Our Love Story

Today is Valentine's Day. What better day could there be to share the story of how we went from....

THIS (our first date)

TO THIS

Before we get from point A to point B, there is a little bit of explaining to give regarding how we even arrived at point A. The story varies a bit depending upon who is telling it. For the sake of this being our "family" blog, I'll try to give it from the most neutral point of view!

It all started back in August of 2002. A few of my sorority sisters were planning on going to hang out at a fraternity house down the street. I decided it would be fun to get out and enjoy the college life before all the craziness of classes, project, exams, and so forth got into full swing. While at the fraternity house, we decided that a drinking game was the only appropriate way to pass the time. As the hours passed on, we had our share of fun! Soon enough it was time to head back to the Alpha Phi house. As fate would have it, I was walking downstairs to go home and a very attractive guy caught my attention. As ironic as it was, I was holding tightly to the stair railing so as not to lose my balance and he was holding tightly to his Bible. Upon first noticing the large Bible in his hand, I knew I didn't stand a chance so I figured I'd just keep walking. To my surprise, he started talking to me. After a brief conversation (and finding out that I was an Alpha Phi), he suggested that I consider going to the bible study that our two houses would be hosting together on a weekly basis.

Fast forward a few weeks. My roommate and I were chatting about our upcoming plans. She mentioned something about leading a bible study with the SigEps. She invited me to come. Hmmmm, that would be the same bible study that the cute guy was going to. Sure, why not? I'm not really into the Bible, but I'll go. And I went. And I went the next week. And the next week. And just about every week that semester. But guess who didn't come? Yep, the cute guy! I saw him every once in awhile when we were there. He wasn't carrying his Bible, he was carrying a basketball. Instead of the bible study, he decided playing basketball would be much more worth his time.

On one of those occasions as he was heading out the door to play basketball and I sat admiring from the couch, he was stopped by a fraternity brother who was attempting to corral some guys for an upcoming philanthropy event. They needed to enter a fraternity brother into a "best eyes" contest for another sorority's philanthropy. Who better to judge than the bible study girls sitting on the couches? With butterflies in my stomach, I headed over to stand face-to-face with this guy that I'd noticed for months (the same guy that I'm pretty sure didn't know I existed after our August encounter). Needless to say, I placed my vote and stated that he clearly had the best eyes.

About a week or two later, the Alpha Phis and SigEps had an exchange together. At this point, several of my sorority sisters were well aware of the crush that I had on the cute SigEp. As the night progressed, they of course thought it was necessary to make sure I didn't leave without first talking to the cute guy. We ended up spending time chatting and of course I realized that this guy was not only cute, but full of personality! At the end of the night, we parted ways and I knew I would have to see Tyler again.

A few days later, I worked up the courage to ask him out on our first date. My sorority semi-formal was coming up and I knew that I wanted him to come. Since instant messenger was the equivalent of "texting" during our college days, I sat myself down at the computer and sent him an IM. I just about jumped out of my chair when he said he'd be my date.

That brings us to point A (the first picture) on our first date. We ended up having an awesome time at the dance. I'd never met such an all around awesome guy....so much personality, a true gentleman, and incredibly handsome. I figured my chances of actually dating him were slim. But, after a little over a month of getting to know each other better we decided to officially be boyfriend and girlfriend.

During our two years of dating, we definitely had a lot of ups and a few downs. We spent so much time together just hanging out and enjoying our college days. We had sorority/fraternity events, walks around campus at night, meeting each other's families, church on Sundays, dates off campus, spring break trips, graduation, and so much more! There were also the days of making a long distance relationship work. We both did our share of traveling to see each other. And to this day I still remember the feeling I'd get when Sunday rolled around and that meant at least one whole week would pass until we'd hang out again. The saying is so very true, "when you've found the person you want to spend the rest of your life with, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible".

That leads us to October 23, 2004. I drove down to spend the weekend in Champaign (Tyler still had one year left after I graduated). Everything about the weekend seemed just like any other weekend together. We decided to go out and enjoy the beautiful day by taking a walk at a local park that we spent many days jogging and walking at. On our walk, we got into a pretty serious conversation about what our plans were for the future. Since Tyler planned on graduating with an agriculture degree, it didn't seem as though he'd be able to move anywhere near suburban Chicago where I was living and working. In the back of my mind, I thought that we'd end up drifting apart. Little did I know, he had a much different idea. Towards the end of our walk, we headed off the path to a bench. When we sat down, he didn't waste a minute and was down on his knee asking me to marry him. Although I was COMPLETELY shocked, I instantly said yes!

After 8 months of planning, we got to point B and were married on July 1, 2005. Just as with our dating days, we definitely have our ups and downs. Thankfully, we have many more moments of joy than sorrow. After 2 years of dating, 8 months of being engaged, and 5 years of marriage I know that I have found the most amazing guy in the world. As a boyfriend, fiance, husband, and daddy he has proven himself to by loyal and loving. I don't know what I did to deserve such a wonderful partner for life. God has been so good to me!