The "Mushy Stuff"

My parents have always had a wonderful, loving relationship. They set a great example for my sisters and me of what it takes to make a marriage work. They also weren't afraid of being affectionate around us and I remember we'd always cover our eyes with our hands and say, "Eww, mushy stuff!" So, in honor of Valentine's Day, here's my "mushy stuff."

This time of year always brings out all those lovey-dovey feelings, not just because of Valentine's, but because this is the week that I met my husband for the very first time. This past Wednesday was actually the 5 year anniversary of that very date. This is how our love story started out...

It was a typical Thursday night in February my sophomore year in college and I was going out with the girls (Rea and another college friend). We went to a downtown Raleigh locale that will remain unnamed (because it's way too embarrassing to put out there for all the world to see!) I won't go into all the details, but I actually had some drama going on with a couple different guys who turned up at the same place that night. So when I saw this amazingly handsome guy standing on the steps across the room, I decided to go for it and ask him to dance. (Ok - so it wasn't as much "asking" as it was "grabbing his hand and pulling him out on the dance floor." What can I say? I know what I like.) We had a lot of fun that night, and I gave him my number at the end of it.

The next day I went to Myrtle Beach with a couple of friends for a concert at the House of Blues. It's actually while I was at that concert that Jarrod first called me, but we couldn't talk too long so we said we'd get up once I was back in town. That Sunday, we came back from the beach and I had just settled down to work on a paper that I had due the next day and hadn't even started on when my friend called me and said the guys, including Jarrod, were going out to eat and had invited us. I decided the paper could wait. I remember hanging out at the restaurant and giggling about the guys with my friend when we went to the bathroom. He was so shy though, it was very endearing.

And two days later was Valentine's. I had to work that night at my restaurant job, and I won't go into all the details of that night, but let's just say that I got flowers from 3 different guys that night (none of which were Jarrod!) but at the end of the night, all I wanted to do was talk with him for hours. It was the first long, real conversation we had. It was pretty awesome. I think it was about a week after that, that my parents came out to Chapel Hill and we were having lunch and they asked me if I was seeing anyone and I remember saying, "I've got my eye on someone..."

Then 4 years later, on February 13, 2010, Jarrod and I had an amazing dinner at the Angus Barn and at the end of the night he asked me to marry him. It's a pretty good bookmark that 4 years, nearly to the date, after we met we decided officially to spend the rest of our lives together. It's been the best decision I ever made.