Wedding Wednesday: How We Met

Now for my normal Wednesday post. Not much going on this week in the wedding world so I thought I'd share the story behind the wedding. Not the engagement story, I've already shared that here. I'm talking how we met.

When I was younger I dreamed of a wedding. The dress, the venue, the flowers, the groom and while I may have had everything planned out, I never thought that I'd be engaged at 22 and married at 24. In my dreams I was always a young bride, but maybe that's just because I want to be a young mother (I'm talking kids done before 30). I know many women are waiting until they're a little bit older to get married, but really 24 isn't that outlandish or unrealistic. So what's really the crazy part? I met the man I'm going to marry when I was 17, and even then I knew he'd be the one.

In high school I was always described as being super picky. People didn't understand why someone could be so well liked (I was pretty popular in school) and not have/want a boyfriend. I guess I was just never into dating just to date. I wasn't allowed to date until I was 16 anyway (thanks Mom and Dad...) but I always felt like I wanted to date someone who was a nice person, someone who cared more about others than himself or what the "cool" kids thought of him and of course fitting my mold of what was attractive helped too (tall, dark, and handsome anyone?). I met one boy like this and we dated for about 6 months which of course felt like an eternity back then. Although I wasn't happy about it at the time, I'm so glad now that boy took me to Longhorn's and broke up with me (I couldn't eat there for like a year afterwards).

About a year after this break-up (I didn't date at all during that time, because I was looking for quality) I was working at Moe's Southwest Grill, my first real job, when several members of the Reinhardt College (now University) baseball team strolled into Moe's. I was a Senior in high school. To say that I thought they were cute is an understatement. There's honestly nothing more attractive to me than a boy in a baseball uniform. They were friendly and flirty and when they were leaving one of them asked me what days I worked and told me he was only coming back on the days I would be there. This boy was particularly adorable. I immediately rushed home to tell my mom. Who of course thought I was being silly and told me not to get too excited.

And I didn't, until that boy came back every week for two months. He hardly ever talked to me, but he still came in. Eventually, he overheard me talking about how I had tickets to the Opening Day of Braves baseball. He came to the counter and asked me if I had an extra ticket. It turned out that I did. But I wasn't allowed to take him. My mom said no. She didn't know this boy and he was way too old for me (he was 19). The game passed and I went with someone else. A few weeks later that boy strolled back into Moe's with his teammates and asked me why I hadn't taken him to the Braves game. We actually began talking after this, texting late into the night and he eventually asked me on a date (in a text message, I know that's super lame but I was 17). Instead of asking my mom, I asked my dad for permission this time. He actually agreed, saying that I'd be going off to college in a few months and we'd never last anyway. So, we went on our first date on April 17, 2008. It wasn't a Braves game but we did make it to one a few weeks later.

As you've probably already guessed, this boy was Brad. We've been in love since May 2008. I don't remember the exact day or moment that we started saying this but I know it was within a month of the time we started dating. Maybe it didn't make an impact because it seems so natural to say that to Brad. I really feel like God designed Brad for me. He's tall, dark (haired), and handsome. He's funny, he's caring, he always knows just what to say when I'm sad, he gives the best hugs and I love the way my hand fits in his. We're just alike in so many ways but different too. He's much more relaxed than I am and more level-headed which helps me a lot when I get anxious or freak out. We were together for over 5 years when we got engaged and will have been together for almost 6 1/2 years when we get married. In that time we've never broken up and I've had the time of my life. I can't wait to see what else God has in store for us.

First Braves Game. Why are these pictures always so bad?...

My HS graduation.

Our first vacation, 2009 (with my family)

Us at his sister Allison's wedding.

Brad's Senior Night

Vacation in Charlotte (before we moved there).

Vacation in Charleston, SC

 My College Graduation



Proposal

We've had quite the (long) love story. I can't wait to watch it while it continues. Oh, and one of my favorite parts of our love story is where we met. My parents, who've been married for 26 years, also met at a restaurant.