Thank you much for sticking with me this month as I get this blog rolling again. It wasn't easy sharing some of my bumpy road with you, but that road made me who I am today. I'm glad to say that my regrets are few.
Need to Catch Up?
She Doesn't Have an Eating Disorder and She's Not Sleeping Around...Now What?!
I left you last week in the process of moving to Washington State. I severed my relationships with my roommates with my unexpected move. I literally peaced out on them, gave them 2 months rent and I was gone. I wanted out so badly because I just couldn't keep on with the life I was living there. Something had to change and it was the quickest thing that I could think of to do. Thankfully, I was able to get a job transfer to the Bellevue office.
On March 19, 2006, I arrived. I met my parents at my new apartment and began unpacking. By myself. After my parents left, I sat there and cried thinking I just made the worst mistake ever. I had never been on my own, I was in a city where I knew absolutely no one, and I had no idea where the hell I was. Literally. I didn't have cable or internet set up, I didn't have GPS on my phone because it wasn't a smart phone, I was alone. I quickly got over it when all my boxes were unpacked and everything was in its place. I was on my own and I was going to do it myself. I didn't need a man...
Where Are Those Shoes?
So let's go back two weeks before I moved.
I met my handsome husband on March 3, 2006. I was at a mutual friend's apartment watching the last episode of Deal or No Deal, when my Man walked in. Picture it (I'm drawing from my most beloved character, Sophia Petrillo. If you don't know who she is, you're dead to me. ). I'm sitting on the couch watching these beautiful models open and close briefcases and waiting for this lady to take the deal. I mean, c'mon...it's $250,000!! Don't be greedy. There's a knock at the door and my friend John let's this tall, brunette, Greek god into the apartment. He walks into the room. Everything is at a stand still. I can't hear if this lady took the deal or not. Their mouths are moving, but I don't hear a sound. Dang it! What did she do? He walks by to grab a beer. He smiles. He laughs. Our eyes meet. It's kismet. He puts his beer down and joins me on the couch because he just had to meet me. And like they say, "The rest is history."
Um, yeah. No. Bits and pieces of it are true. Watching the show, him grabbing a beer. I think. I didn't really notice him. I was more interested in the show. Our encounter that night consisted of our friend telling us that the other was moving to Washington and a nod. End. Of. Story.
OKAY...you're caught up now. On March 17th, I packed up my moving truck and headed to Washington. It was the craziest thing I had ever done. I thought I was going to spend the rest of my life in SoCal. About a week into me be there alone and bored out of my mind (see above -- NO INTERNET!!) I get this call; it's from three men enjoying their night out. Trent, John, and my Man were loud and incoherent. I did catch a couple of things, but the most important one was, "Mark will be there in a week. You NEED to hang out with him." Fine, fine.
Needless to say, my Man did move up and within the week that he got to Seattle, he called me. Let me tell you...I melted. His phone voice was oh so dreamy. Not what I heard when he first called with his friends. He asked to hang out with me and I agreed. Hang out night came and I was so excited to be able to do something. I mean, two weeks without MySpace and iTunes was torture! Oh my gosh! I'm dying...MySpace...HAHA!! Any way, I went to his apartment that had an amazing view of Lake Union. I say, "had," because they eventually built up apartments in front of it, but I digress. Then it dawned on me...I have NO IDEA WHAT THIS GUY LOOKS LIKE! I called him and let him know I was outside. He was going to be face-to-face with me in less than a minute, but what would that face look like?! I was panicking. I waited for what felt like an eternity. A couple of people actually came down within that time frame and I tried my best not to yell out, "Hey...you!" and then he came down...in THOSE shoes. I really wish I had a picture of them...
Maybe it was shear nervousness or whatever, but I busted up laughing. "They're like Ronald McDonald shoes!!" Great line, huh? It was a slap-your-head moment. The verbal diarrhea had already been spilled. He looked down, a little embarrassed, but I think he hid it quite well. Sort of. I think we both pretended it didn't happen and went on our way. I had an amazing time. I did have another moment of panic; "Is he going to kill me?!" Why would I even ask myself this after things had been going so good? Well, he asked to take me to his favorite spot. "Why are we going to his favorite spot? We just met." Ok. Let's go. "What are you doing? You don't know this guy. It's getting late and you have work in the morning." My feet just kept walking. And then we stopped. My heart is racing. No one knows where I am. I don't know where I am. We stop on the pier where it's all boarded up due to construction. Enter my thought, "Is he going to kill me?!" He apologizes for how the pier looks. He didn't know there would be construction. He was really wanting me to see his special spot. Boy, did I feel stupid. We ended up back at his apartment talking into the wee hours of the morning. We said our goodbyes and I was sold.
The next week he sent a text asking if he could be "upgraded" to boyfriend status. I had fallen when I didn't want to fall for anyone. We went on our first date and I was nervous as heck! It wasn't long before we were talking about getting married. We booked our ceremony site 2.5 months into dating and then got engaged. A little backwards, but we knew. We got married the following September, had a gorgeous wedding and an AMAZING honeymoon, and here we are 10 years later with 4 kids, a home in Colorado Springs, and I have no idea where those red shoes are...
