How We Met V.10

I can't tell you how excited I am to share this story with you today from Sara! I love this story to bits and I'm sure you will too! Thanks so much to Sara for sharing their story!
If you're willing to share your story with me please feel free to email me: themcmanus3@gmail.com
OK and without further Ado here's Sara...

The instances that led us to each other are so peculiar it makes my heart skip in appreciation whenever I remind myself of how serendipitous it was. Born and raised on a single stretch of land in the frigid outskirts of Minnesota, I had great intentions to leave home and face the world when I graduated. Although I had been awarded a full ride scholarship to the University of Minnesota, I knew that wasn’t where my heart wanted to be. Everything inside me wanted to be elsewhere. (In retrospect, knowing the price of my education I sometimes wish my heart would have been a little more fiscally responsible, but I digress.) I applied, and was accepted into, numerous colleges all over the country. I finally-mostly-kind of-maybe settled on a school in Washington State. Then shortly before graduation, I got cold feet. I couldn’t commit to it. At one of our many kitchen table conversations, my mom brought up Black Hills State University in Spearfish, South Dakota. Secretly I knew that she mostly wanted the relief of knowing I had an Aunt nearby in Rapid City, but I took the bait and was intrigued. At the last minute I applied, was accepted, and got my stuff packed to head to BHSU.


Tim’s journey to BHSU is very different, but just as improbable. Spending most of his life moving from one place to another, he doesn’t consider anywhere “home”. In middle school he had the terrible misfortune of losing almost everything in a tragic fire. With nowhere to be, he and his mother and sister piled in the car and drove East with no intention or objective but to find a place to live. They made it from Wyoming to South Dakota and decided to stay. By the time he was graduating from high school he was bound and determined to become either a police officer via community college or join the Army and become an Airborne Ranger. His grandparents weren’t very appreciative of those goals and offered him a new car if he would go to a four year college. Any 17 year old would find that offer hard to refuse and he decided to go to BHSU because it was the closest four-year he could find. Ironically, his first day of college he signed up for the Army ROTC program, a year after that he signed an 8 year military contract, and five minutes after that he met me.


I wish I could say I remember the exact date, but I don’t. To be honest I can hardly remember the year sometimes, I don’t remember the building, or what I was wearing, and I definitely don’t remember what I learned that day. But, I will always always always remember the first time I saw him. It was the first day of classes and I walked into my favorite course, Spanish. He was dressed in all black, he had his black notebook in front of him, and he was staring at it so intently that you would think it had just done a trick for him. He was the first one there. I was the second. I sat next to him with a chair between us. The room slowly filled beyond what was comfortable. He still never looked up from his notebook. Finally, the
last girl came filing in. She looked at the only seat available, the one in between us, then she looked at Tim (yes, still staring intently at his notebook), then she looked at me. She then proceeded to pick the chair up and move it to the other side of the room. I found this comical so I looked at Tim and said “Oh, I guess she didn’t want to sit by you.” I thought I was funny, he still thought his notebook was more interesting. I was beginning to think there was something about this notebook I should know. While trying to figure it out he happened to glance up from the ‘magic” notebook and I saw his face. He was beautiful. I will never forget how green his eyes looked.


After class I went back to my dorm and told my roommate about this guy I met with these amazing green eyes. I truly was that astonished with his eyes. She was like, “Oh, I know that guy.” I didn’t believe her. All she knew was that he had pretty green eyes. She swore she knew him. Turns out she did, they were a grade apart at the same high school.


The next class we had together was two days later… I was pretty much crazy about him at that point. We were doing conversations in class, and the first words he spoke to me were “Hola, me llamo Teem, y tu?” After the required, “Hola, Me llamo Sara” I coyly tried to steer the conversation onto anything but Spanish. Tim was not amused and said, “The teacher said we’re supposed to speak in Spanish.” That’s right. Shut. Down. I still laugh out loud when I think about it.


The next couple months of our “relationship” consisted mostly of me doing everything I knew of to get him to talk to me or hang out with me and always failing miserably. He later told me that he was just as crazy about me, but unlike me, he was terrifyingly shy. Knowing him now, I believe him, but he sure made a strong case against liking me in the beginning. Then on one blessed day, I ran into him at the cafeteria, I once again grit my teeth, put myself out there and asked him if he wanted to sit by me and my friends since he was already at the end of our table alone. (Probably staring at his notebook…I don’t know) I almost didn’t wait for his response expecting the usual quiet-not-audible-by-human-ears negative response. But! Shock and Awe! He said yes! He ate lunch with us and it was beautiful.


The next day he met us for lunch again with his roommate, Nick. From then on, all of us hung out together almost always. Tim and I were almost instant best friends. One night we went out to eat with our usual group of friends and we were so into each other we didn’t notice or care that all of our friends had left us and it was 4am and we had to walk the four miles back to our dorms. We would play
midnight games of volleyball when I couldn’t sleep. (I’ve never been able to sleep well or often) He tried every day to get me over my massive fear of heights on this little staircase behind my dorm. He taught me how to play Halo, while I taught him there were more things to life than Halo. We would sneak each other into our dorms (mine was an all girls dorm) just to hang out. I would surprise him with water and snacks in his car when I knew he had a vigorous day of physical training. One time he was gone for a week of Army training and while he was away I got some friends to help me literally STUFF his car with balloons. At one point I worked a night job at the front desk of a shady hotel, he would come bring me juice and sleep in the lobby so I wouldn’t have to be alone. It was truly one of the best parts of my life. Still, we remained only friends and I didn’t mind because I was so happy to have his wonderfulness in my life at all.

