Happy Valentine's Day

In honor of the holiday devoted solely to love, I wanted to share our love story with you.

In the spring of 2004, I was 25, single and content. I was training for a half-marathon, I was grad school, I hung out with friends. Life was simple. However, my co-worker was on a dating website called Match.com and she hounded me weekly to "get online." I kept saying no - I was happy being single and online dating freaked me out. One afternoon, she called me over to her desk where she had a profile from Match pulled up. She started to scroll through the pictures slowly, telling me that she found this great guy for me - he was 28, had similar hobbies and (in her words), was "a Jesus freak" like me.

Let me tell you a little something - the minute she pulled up the pictures of Matt online I started to swoon. He was so cute. Those big blue eyes, dark hair, and a sort of a wayward artist thing about him. 

Matt might kill me for posting this old picture, but this is him the summer we met. Yowza!

My co-worker kept pestering me about him. Finally I relented. I signed up for the free 3-day trial online and emailed him. A few hours later he replied. After a month of emails, he asked for my number and called me that night (it was a Friday), asking me to a movie. I already had plans so I called him back, said I couldn't make it, and told him that if he wanted to meet me or go on a date, he needed to ask in advance. So he did, and we decided to meet up on a Tuesday after work.

On our first "date", we bought some ice cream and decided to walk a few blocks down to the local park. We walked around the park's lake, talking, laughing and swapping stories. I suggested we get some water (it was early July and summers in NC are HOT - even at night) so we went into a coffee shop and bought some bottled water. Matt asked if I wanted to go home - we'd been together for two hours - but I didn't want to leave him. I was having the best time. So I told him so. He said he didn't want to leave either. We sat in the coffee shop until they closed.

One thing that Matt said that night stuck out to me - he said that he wanted to get to know me first before he'd ask me out on a real date. He said he only wanted to date someone he knew he could marry, that he didn't want to mess around with someones heart. I'd heard this sort of line before, but when Matt said it, looking me right in the eye as he did, I believed him.

When I got home that night, he had already sent me an email asking for another "date." (I keep putting "date" into quotes because he wasn't calling them dates - he kept saying "hanging out".) We went to a concert and it was great. Then he asked me to go hiking that Saturday. Throughout the week he emailed me multiple times a day.

Saturday we spent the afternoon hiking. Although I was training for a 1/2 marathon, this hike wore me out. It was super humid that day, it was straight uphill and Matt was practically running up the trail, all the while asking me question after question about my life, my childhood, my job and my friends. By the time we got to the top, I was soaked and exhausted. Even though I don't love hiking, I had a great time and didn't want it to end. I was continually impressed with him - his character, his passion, his ambition. He was not afraid to be a true man of God and to show it.

We hung out more that week and each time was wonderful. I really liked him and hoped he'd ask me on a real date soon. After two weeks of hanging out, he asked me to meet him at the same park one evening. We sat in the amphitheatre overlooking the lake and talked and then he launched into a speech about how he really enjoyed getting to know me and thought I was great, but he only wanted to date someone he knew was marriage potential. My heart sank. I thought he was telling me that he didn't want to date me... but then he took my hand and said, "So I'd like to date you."

I started laughing in disbelief and replied, "Date you? Like be your girlfriend?" He nodded his head and I said yes. In the first few weeks of dating, Matt kept dropping hints about getting married, saying things like, "We should hang out with married couples since we're going to get married." and starting sentences with "When we get married..." Finally one night I asked him if he was being serious and he said, "Look I told you in the beginning that I would only date someone if I knew I wanted to marry them. And I want to marry you. You're the one."

And I knew he was the one for me.

A week later we were shopping for rings and he was secretly asking for my father's blessing. A month into dating, Matt asked me to dinner, told me to wear cute dress and heels - he showed up in a shirt and tie, and drove us to the very park where we first met, the park where he had asked me to be his girlfriend. He suggested we take a walk before dinner, and started leading me towards the amphitheatre, which sits on a small island in the middle of the park's lake. As we approached the bridge I noticed candles across the ledge and pink rose petals on the ground. My heart started racing and I looked up at Matt with wide eyes and asked, "What's going on?" He smiled and said, "We're having dinner." We followed the candle lit path to a table set for two on the island, candles and roses everywhere.

And then he proposed. I can't remember anything he said because I was in shock (he actually typed it all out on a sheet of paper which is now framed in our house), but I screamed yes and kissed him.

The night we got engaged. So happy!

Our engagement photo. I can't believe how short my hair was!

7 months later we were married, and we'll celebrate six years of marriage in March!

March 26, 2005

 What I remember most about our story is not the details of our "dates" or the things we talked about - what I remember is that it was easy to be around him. There were no complications, no drama, it was just peaceful, fun and he pursued me in a way I had not been pursued before - as a woman of God, totally interested in my character and my faith, not just my looks and charm. Matt was different than every other man I knew - he was set apart. And I fell deeply in love with him because of it.

We fell in love quickly, got engaged quickly, got married quickly. When you know, you know. And I knew he was the one for me. Just like he knew I was the one for him.



Now we're ready for Baby M to fall in love with too!



P.S. Your support has been amazing. If you can, keep voting once a day, every day. Thank you!!!