Thanks for humoring me. I promise this is the last installment.
Now that the Captain and I are married, I feel like I answer the question, "how did you meet" quite frequently. And lately, people seem interested in the how-I-got-to-Virginia part. Which, after telling the short version of the story again last night, I realized I totally left out. We were both very against dating long distance, and the Captain about 100% more against the idea than I am. At the beginning of our non-dating, long distance "friendship" he started making comments like, "It's too bad that you live in Utah. Just a shame that we won't be able to see where this could go." He considers the first hang out on the Mall to be our first date, but it's still like pulling teeth to get him to admit that we were "dating" before he came back from Iraq and we were actually living in the same city.
I'd have to search back through emails and chats to find when the tune of the conversation switched and I started talking about the possibility of relocation. Maybe September, maybe August. But this conversation happened September 23rd. I had started sending my resume out to job postings online, but I think I was more than testing the waters here. Please excuse the bad grammar, it was a gchat and very late.
Love Story: Part 3 - The End of the Beginning
Time to wrap up this novel.
Upon returning to life in Utah, working for $10 an hour—mind you, the Captain and I continued to text through the weekend. Monday morning, after a text that I guess he thought would be easier to answer in a real conversation, he called me. I think that was the first time we spoke on the phone. I was getting ready for work and, thanks to the two-hour time difference, he was already at work and between patients. We communicated sporadically via text, facebook and phone the next couple weeks, but he still talks about the time that I “answered on a date”. I didn’t really answer the phone, but I saw that he was calling and made an excuse to go out to my car so I could call him back. Looking back, I guess that wasn’t very nice to the guy I was out with, but it was a weird situation anyway (he was crashing at the house of a guy I had gone out with a couple weeks before, and another guy who I had some history with came over while we were making dinner and lingered for awhile—dating in the small Mormon world can get quite strange and complicated).
Upon returning to life in Utah, working for $10 an hour—mind you, the Captain and I continued to text through the weekend. Monday morning, after a text that I guess he thought would be easier to answer in a real conversation, he called me. I think that was the first time we spoke on the phone. I was getting ready for work and, thanks to the two-hour time difference, he was already at work and between patients. We communicated sporadically via text, facebook and phone the next couple weeks, but he still talks about the time that I “answered on a date”. I didn’t really answer the phone, but I saw that he was calling and made an excuse to go out to my car so I could call him back. Looking back, I guess that wasn’t very nice to the guy I was out with, but it was a weird situation anyway (he was crashing at the house of a guy I had gone out with a couple weeks before, and another guy who I had some history with came over while we were making dinner and lingered for awhile—dating in the small Mormon world can get quite strange and complicated).
Yoga for Valentine's
I wanted to share a bit about my experience this morning. Our entire yoga practice today was dedicated to opening our hearts and I absolutely loved it. Each pose and every twist encouraged a lifting up and out. I got into the strongest "head stand" (which you don't really use your head at all for, it's all forearms and upper body) in my whole yogi lifetime. Very excited about that.
Love Story: Part 2 - A Few Firsts
Now, where were we?
My clothes dried just as the party started. I had only gotten about an hour of sleep the night before and I was literally falling asleep mid-conversation. Not my finest social moment to say the least. At the earliest break in conversation, I made my way to the door that led to the basement stairs where I had seen several beds earlier. I just needed to sleep for a little while.
Alas, my plans were derailed when someone grabbed my arm and asked me where I was going. It was the soldier. "Downstairs, I'm falling asleep and I've got to take a nap." "No you're not," was his response followed by something about how he and his friend would be entertaining and keep me awake. At this point my thoughts were so incoherent that I couldn't fight it so I attempted to make conversation. Besides, he was entertaining and a bit charming and leaving for a war zone in a few days for goodness' sake. I was, however, conscious enough to know that my sentences were not making any sense and it wasn't long before I was saved by a petite, mouse of a girl who intercepted our conversation. I don't know how people do it, and maybe I've done it myself, but who steps in between two people in the middle of a conversation and totally takes over? She began to pry into how he was feeling about his upcoming move. He shot me the, "I'm so sorry, I have no idea what to do here" look to which I gave him the "Oh, no worries, I'm totally fine" look and graciously and gratefully continued my journey to an unmade twin bed that smelled of boy and basement but I didn't care. I lay down and listened as the volume of the party above me quickly faded into nothingness.