Pershing Rifles is this fraternity-like-thing for the ROTC program Tim was in. It was two weeks of pure hell for him. I don’t know what he went through, but I do know he didn’t sleep for the full two weeks. He was only allowed out for class and I remember watching him sit in class, in his uniform, disgustingly covered in mud and entirely exhausted doing everything he could do to keep his eyes open. It took everything I had to not grab him and hold him and try to make him feel better. What I wouldn’t give to make that poor guy a sandwich and let him have a nap. After that was finally over (just to shout out to his awesomeness, Tim was one of only two that passed) I was going to his dorm to hang out with him as he was cleaning his equipment. He emptied out his rucksack and with it’s contents a huge white rock spilled out onto the floor. Onto the front of it was painted in bright blue letters, Sara. I was a little surprised and asked him why my name was painted on a big white rock that just fell out of his backpack. (Back then I wasn’t aware of how much it bothered him to call a rucksack a backpack) He replied completely nonchalantly that at one point they were required to paint their girlfriends names on rocks and keep them in their rucksacks. I must have shown shock in my face because he immediately recoiled and the room filled with palpable awkwardness. Wonderful awkwardness. It was official.

We decided to transfer schools the next year and we moved together to Minnesota. We supported each other throughout college in every way, because in a lot of ways we were all each other had. We both worked multiple jobs, carried full loads in schools, and spent every minute we could together. (Which were a very few precious moments) We were engaged in March of 2007 and were married in a court house that October. For the past four years we have experienced so much change, sacrifice, challenge, and excitement that I couldn’t begin to explain it all. Through everything though we are comforted in
knowing that no matter how things come out on the other side we will always have each other. He is my rock and I am his and this crazy awkward imbalance of personality works so well together that I can’t foresee any event too catastrophic for us to handle together. The term “together” itself has another meaning entirely for us, being a couple thrust around at the Army’s whim. We have learned that the physical act of being together means far less than that ever-present comforting understanding that no matter where I am in the world and no matter where he is we can lean back on the support of knowing there’s another person in the world that truly loves us and always will. Nothing else matters.


-Sara

How We Met V.9

This story is so cute and amazing! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. If you'd like to read all the How We Met stories just click on the How We Met link to the right. Thank you so much Lindsay for sharing your story! Enjoy. xo -Liz

It was my first day of student orientation at Mesa State College.  My friend, Jayme, and I were wandering around the hallways, trying to figure out where our first college classes would be. Out of nowhere, a tall, skinny guy with a tri-colored faux-hawk came running up to us and said, “So… will I see you guys at Taco John’s? Everyone’s gonna be there!” Jayme and I looked at each other as if to say, “Is this guy for real?” We politely declined his invitation and as he walked away I remember one of us saying, “That guy is definitely crazy.” I didn’t realize that this was my first sighting of my future husband.

Over the next few months I would see this same guy around campus fairly often. He was always doing something ridiculous, whether it was standing on a picnic table playing guitar and singing at the top of his lungs, or being pushed through the hallways of the school in a shopping cart. One of my friends told me that his name was Jordan, he was a music major, and that he was actually very nice. The next semester I joined the choir, which he was already a part of. We still had never had a real conversation, but I did see a lot more of him. 

Not too much later I was sitting in the school café with some friends, and he came up to us with a video camera and said that he was working on a project for a church group. He wanted to know if he could ask us a few questions about what we believed in. He told us that his dad was a pastor, and I said that my dad was a pastor too. We talked for a few minutes about some of our basic beliefs, and I remember thinking that maybe this guy wasn’t quite as crazy as I had first thought. 

At the end of the year, our choir did a Christmas concert. Before the show, we were warming up in the choir room and getting ready to go on stage, and I noticed that he was having trouble getting his bowtie on. I offered him some help, and we chatted for a few minutes before the concert started. We talked after the concert for a while too, and I found myself thinking for the first time, “Aww, crazy guy is actually pretty cute!” I wasn’t looking for a relationship though, and didn’t really think much more about him. Later that week, he came up to me after class and asked if he could have my number so we could hang out during Christmas break. I said no. He laughed and said, “For real though, give me your number so I can call you sometime.” I said no again. I explained that I wasn’t trying to be mean, but I didn’t give my number out to guys. He seemed surprised, but took it well. 

After much thought and prayer, I decided not to go back to school for the next semester. I didn’t seem like it was a great fit for my life at that time. I didn’t see Jordan for the next few months, and I didn’t expect to see him ever again. God had other plans. 

