Our Story

The handsome man in the picture with me is my husband, Jeffrey.  I firmly believe he is an agnostic saint.  He should be knighted by the Queen of England.  His name should be Job. 

We met in December 2000 while at his company's Christmas Party.  I was dating one of his coworkers and we all sat at the same table for dinner. 

While the guy I was dating worked the room, schmoozing everyone, I sat and talked to Jeff.  I remember he was nice and, while quiet, still talkative enough to make an impression on me. That night was the first and only time we met.

Fast forward to December 31, 2005.  I had been dating a huge line of losers from various online dating sites.  I decided that I was finished with the endless parade of stupid that I had dinner with, so I decided to stop all online dating activities.  I figured if God had anyone out there for me, He would send him.  If not, I was going to become happy to be single.

On January 1, 2006 I canceled my online dating membership.  I removed myself from the email notifications.  Thus, I no longer received any of those annoying "These guys would love to meet you" emails in my inbox.  That was until February 10, 2006.

That morning I checked my email before leaving for work and saw my inbox contained an email telling me "these guys would love to meet you."  WTF?  I didn't open it.

I came home that evening and opened my inbox and stared at the unopened email.  After about an hour of "yes I will" and "no I can't" open it discussions with myself, I clicked on the link.  The very first picture was Jeff.  I remembered him instantly. 

Since I had canceled my membership, I had to pay $29.99 to email him.  I knew I had to email him.  So, I paid the money.   It was the best $29.99 I ever spent.  Little did I know that once I sent him that email, he too had to pay $29.99 to respond.  I believe it was a sound investment!

We emailed back and forth for a total of four days.  I finally gave him my phone number on February 14, 2006.  He called.  I let it go to voicemail.  I had to hear his voice because I wanted to make sure he didn't sound "weird."  He didn't leave a message.  I was disappointed until he called back.  I answered.  It was history.  We talked from 9:00pm until 4:30am with never an awkward silence between us. 

By the time we had our first date, March 10, 2006, we had logged so many phone hours that if those hours were frequent flier miles, we would still be flying the world.

Our first date was my last first date ever.  Amen.  It was perfect.  It was the only date I ever went on, in my life, that didn't feel forced or ackward.  It was like we had been dating for years.

The next Friday, March 17, 2006, unknown to me, Jeff bought my engagement ring.  The next Friday, March 24, 2006, using a Vermont Teddy bear wearing a "Will you marry me?" sash while holding an "I love you" heart-shapped pillow, he proposed.  I accepted.  We set a wedding date of March 17, 2007.

We began making plans to move in together and for our wedding.  But it wasn't even a month later, we decided to be crazy.  We decided to get our marriage license and get married.  We didn't tell anyone.  We wouldn't tell anyone.  That was the plan.  We would still have a big wedding but our marriage would be our little secret. 

I'm not good at keeping secrets.

April 12, 2006 we applied for our marriage license and at 8:30am on Wednesday, April 19, 2006 we walked into the local courthouse, climbed up to Judge Clawges' court room and took our vows and tied that knot!

From the date of our first date to our wedding day:  40 days. 

We. were. crazy.  But we haven't looked back.  I never questioned my decision or my actions.  Well, if I had it to do all over again, I would have told my parents about our decision and had them there, but that's all I would change.

This year will make four years of marriage.  Some days I look back over our four years and think "wow, where has the time gone?" and then some days I think, "wow, we've only been married for four years?"

We've dealt with and overcome more in our four years of marriage than many couples do in ten.  I've not been healthy through most of those years.  We spent two and a half of those years undergoing intensive fertility treatments.  We got pregnant and lost the baby.  We had to decide to put my health first and children second, thus causing me to have a fertility ending surgery.  We sold a house, bought a house and moved.  We've spent more days and nights in the ER than I've spend my entire life combined.  I'm a tad accident prone.  I passed kidney stones.  No matter what weird, horrible, or joyful thing has happened, we've endured it together.  Each struggle, trial, celebration, success, and plain every day life actions has brought us closer.  We are best friends. 

I love him more today than I ever thought possible.  The strength he has when I didn't have any of my own, the compassion that pours out of his heart, the love that fills his eyes, and the gentleness in every touch tells me that, even though it was a hasty and crazy one, when I made the decision to marry him, it was the best decision of my life.  Our lives.

So.  That is our story.  Chapter number three is about to end and we will turn the page to begin chapter four.  I don't know how many chapters we'll write together, but I am on this journey of permanent weight loss, to make sure I'm alive to write many, many more.

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