I remember the very first time The Hubby and I met. Vaguely.
I was out with my friend at the old Cue and Cushion, an extremely old run-down bar that served ten cent drafts on a random night every week. Because of the cheap keg beer it was a hot spot among the college students for a while . One night, a friend and I dropped by to meet up with some of our fellow sorority pals and while there, we spotted an acquaintance and walked across the bar to say hello. While chatting, I suddenly heard a very loud “HI!” coming from somewhere behind me.
Looking in the direction where the voice came from, I saw an attractive stranger sitting at a little round table with a couple buddies about 20-30 feet away with a big grin. As soon as we made eye contact, he gave a big wave and I, feeling totally embarrassed, shyly replied, “hello” while trying to conceal the awkwardness I felt inside.
I then quickly turned back to the acquaintance, wrapped up the convo and then walked back to where our friends were.
The acquaintance I had been chatting with happened to be friends with the stranger man, and this was how he found out my name.
That was it. That was our first encounter. And I didn’t remember it (and no, I wasn’t intoxicated!) because we hadn’t really spoken. But he somehow found me soon after that night and definitely made sure I knew who he was from then on. And I was giddy.
We didn’t start dating until over a year later. We became pretty good friends, though, and he made sure to make me feel special.
On our first official date, he took me to San Francisco to eat clam chowder in a bread bowl, something we both talked about wanting to do for a while. What I didn’t know, though, was that he wasn’t expecting me to say “yes” when he asked me out, as I had previously been turning him down. He actually had plans with friends to watch some big football game that night, but cancelled on them once I said yes. It was January 22, 2006.
We dated a while and “The Proposal” came in January of 2008 when “The Boyfriend” took me to Mexico as a Christmas gift. Oblivious, I just thought we were going on a dream vacation. We sipped drinks from coconuts, zip-lined and rode ATVs through the jungle and even swam with dolphins. And then one of the biggest surprises of my life. The day he asked me to marry him.
It was January 13th, and we had just gotten back from swimming with the dolphins. We were slowly getting ready for dinner until “The Boyfriend” began hurrying me along wanting to go on a walk before we ate. So, I threw on a dress, scrunched my hair and off we went. Before I knew it, we were making our way up this little trail, and I wanted to stop every twenty feet to point out the banana trees and little huts that were hidden among the trees at our resort. Not knowing it at the time, but I was being hurried up this little mountain/trail, for the sun was setting and we were losing light. Once at the top, there was a blanket spread across a little stone bench, a bucket of champagne on ice, two wine glasses and rose petals spread throughout the area, all overlooking the beautiful ocean.
And you know what I thought to myself at that very moment?
“Oh wow! We must’ve just missed someone having a little romantic picnic! Thank goodness, because that could have been awkward!”
But before I knew it, “The Boyfriend” was looking into my eyes like he had never done before and was on one knee, proposing. I have no idea what he said. I think I blacked out. And I just cried. When the voice stopped talking, I just yelled out, “YES!” because I was pretty sure he had just proposed. And we celebrated with freshly chilled champagne while looking at the beautiful sun setting over the ocean.
One of the best weeks of my life.
Another biggie? Our wedding day, of course. It was absolutely incredible in every way and should be a post in itself. There was so much emotion packed into that day. So much love. I will never forget that feeling as I walked down the aisle staring into my “fiance’s” eyes.
And now, over seven years later from our first encounter we moved to a new town, bought our first home, got married and had two beautiful children.
Feeling pretty lucky over here.
Here’s to many, many, many more years to come. Happy anniversary, my Love. (smile.) Can’t WAIT for our getaway this weekend!