A few months later, I saw that the Mesa State theatre department was going to be performing West Side Story for their spring play. I got a few friends together, and we went to watch the show. I was looking through the program before the play started, and noticed that Jordan had a small part in it. During the performance, I found myself watching him, even though he was usually just doing something on the side or in the background. After the show I talked to him for a while and took a few pictures. He asked if I would email him the pictures (which I now realize was just so that he could get my email address!). We started emailing back and forth after that. We were able to talk about all kinds of things, and after a while we planned to meet up and go bowling with some friends. We started seeing each other more often, and ended up hanging out all summer. We were always talking about religion, our beliefs, what we wanted to do with our lives, and we grew more and more like-minded over the summer. One day in the middle of the summer he told me that he was predicting that it was going to snow on November 29^th, and if it did, I would be his forever. We laughed about it, and wrote it down on our calendars. On November 29^th I woke up to a very early phone call, and was told to look out the window. I looked out and saw a fresh layer of snow on the ground. He told me that it had snowed all night and into the morning, making his prediction come true!

We had many ups and downs over the next couple of years, but we knew that we were meant to be together, and worked through it all. We got engaged in October of 2008, and were married on January 31, 2009. Now, almost three years later we are still going strong! We have a one and half year old son, and one on the way. I’m always amazed when I look back and see the way God worked to bring us together, and I’m so glad that He did!

How We Met V.8

It's pretty amazing to hear stories from your grandparents (or parents) how they met and how you wouldn't even be here today if it weren't for those stories. This is from my mom's mom and I love it so much!
If you have a story from your grandparents, parents, or yourself you would be willing to share, please email me: themcmanus3@gmail.com

The guy I had a date with called saying his car was broke down, if I could find his friend a date he would take his car. I talked my sister into going on the “blind date”. When we got back from the movies Tom the guy she was dating and ended up marrying was there waiting on her to get back. Now I’m stuck with 2 guys and had already invited them to come into the house for hot chocolate. That was back in the days when you made it from scratch.

Next thing I was getting a call from this “blind date” name Johnny Webb wanting to know if I would like to go get a cup of hot chocolate.  I didn’t really like either of these guys so keep saying NO,finally gave in and went. Driving down the main street of Enid, Oklahoma a car load of guys drove up by us, I said I dated that guy before, Oh that is my brother--- then my family found out Johnny was a divorced man--- back in those days that was like the unpardonable sin.

As a young girl I had a very close walk with God and one night I had a dream and felt very strongly that God was saying this was who I was to marry. This was a very difficult time for me. Do I follow what my family wants or do I continue on with what I feel in my heart God wants?  --------- School ended in May I went with my dad to California to stay with my grandparents. Johnny went with his friend to LA area to find work. During our dating time we both shared our hearts on how we do not want to stay in Oklahoma.  As I was sitting in the phone co applying for a job, thinking why am I doing this I do NOT even like it here, now what do I tell Johnny? Not knowing he was thinking the same thing. ------ ask your dad to go back through Colorado and see what you think.

 When I saw the mountains I was not only in love with Johnny but the mountains and over 50 years still in love with both

How We Met V.7

I hope you all are finding some deals today if you went out black Friday shopping. I, however, have decided to stay home in a sane environment. I'm kidding! Anyway I love this story so much this week! I'm SO glad that Sharice took time to share this great story and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Thank you so much Sharice for sharing!

