and diverse workout alongside a community of coaching and members who help push you. I told him I was down to try it out with him...but I had to sign up and cancel about 10 different times at the Greenlake facility. Working at two different hospitals while rotating through 7 seven others for clinicals on top of classes and sleep (which I basically never got) prevented me from being able to commit to a two week schedule, BIG SHOCK.

Supporting Devin and the other athletes at the NW Crossfit Hostile Takeover comp 2014

After graduating from UW about 6 months later I moved back home to Mercer Island to save money (Ok, Dad yes I missed you a little). I still had my groupon and thought "Hmm maybe I'll try this whole crossfit thing out now." So I signed up and realized the Northwest Crossfit Bellevue gym was much more convenient now that I was living on MI. I'll never forget my first day at the gym for many reasons, of course the most important being that I ended up meeting my husband. 

I was rushing (I'm always rushing, fail) to the new beginner class and accidentally ended up going to the old gym location down the road. By the time I got to the gym I was the last person there. I ran in and I'll admit I was a little nervous because I didn't really know what I was getting myself into. As I was putting gym stuff down this cute little Mexican man (who prefers not to be referred to as a cute little Mexican man, haha) started walking towards me. All I remember about that moment was that he had the biggest smile on his face, like ear to ear and I swear he didn't say anything for about 30 seconds until he finally said, "Hi I'm Coach Jaime." He asked me what my name was and then joked along that lines that there were two latinas on the roster but I was the only one that showed up. I told him I had a groupon that expired but I had e-mailed the manager and someone named Coach Paige said it was fine to drop in whenever I was ready. Jaime just kept smiling and say "Yeah," "Cool," "Awesome" and "I don't even need it you're good." I kinda laughed and said I should probably at least give him the code so they have something legit down and he didn't really seem to care about the groupon, the code, or any logistics.....he just kept smiling. It kinds makes me melt, he has such a beautiful smile even Huffington Post wanted a piece.

The first part of the class we talked about why we wanted to start crossfit and our athletic background. I was so impressed by Jaime and how genuine he was. He was so natural about breaking the ice with a new group of people who were all very nervous and initially uncomfortable. He had a very heart warming story about how his brother got him on the crossfit craze and how this has become one of his main passions and best decision in his life. He was very organized and professional about his approach and honest...Jaime was always very honest about how he felt or what was on his mind. I went home that night and was excited to tell my dad about my first crossfit class. I remember telling him about Jaime and how I thought he was a really cool coach and I looked forward to learning more about Olympic Lifting. My dad said "Jaime, like my brother and my dad Jaime, that's pretty cool." Little did he know a third Jaime would be joining the family shortly.

Over the course of the next month or so I'll admit I was very motivated to make it to crossfit, no lying there. My favorite part of the class may or may not have been when I was able to small talk with "Coach Jaime." He definitely stood out at one of the most knowledgeable coaches when it came to the Olympic Lifting (which was my weak point, I had NO CLUE what I was doing) so I would ask him to watch my lifts and give me feedback. He was always so appropriate and respectful when it came down to explaining movements or helping me adjust my form. Half the time I was just so distracted and realizing that I was totally crushing on him (even though I had been going on dates with someone for a few weeks...shhhh) but I also knew that there were more than a few other women at the gym who were as well so never really acted on anything. I had also just gotten out of a long term relationship so I was trying to take some time for myself and focus on a bunch of upcoming tests I had for my new job at Harboview.

"You're gonna spot me right???"

The best part about seeing Jaime a couple times a week at the gym was that we were able to become friends and catch up here and there alongside our community of mutual friends which started to grow. 

We both loved working out and the more we talked the more we seemed to find out we had a lot in common. 

Some of our best friends we miss at NW, RIP the noon crew

Women WOD and Wine

4:30pm crew

One time after one of the classes I followed him into the coaches office (honestly I don't really remember why). He was on a break and we started talking. We talked and laughed about our crazy Hispanic families, how we both love soccer, found out we both went to UW, and somehow the church came up...I think we must have been talking about tequila prior to that. Somehow during this conversation, I managed to get his phone number and used the excuse that I needed it to contact him if he ever wanted to sub for my soccer team (smooth move Adrianna).



Flash forward a few weeks and there was an upcoming 30 day paleo challenge that the gym was hosting and I thought I should try it out. Jaime and I happened to be talking that day about how much I love ice cream (I eat it for breakfast, for dinner, and pretty much anytime I can come up with an excuse). I made a joke something along the lines of "I don't know how I'm gonna survive without ice cream for the next month." I then proceeded to talk about Molly Moons ice cream which is the best thing that exists on this planet as far as I'm concerned. While texting Jaime later that night, he suggested that we meet the next day (Friday 9/19/2015) after his late shift to grab some Molly's Moons before the challenge started. I'll be honest, I didn't know what to think. I knew Jaime was 8 years older than me and that (sorry babe) there were quite a few women actively pursing him at the gym...so I didn't want to jump to any conclusions but I'll admit I was very excited to see how everything would pan out. Who knew, maybe I would just make a life-long friend...perhaps my best friend.

