Have you met my man?
This is the two of us this past year on Memorial Day. Dean is the best husband and friend. He’s a great father and a huge support to me and what I want to do. He keeps me going when the going gets tough. The other day, as I was thinking about how much he does for me, I realized that I hadn’t introduced him or shared our story with you yet.
Dean is the best husband and friend I could ask for. He’s a great father and a huge support to me and what I do. He keeps me going when the going gets tough. The other day, as I was thinking about how much he does for me, I realized that I hadn’t introduced him or shared our story with you yet.
The other day, as I was thinking about how much he does for me, I realized that I hadn’t introduced him or shared our story with you yet. Seeing how he’s one of the main reasons this blog exists, I figured it was about time I introduced him to you. He’s great. At least I think so, and I think that you will too!
Meet The Love Of My Life… Our Story
Dean and I have a long history together, as you’re about to see, so below, I’ve created a timeline of the major happenings in our relationship over the years to make it easier for you to see how our relationship has progressed. I’ll also try to briefly describe each of the events on the timeline to give you some more back story if you want to read it. No pressure, though. There’s only a quiz at the end. J/K. 😉
Middle School
We first met in the 8th grade. Dean’s family (parents & 8 brothers and sisters) had just moved here from Pennsylvania. We slowly got to know each other as friends over the year, but as the end of the year got closer, I learned that I wouldn’t see him in high school because he and his siblings would be home-schooled. Bummer… he was a really nice guy… a bit different from a lot of the other guys I knew.
Coffeehouse
My best friend kept inviting me to a new Christian hangout in our town called “The Coffeehouse”. I finally said I’d go mainly because a lot of my friends from church already went and because she said Dean was there. It had been 3 1/2 years since I’d seen him, but I was interested in reconnecting with him as I remembered him fondly from Middle School. The coffeehouse turned out to be great. It was just what I needed. Once my dad had checked the place out and okayed me to continue going on a regular basis, Dean & I got to know each other better over a period of months. Our relationship grew as we grew spiritually and served others. He wasn’t the typical guy I would like, but I think that’s what drew me to him.
HCOP
During the initial months at the coffeehouse, I started going to church at Dean’s church after mine let out. Yes… they had LONG services, but I got to know his parents and siblings a bit better. The summer of our Junior year of high school (4 months after meeting again) his brother Preston and I went off to our local college to participate in a summer program called HCOP to learn more about health professions. We were gone all summer, but we’d ride home together on the weekends. We got to know each other better during that time which I suppose was a great way for Dean’s parents to see what I was really like away from them and Dean. At the end of the summer, Dean’s parents gave him their blessing to make our relationship official (date, court, whatever you want to call it) and get to know each other better. We were “officially” an item and pursuing a relationship that may lead to something more than friendship.
Senior Year of High School
Over the course of our last year of high school – me in public school and he being home-schooled – we grew our relationship and it became apparent to both of us that we wanted to marry each other… someday. My dad was adamant that I go to college and not marry until I’d graduated. A huge bummer for me because I’d of married Dean right out of high school and skipped college altogether, but it was important to my parents that I go so I did it. Plus… Dean was very respectful of my parents (and his parents) wishes. So we went to prom together and graduated together (sort of) and I got ready to head off to college an hour away. In the meantime, he and his dad were starting their own business and so he would be skipping college and going straight to work for his dad.
College
Two years of college went by. I decided I wanted to be a nurse. Business was going great for Dean and his dad. I would come home during the week to go to The Coffeehouse as well as come home every weekend to spend time with my family and his family. It was during that time that my dad decided it would be okay if I started going to church with Dean which was a miracle in my opinion! Now we got to be together even more! Dean would also come down once a week to take me out on a date. Life was good, but I was sick of school and ready to marry my man! Oy!
Camp
The summer of my 2nd year of college, Dean’s brother Preston & I decided to work for a local Children’s Camp that our church supported as a way to make some extra money. After that summer, I went back for my 3rd year of school which was busy, busy, busy! Finally, summer came around again, and Dean proposed to me. That’s a completely different romantic story, and there’s no way I could sum it up quickly. I went back to work at camp that summer, engaged, and excited about planning my wedding!
