Today is our one year anniversary, and in honor of that I am copying "Our Story" that was published on our wedding site. Hope you enjoy!
Our story begins at Springhouse Apartments in Newport News, VA. Jeff had moved there in 2005 when he was stationed at Fort Eustis and I moved there in 2006. We lived one building away from each other. In the mornings before work I would walk my dog Chester to the corner and back. While doing this I would see this very handsome guy in an Army uniform walking to his car. I didn't have the courage to say anything to him; all I could muster was a smile and maybe a hello. It was months and months before I would have the courage to really talk to him. And then it really wasn't much talking. One morning while walking Chester, Jeff (or Hot Soldier Boy as I called him to my friends) came walking out and for some reason Chester bolted and ran right towards Jeff. Inside I was cheering Chester on and on the other I was so nervous because I had such a crush on this guy. Chester got to Jeff and was jumping up and down and wagging his tail and just all over Jeff. Jeff bent down and started petting Chester and all I could do was stand there with this little school girl grin on my face. Jeff looked at me and said, "We need to stop meeting like this." All I could do was say "Yeah". Once I walked off I thought to myself what an idiot! You had the chance to talk to him but blew it! It was awhile, maybe months, before I got the chance to talk to him again.
In the meantime, I had befriended Jeff’s neighbor, April. I was having a party and really wanted to invite April, however I hadn’t seen her in over a week. A couple of days before the party I ran into Jeff as he was walking to his car, I stopped him and asked if he had seen his neighbor and that I was having a party and wanted to invite her. He said “no”. I then told him that he could come too if he wanted. He asked if he needed to bring anything and I told him “no”. He got in his car and I went on with my walk. As I reached the corner he stops his car and tells me his name and asks for mine. After he drove away my heart was racing, I thought it was going to come out of my chest. I couldn’t believe that I had gotten the courage to talk to “hot soldier boy”, I mean Jeff. I immediately called my close friends they were so proud of my courage. My party came and I was praying that he would come. As the night went on, I found myself staring at the door of the club but he never came. I was a little crushed but I kept telling myself that it was his loss.
A couple of weeks had passed and I hadn’t seen him at all. I was kind of glad because I didn’t know what I would say if I did see him. I was still disappointed that he hadn’t come to my party but then things changed. One morning on my walk I saw his car and it was parked in a handicap parking spot and it had a handicap tag in the windshield. I was shocked, what happened? Did something happen at work, did he get into an accident on his motorcycle, how bad was he hurt? I wanted to go and knock on his door and find out if he was ok but I thought he would think I was this crazy girl. A week or so passed and I still hadn’t seen him and never could get the courage to knock on his door. Then one morning I see him, he is on crutches and has a huge cast on his leg. I was relieved that it wasn’t something more serious. I stop him and ask him what happened and he tells me that it was a softball accident...we flirt back and forth with each other a bit and then he leaves. That evening I talk to April and she tells me that he has a MySpace account and that he is on her page…so once I get home I do like any other female that is interested in a guy…I scour his MySpace for info about him. I don’t get the nerve to send him an email that night. I wait until the next night and send him an email. A few minutes later and I get a response back! And he is flirting with me in the message. We keep flirting back and forth. I am freaking out at this point. I am calling all my friends, I am talking so fast and my voice is so high pitched that they can barely make out what I am saying. After several emails we exchange phone numbers. As soon as he gets mine he sends me a message. After that we talk for an hour or more and he is talking about just dropping by my apartment. He keeps telling me that he is coming down but I don’t believe him. Until he said he is staring at my stairs. I look out the door and there he stands! He comes in and we talk until about 2 am. After he leaves I am so excited that I can barely sleep.
For the next several weeks we see each other almost daily, we have our first date (Richmond Nascar race), we introduce each other to our friends. We find that the more we hang out the more we have in common and the more we realize how much we like each other. I start realizing that this could be the perfect guy for me. We have such great conversations, we make each other laugh, he takes me for dinner and he doesn’t think it is weird that I only order dessert. After several weeks he invites me to visit his Grandparents in New Jersey. Such a big step considering we weren’t officially boyfriend/girlfriend. That is until that trip to New Jersey. The day we arrived back from that trip we became inseparable. Within a month of that trip we were actually making long term plans with each other. We start making plans to move to Texas after he separates from the Army. And within two months of the trip we move in together. Four months later we pack up everything we own and move half way across the country. We didn’t have jobs we just had each other and the belief that we could make it down here on our own.
Jeff and I have been together less than two years and in that time we have went through a lot of things, from injuries, surgeries, medical scares, layoffs, two moves, separation from the Army, new jobs, and deaths in the family. We have had more stressful situations in our first two years then some couples do in 20 years and we made it through them and we are a stronger couple because of them. Although we have had so much stress there isn’t a day that goes by that we don’t laugh. We keep the lines of communication open and share our thoughts and feelings, good or bad, with each other. We are each other’s biggest fans. We are there to give encouragement. We are there to just listen. We know that these are some of the things that keep a marriage strong and that if we continue on the road that we are on we will have long and happy marriage.