There seems to be so much to say about Chris and I, but I will try not to write a novel. When I was 16, I got a job at Chuck E. Cheese. My first night on the job was August 26, 2005. Little did I know but I was about to meet the man I would spend the rest of my life with. Several boys came into CEC that night to talk to the boss. I didn’t know it at the time but these boys worked there. Anyway, Chris was one of these boys. That night began the rollercoaster of emotions that I had never felt before. There were things I did and did not like about him. I remember thinking he was so cute. He was outgoing and goofy. But he was definitely not a Christian. I did not think anything more of it that night. The next day, I had to work the morning shift. Well who was there, but this cute boy from the night before. He was working the kitchen. Inside, I was so excited that I got to work with the ‘cute’ boy. Later on that morning, I found out that he was dating the girl that trained me the night before…bummer.  I only worked weekends and he only worked morning shifts. So the only time I ever worked with him was Saturday mornings. I began to really enjoy working with him. He was fun and made me laugh. About 4 months after I started working there, Chris got promoted to a manager. On Saturday mornings, our boss would buy us Starbucks. Guess who were designated to go get it. Chris and I. That is where our friendship really began to grow. We’d walk to Starbucks. We would talk about any and every thing. We would laugh. I started enjoying him and his company more and more. I found myself having a crush on him. He was unlike other boys in that he respected me and my beliefs by watching his language around me and would apologize when he slipped up. I thought “why would this 19 year old ever be interested in little ol’ me.” I knew I could not like him because he was in a relationship and was not a Christian. I determined that I would not like him but would just be friends with him. I kept it up for a while. I was good at deceiving others (and myself) into believing I did not like him. We were friends at work and that was it. Well our friendship continued to grow and on Memorial Day of 2006, he text me for the first time ever. From then on, we started talking all the time. I had to keep increasing my data plan because we text so much (This was right before they came out with unlimited). I worked on the 4^th of July. Chris asked if I had any plans after work, and I said no. So he invited me over to his place to watch fireworks because he lived right by Lincoln Park. Never in a million years did I think my dad would let me but I called him and he said yes! So I went and watched fireworks with Chris, his girlfriend, and some of our coworkers. I had such a good time. One night in August, he text me and was really upset. He and his girlfriend had broken up. We talked for a while. I do not remember exactly what I said but I remember saying the words “I care about you.” I invited him to church the next day. Never did I think he would show up but he did. Not only on that Sunday but on the next Sunday as well. Over the next few months my feelings for him began to grow again. I think I felt I was allowed to like him since he no longer had a girlfriend. I knew there was still one problem:  he was not a Christian. I began praying for Chris and his salvation. You might say that I prayed for him for selfish reasons; but he was my friend. Whether we ever ended up together or not, I wanted him to know the Lord. One day, I was talking with one of my coworkers. He mentioned that Chris was seeing someone. I thought it was impossible because surely he would have told me. So I text him and asked him. He told me he was not seeing anyone but was just interested in a girl at work and that they had been talking. I was so disappointed. Little did I know, he actually was very interested in me but thought I was out of his league. Well in October, he and his ex ended up getting back together. I was heartbroken but continued to be friends with him. In November, Chris came to a ‘Pilgrim’s Progress’ play at my church. The message of the play worked on his heart, and he ended up getting saved that night! Over the next few weeks, his girlfriend did not like the changes Chris was going through so she broke up with him. My feelings really began to grow, but my parents did not like the situation. They wanted Chris to talk to them if he was interested in me. One night, I was just so overwhelmed with my emotions (teenagers and their emotions!) that I prayed that if Chris and I were meant to be together, that God would work it out; and if we were not supposed to be together, that He would take my feelings away. About a week later, Chris talked to my parents.  That was April 30, 2007. He left for a 9 month discipleship training program in August of 2007. Our relationship grew stronger with the distance and with the trials that come with being apart. He got back home in June 2008. Later that year, on October 30, we were engaged; and about 4 months later, on March 7, 2009, we got married.

I am so happy the Lord has brought Chris into my life. He is such a wonderful man and husband. He is my best friend and has been for the last 6 years of my life. -Sharice Pena

How We Met V.6

Such a cute couple and story! I'm so happy to share with you today a story from Danielle of how her and her husband met. This is such a great story and so romantic, I love it and I hope you do as well! Thank you so much Danielle for taking the time to write this!

The story of how Jesse and I met…

                We first met at youth group summer of 2006. I didn’t know anyone, seeing as it was my first time at youth group, so my youth pastor was taking me around and introducing me to the other youth kids. The next few months, I saw Jesse around but was too distracted by another guy to even think about liking anyone else. Later in the school year I ended up having a geology class with Jesse. One day, he came up to me before class started and began chatting with me. I thought he was cute, but like I said before, I liked someone else at the time. Throughout the class Jesse and I became good friends. He helped me during class with things I didn’t understand. Little did I know how much of a smarty pants he is. One day, while we were working in class, Jesse started telling me about his new girlfriend. I was a little jealous, but at the same time I liked the “other boy” so I was not too upset. After that class was over we kind of stopped talking. We still said hello in the hallways and at church and we did hang out whenever all of our friends would get together, but there were no feelings for about a year and a half.

                In December of 2007, Jesse’s girlfriend ended up breaking up with him and my crush on the “other guy” had long since been over with. I heard about the break up and felt bad for Jesse, but I never thought about us together. About a week before White Out (a big youth conference) I saw Jesse at school and he walked over to me and gave me a big hug. I don’t know what happened, but at that moment I knew that I liked him. I just thought it was crazy that a simple hug lit a huge fire. I found out from one of his friends that he liked me too and so we had that awkward stage of us both knowing we liked each other, but neither of us would really say anything about it to one another. On the way up to the conference we sat next to each other on the bus and he taught me how to crochet and we just became really close over that weekend. A dance at our school was coming up (girl ask guy) and I decided I would ask him. My sister and I stayed up until about 1:30 in the morning making this awesome magazine stating all the things I liked about him and at the end, asking him to the dance. It really was a lot cooler than I can try to explain. I didn’t get an answer right away, but he did invite me over to his house for a “crochet party.” We sat on the couch and talked and crocheted together. He had finished his hat while I was still on my third row. Haha. He gave me the hat and I noticed it had some words on it, “YES” it said! I was so excited! What a cute way to answer my question! From that day on we were pretty much inseparable.

