That Day In History

I was a transfer student at the university we both attended, and me being the semi-social butterfly I am, I decided that it was time to make some new friends.  That day in history, I decided to befriend my classmate that was assigned by alphabetical order to sit next to me. We made plans to get together that Friday night and so I picked her up at her apartment and we headed off to visit with another one of her friends. After hanging around for a while, feeling totally uncomfortable, I thought I had made a mistake and should have asked the girl sitting to my right if she wanted to hang out instead.

 That’s when she said “Well, I met this guy at a party last weekend, we can see what he’s doing”. She called him up and he invited us over. When we got there we were greeted by the guy she met and a couple of other people who happened to be at their apartment. Little did I know my future husband was there in that apartment playing video games. (not much has changed)

 We talked all night and he tried to convince my why he should be my boyfriend. He was funny and charming and all the girls were after him that night, but he only had eyes for me. The rest is history, and speaking of history, I dropped my history class and never saw that girl again. She was kinda crazy, but without her, I never would have met the love of my life. Crazy how life works out sometimes.
http://marriedawayinmexico.blogspot.com/ 

Happily Ever After Romance

The first time I met D, I was looking for a studio space near the Waldorf School our children attended.  I wanted to be able to drop the kids off and get a few hours of uninterrupted doll making in while they were in class. My husband, kids and I lived a 45 minute drive away so it was too time-consuming to go home and come back again.

We Met On A Bus

It was the summer of seventh grade, and my school courageously took 130 or so thirteen-year-olds on a trip to Washington, D.C.

Out of the four buses rented to chauffer us around the city, one of them broke down. I was on it.

Instead of getting a new one, they distributed us evenly among the other buses. I ended up on Steven’s. 

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him. I didn’t know it was him yet, but it was him. He stood up in his seat and chucked a pop bottle at the person sitting behind him. A laugh erupted on the bus. The boy popped his head up above the seat once more and gave a wide, friendly grin at his target and added to the laughter.

It was love at first sight. 

I told a friend sitting next to me that I thought the boy who threw the pop bottle was really cute. 

The friend, without me knowing, passed a handwritten note in a glass ginger ale bottle telling him that, if memory serves right, "I think you're cute. Will you hang out with me at Six Flags? Love, Jolee."

There were a few other notes passed back and forth in this bottle and soon I caught on and became excited to get to Six Flags (our much needed break from all the stuffy history tours). 

When we finally got there, however, Steven was a no show and we didn’t hang out. I figured that was the end of that.

Of course, it wasn’t.

After Six Flags, I sat on the bus waiting to go back to the hotel feeling a little bummed, but then there he was.

He plopped down in the seat next to me, and asked what would go down in the books as the best pick up line ever.

"So, what's your favorite cartoon?" 

Two days later on June 8, 1999, Steven asked me if I would be his girlfriend.

Ten years later, he asked me to marry him.

And I did.

 www.joleedonnelly.com

From Russia With Love

It's party time in Colorado Springs... Julie, my friend and co-worker, just got engaged. I've never been to an engagement party before, coming from Russia, where diamond rings aren't given out before weddings.

The party is right after work, which means I don't have an hour or three to get myself groomed and polished. I head to the fiance's house after a long day of staring into a computer screen. I'm wearing a questionable Chinese top (what was I thinking wearing it to work?or wearing it, period?). The house is packed and the majority of people is in the kitchen; the usual. This is where I head because I'm hungry. I hurry to greet a few friends,  force a smile at some acquaintances, and divert my full attention to a platter of nachos. Have I mentioned, I'm hungry? I dodge many a body as I struggle my way through to the mount of cheesy goo. I'm almost there when a tall lanky guy appears right above the platter and is already eying my food. I grab a paper plate, briskly move the platter toward me and help myself to a generous portion. The tall one doesn't seem to notice I'm not friendly.

Despite this he smiles and even asks me how I know the newly-engaged couple. I guess now that I took a bite, I'm becoming a little more human.

His name is Greg, he lives in that house with 4 other guys. We haven't even chatted for 5 minutes when he invites me to go to Denver to celebrate Cinco de Mayo with him and his friend Mark.

I like his straight-forwardness... and I covet his fab Joseph Abbaud  glasses. I have no other plans for Cinco de Mayo, I love Denver, so I hear myself say "yeah, sure, why not". Greg wonders off to inform his friend they have a new party attender. I see them chat and wonder if I'll have fun at all.

He Said...

Hmm...  Though both of them HAD to have been there, SOMEHOW they do not always see eye to eye on how it happened...
Eric's Story

I met Shica when she was dressed as a childhood fantasy, Betty Rubble. Dang,but she tricked me.She was not at all  interested in the party we were attending, so I thought that she looked like my Auntie Shica.

