*This little light of mine*: Newlyweds

Want to know a little more about me and the hubs? You've come to the right place.

The Meeting

The meeting that I remember is February 26th, 2008, though apparently through friends, we had met before.

You see, one of my oldest and dearest friends, S, is brothers with one of his oldest and dearest friends, twin brothers, B&T.

Me & S


The Hubs, B & T

We are both extremely close to that family, we call each other "EA" which is Emotionally Adopted family members. S, B, & T's parents are like our own parents.

Our EA Family

Anyways, we met on my friend S's 24th birthday. She was having a birthday dinner with her family and with us both being "EA" children, we were both invited. And that my friends, is where it all began.

By April 2008, we were hanging out constantly. I had just gotten out of a long, almost 8 years, relationship with my high school sweet heart - whom I might add, I am still dear friends with. I definitely was not looking for a relationship. We became best friends quick, inseparable. We were blessed to have pretty much the same days off work, so you'd often find us hanging out together on our off days. We spent so much time together, in fact, that many assumed we were already dating, and when they found out we weren't, asked us WHY NOT?

Charity Car Wash, March 09, still just friends

I was the stubborn one. He confided in me that he had feelings. I said I didn't feel the same, that I saw him as more of a brother, and I didn't know if I could ever date a friend - he later told me how much he respected that, though it hurt to hear I didn't feel the same, he respected my honesty, as many girls lead men on. I loved what we had, and didn't want to ruin it with a romance.

I started dating someone else in September 08. I believe everything happens for a reason, and I am just so thankful that relationship came to an end. While I was the typical girly broken hearted for a bit, R was right there to lift me up and continue being my best friend.

He was the perfect gentleman, never once pressured me, just did whatever he could to make my world a better place, and boy, did he.

Though I didn't want to admit it to anyone, I was smitten, and I knew it. I came to that realization exactly one year to the day we met, February 26th, 2009. I was at work (missing my friend S's birthday event at her house) and I had to leave early because I had a HORRIBLE migraine, the kind that nauseates you. When I left work, I drove home, upset that even though I managed to get off work early, I'd still be missing out on S's birthday event as there was no way I could make it over there with the migraine I had. So, I went home, got sick, laid in bed, and it was then that it hit me. Of course, as soon as R found out I was leaving early, he asked if I needed anything, and even though I did, I said no, because I KNEW if I said yes, he'd leave our EA families house, and bring me whatever I needed, and I didn't want that, I wanted him to enjoy the birthday. BUT, as I laid there in my bed, in horrible migraine pain - any of you that suffer migraines KNOW what I am talking about, all I could think about to make things better was him. All I wanted was for him to come over and give me a great big hug. I knew then that I was totally head over heels in love with my best friend.

Now it was panic time. What to do with this new realization? I of course told S, whom I swore to secrecy.

Well, S did what any good friend would do, knowing that the man I loved, loved me as well, she told him that she thought if he asked me out again, my answer would be different this time.

So, a few nights later, as we were standing outside by our cars, he told me again how he felt. And again, I was stubborn and talked of my fear of ruining our friendship. Sigh - Yes, I panicked and blew him off - again.

Thank God for his persistence and not giving up on me. On Easter 2009, after hanging out, he had left to go home, and was gone all of five minutes when my doorbell rang. I ~~answered~~ had my room mate answer as I am scared of the dark, haha, and he was standing on my door step. He asked if he could kiss me, and I said yes, and there it was, on my doorstep, on Easter night, the kiss that took my breath away and made my knees weak. It was amazing!

Finally, I came to my senses and within a week, on April 16th, 2009, as we were hanging out in my living room watching a movie, I sent him a text that said "I am ready to be your girlfriend, if you will still have me" and that's how we became one. Technically, our anniversary is April 17th, 2009 though, because he didn't read the text until after midnight, though I'd sent it around 10pm.

The Proposal

Fast forward ten months. We were headed on our first vacation together. He was taking me to visit his aunt and uncle (whom we both adore), in his favorite city, Chicago. It happened to be Valentines Day weekend. On Saturday, February 13th, 2010, he took me to the top of Sears Tower, and got down on one knee in one of those clear elevator type boxes overlooking the city. Mind you, I am afraid of heights. Thankfully his proposal was enough of a distraction that I didn't puke all over him. :) We immediately started saving for our wedding the very next week after we got engaged. We knew we'd be financing our wedding ourselves, and also that we didn't want to go into debt while doing so. We planned to marry on our anniversary the next year, which gave us just enough time to save. I will leave you with a couple of photos, but if you want to read more about that wonderful day go read my blog entry On top of the world. It's much more detailed, and photo heavy. A friend of mine also blogged about it, you can read more via DaisyJo.

On our way to Sears Tower. He had a secret.

Will you marry me?

The Wedding

We decided to get married on our anniversary, April 17th, 2011.
I am just SO thankful that the day was absolutely perfect. God truly did bless us with a perfect day. No rain, no stress, no break downs, just happiness and laughter, and a few tears of joy. Here's a few photo's from the day. I am ~~slightly~~ majorly photo obsessed so there are plenty of other pictures of the wedding throughout the blog.