                We started dating March 1, 2008. Shortly after that I graduated.  Jesse still had one more year of high school and also started some classes at Colorado Mesa University. We spent all of our time together. He taught me to snowboard and do backflips. We went on trips together and just had a great time being crazy! We definitely had our ups and downs and did a lot of growing as individuals throughout that year. Even at a time when it was really hard, God helped to bring us closer together. After Jesse graduated we decided to do a YWAM DTS (Youth With A Mission Discipleship Training School). We spent the summer of 2009 in Cimarron, CO learning about God and his character. One night, towards the end of the summer, Jesse and I went out to pray together. We really felt compelled to ask if we were going to be together forever. And WOW did God rock our worlds! We had an amazing time of prayer and really felt that the Lord had brought us together to be married! We came back to Grand Junction for the school year and Jesse started his first year at CMU in the Mechanical Engineering program, while I worked for The Extended Hours Program watching elementary students.  December rolled around and for Christmas his gift to me was a premarital counseling class! I was so excited, I cried. Haha. It was very special; it showed me that he was serious and that he was really committing to me. We started our class and also mentored with our amazing friends Chadd and Ana Searcy! They really gave us a lot of good advice and support. In May of 2010 we left for the second half of our YWAM DTS. We went and spent 2 months in Bangkok and northern Thailand! Jesse and I were not able to kiss, hold hands, hug, etc. the whole time! Let me tell you what! That was hard! That trip really made us realize how ready we were to get married! I think that trip was the closest we had been since we had started dating. It was a wonderful experience and I would not change it for one minute! When we got back all we could talk about was getting married.

                On August 6, 2010 Jesse and I went to Rifle Falls to go hiking. After we hiked up around the falls, we sat on a bench tucked away behind some trees right next to the waterfall. We ate and then began talking about getting married again.

 Jesse then asked me, “What if I got you a rock that was this big?” and picked up a pebble off of the ground.

 I replied, “Well, actually that would be a pretty big one.”

Then he asked, “what if I got you one this big?” and pulled a pen out of his backpack.

 I said,” That would be an awkward looking diamond.”

 He then ran over and picked up a huge rock, “What if I got you one this big?”

 I said, “My hand would probably fall off!”

 Then he walked up to me, got down on one knee, and asked, “What if I got you one this big?”

 I didn’t even say yes! I just cried and laughed and had too many emotions to even handle! We left Rifle Falls and went to a park down in Rifle and he pulled out a blanket and sparkling cider, and my favorite candies, Ferrero Rocher. We just sat and talked and were so excited!

                We planned our wedding on January 1, 2011. It was a really great wedding and we had a great time celebrating with our friends and family. For our honeymoon we went to Disney Land in California, enjoying short lines, rainy days, and just spending time with each other. I am truly blessed to be married to my best friend and a true man of God!

                And that’s our story! Hope you enjoyed it, I know I did! =D

-Danielle Coquoz

How We Met V.5

Hi! Today I'm so glad to say that the lovely Shalea is sharing her story today. It's so cute, and I can definitely relate to her on being a sucker for musicians! :) If you're willing to share your story, please e-mail me at themcmanus3@gmail.com
Thank you so much Shalea for taking to time to share this and I hope you all enjoy it as much as I did! xo -Liz

Sean and I actually met for the first time when I was 12 and he was 14 I had heard from some girls at school about a really cute boy in a band. Naturally, I HAD to meet this boy. Honestly, I was super disappointed. It was at a concert so I couldn’t see him very well and I didn’t actually get introduced to him. I was with a group that knew the group he was in, so we stood in a mutual circle of friends the entire night without saying a word to each other. About 6 months later my family tried a new church in Farmington, NM. We walk in and I hear the most amazing voice singing on stage. I couldn’t see very well but I could distinctively say, it was indeed a very cute boy singing and playing his guitar. After church he came up to me and introduced himself. I couldn’t stop thinking about him for weeks! A few years went by and I would get so nervous to see him every Sunday and Wednesday nights at church. My mom and all my aunts would always tell me “Someday, you are going to marry that boy Shalea.” I would always play it off and say I didn’t like him like that, because he had a girlfriend at the time. He was the sweetest, cutest, most charming boy I had ever met. Being a sucker for musicians didn’t hurt either. We always had chemistry, always great friends. One summer night in 2002, Sean offered to take me home after my softball game. On the way home he looked at me and said “You know, if I didn’t have a girlfriend I would be with you.” I laughed, punched him and told him he was nuts. But in my heart there was nothing in the world I wanted more. We had a great summer hanging out getting to know each other more. By the end of that summer he had a new girlfriend…..me. He told all of our friends “In 2 years I am going to marry this girl!” We all laughed. We got married 2 years later in the spring of 2004. The end.

How We Met V.4

I'm so happy to share with you today this lovely story from MK Wise. She is such a great writer and this story defiantly shows that God will always lead you in the right direction and has a plan for every thing. I hope you enjoy this story as much as I did. She writes her own lovely blog Here. Thank you so much to MK!

