From The Beginning....

A friend if mine told her love story in her blog and tagged me to do the same, so here it goes...

We met in March of 2000. We were actually set up on a blind date. Here is some background. My roommate Melissa and I had gone out dancing one night and a cute young man came up to hit on me. He was cute, but young. (I was 30 at the time) I asked Jason how old he was, he told me 21 and I quickly sent him off to talk to Melissa who was his age. Jason and Melissa ended up hitting it off. Jason came back later in the evening and told me he had friends who were older that he wanted to introduce me to. I said basically, thanks, but no thanks.

About two weeks went by and Melissa and Jason were dating and without me knowing, planning a date for me. Jason took Melissa to meet Jim first to see if she thought I would meet him or not. Melissa told me that Jim was just my type and that I should definately meet him. She suggested that we all go on a double date. I was really not interested and made several excuses not to go. I was very happy with my life the way it was. I was back in college after many detours. I was more than halfway to my bachelors in music. I had a failed marriage behind me along with several relationships, some of them very bad. I had just accepted that being alone was okay. I had my music and my friends and family. I was happy.

The next night, my phone rang at about 9:30pm. It was a Thursday night. Jason was on the phone asking me to come out and meet him and his friends. (Jim being one of them) I said no, I had 8am class in the morning, I was in my jammies and I was ready to crawl into bed. Next thing I know, Jim was on the phone. (I guess Jason thought I would have a much harder time telling him no) Jim and I talked for about ten minutes and before I knew it, I agreed to meet him up at Pete's (a local bar). I got dressed (nothing special, did not even put on make-up) I was planning on going in, meeting Jim, blowing him off and heading home. I was guessing I would be home in bed by eleven thirty.

I got to Pete's, and walked in. Pete's has three rooms. I did not see Jason in the first room, so moved to the second room. As I was scanning the room, I noticed a tall handsome man standing in the doorway between the second and third room. About that time, Jason came up to me, he hugged me and grabbed my hand. He led me right to the man I had been admiring. He introduced us and from there, everything just fell right into place. Jim and I started talking and it just felt like we had known each other for forever. We ended up talking until after 2am. (And I had a class at 8am!) He kissed me good night and gave me his phone number. (He already had mine) We had made plans for a date the next night for St Patricks Day.

We were together all the time from then on. He was amazing. Everything just felt so perfect and right. It was like I had been waiting my whole life to find him. One of my favorite songs is Rascal Flatts "God Blessed the Broken Road". The words in it ring so true for both Jim and me.

He was in the Navy and was transferred before I graduated from college. He moved to South Carolina without me. I had one sememster left. We saw each other every weekend. And then after I graduated and my sister got married, I moved to South Carolina with him. We had both been burned before, so neither one of us rushed to get married. But in Feburary of 2002, he proposed and then on May 25, 2002, about one year after I moved to Charleston with him, we were married.

I often think back to how close I came to not going and meeting him that night so long ago. I thought everything in my life was so perfect when in truth, I had just finally gotten to the place God needed me to be, to be open to finding the love of my life and the blessings and gifts he had in store for me. God really does have a plan, I honestly believe that. And through Jim, I have found more than I ever hoped for. I had given up on being married or being a mom before I met him. And with him, I have realized those dreams and so much more.

So that is our love story, or at least the first chapter. I think our story is still being written. And I look forward to every chapter....





I love you sweetheart!!!