David Braudt

At first, when I told my boss, Lynn, about this dating project, he thought I was crazy. But he wanted to help me out so he told a few of the boys in his BYU student ward about it. One of those boys signed up the very next day and a few weeks later I finally met David Braudt.

I was so excited to go out with David because in his initial email to me he mentioned that he loves to go rock climbing and that could be a possibility for our date. Totally stoked for rock climbing! After work on Friday, I drove down to Ikea in Draper to meet up with David. Ikea is a good half-way point for both of us. So we left my car in the parking lot and made the trek down to happy valley.

While we were in the car we talked about our families and different things we each like to do. One thing that is so incredibly interesting about David is his work situation. Right now, he's finishing up school at BYU and for work he does research trips for his professor. David arranged a deal with his professor that he would work for free as long as the professor would pay for his travel costs for the research trips. Brilliant! I wish I would have thought of that when I was in school. Well, actually, I wish I would have done a lot of things while I was in school, but that's besides the point. The point is David is a genius. Last summer he got to go to Thailand, Cambodia and Laos. David described Thailand to me in great detail and it is now towards the top of my list of places I must go before I die.

We had plenty of time to talk because of the length of the drive. David apologized a couple of times because it was taking so long, but I didn't mind, I really enjoy talking to David.

We arrived at the Quarry in Provo before the usual weekend rush, which was nice because even though I really enjoy rock climbing, I'm still a beginner. I was able to learn quite a few things that helped my climbing skills reach a whole new level. (Ha!) David started rock climbing two months ago and except for Sundays has been climbing every single day. When David puts his mind to something he goes all the way.

One of Davids concerns about me being a beginner was that his life was going to be in my hands. When you put it like that, it does seem a little intense with pressure. But I think I did just fine. Actually, I did freaking fantastic! There were two times that David fell off the wall because I made him try a really hard climb. But I caught him both times - no problem. After trusting me with his life, I think he trusted me enough to open up and have some really honest conversations. It was like our very own version of a girls camp trust fall.

When we were finally and completely pooped after climbing, we got back in the car and drove over to Zupas for dinner. David actually gave me the option of choosing Cold Stone instead because it was pretty late for dinner, but I chose Zupas. I was hungry!

At dinner we talked a lot more about traveling and all of the fun things we've done and seen. A lot of the time I feel myself looking for the next super fun adventure and it was really nice to reflect on all of the awesome things I have done in my life. I don't mean for that to sound boastful or like I'm bragging. I just know that I have been blessed with many opportunities for me to have the most amazing experiences.

After dinner David drove me back to Ikea and on the way he told me about a fascinating concept . . . his views on dating. I warned him that I was going to put this on my blog and I would try really hard to portray him in the best light. So please don't think badly of him after reading this, he explains it better than I can and in a much less offensive way. David believes that dating is relative to prostitution. He said that in the Mormon culture, women expect men to pay for the date and in return, men expect women to be pleasant and pleasurable on the date. After hearing this I had so many questions. He explained that he's only looking at this in an economic light and that obviously he doesn't believe that dating IS prostitution, but it's fascinating to compare the similarities.

Even though David convinced me that he doesn't think of me as a major prostitute for doing this dating project, I think I had better pay for our second date if I get the chance.