I met my handsome husband on March 3, 2006. I was at a mutual friend's apartment watching the last episode of Deal or No Deal, when my Man walked in. Picture it (I'm drawing from my most beloved character, Sophia Petrillo. If you don't know who she is, you're dead to me. ). I'm sitting on the couch watching these beautiful models open and close briefcases and waiting for this lady to take the deal. I mean, c'mon...it's $250,000!! Don't be greedy. There's a knock at the door and my friend John let's this tall, brunette, Greek god into the apartment. He walks into the room. Everything is at a stand still. I can't hear if this lady took the deal or not. Their mouths are moving, but I don't hear a sound. Dang it! What did she do? He walks by to grab a beer. He smiles. He laughs. Our eyes meet. It's kismet. He puts his beer down and joins me on the couch because he just had to meet me. And like they say, "The rest is history."
Um, yeah. No. Bits and pieces of it are true. Watching the show, him grabbing a beer. I think. I didn't really notice him. I was more interested in the show. Our encounter that night consisted of our friend telling us that the other was moving to Washington and a nod. End. Of. Story.
OKAY...you're caught up now. On March 17th, I packed up my moving truck and headed to Washington. It was the craziest thing I had ever done. I thought I was going to spend the rest of my life in SoCal. About a week into me be there alone and bored out of my mind (see above -- NO INTERNET!!) I get this call; it's from three men enjoying their night out. Trent, John, and my Man were loud and incoherent. I did catch a couple of things, but the most important one was, "Mark will be there in a week. You NEED to hang out with him." Fine, fine.
Needless to say, my Man did move up and within the week that he got to Seattle, he called me. Let me tell you...I melted. His phone voice was oh so dreamy. Not what I heard when he first called with his friends. He asked to hang out with me and I agreed. Hang out night came and I was so excited to be able to do something. I mean, two weeks without MySpace and iTunes was torture! Oh my gosh! I'm dying...MySpace...HAHA!! Any way, I went to his apartment that had an amazing view of Lake Union. I say, "had," because they eventually built up apartments in front of it, but I digress. Then it dawned on me...I have NO IDEA WHAT THIS GUY LOOKS LIKE! I called him and let him know I was outside. He was going to be face-to-face with me in less than a minute, but what would that face look like?! I was panicking. I waited for what felt like an eternity. A couple of people actually came down within that time frame and I tried my best not to yell out, "Hey...you!" and then he came down...in THOSE shoes. I really wish I had a picture of them...
Maybe it was shear nervousness or whatever, but I busted up laughing. "They're like Ronald McDonald shoes!!" Great line, huh? It was a slap-your-head moment. The verbal diarrhea had already been spilled. He looked down, a little embarrassed, but I think he hid it quite well. Sort of. I think we both pretended it didn't happen and went on our way. I had an amazing time. I did have another moment of panic; "Is he going to kill me?!" Why would I even ask myself this after things had been going so good? Well, he asked to take me to his favorite spot. "Why are we going to his favorite spot? We just met." Ok. Let's go. "What are you doing? You don't know this guy. It's getting late and you have work in the morning." My feet just kept walking. And then we stopped. My heart is racing. No one knows where I am. I don't know where I am. We stop on the pier where it's all boarded up due to construction. Enter my thought, "Is he going to kill me?!" He apologizes for how the pier looks. He didn't know there would be construction. He was really wanting me to see his special spot. Boy, did I feel stupid. We ended up back at his apartment talking into the wee hours of the morning. We said our goodbyes and I was sold.
The next week he sent a text asking if he could be "upgraded" to boyfriend status. I had fallen when I didn't want to fall for anyone. We went on our first date and I was nervous as heck! It wasn't long before we were talking about getting married. We booked our ceremony site 2.5 months into dating and then got engaged. A little backwards, but we knew. We got married the following September, had a gorgeous wedding and an AMAZING honeymoon, and here we are 10 years later with 4 kids, a home in Colorado Springs, and I have no idea where those red shoes are...
Where Do We Go From Here?
With the upcoming adoption, we've been tried with a promotion that didn't go through, a kid in the hospital for mental health issues, stealing, lying, severe anxiety, trying to figure out where we want to move our family and get the heck out of this condo. Oh this condo...we bought it because it was only the 4 of us and we didn't think we'd be here past 2 years...Now 2.5 years and 2 teens later, our 1243 sqft condo is TIGHT. Exciting things are happening with my Man's job and there may be some opportunities out on the horizon. So right now we're just living in the moment and waiting patiently. At least trying to...
Well thanks for joining me in my first series. It wasn't perfect, rambling at times, but I had fun and you got a glimpse into my life. I'm working on my February series, so come along if you'd like! Have a great week!
xo,
Kate
Well thanks for joining me in my first series. It wasn't perfect, rambling at times, but I had fun and you got a glimpse into my life. I'm working on my February series, so come along if you'd like! Have a great week!
xo,
Kate