How We Met

Since the month of April is our anniversary month (coming up to one year on the 18th! woohoo!), I thought it would be fun to share how we met, got engaged, our wedding, honeymoon and some of the things I’ve learned during this past year.  It has definitely been a whirlwind of a year; it seemed to go slowly at first but flew by after a we got settled a couple of months into it.  Now, nothing seems more normal and fun than us living together and doing life side by side as a team.

For today’s post, I want to share the story of how we met.  Some of you have asked how we met or how long we’ve been together so I wanted to share it all here.  It is so fun to look back and remember all we went through and how far we’ve come.  So without further ado… Once upon a time…

(a little background: Mikey and I both grew up in the same church.  However, since we are part of a bilingual church, we went to different services.  I went to the Spanish service in the morning and he went to the English service in the evening.  We knew each other existed, but had never met or spoken to one another.)

It was 2013 and I had just turned 19 years old.  I was in my second year of college studying Music Education.  I was not looking for a relationship and as much as I had prayed that I would get married young, I never really thought that little dream of mine would come true.

Mikey was 25 years old and had just graduated from Pharmacy school.  He was studying for his boards and working as an intern for CVS.  All he knew going into school was that he wouldn’t be married until he was done with it all.

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Our first photo together. This was the first day he came after asking me to begin a courtship. We had a super fancy family dinner and afterwards my paparazzi sister said, “smile, kids!”…which is partially why we’re both so red! haha

During the month of June, our church hosts a homeschool graduation for all the kids of our church who are homeschooled.  My sister was graduating on June 10th and the moms planning the graduation asked Mikey to come in and speak to the graduating class.  So on that day, I heard him speak for the first time to the graduating class.  Regretfully, I had no desire to pay attention and totally missed everything he said.  However, from what I hear, he did an excellent job. ;)

After the meeting, I was dared by some family members to go up and say hi.  I had noooo interest in him whatsoever, but I thought it wouldn’t hurt so I walked up and said “congrats.”  He quickly struck up a conversation that I couldn’t get out of and as much as I pleaded to my sisters and cousins to come save me from this guy I didn’t know, nobody came.  During this conversation, he points at a hair wrap I had gotten while I was in Disney the week before (you know, the ones where they take colorful string and wrap your hair in it…) and he goes “Hey, is that some Pocahontas thing?” ohhh, I was offended.  I was so excited to get that hair wrap and proudly wore my white and yellow striped strand of hair and here was this guy making fun of it.  I didn’t like him already…

We spoke a little longer when he was asked to come help with clean up.  I was thinking, “yes, here’s my chance to get away!” when he goes “oh, would you mind holding my folder while I clean up?”  Smart move, mister… hahaha but I thought I was so much smarter and instead, took the folder to my pastor’s wife and left it with her.  When he came back to get it from me, I told him who I had given it to and he left.  I was certain he wouldn’t be back, but to my surprise, he returned just a few minutes later, folder in hand and ready to talk some more. So we chatted a little longer and eventually said our goodbyes, which I thought was last time I’d see him (and I truthfully didn’t think much of it).  However, he says he knew that night that I was the one he was going to marry.  He didn’t know how, but he prayed asking God to pave the way.

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This was our second photo taken together on our first outing with my family. We call it the awkward stage because we didn’t know how to pose! ahh those awkward days…

(Funny story…Fast forward a month or so and my sisters and I hosted a girl’s conference at our house for the youth group girls.  Mikey was the leader of the youth group so I texted him and informed him of what was happening.  My mom told me I should invite him to help clean up so I did (I wasn’t so adamant on seeing him again anymore, but still wasn’t totally fond of him).  Here’s the funny part: after all the girls had left, a few of us, including him, were sitting around the table eating snacks.  A little chocolate treat fell on the floor and Mikey said, “oh it’s no problem, I’ll eat it” even though we told him not to.  Well, he put it in his mouth and made a face while trying to discreetly spit out the chocolate which had a couple of our dog’s hair on it. hahahah)

Mikey and I texted for a few months purely as friends and nothing else.  We barely saw each other and I didn’t think this friendship was going anywhere romantic, but as time went by I noticed as the texting amount per day increased, so did my feelings for him.  Come October (four months after meeting), I knew he was the one as well.  But again, not knowing what the next steps were, I didn’t say anything to him (and he had still not told me about his feelings either).  I opened up to my parents and a mentor about this and they helped me analyze his character and determine if I thought he was fit for marriage and if I was ready for this as well.

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Our first after church lunch was on Easter Sunday!

As time continued to go by, we got to know each other more through emails and listening to sermons and discussing them together.  We sent each other long emails (not as romantic as hand written letters, but they’ll do ;)) with our thoughts on different aspects of life and these sermons and the like (but never discussing anything regarding marriage or our future).  During this time, Mikey asked for the pastor’s approval to marry me.  He got a yes that he should speak to my father so after a few months of waiting, he went ahead and scheduled a meeting with my dad (this is now February of 2014).

Mikey and my dad scheduled a meeting to get some breakfast together.  My dad already knew what he was coming for (I mean, the signs were all there!), but Mikey still wanted to do the right thing and honor him by asking for my hand in marriage.  After three hours of delaying this and not asking, he finally mustered up the courage and asked. My father told him “yes…but I want to get to know you first.”  So for the next 2 months, they met weekly for a time of prayer and getting to know each other (without my knowledge). I must say, it’s pretty cool now to know that the two guys I love most spent so much time getting to know each other!

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This was the first birthday we spent together. It was my 20th and where he met all of my extended family…almost out of a scene of My Big Fat Greek Wedding ;)

After those two months passed, Mikey got my dad’s approval to come ask me to start an official courtship.  So on April 10th of 2014, 10 months after we first met, he came over my house on a Thursday afternoon and asked me  to consider entering a courtship with him.  I did not have to consider anything, I knew this was God’s will because I had been praying and seeking guidance over this for the months leading up to it and I immediately said yes.  After that, we headed inside and had pizza with the family (we ate pizza with forks and knives, I have no idea why…we were trying to be too fancy hahaha).  After an hour or so, Mikey left to a church meeting.

I was ecstatic.  I couldn’t believe God had done something absolutely incredible in our relationship and it was actually playing out before our eyes. The next few months were quite a ride and I knew things were going to get even better!

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This was a week before we got engaged…We had a serious conversation before this where Mikey asked me if I really would consider him for marriage…I thought he was getting cold feet, but it turned out he just wanted to make sure I didn’t! haha

Next up: OUR ENGAGEMENT STORY

4 thoughts on “How We Met”

  1. Loved this post! Every love story is different, but I like how God brought you both together. I was laughing at the beginning because both my grandma and mom didn’t like or think much of my grandpa or dad when they first met. It was the same scenario man seeking wife with lots of funny stories in between. And now they’ve been married 68 and 31 years! May your marriage continue to grow in love and friendship.

    1. Hi Jolie! hahaha, that’s so funny, but so cute! :) How awesome that they have been married for so long- I’m praying the same for our relationship! Yes, it is so absolutely amazing how God brought us together and developed our relationship! Thank you for the love :) xoxo

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