My clothes dried just as the party started. I had only gotten about an hour of sleep the night before and I was literally falling asleep mid-conversation. Not my finest social moment to say the least. At the earliest break in conversation, I made my way to the door that led to the basement stairs where I had seen several beds earlier. I just needed to sleep for a little while.
Alas, my plans were derailed when someone grabbed my arm and asked me where I was going. It was the soldier. "Downstairs, I'm falling asleep and I've got to take a nap." "No you're not," was his response followed by something about how he and his friend would be entertaining and keep me awake. At this point my thoughts were so incoherent that I couldn't fight it so I attempted to make conversation. Besides, he was entertaining and a bit charming and leaving for a war zone in a few days for goodness' sake. I was, however, conscious enough to know that my sentences were not making any sense and it wasn't long before I was saved by a petite, mouse of a girl who intercepted our conversation. I don't know how people do it, and maybe I've done it myself, but who steps in between two people in the middle of a conversation and totally takes over? She began to pry into how he was feeling about his upcoming move. He shot me the, "I'm so sorry, I have no idea what to do here" look to which I gave him the "Oh, no worries, I'm totally fine" look and graciously and gratefully continued my journey to an unmade twin bed that smelled of boy and basement but I didn't care. I lay down and listened as the volume of the party above me quickly faded into nothingness.
Love Story: Part 1 - Pregame
Our wedding photos are on their way, so I figured I better start this gig before I get so backed up I don't know what to do with myself.
As my family all learned at our rehearsal dinner, I have no gift for parsimony and my version of the story is incredibly detailed. I get it from my mother, so you can blame her (love you mom!). And so it begins.
As my family all learned at our rehearsal dinner, I have no gift for parsimony and my version of the story is incredibly detailed. I get it from my mother, so you can blame her (love you mom!). And so it begins.
So Nice To Come home To!
Last Sunday I wore my Brooks Brothers light blue no-iron button-up shirt to church. It's a favorite, (1) because it's a great shirt and (2) because I got such a good deal on it...$39, considering the full-price ridiculousness. Well, at the end of our meetings, I lifted my arm to rest it on the seat back next to me and heard a sound you just don't want to hear when you're wearing a favorite shirt. The no-iron press mark down the sleeve split open exposing my forearm to the world. After the meeting was over, friend Jill came up to me. "I saw what happened to your shirt and that is such a bummer!" I was so bummed! Expensive clothing is just not supposed to do that!
Luckily, I'm married to the Captain. Not only is he a master negotiator, he knows how to get what he wants and he usually does. I asked him if he would try to take it back to the store. I had a suspicion that it wouldn't be a problem. I was right, he didn't even have to use his skills. No questions asked, the salesperson said, "my manager said there was a bad batch of these shirts out there," (not to mention mine was about 4 years old and probably not in the bad batch he was referring to) and exchanged my ripped shirt for a brand spanking new one, which was sitting at the foot of our bed when I came home.
And these were on the table. Oh! Jeremy Anderson did such a good job! He sent two Blue Ray discs--unbelievable! the quality is so much better than I could've imagined--in addition to enough DVDs for all of our parents and probably all of our future children to have their own personal copies of it. I will figure out how to post the video from our wedding I promise!
In the meantime, I thought I should back track a bit, maybe start at the beginning while we wait for our photos. And then I realized the document I started with the story of how I met the Captain is lost or hopefully on my work computer. So that will have to wait too. My sincerest apologies. One of these days I'll get to blog about our wedding with some eye candy to keep your interest.
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