The unit of Dustin and Kate Wise all started back in the summer of 2006, I was living in Brisbane, Australia staffing a Music Arts & Dance School with Youth With a Mission. Myself and my fellow staff mates had just began looking over the list of mere names of students we would recieve that October. I remember going onto Myspace, snooping around to see if I could put any faces to the list of names. There was one kid in particular, just a boy-like kinda guy playing guitar named Dustin. I didn't think much of him other than, 'Hey he plays guitar, thats kinda cool...hmm". October came around and Dustin arrived and my only thoughts were "He's tall, that's neat". A few months into the school, I found out that Dustin would be a part of the team I would lead on missions to Japan. So, we started hanging around each other more in preparation for the outreach. Dustin and I got along super well, we even called each other our twin because it was crazy how much we thought on the same level. But he was just an 18 year old "boy" so I never was too attracted to him (I'm 2.5 years older, so at the time, it seemed like a big gap). I even remember saying to one of my girl friends "We are soo close but it's crazy that I don't have a crush on him!" She just looked at me skeptically! haha. She must have known something I didn't. Well, we went to Japan and as soon as we got back, one of my friends told me she had a dream that Dustin and I got married. That got my mind thinking and by now, Dustin's looks had rapidly changed from boy to man. It's crazy how fast he grew. I started looking at him differently, the only problem was that as staff on this school, I wasn't allowed to date a student. The final weeks started wrapping up and it came time for grad night. I was soo nervous because I knew that this was one of our only chances to establish our relationship, as he was about to fly back home to the US. The night passed without a mention of his thoughts towards me. I was freaking out. The next day he told me his plans to go to New Zealand the following Monday for three weeks before going home. I knew a retired couple who lived in Mount Maunganui, NZ and so I emailed them and asked if they would want to host Dustin. They were thrilled to, so once it was all planned, I told Dustin how I wished I could go too. He replied "Oh, you will...I think God will provide a way for you to go too". I was like "yeah right" in my head and played along. I didn't actually think it was plausable since I didn't have money to get a ticket seeing that I was a missionary full time. So, the following day I said a very very sad goodbye, wishing he would have said he liked me, but didn't. I found myself really really sad for the next few days so to gain control of my emotions and surrender my heart to God, I stopped using email for a day. I had been looking far to often hoping for an email from Dustin professing his love for me. Didn't happen. 


However, when I got back online, I got on my email and to my surprise, my friends from Mount Manganui messaged me requesting to call them. I gave em a call and they said "Hey, since your friend Dustin is here, we went down to the travel agency and bought you a ticket to come next Friday for 8 days! We'll pick you up at the airport, see you then!". Half shocked, half crying with excitement, I ran to my leaders and asked if I could be released from my work for those days. They were thrilled for the blessing and let me go.The following Friday I found myself un-boarding a flight from Brisbane in Auckland airport. I could see Dustin waiting for me in the lobby. I was soo excited by the way God was orchestrating our romance that I just stood and starred at him for a few minutes before I built up enough courage to walk into our new relationship. Ha, funny how I thought we had a relationship. The rest of the trip went as this...my friends were busy with their own lives so they gave Dustin and I not only each our own separate quarters but an entire section of their beach-front mansion to hang out in and said here's a bunch of toys...go have fun! We watched movies, hiked, surfed, kayaked, went out to eat, ate in, went on little adventures around the island. It was brilliant except for one fact, Dustin was still NOT saying anything about whether he liked me, and I was falling harder for him with every day that passed. I was thrilled that God was even more into this love story than I was, but I was more and more frustrated that Dustin wasn't saying anything. 

New Zealand

One day, we were taking a hike up Mount Mangaunui. I was walking behind Dustin when he suddenly threw back his hand for what I thought was to hold mine. Overjoyed that it was FINALLY happening, I placed my hand in his and melted. What happened next consisted of Dustin's face suddenly freezing, shaking my hand and dropping it! I was mortified, he was only reaching out for a high five at our achievement of reaching the top. Welp, the trip came to an end, with the torturing two hour drive to the airport sound tracked by you guessed it, the Love Songs Radio Station. Dustin and I flew our seperate ways that day without one word of our feelings towards each other.

Dustin and I continued talking on the phone for months and months every other week until it was time for me to head home to the US for a five week break. God had really worked on my heart and I had totally surrendered the relationship to Him and I was feeling good at my ability to overcome my hearts desire to date Dustin. And what do you think happened next? I was only in my parent's front door less than five minutes when my mom reports to me that Dustin left a message wanting me to call him ASAP. He wanted to fly me out to Colorado in the next week. Leaving all my emotional control I worked so hard on to the dust, I replied "YES PLEASE!!". So there I was five days later, walking out of the Denver airport with Dustin! It was again, another movie-like weekend. I accompanied him to a wedding, met his family, met his friends, went hiking and simply had such a fun time! So, I knew, if this guy was going to pay to fly me out to Colorado, introduce me to his family and friends, surely he will profess his love to me now! But, that time never came and we were on our way to the airport. I am not one for profanity, but this kid was walking on thin ice and sometimes, it's the only type of words that will make a point. And so I asked Dustin, at the point of no return along our journey to Denver, "What are your intentions for me?" To which he replied, "You're a really great girl, I love being your friend..blah blah blah!". That's where the conversation went up a few octaves until Dustin finally said "OKAY I LIKE YOU, I just don't see how it could work with you living in Australia!". Aha, the TRUTH!!! 

Well, I flew back to Australia and he started college and we kept each other on reserve until we figured out what was next.  And, in true style of how things were going, we kept that up for SEVEN MONTHS!! I didn't know what to call him. I tried "special friend", but that ended when someone asked me "Oh, really?? What's wrong with him?" Oops..not that kind of "special". haha We like to call that span of time our international skype dating phase. Then, finally, a few days before my 23rd birthday, we called it what it was, we were Boyfriend and Girlfriend! Everything else happened rather quickly from there. I decided to move back to the states the following summer. His sister helped me move to Colorado, we dated for another year, got engaged and got married three months later. We just celebrated our two year anniversary in October! Thank the Lord for his persistence in providing a way for our relationship to work out when all odds were against us, we are soooo thankful for each other!

