If you haven’t read any of the prior editions you can catch up by reading this, this, this and this.
When we left off I had just moved back to IL after spending almost 7 years living in Germany. I moved back Feb. 12, 2004… I wanted to be back in time for my little sister K’s 16th birthday. I was also back for Valentine’s Day and let me tell you that was one that sucked big time!
I had to find a job. It was a little harder than I expected, because the schooling that I received over there didn’t quite equate to a college degree over here. I ended up working at Swarovski, because 1) I needed a job and 2) I sure did know retail. Working there had its perks, I was able to get lots of jewelry for cheap (I hardly ever wear any of it now… how sad) and it was a great place to get gifts, not to mention I got along really well with most of my co-workers.
The summer after I moved back I decided to give dating a try again. This time I went online… I figured if my mom could meet her boyfriend online, well then I could too. So, I logged on to Match.com and tried my luck. I met a few people… some good, some… not so much. After about 2 months though I called it quits and decided to just let things happen (okay so what did it was that one guy I had dated for a few weeks dumped me on my birthday… ouch). That fall my mom and her boyfriend (they have since gotten engaged) bought a house together and basically moved down the street from where she was living. My mom kept her house and I was allowed to live in it… all I had to do was get it ready for the family that was going to be visiting from Germany (being the procrastinator that I am, well… it got done before they came and lets leave it at that).
Shortly before Valentine’s Day 2005, I decided to go back to match.com. I was bored one night and sent out a few “winks”. I figured nothing would come of them seeing that I was sending them out a few days before Valentine’s Day (that was like screaming “I’m desperate and lonely to the guys”). To my surprise, about 10 days later, I got an email back from the sarcastic guy with the cute dimples… we emailed back and forth a few times, he grew up in the town I did and went to the rivaling high school. After talking on the phone a few times we decided to meet for drinks. I was so nervous that night… but talking to him was like talking to an old friend (even though he was in interview mode and grilling me) and the time just flew by. We made plans to go out again two days later, but the next day he called and we met as soon as I left work.
Long story short… I knew within a week that I had met the man that I was going to marry… I remember telling that to K one day while getting ready. It was just that he felt like home and that was something I hadn’t felt in any other relationship I’d had. I loved that we could talk about anything and everything and with the exception of one day, we saw each other everyday that first month. Then things got a little complicated… we both had weddings to attend, family and junk, but we eventually got it straightened out. I moved in with him in late June and in October we were house hunting… he had accepted a job in one of the NW suburbs and the commute would have been insane had we stayed where we were. It was such a scary decision to make… I mean here we had been together just over 6 months and already we were buying a house (well townhome)!! Not to mention we had to find our new home within a weekend and close on it within 2 weeks!! It was a crazy, crazy time.
Since then we’ve grown even closer… if that’s at all possible (we’ve spent less than 10 days apart in just over 4 years). Marriage was never a big subject, because we both knew that one day we would be married. In December of 2007 we found out that we were becoming a family and after the initial shock wore off (note to self never wake a man up by telling him your pregnant), he was very excited. We had a little scare right after Christmas and I landed in the ER for an evening (allowing me to catch a glimpse of our little peanut); thankfully everything turned out ok. In April he proposed and in July we drove to the courthouse and eloped. Neither one of us wanted a big wedding and it really wasn’t a big deal to us. In fact it’s a running joke here in our house that he “bought” me for $30.
Three short weeks later, after a routine appointment with my doctor we found out we were to become parents the next day. If you want you can read about it here. Two weeks after that I started blogging and the rest is blogstory.