Our Loooooove Story :)

With Valentine's Day around the corner, I figured, What better way to celebrate a little early than through a link-up that Becky started?! (She's the coolest, by the way. You should follow her if you aren't already.) Uber excited. :)


I've decided to answer the questions below, but our "love story" (in a nutshell) can also be found here. :)


1. How long have you and your significant other been together?
Wellllll, this is a funny question for us. We've KNOWN each other since about 4th grade. But we started dating at the end of our sophomore year of high school.

 

2. How did you meet? {What's your "love" story?}

To sum it up... a few little birdies had told me that Chris had had an itty bitty little crush on me starting in 8th grade. But I, of course, was all about not wanting to ruin the "friendship." We were super close, and I really just looked at him as more of a brother. His itty bitty crush kind of grew (from what I've been told), and thennnn it kind of got awk to hang out because I knew he liked me, but he didn't know that I knew, and then he find out that I knew, and... yeah. Then I had surgery when I was around 15 and was in bed for a couple weeks. Friends came to visit, but Chris would come (with flowers) every. single. day. Just because he wanted to spend time with me. Some found this ridiculous and creepy, but I thought it was the SWEETEST thing. He could've been doing any other thing and definitely having more fun, but he chose to sit around with me instead? That's when I had my change of heart. Figured I'd give it a shot. Didn't really think it'd be more than a little "high school fling." Ha. I was wrong. And am SO glad I was.

3. If married, how long have you been married? If not, is this the guy you hope to marry? {do tell}
Married! It'll be 1 year June 11th. :)

4. If you are married, where did you get married at? Big or small wedding? If not, where would you like to get married? And will it be big or small?
We got married in the church I was baptized in (coincidence because neither of our families go to this particular church anymore), and the reception was at a happenin' venue about 10-15 minutes away. I'd say it was a biggER wedding, but not ridonculously big or anything. We had a little over 200 guests attend.

5. Do you have any nick-names that you call one another? Do share!
Ha... boyyyy, do we. Baby, Babe, CJ (I call him), H (he calls me), Booger, Boog, Honey, Lovey, Bud, Sweetheart... just to name a few. ;)

6. Name 3 things that you love most about your honey.
Chris is the BIGGEST giver and has the biggest heart of anyone that I've ever met- he will do anything for anyone, especially family and close friends. His sense of humor is out of control. He is insanely motivated and driven in all that he does.

7. Tell us how he proposed? Or your ideal proposal?

Long story short? I'll try. We were on Spring Break our senior year of college and were staying at our friend's house (his family lives on a lake- bonusss!) with a bunch of our friends. At the end of the week, Chris and I planned to go home for a couple days to spend a little time with our fams before heading back to school. Little did I know what he had planned... AND that he had told all our friends at some point during the week what he was up to for the coming weekend. After a super fun week, we headed home and talked about doing a little something to celebrate our upcoming anniversary. (*Side note: Our anniversary always fell during final exams week at school, so ever since we'd been in college, celebrating usually consisted of ordering chinese and studying together. Womp womp.) So, where was I? Oh yeah, we wanted to celebrate our anniversary since this was our senior year, and the previous years we hadn't done much, and we had the opportunity to celebrate a little early, etc., etc. He told me he'd surprise me with dinner plans, so I didn't think much of it. I got ready that afternoon/evening and was quickly curling my hair when my sister (who knew NOTHING about his plans) walked into the bathroom and said, "What do you think, you're getting proposed to or something? Why are you curling your hair?!" Ironic much? I legit LAUGHED (because that wasn't at all in my mind) and simply told her that becausssse I didn't bring many "cute dresses" home from school (since I spent most of the break practically living in my swimsuit), I was making up for it a little by curling my hair. Come on, we were going to a nice dinner! What was the big deal? So, Chris came to pick me up, looking handsome and dapper as always, and we were off. I didn't have any idea where we were going, but when we finally pulled up to the restaurant downtown, I was THRILLED. It was a restaurant that we had always talked about going to since we first started dating and had never made it there. Little did I know that that was the first of many surprises. I started to walk inside, but Chris told me we were a little early and suggested waiting outside. He then led me over to a horse-drawn carriage. (*Second side note: I am a hopeless romantic and have ALWAYS made jokes about wanting to go on a carriage ride around downtown. Chris has always thought that was cheeseballs and would tease me for it.) Now, this should have been a clue to me. But I? Was oblivious. I was thinking he was just doing it big for all the other years we did NOTHING for our anniversary.