How We Met V.3

This version of how we met is from the lovely Brenna. I'm so glad that she took the time to write their cute story! She writes here own blog HERE.

Our story starts out about 8 years ago (at age 13). I had just gotten home from a long trip to Hawaii and the very next morning my friend asked me if I could help her babysit a big group of kids. I said yes and her mom brought us to the Martinez residence. They were having a big meeting for a homeschool group so I was watching all of the kids, including Chases little sisters and brother. I remember them being super nice, but later on in the day Chase comes out of his "cave" and joins us. I thought he was a good looking guy, but I was not impressed at all especially from the fact that he flipped off me and my friend (silly middle school boys!)

I saw Chase off and on for the next couple years at various homeschool activities. When we were 15 we both joined the same writing class. I remember being so impressed with how much he matured and how nice he was. After the writing class was over I got a job with the tobacco enforcement by being a undercover minor. One day after the cop picked me up to start working, he said he hired someone new and that we were going to pick him up on our way out. I started getting really nervous the closer we got to Chase's house and just about froze when we pulled up to his door. We were able to work with each other quite a bit and since we went to different towns it meant a LOT of time in the car. 

He ended up inviting me to his youth group nights and we started constantly messaging each other on the good ol' Myspace. (sentimental me still has all of our conversations saved). It's probably the only way he could get me to talk to him cause I was so shy. He quickly became one of my best friends. Some people would say that's too young for a relationship (which I would probably agree with most of the time), but I'm really glad we were so young because we got to experience all of the "growing up" stuff together like getting our drivers license, graduating, getting our first real jobs, and so on… 

We didn't start going out until about a year later and after graduation we started talking about getting married sometime in the distant future. Little did we know we would be married that same year. One night he took me to a "Movies Under The Stars" night up on glade park and then took me on a night hike afterwards. I was so worried about my parents getting mad about me getting home so late so I kept begging him to take me home and I finally just stood up and started walking towards the car and he yelled "wait, wait, wait! …will you marry me?…" I was really embarrassed that I had started walking away, but of coarse I said yes. We were married 3 months later. 

It's weird because we are still just a couple of kids and we recently celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary. We are still growing up, but we get to experience it together and one day we will grow old and experience THAT together.

-Brenna

How We Met V.2

I'm so happy to introduce the second How We Met from my amazing and talented Sister-In-Law LaRae! I love this story and am SO thankful that she took the time to write it! I hope you crack up at least half as much as I did when you read this! They are such a cute and funny pair. They go together so well and I'm so glad they found each other! So without further ado here she is:

To best explain how Amos and I met I thought would be to put it in to a series of chapters or short stories if you will. This will allow me to tell our story in a shorter readers digest version then a lengthy novel.

Child hood-

Amos and I first met way back when we were kids, our parents went to the old vineyard on north avenue. My dad was a worship pastor and Amos' mom helped with the nursery and love care. However this is not where our story begins mainly just a precursor. Actually if you were to ask us when we were kids what we thought of each other Amos would have said I was the loud, obnoxious, wild child that would never be tamed. I on the other hand  would have said Amos was the quiet awkward  kid with the glasses and he had cooties. Basically back then we would never have imagined that we would date let alone be married.

Re- Acquainting-

Fast forward about 15 years. I have recently moved back to grand junction a mutual friend asks if I want to go out to sushi with him and a friend who just got back from japan. We show up to the restaurant and the friend was Amos, he says he recognized me right away, I however did not recognize the now tall thin boy who did not wear glasses and was looking very cute wearing this black hat with a penguin pin on it.  Then our friend introduced us and it all came back to me who this was.

Fire-

After a few times of hanging out together with mutual friends Amos and I found our self sitting around a fire at a friends house( the same house we live in now). He was talking about his motorcycle and I was talking about hiking when he looks at me and says “hey I really like hiking we should go some time”. I thought this was a good idea but was confused whether this was a date or just another hang out.

We arranged a day to go hiking and I just waited to see what would happen.

Hiking/ It's a first date-

So the day we had plan to go hiking was of course the day it was raining outside. I had not heard from Amos but had assumed we were most likely not going hiking. I texted Amos and he was still up for going hiking so we planned to meet at my parents house  in Fruita. Still raining Amos shows up in flip flops I remember laughing and asking him if he brought hiking shoes, no. Did he for get them? no. His reply was “ actually I hike in sandles all the time, they have really good support”. I would later find out he was afraid of running late for our first date that he didn’t want to take the time to go get his shoes, which were at his parents house. By the end of are hike amos' sandles and pants were covered in mud. We went back to my parents house and were sitting in the car, I couldn't tell if he wanted to come inside or not so I took a chance and asked if he wanted to watch a movie or something and he did:).

