Andy and I officially met in August 2009 at my cousin's "Welcome Home from Afghanistan" party. I say "officially" because he knew who I was for several years (he graduated high school with one of my cousins and was friends with the other cousin), however, I had never known who he was. My cousin and I also worked together at the local grocery store and Andy came into the store often to either pick up my cousin or go through my line. So essentially, Andy and I crossed each other's paths many many times without even realizing! I suppose it's not likely that we would have realized that we were destined to be together despite all these interactions because he is almost 7 years older than I am. That would have been really awkward when I was 12 and he was 19. Ha!
Anyway, Andy and I chatted at the party for quite some time. He was so incredibly interested in everything I had to say - which, let's face it, many guys don't actually listen and ask questions. They are usually too busy checking things out if you know what I mean. I had kissed too many frogs prior to meeting Andy and honestly I assumed he was just another frog. But there was something about him, something different, and I couldn't quite pinpoint what that was. I wasn't really mentally ready to "meet someone" as I had just gotten out of a relationship and had just lost my job the week prior. So when it was time to leave we said "nice to meet you" and went our separate ways.
It wasn't until December that I heard from Andy again. Apparently I had some sad Facebook statuses around that time and Andy would occasionally provide words of encouragement. I thought nothing of it. Then one day he sent me a message asking if I'd be interested in going out sometime. I agreed to but I didn't think too much into it because I was recently considering moving back to Virginia (where my mom lives). I wasn't having any luck looking for a full time job and nothing else made me want to stay in Illinois. We went out for dinner on December 29th at On the Border ( the original plan was sushi but I got off work too late and it was closing). Needless to say, we talked and laughed all night. From that day on we practically spent every day together. He made amazing vegetarian dinners for me, always drove out to see me, sent me flowers, brought me to the Lady Gaga concert for my 25th birthday (a week into seeing each other) and made me laugh constantly.
After dating for about a month or so I knew my days of frog kissing were over. I had finally found my prince! I decided not to move back to Virginia and we moved in together 6 months later.
In September 2010, Andy and I were spending a Sunday afternoon riding our bikes and started to discuss marriage. We had this discussion many times before and it was actually kind of humorous at this point. Andy had been married before and had been through it all once before and always made the point that women should start asking men to marry them - of course I disagreed. I wasn't sure why I disagreed, it just didn't "seem right." Woman aren't supposed to do that! We have to sit up in our castle and wait for our Prince Charming to come rescue us and ask for our hand in marriage, right??
This conversation continued all day until we were waiting for our sushi take out order. I wasn't going to budge on my opinion of the matter. But the more I thought about it, I realized he was right. What's so wrong with the woman asking? Yes it's unconventional, but should it matter in the grand scheme of things when two people are in love and want to spend their lives together?? So in the middle of the conversation I turned to Andy and said "Will you marry me?" Immediately he smiled and said "YES!"
I'm not sure what I expected to happen at this point. Especially since he responded so quickly and enthusiastically. I did ask and he said yes, right?? We laughed about it over sushi and decided it was official. We didn't have rings but those were just material promises, anyway. To make things even more unconventional, Andy decided he was going to make our rings. People thought we were crazy, but we didn't care! We wanted to have a small beach wedding and a lengthy honeymoon sometime within the next year or so - but even our wedding proved to be unconventional.
During the time of our engagement Andy had lost his job and was unemployed for about four months making it impossible for us to save money for our wedding. His employer also fought the unemployment and won. In addition, I was having some health issues and without health insurance, the bills from the immediate care center made it even more impossible to save.
Luckily, Andy got a job at the end of January and was eligible for insurance after 30 days of employment. We joked and teased about getting married for the health insurance but didn't put too much stock into it.
It wasn't until (I think it was Andy's mom) that suggested we get married at the courthouse because I needed to be seen by the doctor without breaking our nonexistent bank. We thought about it and decided it would be best to get married at the courthouse and then continue to save for a beach wedding hopefully in the following year. We decided to get married on March 25, 2011 and have a reception sometime in the summer.
A few days before our wedding, Andy finished our rings. He sent me on a scavenger hunt throughout the house one night when I came home from work and proposed to me with the ring. It was so sweet and creative.
I decided to wear a dress that I already owned to get married in and did my own hair and makeup. I hadn't planned on getting flowers but my mother in law to be surprised me with a beautiful bouquet! We were joined by my dad and his wife and also Andy's parents and brother. Since we made the decision to get married on such short notice, my mom and brother were unable to make it, but I figured that it would be okay since we were planning on a beach wedding sometime in the near future anyway.
The judge said we had the best kiss she's ever seen :)
We had dinner with our parents after the wedding and on our way home Andy decided to drive around town for some reason. I was exhausted and couldn't figure out why we needed to drive around and tour his old neighborhood. By the time we got back to our house I realized it was because he was stalling. Andy planned a surprise reception for me at our house with some of our friends and family members, it was perfect! Andy's family members decorated our house while we were away. Once again, it was perfect.
He wanted me to feel like a bride since our whole experience was already so unconventional and it meant so much to me. He even had a cake made for the occasion with a beach theme and ordered a special cake topper. It's hard to see, but the groom is grabbing the bride's butt!
And like any other wedding cake, we both ended up wearing it all over our faces.
So that's the story of our little unconventional fairy tale. Once again, people thought we were crazy but in reality the end result was the same as any conventional way of getting married. We are just two people in love who want to get married. It didn't matter how or where we tied the knot, we made a pledge to each other and that's how it should be.
Really cute story :) Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteAwwww I wish could follow you on here :) But there's always FB.
ReplyDeleteP.S. Love your Love Story!