How We Met...
Rob and I met in July of 2007 at the University of Alabama. We had mutual friends and with the amount of students limited for the summer, we began to hang out in the same crowd. The more we hung out the cuter I thought he was and the sweeter I thought he was. I kept this secret crush to myself for 9 months. So did Rob.
We kept it a secret until the end of March 2008.
During the fall of '07, Rob and I lost touch a little bit. We would say we were going to hang out, but would never follow through (mostly I wouldn't follow through). However, in March we started hanging out again.
It only took about a week (or less) for us to become inseparable. A week and a half later we were on our first date.
Will You Dance with Me?...
Our first date was the best I have ever been on. It was so thoughtful and intimate.
Clever Rob called my roommate Cathie and asked her what my favorite dinner was at Cypress Inn (chicken fettucini alfredo). When I got to his apartment, he had candles all over the apartment, jazz playing, and the table set for two. Including my favorite dish.
After dinner we went for Cold Stone ice cream and went back to the apartment to watch Enchanted. Towards the end of the movie, during the ballroom scene, Rob asked me to dance with him to the song playing (So Close by Jon McLaughlin). I knew right then that this was going to be different from anything I had ever experienced.
When We Knew...
That summer, Rob and I were apart working at different camps at opposite times. For the first half of the summer I was at Pine Cove Outback in Columbus, TX. My camp name: Creams 'N Tide!!
For the second half of the summer, Rob was at Camp Ozark in Arkansas.
While we were apart our main form of communication was writing letters. Old school, ya know! I realized I loved him when it felt almost impossible to finish a letter without writing "I love you".
My feelings were verified when I got home for the only 3 days we had together that summer.
When I got home from camp, Rob had written me a letter that listed 60 reasons why he loved me.
Among those reasons were silly things like my "That's what she said" jokes, and my goofy facial expressions.
My favorite reason, however, was that even though I hadn't said it, he knew I loved him too. I indeed did. After I finished the letter I asked him what kind of love it was he felt for me. Forever love? or just until he didn't want to anymore?
He said forever love (which was what I was hoping). And from that day on we knew we would be married. It was all just a matter of time.
Clue #6...
In the summer of 2009, we spent more time apart. Rob spent 3 weeks in India spreading the Gospel and then I spent 5 weeks in Romania working with Livada Orphan Care. As the last summer, I spent my (21st) birthday away from my friends and family (and country).
I got home on Sunday, 7.19.09. On Thursday, 7.23.09, Rob took me on a scavenger hunt to get my birthday presents with clues leading me to each stop.
Each stop we made had a specific meaning and at each stop I got a new present. As we went along the gifts were supposed to get better.
The first gifts were two scarves. The second, a notebook ("The Story of Us"). The third, a Michael Buble CD. Fourth, a set of wine and martini glasses. Fifth, a pair of crystal earrings (that I wore on our wedding day). After that we went to our 6th and final stop.
The last stop was at Capitol Park in Tuscaloosa. I later found out that it was at Capitol Park (during a friend's wedding) that he knew he was going to marry me.
When we got down the aisle I was handed my last gift. As I was opening it, I realized it was a picture frame. I was beginning to get disappointed because the gifts were supposed to get better (I'm 5 years old, I know).
Inside the frame was a picture we had taken the year before. In the bottom corner was printed, "Engaged July 23, 2009". The second I realized that was that day's date, Rob was down on one knee.
After he said a bunch of sweet things, I can't remember, I said "Yes, of course!" and then we were engaged. A few minutes and kisses later I realized that my best friend, Aliciana, was on the other side of Rob taking pictures of the whole proposal. After I spotted Lici, I noticed Rob's best friend, David, had been video taping it as well. I even walked right past him.
It was absolutely amazing and I couldn't have asked for more.
But wait, the surprises didn't stop there.
I started listing off all the people I wanted to call and show my ring off to but he kept telling me, that we would call them later but for now it was just going to be us, Aliciana, David, Wesley, and Nick.
I was so sad and really wanted to call everyone else.
After we left the park, we went to Aliciana's to celebrate. When I opened the door to her apartment I was caught off guard again by 15 friends yelling "SURPRISE!!"
I started immediately talking to my girlfriends like they knew what was going on, when Rob whispered in my ear that they didn't know we had just gotten engaged.
So I awkwardly announced "We're engaged!"
They were all totally shocked and it was so much fun telling everyone.
And The Two Became One...
On June 19, 2010, Rob and I became husband and wife. We got married at a beautiful, intimate place called the Cates House in Alabaster. Around 130 of our closest friends and family were there in support of us. We were married by our college minister Chris Brooks with 10 of our best friends standing beside us in support.
We had the greatest wedding party of all times with friends coming from Texas, Oklahoma, and Virginia just to be a part of our big day.
The ceremony included two sets of beautiful of vows, unity candles lit from four memorial candles (honoring our friend Caroline Hartrampf, my grandmother, and Rob's grandparents), a time for our wedding party (and guests) to pray over us, and a background of our relationship and how God so perfectly orchestrated the whole thing.
After the ceremony, we boogied down with our favorite people.
After we were all boogied-out, Rob and I drove away to Ross Bridge Resort in Hoover.
The next week we spent our time eating, drinking, resting (and doing other things) in beautiful Jamaica.
We lived in Jackson, MS for a year before moving to Fort Worth, TX in 2011.
And Then Those Two Became Three and Four…
After settling into our new life in Fort Worth, Rob and I decided it was time to expand our family. In September 2012 we welcomed our first little love, Elijah. Two and a half years later we were blessed again, but this time with a beautiful baby girl, Nora. Life as parents has rocked us, changed us, and grown us. It hasn't always been easy but we are better for the struggles. Now that these precious humans are a part of our lives, we couldn't imagine life without them.
