How It All Began

In celebration of our 12 year anniversary tomorrow, here is our love story: (it's a quick one, so don't blink)

The summer of 1999 I had returned home to my mom's house in TX after receiving my Bachelor of Science degree in biology from Butler University (in Indianapolis, IN) and I had BIG plans following that summer. Before I left school, my track coach offered to pay for graduate school if I would be his graduate assistant for both the cross-county and track teams. I was thrilled! I didn't even care that I would have to study for a Masters in Chemistry (that was all that was offered for the career path I was headed down). Besides, it only took me three tries to pass Chemistry 1 in undergraduate school. And, not only would I get to prolong my college/partying days, but I had always hoped to be a coach and inspire many athletes as several coaches had done for me along my athletic journey.

Buuuuuut, things didn't necessarily go as I had planned that summer. During the dog-days of summer (my first REAL summer in TX - ugh) I found myself contemplating who I had become during those 5 years of higher education. I really didn't like who I was and felt I often lived a double-life. With friends I was a foul-mouth, partying and drinking girl. With family I was reserved but poised and gave the impression that I had it all together. It was hard living like that and I was desperately searching for who I REALLY wanted to be.

That summer I started attending a church close to home. It was there that I met a group of folks my age who invited me to attend a small-group bible study. Over the next few weeks I began to study about the character of Jesus Christ. And I don't remember exactly how it all happened (if I had known how monumental it was at the time I would have recorded the whole thing) but when I discovered my true identify in Christ, I knew I wanted Him as MY Savior and MY Lord. And so it was, that one evening, near the 1st of June in 1999, I accepted Christ as Savior and Lord...no turning back! Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah!!!

Within a week of my conversion from living in darkness to living in the Light, I attended a fun outing at Lake Conroe with the other members of my bible study. I had a great time but for whatever reason I had to leave early. And just as I was saying goodbye, some new guy opened the sliding glass door to the lake-front condo, jumped right into the conversation, and started blabbing his mouth about how great Texas A&M is as a school. He sounded so arrogant and I didn't want to hear anymore so I quickly introduced myself then exited out the front door.

About a week later I was feeling lonely so I decided to hit the gym for a good workout. I walked towards the locker room, past a long line of elliptical trainers, when a male voice yelled out, "Hey! Don't I know you?" I stopped and quickly checked this sweaty guy over but had no idea who it was. He explained that we had been introduced at the lake and he probably used some "christianese" terms that I didn't know at the time. I politely let him know that I was at the lake the previous weekend but didn't believe we attended the same outing. Not wanting to be rude, I stuck out my hand and introduced myself in hopes of ending the conversation and getting on with my workout. Just as I was about to turn to walk away, he said "I'm pretty sure that was you at the lake cause you were wearing that same shirt." Well, ok, maybe it WAS me. I really wasn't trying to deny it. And I did have to admit there weren't too many girls around Texas wearing a Butler University cross-country t-shirt. Thinking that this guy probably thought I was a total liar, I awkwardly left the conversation and went to the far end of the gym to lift some weights (and stay far away from the cardio equipment). He may have thought I was a liar, but HE was a total LOSER! I mean, obviously he didn't have a job if he was working out at the gym at 10am on a Tuesday.

So I was minding my own business, lifting a few weights (when I really wanted to be on the treadmill), and then I saw sweaty guy walking towards me. I thought, "Maybe he's just taking a shortcut to the drinking fountain. Don't make eye contact. Don't. Make. Eye. Contact." Crud! I made eye contact. And then I smiled and he came over and sat down at the machine next to me. Surprisingly, conversation flowed easily. I found out he actually DID have a job and a pretty cool one at that (and that got him off the Loser list). After a few minutes (I have no idea how our conversation ended up here) he asked if I played ping-pong. I paused briefly, trying to play the pong-shark, then said "Yes. I've played a few times." What I didn't tell him was that I grew up with a ping-pong table in our garage. That I first started playing at age 6 by standing on a chair. That I had made a guy in college so mad when I beat him 5 games to nothing, that I never got a second date. That I rarely lost. So when he told me he had a ping-pong table as a dining room table and invited me over for dinner and a match, I played it cool.

Let's just say dinner was great (I believe he made manicotti) AAAAAAAND I killed him at ping-pong. (And then his roommate came home and I beat him too.) And it was then that I learned the first thing I liked about him...humility. After a great date, he walked me to my car and he hugged me and didn't try to make any other smooth moves, and I knew I liked that he was such a gentleman. And then a week later when he took me to the lake to go water skiing, I knew I liked another thing about him...his hairy, muscular chest. :-)

At this point, I wasn't even close to falling in love or being head-over-heals, I was just enjoying spending some time with a great guy who didn't mind me beating him at ping-pong.

Not much time passed before I was baptized in the backyard pool of one of the pastors at the church I was attending. It was a very intimate occasion, nothing flashy. Just me, my mom and stepdad, the pastor, the sweaty guy :-), and my profession of faith in Jesus Christ.

With wet hair and a big smile on my face, we all went to dinner that evening. As I sat next to this gentleman, who was full of humility, who had a great career, rock-hard pecs, and a deeply rooted love for the Lord...I realized that I wanted to be close to him. I wanted to hold his hand. To snuggle next to him. To feel his arm around me. I was really starting to like him.

So just to put this into perspective time-wise, the day we met at the gym was right around the first week of June. The first two weeks after we simply spent time hanging out. And after that, we started dating. It all happened pretty quick so don't think I'm leaving huge chunks out of the story. It really happened this fast.

It's hard to remember the exact time frame, but sometime within the first two weeks of dating, Chris (I don't want to call him sweaty guy anymore) had to go to work for a few days. Granted, he had been to work during these first fews weeks but mostly it was just day trips here and there. This time, he was gone for three days. And when he returned after those three days and I opened up the front door of my mom's house to greet him, I knew I never wanted to be away from him again. My heart was his.

On July 3rd we arranged to meet a few of his friends at Lake Conroe to watch a fireworks display. I remember it being magical. We were snuggled up on a blanket watching the colors bursting into the night sky. And that's all I remember...'cause he kissed me that night and nothing else mattered.

And seriously, the rest is history. Within a few more weeks we were engaged, at the top of a hill overlooking the city of Santa Rosa, CA at night. And six months after that, on January 7th, 2000, we were married...with two ping-pong tables at the reception. (I think the pastor beat me that night, but COME ON! I was in a wedding gown for cryin' out loud!) I never returned to Indianapolis to be a coach and PRAISE THE LORD I never had to attempt a Masters in Chemistry. (Believe me, the biology degree makes me sound WAY smarter than I really am.)

It wasn't my plan for my life, but it was God's plan. And I'd choose His plan ANY day!