Love Story

In light of Valentine’s Day coming up, I thought this would be fun. A friend told me about this challenge and I wanted to participate, especially since this is my new blog. Here’s a little bit about our love story using questions asked on From Mrs. to Mama!  

1. How long have you and your significant other been together?

We met in the fall of 2004, but we were young and dated on and off for years. We finally got engaged in August of 2009 and we were married in March 2010.

 

2. How did you meet? {What’s your “love” story?}

My sorority and his fraternity were paired together for Homecoming at the University of Missouri. One night I stayed at his fraternity house late working on projects. A bunch of the guys were goofing off and making a lot of noise so I went into the hall to see what was going on and I immediately saw Darren. I spent the next hour trying to get his attention but he was having too much fun. The next day I came back to his fraternity house and started asking the guys all about him. One of the guys apparently went into Darren’s room and told him “You’ve got to get out there. There’s a pretty blonde girl who won’t shut up about you!” He came out and sat down across from me, and we immediately hit it off, talking and working on Homecoming projects for hours. We went on our first date (a fraternity hayride) a few weeks later. He’s the only guys I’ve ever pursued like that, and now I know why!

 

3. If married, how long have you been married? If not, is this the guy you hope to marry? {do tell}

We have been married almost 2 years.

 

4. If you are married, where did you get married at? Big or small wedding?  If not, where would you like to get married? And will it be big or small?

We got married at Arrowhead Golf Club in Wheaton, IL in front of 160 friends and family.

 

5. Do you have any nick-names that you call one another? Do share!

Not really… we like to say funny things to each other but we don’t have any nick names that we use on a daily basis.

 

6. Name 3 things you love most about your honey.

His thoughfulness (he remembers everything about our dating years and I love that), he works hard but still puts family first, and the way his kisses still make me melt.

 

7. Tell us how he proposed? Or your ideal proposal?

He had planned on proposing when we went skydiving for his 25th birthday – he even had the ring tied to his short strings the entire way down! But he decided it wasn’t the right timing. Later that day we took my daughter (1 year old at the time) on a picnic at Cantigny Gardens in Wheaton. Toward the end of the picnic the three of us were playing around and he had slipped the ring into Caroline’s back pocket (it had a heart stitched on it). After 30 minutes of running around and playing he got nervous so he told me Caroline had something sharp in her back pocket. I checked and pulled out the most beautiful ring. When I turned around he was on his knee and asked me to marry him. It was a dream come true… my perfect proposal.

  

 

8. Is he a flowers and teddy bear kind of guy for v-day, or strawberries, champagne, and rose petals?

He works as a farmer – try tractor ride, a good beer or bottle of wine, and some surprise gift or gesture that I mentioned months before.

 

9. Are you a sunset dinner on the beach kind of girl, or pop a movie in and relax on the couch?

We had a romantic dinner on the beach during our honeymoon and it was fun, but I really love relaxing on the couch with him. It’s a lot more private and he’s great at cuddling.

 

10. Tell us one thing you’d like to do with your significant one day. If you could do anything? Go anywhere?

We talk about this all the time – Darren wishes he could get his pilot’s licence and take me on a ride in his own plane.

 

11. Tell us what you plan on doing on this Valentine’s Day.

We have a 5 month old baby who won’t take a bottle so we can’t leave her with a babysitter, so we are hoping for a quiet night with both kids asleep in their beds so we can enjoy some quality time together.

 

 

12. Are you asking for anything this Valentine’s day?

Just my husband. Gifts are great when you’re dating, but I think quality time is even better once you’re married and living together.

 

13. Give us one piece of advice of keeping a relationship strong and full of love.

Always remember that no one’s love is perfect. I think in today’s society so many people look at other relationships in the media and even on Facebook and think that their marriage is so much worse than others. That may not be the case. What people show you on the surface is only a small part of what their marriage really is. Marriage is not always easy. I think if you remember that, you can appreciate the differences you might have or the issues you have to work through and not get so wrapped up in thinking that your marriage isn’t working or isn’t right. Once you let go of your insecurities in your relationship, I think it’s much easier to see the amazing love that is there.

 

14.  Show us a picture of what love means to you.

Taken in the fall of 2004 on our first date, this picture represents the way love is intimate and shared between two people. You can see only a small part of what makes a couple’s love special, and that small part makes you smile and remember that love in general (whether that love is for God, your husband, your children, friends, family, etc) is the most powerful, emotional, special, significant feeling you can experience in life.