I started calling her that.  (For some reason, she did not like me calling her that)  I kept seeing her at different events, and she kept looking like she was not interested in being there, so I kept making fun of her.  This caused her to hate The Wonderful EB. 



 But, her friend kept waving her flaming, burning desire by constantly mentioning my name over and over again - keeping me at the forefront of her mind.  After constantly seeing her at different events, I was finally worn down, so I decided to ask her out at a party hosted at the Covered Bridge Condos.

She Said...

Shica's Story
I met this LOUD, annoying dude at an event hosted by some mutual friends.  He would just make fun of any and everyone that he possibly could, he was relentless.  He started to call me Old Auntie.  Oh, he grated my nerves and my roommate at the time thought that he was THE funniest thing that the world ever created. When that circle of friends would host an event, she would pontificate on whether he would be there and I would cross my fingers that he would decline the invite.  She always won.


One day, the ladies of my book club decided to venture out to a social gathering together, that was hosted by the same circle of folks who happened to work with the loud dude.  Shock, shock, surprise... he was
there.  When we were all leaving the party, he asked for my phone number, he had this coupon book that he was using for his lead in to ask me out on a date.  That was a fresh breath of air in the world of
that can be the Pretentiousness of A-town and I preferred someone who was being direct in his efforts to take me out, while showing that he fully intended to pay for it (though admitting that he wasn't balling out of control in the process).  I gave him my number, we went out on a few dates.  But, he never really said much of anything.


After reading books like He's Just Not That Into You, I figured that he just liked the company of my roommate. So I proceeded to hold him at arm's length.  If he wasn't going to flat out tell me that he was interested, I didn't know what to tell him..

.
When I did see and speak with him, I came to find that he was an awesome Bible Student, completely devoted to serving God.  Not just in lip service, but I was able to see a sermon lived out in his life on
a regular basis - he taught the youth at his church, mentored the kids from his community, passionately assisted them in making steps to better their lives, made sure to be involved in the lives of his friends.

The loud annoying dude was becoming more real to me now.

This was not a quick sweep you off your feet, this was a long, steady, and gradual test of tried and true.  I am elated that that loud dude has evolved in my heart and mind into someone who I consider to be my very best friend, partner in crime, road dog, and all around the one that I know will be in my corner for life.  So, all of that's to say - don't go with your first impression of anyone, you just might be wrong!
http://www.weddingwire.com/eshixb

Raven Fyresoul meets Queen Adia

We have a story that spans across a decade. Some of you may remember Yahoo Chat before it was overrun by porn bots. I remember my first time on Yahoo Chat like it was yesterday. I had just finished my routine after school viewing of Sailor Moon on Cartoon Network's Toonami and I wanted to go look for backgrounds that I could print out and put on my binder. 

We had just gotten a computer that year. It was a Gateway and it was huge! So I get on and Netscape suggested I visit Yahoo! So I went and was so excited to talk to other Sailor Moon fans in the Arts and Entertainment section. 

It was there that I was introduced to RPG in the user made rooms. After a few weeks of observing, I decided to make a character. Oh, how I remember her well. I was such a Sailor Moon freak and that was also the year Star Wars Episode I came out. So please do not make fun of my character. My screen name? Neo_Queen_Adia_of_Narybu. Yes, I went there. I went to Geocities (remember them?) and created a web page for my kingdom and I start recruiting. 

Soon I had handmaidens, an advisor, a personal guard, and other palace workers and we were all just enjoying the play. I had created my kingdom in the middle of a war. Kingdom Candlebain and the Lionhart family were at war due to the death of the crowned prince in Candlebain. Queen Adia established herself as a pacifist nation and began treating soldiers on both sides. Oh Candlebain did not like that and they hired a very trained mercenary to get rid of her.
Enter Raven_Fyresoul.

Finding That Perfect Ride

"I was at my first real college party. I was out of my dorm room with friends I had only just met that week, at a party being thrown by upper-class-men junior boys. I repeat: upper-class-men boys. Yeah, I know, it was pretty awesome. I didn’t have parents waiting for me to get home, I hadn’t had to create an elaborate rouse to allay suspicions of my whereabouts, and I wasn’t trying to pretend the drink in my hand was just a diet coke. I felt like a real college student. An adult, if you will.

There was only one thing that can put a damper on a perfect evening like this: your ride telling you she’s ready to got home. I had an immediate pang of disappointment since I was definitely not ready to leave yet. The booze was just starting to hit me and I had lots of people surrounding me and wanting to talk. I belonged, and I wanted to stay. “Okay,” she said, “We’ll just find you another ride home.”

It Just Feels Right

As my parents put me on a plane for Dartmouth College in September of 1993, my mother’s parting words were “Anne, stay away from the senior boys…”  I smiled, gave them both a hug, and determinedly walked aboard the aircraft ready to start my life as a college student.

Six weeks later, I looked across the room at a fraternity party and I knew that my world was about to change.