Graduation & A Wedding
Woo-hoo! Senior year of college went by quickly. I had a job lined up for when I graduated working at our small town ER, and Dean’s parent’s were building us a house on their property so we could live close to their business. All was coming together as planned, but I was STRESSED! I would graduate in May, get married in June, and take my boards to be licensed as a RN in July. There were lots of big things happening and I had a stress ulcer. Needless to say, time went on… all went off smoothly and beautifully. We got married (finally), Dean took me on a surprise honeymoon (another long story), I took my big test and passed, we moved into our house, and I started work as an RN.
Babies, Babies, & More Babies
We originally wanted to wait for 5 years before starting a family. We wanted to have sufficient time to be together, just us, before the responsibility of being a parent came. But… 5 years turned to 3 years and that turned to 1 year. We both were excited about having a baby and we just couldn’t wait any longer. After our 1 year anniversary, we started trying. 3 months later I was pregnant and everyone was so excited! In May of 2008 Judah Scott arrived, followed by Anthony Isaiah in February 2010, Uriah James in December 2011, and Ezrah Daniel in April 2014.
A New Home
This last year, we bought our first house. Don’t get me wrong… I love where we live. I’m sure I’m going to be a big crying mess when we actually move, but it’s time for us to have our own place with more land and space for our boys to grow. We’ve got a lot of work to do on the place, but the plan is to move in this summer or fall. We’ll see. Right now the snow is making it difficult to get a lot done.
That’s All For Now
So that’s it. That’s our relationship summed up with a lot of things left out. I’ll have to fill you all in over time. All I know is that I’ve been so blessed to have met and married a man like Dean. We’ve been married for 6 years, and every year is sweeter than the last. I have to say we’ve had a pretty easy marriage. We’ve both learned a lot about each other, but it’s been a fun journey. I’m looking forward to getting old and gray with my man!
You guys are so sweet together! People say me + my hubby have a cute story.. we met in high school when I joined the band. I played flute and he played bass clarinet. We went on school trips together and I remember EVERY girl was infatuated with him. I was too shy to really get to know him though, but there were moments that we got together to do homework or play music. In my last year of high school though, all my friends knew that I liked him and he had already graduated and was taking classes in the basement of our high school. So I was getting teased to ask him to prom, but I didn’t and I graduated and left to live in another province.
You would think it ends there and that we never saw each other again, but one day I get a phone call and it was him. I had just returned a year later(2001) and was starting to work so he didn’t know where I was in the world, but he managed to find me! We went out for a date and the rest is history.
We got married a year later, 2002 and had a blast for a couple years without kids. We were still young (19 + 20) so kids weren’t on the radar.
So that is my short version… 🙂
Thanks Lisa! I love it! I guess you made an impression on him during high school, and he wanted to find you… no matter where you were! Thanks for sharing!
Such a great story – thanks for sharing! Ours has similar elements. I was a freshman in college and there was a chapel in the basement of my dorm where a nightly service was held. I had been having some health problems, and had been in bed for a few days, but thought I felt up to going down one night. After the service most students usually hung around outside the chapel and visited for awhile, so we waited inside and kept praying until the crowd cleared as I was feeling pretty dizzy and didn’t want to fight through a lot of people.
After it was quiet we stood up to leave and I passed out. My friend shouted for help and Matt (my husband) was the one who was still around, came to help and ended up carrying me up to my room. He stopped by the next day to introduce himself and check on me. We became very good friends and after about a year he asked my dad for permission to date/court me. We were engaged 9 months later and married during Christmas break of my junior year.
Due to fertility issues on my part my doctor had advised us to start trying for a baby right away if we wanted a family – as our window of opportunity would be somewhat limited. I was 8 months pregnant when I walked across the stage at my college graduation.
We’ve been married 8 years now and it has been wonderful. We’ve had hard times, as everyone does (6 miscarriages, the loss of Matt’s father, etc.) but continue to grow closer and have a richer and deeper marriage with each year that passes.
My heart melts! He carried you to your room! Oh, swoon! I love it. I’m such a sucker for romance… lol! Thanks for sharing your story Alex! Your hard work has paid off… you have a beautiful family to show for it!
