I have been a little behind in my blog updates. Mentally I have them written, but it is taking me a lot longer to find the time to write them online. Austin and I celebrated 8 years of marriage last month. I honestly can't believe how quickly it has gone by. I thought I would share with you (since many of you don't know) the "story" of how we met.
I remember the days when I would watch a Romantic Comedy movie and hope that one day I would be lucky enough to live that "dream" with somebody. And 12 years ago, I went to a Young Life leaders meeting and met several people (one being Austin). I remember that day so vividly, he was sitting down playing cards with a blue baseball hat. He played cards the whole time and didn't talk to anyone......while I was socializing, talking to everyone!:) I don't think we said a word to each other that night, but on my way home, I told my friend Emily that for some reason I had a feeling that I thought Austin was the guy I was going to marry. This is the part of the story when Austin would cut in and say that I started to "stalk" him until he would marry me!:) But luckily I am telling the story so I can tell it my way!
I became friends with many of Austin's friends before I spent any time with Austin (mainly because he was so quiet and introverted). But through time we got to know each other and hang out on occasions. I think it was several months after we originally met that a few people decided to go spelunking at midnight. I offered to drive, and as we were pulling out of the driveway, Austin came out and said he was coming. So, we squeezed 6 people into my Ford Tempo. We got to the cave (in the middle of NO WHERE) and I thought of this brilliant idea. I would take the car key and tie it to my shoe, so, that I wouldn't have to carry around my key chain through the caves and possibly lose it. So, I tied the key to my shoe lace and thought nothing of it. We enjoyed the spelunking late at night and we were at a moment when we all turned off our flashlights to enjoy the moment of the stillness of the cave, when everyone heard a word that is not in my normal vocabulary! It sounded much worse with the echo too!:) Well, that was the moment that I realized that I grabbed the wrong key. I had my dorm key tied to my shoe and my car keys were safely in my locked car! Not my brightest moment in my life....but I like to think it all happened for a reason!
Well, we scurried out of the cave and had to decide what to do (this was pre-cellphone days). So, two people decided they would walk to the closest house (several miles away). This left a lot of time of waiting and led to a great opportunity for Austin and I to talk one-on-one for the first time. We both asked very deep questions and learned a lot about each other and our views on life. And this is where I believe we started the pathway to our wonderful relationship.
We began e-mailing each other and hanging out more (but still with other friends). Then during the summer, on August 1, 1997, we went on our first date. Austin asked me to date him and I knew it was a very serious relationship at that point because Austin had never dated anyone before me. So, I knew his intentions were for the purpose of marriage. Two years later he proposed and then a year later we got married.
I felt so lucky that we were so different, yet so perfect for each other. Our differences truly make each other better people. He had so many wonderful qualities, and they exceeded all expectations I had for a husband. I truly believe we have a special love that very few people are lucky to experience. I hope that Austin and I are lucky enough to grow old together, but if anything happens, I will always feel very blessed to have experienced this kind of love and happiness with somebody. As I said in the beginning, I used to watch romantic comedy movies and dream that one day, I would be lucky enough to experience that kind of love. And now, I watch romantic comedies and think of how blessed I am because our love is real and always growing.
Marriage is never easy, but I love that we both are willing to work on our marriage and make it better. I love watching the transformation each year as we go through different experiences in life. But I love that we are always moving in the same direction. I feel so secure in his love and I love that we laugh together. It really has been the best 8 years of my life.
I remember the days when I would watch a Romantic Comedy movie and hope that one day I would be lucky enough to live that "dream" with somebody. And 12 years ago, I went to a Young Life leaders meeting and met several people (one being Austin). I remember that day so vividly, he was sitting down playing cards with a blue baseball hat. He played cards the whole time and didn't talk to anyone......while I was socializing, talking to everyone!:) I don't think we said a word to each other that night, but on my way home, I told my friend Emily that for some reason I had a feeling that I thought Austin was the guy I was going to marry. This is the part of the story when Austin would cut in and say that I started to "stalk" him until he would marry me!:) But luckily I am telling the story so I can tell it my way!
I became friends with many of Austin's friends before I spent any time with Austin (mainly because he was so quiet and introverted). But through time we got to know each other and hang out on occasions. I think it was several months after we originally met that a few people decided to go spelunking at midnight. I offered to drive, and as we were pulling out of the driveway, Austin came out and said he was coming. So, we squeezed 6 people into my Ford Tempo. We got to the cave (in the middle of NO WHERE) and I thought of this brilliant idea. I would take the car key and tie it to my shoe, so, that I wouldn't have to carry around my key chain through the caves and possibly lose it. So, I tied the key to my shoe lace and thought nothing of it. We enjoyed the spelunking late at night and we were at a moment when we all turned off our flashlights to enjoy the moment of the stillness of the cave, when everyone heard a word that is not in my normal vocabulary! It sounded much worse with the echo too!:) Well, that was the moment that I realized that I grabbed the wrong key. I had my dorm key tied to my shoe and my car keys were safely in my locked car! Not my brightest moment in my life....but I like to think it all happened for a reason!
Well, we scurried out of the cave and had to decide what to do (this was pre-cellphone days). So, two people decided they would walk to the closest house (several miles away). This left a lot of time of waiting and led to a great opportunity for Austin and I to talk one-on-one for the first time. We both asked very deep questions and learned a lot about each other and our views on life. And this is where I believe we started the pathway to our wonderful relationship.
We began e-mailing each other and hanging out more (but still with other friends). Then during the summer, on August 1, 1997, we went on our first date. Austin asked me to date him and I knew it was a very serious relationship at that point because Austin had never dated anyone before me. So, I knew his intentions were for the purpose of marriage. Two years later he proposed and then a year later we got married.
I felt so lucky that we were so different, yet so perfect for each other. Our differences truly make each other better people. He had so many wonderful qualities, and they exceeded all expectations I had for a husband. I truly believe we have a special love that very few people are lucky to experience. I hope that Austin and I are lucky enough to grow old together, but if anything happens, I will always feel very blessed to have experienced this kind of love and happiness with somebody. As I said in the beginning, I used to watch romantic comedy movies and dream that one day, I would be lucky enough to experience that kind of love. And now, I watch romantic comedies and think of how blessed I am because our love is real and always growing.
Marriage is never easy, but I love that we both are willing to work on our marriage and make it better. I love watching the transformation each year as we go through different experiences in life. But I love that we are always moving in the same direction. I feel so secure in his love and I love that we laugh together. It really has been the best 8 years of my life.
I love you, Austin. Happy Anniversary!
1 comment:
I remember going spelunking with you, but it must have been the next time because you guys said you had been there before. I can't believe we did that - crazy! I'll never forget, Jamie, when you crawled into that hole and I was like, "You've GOT to be kidding me!!" and you said to just follow you in and I did... nuts.
I also remember when I heard that you started dating while I was on summer project in Paris. And then Dave went back for your wedding while our team was in the Middle East. Was that really 8 years ago??
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