Like most brides-to-be with half a brain, I'm always on the lookout for free wedding stuff. My mcBestie Sara showed me a cool contest for brides to enter. Part of the contest included writing down our "love story". So although this is the abridged version of our story, I thought I would share what I submitted:
(one of our first pictures)
Mike and I met one night when I was dancing at work. You see, I am an exotic dancer and Mike has an appetite for that kind of thing. Normally it's against club policies to date customers but this time----okay, okay. I'm going to stop right there. The truth of the matter is: the way we met is quite ordinary.
Like many other Utah couples, Mike and I met at church in (approximately) January 2010. He was single, I was, well, NOT single at the time; scandalous! After a few innocent conversations on Sundays, I remember Mike said something to the effect of, "Oh, you like Little Caesars pizza too? Why don't I get your number and bring some by later?". Being that I was not "available" at the time, but yet not wanting to turn him down completely, I found myself teetering on the edge of disloyalty due to my impeccable manners. Naturally, I just turned right on my heel and without a word, walked away.
I didn't see Mike for several months after that. I started asking around if anyone knew where "that Mike Martin" kid was; I got the same answer from almost everyone---he moved to Africa. Huh. Africa? Really? Wow, too bad I was single at that point. And that is a classic story of how sometimes timing just doesn't work out. The end.
Just kidding! This wouldn't be the great love story that it is without a little bit of a twist.... Due to some very clever detective work on my part, (Facebook), I realized that he was indeed still States-side.(excited squeal) In August 2010, I summoned my inner strength and sent him a message on Facebook. The rest, as they say, is history.
Mike and I dated for almost 2.5 years before we got engaged---that's right, long courtships in Utah aren't only an urban legend. During that time I finished my degree at the University of Utah, Mike coached two seasons of high school football, we went to Disneyland, we went to Disneyland again, and on our third (and most recent) California/Disney trip, we got engaged on January 3, 2013. If you've been keeping up, that's almost three years from when we first met.
Our engagement is a story for another day, but just as a teaser, it included: a romantic, isolated, SURPRISE proposal on Huntington Beach pier (which Mike had been planning for 4-5 months), and two trips to Urgent Care and one visit to the Anaheim ER to prevent me from going into anaphylactic shock due to a severe allergic reaction from eating something at our celebratory dinner that night. Despite the bizarre turn of events, we came out swingin' and know we'll make it through just about anything together.
We can't wait to be married and finally see each other more than once or twice a week (we've always lived at least 30 minutes apart). We anticipate lots of Disneyland trips and Little Caesars in our future---and just in case, Mike now knows how to shoot me up with an epipen! ;)