Boyfriend & Girlfriend/ Brenna's wedding

Amos and I had been hanging out/ going on dates for four months now but had never made it official if we were boyfriend and girlfriend we had not even kissed. It was October 25, 2008 Amos and I were at his sister Brenna’s wedding reception. We were sitting at a table with some friends and I remember wanting to break the ice. I asked Amos if he wanted a kiss? He was shocked! He turned so red everyone at the table was laughing as I opened my hand to reveal a small wrapped chocolate Hershey kiss. Shortly after this had happened a friend of amos' came up and asked him if he wanted to go down to mesa theater and club with him and get some girls, Amos really embarrassed now just looked over at me. I could tell he did not know what to say so I again broke the ice and told him “ it's not like were boyfriend and girlfriend, Its okay if you go”. Stunned now he opens his mouth and says “well I kind of thought we were.”( my answer finally). I smiled at him and said “well Amos you have to ask me, I mean if you were going to marry a girl  wouldn’t you ask? Or would you just assume she would say yes”. Needless to say he finally asked me.

The Proposal/  Going to japan

Four months after Amos and I became Boyfriend and girlfriend he asked me to marry him over a candle lit dinner on February 2,2009 , also my 22 birthday. We were so very excited and so much in love. We started planning a wedding which would take place in a year. We figured this would give us enough time to get everything done.  Amos had been planning on going to japan again on a mission trip for three months so this would still give us 9 months of planning.  So a month after we had been engaged Amos packed his bags and headed for japan or so we thought. Turns out Amos made it as far as Denver and decided he couldn’t leave. He knew he had found the love of his life and wanted to get married. He surprised all of us and showed up 3 days later at my front door. We hugged and kissed and decided that we would get married July 3, 2009, only four months after we had first gotten engaged.

July 3,2009

On this day I married my best friend, a man that I love and will be in love with the rest of my life. The boy I had remembered from when I was younger and the man I had been reacquainted with only a year  earlier, was now the man waiting for me at the end of the aisle. As we said our I Do's I remember thinking How happy I was that we had the chance to meet. 

P.S. If you'd be willing to share your story please e mail me at: themcmanus3@gmail.com

How We Met V.1

If you're married (or have a bf of gf) you've probably been asked more than once how you met. There are a lot of very interesting, very beautiful, and funny stories out there. It's one of the most important and exciting time of our lives. I love so many of the ones I've heard from friends and family. I'm not sure how long or how often it will be, but I'd like to start having people share their stories on here in a series of post with stores from couples of how they met, fell in love, etc. Naturally I'll start with the whole story of me and my husby. So many people have asked me so I thought it would be easier to just write every part of it down to ware I don't miss any of it. Our story isn't super unusual or exciting, but it's still a part of me, so here it goes.

We saw each other very irregularly for about a year through mutual friends. We knew each other through a band that my brother-in-law was in, but I don't think we even officially met and talked for quite some time. On a little band tour I took with them in the state we were able to get to know each other the most, I think. While the others were off doing things on the trip my sister, Brenna, and I were pretty bored at one point, so David (my now husband) offered to hang out with us at a coffee shop. He didn't even drink coffee at the time, but we had a lot of fun talking and laughing with him. He seemed like a good friend, but I didn't picture myself ever going out with him. When it was time to head back home he asked if he could ride in my car with Brenna, Chase(my BIL), and me. The whole ride seemed so short because we talked so much. When we were back and had gotten back to our normal lives and jobs David always came into my work, wanted to hang out, or take me to lunch. I tried to refuse a lot of times, but he really is just too sweet! We started hanging out SO much, that he became my best friend. We did everything together and had a lot of fun. He asked me pretty often if we could go out, but I still didn't want to. I don't know if it was because of a recent heart break or if I still couldn't picture myself going out with him, but I still didn't want to. Over time he slowly stopped talking about becoming boyfriend and girlfriend and started mentioning marriage. I though he was crazy and laughed almost every time he mentioned it.
One day I went on a week vacation to go see family out of state and the entire next week David was gone to go see family out of state. So it was two weeks altogether. It was defiantly the longest we had been without each other since we got to know each other. I began to miss him... A LOT. And I told my self that I really didn't like being without him and decided that maybe getting married wasn't such a crazy idea after all. 

The day that he got back from his trip one of the first things I said was, "Let's get married." He excitedly asked, "OK, when?" I replied, "Today." 

"OK!" So that day we went to the court house to fill out our marriage license, found out he had no ID, snuck David's old, expired passport from his parents house, went back down, filled it out, set an appointment with a judge, and David asked my dads permission. My dad was the only one that knew what we were about to do and of course was very shocked. We wanted to wait to tell everyone else until after. We met the judge at a park and he did the whole ceremony, but it was just a jeans and tee shirt sort of deal. The only other person there was a cute, little boy in a tree sitting there watching us. Right after, we went to a musical show that David was supposed to learn to play the drums for. Then we decided to go tell all our friends. As we walked into their door though we were surprised with balloons, silly string, and yelling. Somehow the word had gotten out and all our friends were there to surprise and congratulate us. We all went out to eat to celebrate and had an amazing time. It was one of the best days!  xo -Liz

P.S. If you'd like to email me your story my address is themcmanus3@gmail.com