Our love story is a second marriage for both of us, and has been filled with so much love and joy as well as unbelievable pain and sorrow, and yet we are still together and love each other even more than at the first.
It took me a while after my divorce to realize that, even with 6 children and not being alone, I was lonely. So I started searching for Someone. I did the e-Harmony thing for a few months (I highly recommend it, actually) and tried another couple sites after that. I had a few dates, made a friend, and was contemplating getting serious with someone that I knew wasn’t right for me when I read it: Mark’s profile on yahoo personals. I read it a couple times and then told my sister, “Read this. He’s perfect!” I sent a short message, and then I went on a date with Mr. Not Right that night.
I heard back from him the next day, and we instant messaged throughout the next three days, learning a lot about each other. He said, “So when are you going to come meet me?” I answered, “After you come meet me.” 🙂 I was spending the week at my sister’s, so I was only about 45 minutes away instead of 3 hours, and he was coming to town the next day. Hooray!
We went for a walk around the neighborhood talking of many things. It was like we’d known each other FOREVER, but had finally got to meet. Yeah, pretty much love at first sight. <3 He met my children and had leftovers for lunch with us and my sister's family, too. After he left she told me, "You know, it didn't feel weird at all to have him sitting there with us."
The next afternoon the kids and I bought Papa Murphy's pizza and went to his house, where we played games, they watched a movie, and we spent several hours talking. The next day I went for a ride with him and many more hours talking before having dinner w/ my parents. The next day I was heading home, but first had to see him one more time, and the kids and I ended up sleeping on the floor that night and heading home the next day. We all went back to stay every chance I could get, and we became husband and wife just 3 months after meeting.
Our 8th anniversary is next month. <3 My website link is a series of photos of us together. I haven't updated in a while, as you can tell!
Thanks for sharing Trudy! I’ve heard good things about some of the dating websites out there. It’s great to hear about it working out for someone. Thanks for sharing your story!
Love this! You have such a sweet story! <3
I met my husband in 2004 when I was only 16. My older brother went to Bible College in the city and came home on the weekends. One weekend he brought Justin (my husband) home for "free laundry, free food". I instantly fell in "like" with him! And although he thought I was "wow!", it took a while for him to admit/commit. So for the next 2 years my brother would bring Justin (and other friends) down to the house on weekends and we became good friends. Then in 2006 I went to the same Bible College and we continued our friendship. At the beginning of my second year of college I started 'pursuing' Justin (in really annoying ways) because I had liked him for so long and had a total lack of self control/maturity. I had heard rumors that he liked me, and that was all I needed to justify texting him 24/7. (quite embarrassing to look back on) Once I realized that my actions were pushing him away I knew something had to change…..so I deleted his phone number and got on my knees begging God to take away my feelings for Justin, especially if he wasn't the man God had for me. At that moment the Lord changed my heart. I instantly had different feelings/desires toward Justin….it was amazing! I had come to the point where I realized that I would rather have him as a friend for the rest of my life than to push him away with my feelings and ruin our friendship. Justin noticed the change in me and right about the same time….God changed Justin's heart toward me…….but he thought it was too late. I had already decided to transfer to another Bible College way out in California (academic reasons) and Justin got scared. He thought for sure I'd start dating some surfer dude and totally forget about him. lol But that didn't happen. Long story short – He gave me his phone number before I left for Cali. and asked my Dad if he could admit his feelings to me before I left. 🙂 January '09 he asked me to be his girl friend, I travelled with a singing group from the college that summer, in August we got engaged, and were married in September! We got pregnant on our honeymoon and lost our first baby a month later. Six weeks after that, we found out we were expecting again! Sara Grace was born in August of 2010 🙂 Hana Faith was born August of 2011 🙂 and Titus Timothy was born November of 2012! Wouldn't want to share this BUSY life with anyone else. And I thank the Lord every day for the wonderful man He gave me! <3
Wow Ashley! I love it. What an amazing story of letting something you love go to see if it comes back to you! I’m sorry to hear about your first little one, but I’m glad that God gave you several more afterwards! And I can ditto what you said about not wanting to share this BUSY life with anyone else! I love being a blessed woman! Thanks for sharing your story with me!
Love your story! 🙂
Thanks, Jill!