The Start of Our Story

I had just sworn off men the month prior to meeting my man on Match.com - as ironic as it was, the "It's okay to look" phrase on their commercials really caught my attention. My success with men was nonexistent and I decided to take a break from them. I kept seeing the Match.com commercials and finally gave in. I looked! Within the first couple of days, I found Andrew. Apparently, he found my profile first and didn't make any move because he thought I was out of his league. WRONG! As untrue as it was, I contacted him first with a WINK. He then e-mailed me and never stopped.The interesting part about our story is that Andrew was in Iraq serving in the Marine Corps at the time. He had been there for a total of 6 months and had about one more month to go. We emailed back and forth about 3 to 4 times a day for a month. We were able to talk to on the phone several times but most of our contact was via email. We knew that we had much in common and were eager to meet with the hopes that something would come of this long relationship through correspondence. No commitment was made, just plans to meet and see where this connection would go. I went on a cruise to Mexico with my family for a week and in that time, Andrew arrived safely back from Iraq. When I returned we had planned as two strangers to meet at the airport so he could give me a ride home. The first time I saw my future husband was a feeling of “home.” He was and still is very handsome and such a gentlemen. We had a few big long hugs and looks of “we must be crazy” and then headed to his car. In the car we were joking around and he went to give me a high-five. I, being the very forward woman that I am, took his hand and didn’t let go. To his surprise, it just fit. He then took me to my apartment, brought my bags in, and we just sat in awe of this strange and ironic situation. It was like we had been together for much longer than just a couple short hours. I offered to get him a glass of water and he accepted, following me into the kitchen. In the kitchen he took me in his arms and gave me one of his world famous hugs, followed by a silent slow dance on the cold linoleum kitchen floor. I thought he was making “the move” and was going in to kiss me. Boy, I was wrong! So I kissed him. At this point, he knew I was a take-charge kind of girl. We spent a few more hours in my apartment discussing the “status” of our relationship and how fast all of this was going. It didn’t matter and we accepted the blessings that we had been given, in meeting each other no matter how crazy it was. The next day, we decided to spend time together doing normal things that a boyfriend and girlfriend would do and go on our first date. We had lunch at Mimi’s Café (our favorite restaurant) and then ran a few errands. As we were driving in the car, nonchalantly and so sincere, he told me that he knew it was too soon and was unsure as to how I would react, but he loved me. The feeling was mutual and I told him “I love you too.” We then discussed what was supposed to happen next. With this being the first week of May and Andrew starting school at the end of August, we needed to get married. And married fast! We bought my engagement ring the following day and he proposed 3 days after that in a beautiful garden, filled with an array of beautifully colored flowers and several gorgeous waterfalls. We were engaged and wedding planning for three months. In those agonizing three months we definitely considered eloping to Vegas a few times. But we managed to make it through. We were married and sealed for time and all eternity in the Portland, Oregon Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints on July 24th, 2008. It was the most wonderful and memorable day of our lives. We then honeymooned in Honolulu and cruised the islands of Hawaii. After a week of relaxation and the beauty of Hawaii, we returned to civilization to start our new life together as husband and wife. We are our own little family now, with a unique story of how it all began. It isn’t so much as a modern day fairytale as we work hard through the bad days and give thanks for the good ones. His strengths are clearly my weaknesses and my strengths are his. It works! We take care of each other. In short, we met online and then in person a month later. We kissed on our first meeting, bought a ring two days later, engaged three days after that and then got married three months following. We want to thank Match.com for giving us the tools and helping us in finding our eternal companions. We love each other very much and without using Match.com we would still be looking for each other in all the wrong places.