Our Love Story, Pt. 1

In just 9 days, Will and I will be celebrating our 6 year wedding anniversary.

6 whole years of being married to this stud…….

 

Best 6 years of my life, that’s for dang sure….

So where did it all begin you might ask?? Let’ start from the beginning…..

Back in 2007, I worked in youth ministry at our church. I was also heavily involved in a young adult Bible Study and that fall, a new guy joined the class…..

I still remember his first day in class. Will was raised in the church and so he knew lots of people there. I knew Will’s parents as leaders in the youth group, but had never met their sons. After church a group of us went to lunch and of course, Will came along. We were all seated at a table waiting on our food. I was sitting directly across from Will. Several people got up to go and get their lunches and so it was just he and I alone. Never being one to like awkward silence, I tried to ask him a few questions. He literally looked at me and said NOTHING. In that moment I wrote him off as a jerk. The very next Sunday, we found ourselves at lunch with the group again. This time Madisyn was with me. I don’t remember what exactly the conversation was about but essentially Will said something to Madisyn as a complete joke, but it upset her. Which of course upset me. Mess with my kid?? J-E-R-K!

Flash forward to about a month later and Halloween….my friend Jeff and I were going to go shopping for costumes and next thing I know he had invited “this guy Will from class”. I totally thought about bailing on the whole evening, but I needed a costume so I stuck it out. And Will was much nicer that evening. There was no love at first sight or anything, but we chatted. He told me about his plans to move to Colorado that winter and we just talked about random things, and I decided to retract me previous jerk statement and that he was an ok guy.

This next part is where our story gets kind of complicated. Because sadly, before our relationship even ever started there was drama. A lot of drama. Ex girlfriends, friendships lost, people talking badly about both of us…..it was a mess. And it was sad. And out of respect for some of the other people involved in that part of our story, I am not going to go into detail. Just like any story, I have my side, they have theirs, and the truth lies somewhere in the middle.

Moving along….

After months of hanging as friends, and some drama surrounding our friendship…Will finally came clean on his real feelings for me. Which of course took me by total surprise. For those of you that don’t know, or weren’t paying attention just a minute ago,  I had Madisyn when Will and I met. She was 4 years old at the time. And out of all the young college age girls Will could chose, he chose me. And I was SHOCKED.

I was pretty hesitant at first. Mainly scared. How was I supposed to be a mom and date? I worked full time, had to raise a child and I was somehow supposed to fit a boyfriend into the mix? Little did Will know, that long before we met , I had been praying, and praying hard. I asked God that if I was to ever date, I wanted it to just be once and to the person I was supposed to marry. I asked him to just make sure that when the time came, that I would know the guy was THE ONE. I didn’t want men in and out of Madisyn and I’s life. I wanted it to be a one and done kind of thing.

And sure enough, I got that message. It wasn’t in any big romantic gesture….it was just in Will’s reassurance that he understood my circumstances and he would be respectful of however I wanted to proceed, if I would simply give him a chance and agree to a date. And so I did. Of course never telling him that we were gonna get married….I have seen what that kind of crazy can do on The Bachelor.

So we began our relationship. He would come and pick me up from work and take me to lunch. We would hang out on the weekends I didn’t have Madisyn, and eventually it was time to introduce him to Madisyn. Now, technically Madisyn already knew him. Madisyn was always with me at church and the events and she knew all the people in my Bible Study. But she knew Will as Mr.Will….not as mommy’s boyfriend.

For our first outing with the 3 of us, Will said he wanted to take us girls on a date. We went and grabbed some pizza and he took us to a movie. Madisyn got to pick, and she picked Enchanted. It was near the end of the movie, when the queen turns into a dragon and Madisyn got scared. Without hesitation she crawled right up into Will’s lap and snuggled him for protection. That was it for me. Would have married him right then and there….

Our relationship progressed super quickly. We said “I love you” probably two months in to our relationship. We took a long romantic weekend trip to Colorado.  And we started talking about marriage probably around the 5 month mark….yup we didn’t waste any time.

That summer my family was having a reunion out in Arizona and my aunt invited Will to come along and meet everyone. I was super excited to be taking another trip with him and then I was also secretly hoping that maybe a proposal would happen. We had been dating for 7 months at the time, and some people thought I was nuts, but I was just so sure he was going to pop the question.

In preparation for the trip I went and got a manicure…because what girl doesn’t want her nails looking good when a ring is placed on her finger? I made sure to pick “cute” outfits for the trip because nothing says practical like wearing a dress and sandals while hiking and visiting the Grand Canyon. And I am pretty sure I even bought a Bride magazine before we even left and left it at my apartment for when I got back. You know, just in case.

The time came for us to leave for Arizona, and we were finally on the plane. Madisyn was settled and watching a movie, and Will turned to me all serious and said he had something important he wanted to give me. I immediately started to freak out. He wanted to propose on the plane? I immediately got red and nervous and started to shake. Will asked me to close my eyes. My heart started pounding harder and harder, and I felt him place something in my hands and then heard him say “Open”…….

And that friends, is where I am going to leave you today. Mean I know, but I promise if you come back next week I will share Part 2 of our love story with you. And that part, is where things really get good.

If you have ever shared your love story, I would LOVE to read it. Leave a comment below with the link. Maybe it’s because it’s close to our anniversary but I just can’t get enough of the mushy love stuff lately. And I love a good love story.