The Story Of Us ...

Nearly 10 years ago, I started dating a boy.  He was older than me, we psuedo-worked together, he was shy, I was bitchy ... it seemed impossible that we would last much more than a month.  It didn't help that we started "officially dating" on April1st.

After making it past the "year" mark - we moved in together, with my cat - Rufus, who by then was nearly ancient.  A year later, we got a kitten.  We called her Serandipity.  It seemed like our life was perfect.  Of course, we had our issues, what couple doesn't?  Two years after that, he proposed ... it went something like this (if you know Mike at all, or if we've spoken of him - you'll be able to pick up his sarcasm, attitude and frustration through my writing)

To Set the Scene:

Together, with our best friends Ryan & Hilary, we decided to take a trip over New Years, and spend some time "away" - just the four of us.  After searching online for an entire evening - we settled on North Conway, NH.  "The North Conway Grand Hotel" to be exact.  In theory, it seemed like the perfect place to celebrate a "romantic" Holiday weekend away.  In retrospect, it may not have been the perfect choice.  Anyway, we booked our rooms, and started packing right away ... New Years was only a week away. 

We decided to leave after dinner, that way - we'd miss all the Holiday traffic (if any) heading North, and we'd be able to take our time, and enjoy the ride.   To make life easier, we took two cars (my pontiac, and the Jackson's (though they weren't married yet) red truck ...) and we decided to have Ryan follow us.

Half way through Ossipee, Ryan & Hilary got pulled over for speeding.  HILARIOUS to us, because we were driving just as fast - if not faster - than they were.  We pulled into a little dirt turn around to wait for them, and a few minutes later - our cell phone rang.  It was Ryan, calling to tell us they were on their way, and there was no ticket issued.  The police officer was kind, noticed Ryan's impeccable driving record and decided to let him go with a verbal warning - PHEW!!   What a start to our romantic get away!  A little bit later, and we arrived at our destination.

Apparently, every skiing family with multiple children arrived at our destination ahead of us.   Oh Wonderful, for two couples (whom at the time didn't have, or want children) this was almost - almost - a deal breaker.  We checked in, only to find the rooms we were told we'd have - weren't ready, or available once they were cleaned, they had double booked the rooms.  Because the other guests had booked 5 minutes before us, we were the ones who had to change.  So instead of having a 2 bedroom suite, with in room hot tub, mini bar and living room - we had 2 separate rooms, with queen sized beds and in room 'jacuzzi tubs' ... now, that sounds better - it sounds more romantic, however .. a jacuzzi tub?  IS NOT a hot tub!

Our rooms were not connecting either, as we had requested once we had to rebook the rooms,  their room was 2 doors down from ours, with partying 20-somethings in between ... now, I'm no slouch, and I'm no  prude - those who do recreational ... whatever ... have their own ideas of what is fun, and what is not.  These 20-somethings?  They were into recreational - A L O T ... and it made for a long, loud evening.

We decided to go "off site" for dinner, and I believe that night we went to Fandangles .. No, I am wrong, we went to the 99 - the first time we'd ever eaten there.  We had a lot of laughs, we had so many particular laughs, that Mike shot beer out his nose ... Literally Shot Beer From His Nostrils.  I don't think the 4 of us have laughed that hard since then. 

Upon returning to our hotel, we ran into - literally hundreds of kids - all under the age of 10, all unsupervised and running rampant.  We decided to purchase a bottle of Champagne, some strawberries and borrow some champagne flutes from the hotel bar, only to be told we couldn't purchase a bottle, and they were "out" of strawberries.   We instead ended up with 4 glasses of champagne, with 4 shots of chambord (or something like that) ... it was pretty tasty, and the bartender was right - better than any strawberry we could have purchased.  So we sat around our room, talking, reminicsing, planning ... and realized, our alarm clock - was 10 minutes slow.  We Missed The Ball Drop.  LMFAO.

We laughed about that for a little while, finished our drinks and said goodnight.  By this time it was nearly 1am, and we had decided to get some rest for our "shopping day" the next day... It occurs to me that I failed to mention that our hotel, is literally right behind the "Settlers Green" Shopping Outlets .. 5 steps away! ... Hilary & I were going to go shopping, and Mike & Ryan were going to spend some time (and eventually more money than Hil OR I) in the arcade.  boys!

Onto "The Moment":

Around 7am, I noticed, through my mostly closed eyes, the bedside table light was on, and Mike was sitting in the chair next to me, mumbling to himself.  Ok creepy?  I turned over and asked what he was doing ... this was his reply:

"I've been up for sometime, trying to figure out the right words to wake you." Pause, Deep Breath "I want to spend the rest of my life with you, I want to know what it's like to wake up beside you and go to bed beside you every day."  

To which I replied:

"What on Earth are you talking about - we live together, you do that every day?!  What are you doing?"

"I'm trying to ask you to marry me, if you'll be quiet!!"

Wait - What?  silence.   By now, I'm more than mostly awake, but not completely.

"OK, so ---go on ... I'm listening"

He takes a deep breath and continues:

"So, will you?  Marry me, I mean?"  and he's suddenly holding a small box.

Dumbfounded, and remember - still somewhat asleep ... my response?

"Can I see the Ring First?"

No Lie.  He laughed, and said, of course - but ... you can't have it until you answer correctly.

I laughed, cried, looked at MY ring, and said of course I will ... I called my mom at a reasonable hour (I think it was 9) .... met Ryan and Hilary for Breakfast ... showed them my ring, Hilary and I cried ... of course, and then we went shopping.

We got married on September 24, 2005.   It was Perfect.  The weather was gorgeous, the dresses, flowers ... everything, just perfect. I promise, I'll blog that too - and when I'm on my own computer, I'll post some pictures of Mike and I, and maybe one of my ring.  Which, by any normal standards is simple - plain - and absolutely stunning.

Through all our ups and downs, our arguments, our fights - and believe me when I say - we have had quite a few knock down drag out fights ... we almost didn't even make it down the aisle.  It has been iffy that we'd last as long as we have - nearly 10 years together, nearly 5 years married .. One child, one built house ... lots of arguments, and disagreements along the way - he is my world, the yin to my yang, to be completely cheesy and steal a completely cheesy line - He Completes Me.

<3 Now That's The Story of Us ... well, part of it.