I was so excited, and we set off on our ride. Halfway through, the driver said something "seemed to be wrong with the carriage" and asked us to step out for a second. Uh, are you kidding?! We're nowhere near the restaurant and are going to be late for our reservations! was all I could think. Then I got a little annoyed. Shame on me. Chris seemed calm, cool, and collected and suggested we sit and wait on a little bench in this beautiful courtyard outside of a big cathedral where the carriage had stopped in front of. Okay, fine. We sat. And then he started talking. Not saying anything weird at first... and then, he started to get a little mushy. I just kind of looked at him, and all I could say was, "Chris?" He kept talking. And getting mushier. And I just kept saying, "Chris? Chris? CHRIS?!" Before I knew it, he was down on one knee. I threw my arms around him (without actually answering) and just started screaming and crying. I realized I hadn't told him anything and yelled, "YESSSS!" Then we walked back to the carriage, where our little driver was so proud of herself for helping him pull that little trick off. We rode back to the restaurant, with the driver telling everyone on the street, "THEY JUST GOT ENGAGED!" So that was fun. Lotsa people cheering and clapping for us. I was on cloud nine. Then we got back to the restaurant. Still more surprises. We were still a tad early, so we waited outside, and I was dying to call family and friends, but Chris wanted to just "enjoy the moment just the 2 of us" for a bit. Kay. Sure. Whatever. Works for me! I didn't care about ANYTHING. ELSE. We finally walked in, and the hostess said our table was being set up and suggested we wait at the bar for just a second. Fiiiiine. As we walked over, I saw someone who looked like my dad... then got closer and realized it WAS my dad... and the rest of my family, Chris' family, my grandmother, and our best friend growing up (who wound up being our best man).

We all celebrated with a little engagement party at the restaurant. It was truly the most perfect night of my life.

Little memento from the carriage ride :)
 

8. Is he a flowers and teddy bear kind of guy for v-day, or strawberries, champagne, and rose petals?

Mmm, probably depends on the situation and what's going on. I'll combine the scenarios and say he's probably a flowers, strawberries, and champagne kind of guy. :)

9. Are you a sunset dinner on the beach kind of girl, or pop a movie in and relax on the couch?
Like #8, that depends. I usually love nothing more than to spend time with my honey at home, making dinner together and watching a movie. Buttttt sometimes I like little romantic surprises and would totally go for a sunset dinner on the beach. :)

Mauritius

10. Tell us one thing you'd like to do with your significant other one day. If you could do anything? Go anywhere?
Travel more and/or live in another country. Temporarily, though. I wouldn't want to live away from our families for toooooo long. ;) The last *big* trips Chris and I took together were in 2008 (when Chris came with my family to go visit my dad's side of the fam, who live in Mauritius- an exotic island off the coast of Madagascar) and 2011 (our honeymoon, duhhh).

Mauritius

Mauritius

Honeymoon :)

11. Tell us what you plan on doing this Valentine's Day.
Not sure yet. We haven't really talked about it, and hubby's been swamped at work, so it may be more of a low-key evening. I have a feeling I'll end up working my magic and planning a little something for him, given how busy/stressed he's been. :)

12. Are you asking for anything this Valentine's Day?
Nope. We just moved into our new house and are still putting so much (money) into that, so we're taking it easy on the spending for a little while. Plus, I'd rather save up for a little trip or something we may take this summer!

13. Give us one piece of advice for keeping a relationship strong and full of love.
Oh, gosh... there are lots of things you need to keep a relationship strong! I think one big thing (other than r-e-s-p-e-c-t) is not to sweat the small stuff. Life's too short. Enjoy each and every moment together because time will go by soooo fast, and you never know how many more moments you'll get!

14. Show us a picture of what love means to you.

Whatcha waiting for? Head on over, say "hi" to Becky, and link up! :)