First Date: September 9th, 2014

The next day he texted me and said he would be getting off around 9pm and I told him I could meet him at the Molly Moons in the U-Village. I planned to meet Jaime and then meet my Dad at a football game shortly after and on the drive over was wondering how this would go...I had never "hung out" with Jaime outside of the gym. The main question going through my mind was "Is this a date or just a friend thing?" I really had no clue and figured whatever happen would just happen. I got there a little early (for once in my life). He called and told me he was running a little bit late and was on his way over.

When we got to the U-village he apologized for being in his gym clothes and I joked that he smelled horrible (we have always cracked jokes at each other, we love a good laugh). I probably rambled on about my obsession with Molly Moons ice cream and a million other things. When I'm nervous I seem to be quite chatty (someone admitted that to me recently). I think I offered to pay for my massive double scoop of scout mint and maple walnut, but Jaime insisted that he wanted to treat me (which also led me to think...ok this has to be a date). We got our ice cream and as we walked out two people stopped us and yelled "JAIME." I swear it didn't matter if we were in the U-Village, Shoreline, Tri-Cities or Mexico, Jaime knows everyone. We could probably go to Bora Bora and he would run into someone from some gym, someone he personal trained, someone his enormous family knows, or just some girl pretending she knows him but is really trying to get his number or a date out of the conversation, haha. Back to my point, what I love most is that people love him enough to stop him to say hi and ask how he is doing. I was always so impressed that Jaime knew so much about his patients, not only in the gym but also about their hobbies, interests, injuries and family life. He really cares about the people he interacts with.

We got our ice cream and walked out to a bench and just started talking. It's crazy how much we had/have in common and how we can get lost talking about our crazy families, sports, people in our lives, our love for traveling, passion for athletics, and laughing at little things like the little squirrel that kept trying to ease drop on our conversation. I think we could both tell there was a definite spark but we were both cautious and trying to feel things out. After we finished our ice cream, we started walking back to the car. I told Jaime I was going to meet my Dad so I had better get going.

We headed for the parking garage where I was parked and I told Jaime he didn't have to walk me to my car (Ok ok I was totally playing hard to get). He said it was no problem and he would love to and I probably said something sassy like "I'm sure I can manage on my own." I did however give him a hug and I guess it was one he has never forgotten. He swears to this day and says "That hug was different than all the other ones you had given me before, I knew something had changed."He's always been accurate at reading my body language, even before I have it all figured out.

I headed off to my car and before I even made it to the door my phone rang. Guess who? Jaime. I kinda laughed and before I could even say anything he said "Next time, I'm taking you to dinner." I couldn't help but smile and feel a little flattered and I was really excited for our next date which I could finally conclude...would be an official date, no confusion from there on out.

Flash forward 5 months later....... the night before we went to Mexico, Jaime told me he was taking me somewhere special and some place that I would love. When we pulled into the U-Village parking lot he said we were going a place that meant a lot to him and I knew exactly where we were headed. We ordered our ice cream and walked back to the same bench where we sat and talked on our first date, but this time was a bit more sentimental. Jaime told me that he was always going to take care of me and remind how special I was to him. He promised that we were going to continue to come back to this special place where we we had our first date, a single date which was enough for him to realize that he knew he was going to marry me. He reminded me how he "just knew" the hug I gave him was different. He laughed and admitted that he practically skipped to his car after our first date there because he was so happy and couldn't help but call me moments after. My eyes just welled up with tears as he expressed his feelings for me and my heart melted. We were back in the very same bench, laughing about the squirrel, joking about our anticipation and nerves, reminiscing over how we met, enjoying our ice cream and just marveling over how perfectly the timing in our lives had to be so we could have met.



Molly Moon's Ice Cream is now not only one of my favorite places to eat (it can count as a meal OK?) but one of the most sentimental places I have ever been because it forever reminds me of the "last first date" I will ever have. Anyone who goes there with me will have to listen to my first date story and at least pretend like they are interested because I'll have a lot to share. So far, we have been able to take our parents, Izzy and Amy & Quinn back to that same bench.

I hope some day we can take our kids there for their first scoop of Molly Moon's Ice Cream and share our story with them. I'll tell them I would have never guessed I would be marrying Jaime only 10 months after our first date, but so far it's one of the best decisions I have ever made.

P.S. I guess we better give Devin another shout out for leading us to each other and supporting us every step of the way. Glad you are in our lives to this day as one of our dear friends.