When Our Worlds First Collided
i hope you’re really impressed by me because i did some hard core planning and wrote up some posts about our engagement and wedding because right now i’m most likely passed out with my shoes on in our hotel room in malaysia!
also, apparently we completely skipped sunday, august 18 or maybe even monday the 19th because of all this time traveling. please tell me if something important occurred.
while i did share some posts on how we incorporated non-traditional ideas into our wedding, i haven’t shared how we came to decide to live life together forever. i am inspired to reminisce about this because our 4 year anniversary is in september and i have zero idea how it’s already been 4 years!
do we still count as newlyweds? when do we become oldyweds (my new goal is to make that a trendy word).
let’s get started…
it was a dark, stormy night…wait that’s a lie.
it was a clear sky night in april when our friend mutual friend cassie turned 20. she was friends with a lot of resident assistants at colorado state university so she declared this an alcohol-free party so they could also attend (don’t worry mom, it’s not like i was going to drink since i was underage as well). this is important for later.
here’s what i looked like that night with my friend david. i’m going to go ahead and just claim that we started the selfie trend way back in 2007 and this was taken with an actual camera…not a phone camera!
i am wearing a tom petty concert t-shirt because i find that old, wrinkly, voice-of-an-angle man attractive. this is also when i used to straighten my curly hair to then re-curl it. damn you society trying to get to me and my curls!
ravery (for new readers…this is what i call my husband which is a combination of his first and last name and our couple’s name is cravery) happened to be a resident assistant and came waltzing through the door like the texan that he is saying “howdy all y’all.”
i’m almost positive i rolled my eyes.
there was a girl as ravery walked by who stopped him with the dreaded “you don’t know my name, do you?!”
i stood squarely behind the girl and watched him squirm a little until i came to rescue and mouthed “her name is AMY. AMYYY.”
ravery: “of course i know your name. it’s amy, duh!”
girl: “my name is jessica.” and she stormed off.
my bad.
he thought that was pretty funny/shady/strange and a little part of me thought that was her name but really i had no idea.
from here we started chatting and then the games came out. i like friends who like to play games and twister was on the menu. this is the only picture i have of ravery from that night. his butt is the one with the carabiner on it with the 17 janitor keys attached (he stopped wearing this only a few years ago).
we played more games and laughed and laughed and laughed for about 5 hours straight. this is where the alcohol-free part comes in…the belly laughing and the tears were all happening soberly. anyone can make you laugh when you’ve had enough wine coolers but the sober laugh is the best.
we parted ways with our cheeks burning from laughing without us exchanging numbers or instant messenger names (that was a still a little bit of a thing).
the next day he knew another mutual friend was meeting me at the park to have a picnic and he asked her if he could tag along with her. ravery showed up and tried to be all cool-like and said “hey…i don’t think i have your number.” where i promptly responded with “no shit. we just met last night. duh.” i’m a charmer.
this is a picture from that very day. he ate the carrot and i know you’re not supposed to feed the wild life but “hey! it’s college!”
we started texting and casually seeing each other about 6 out of 7 days and our mutual friends started commenting on how it looked like we were dating but we always told them “yeah right! cut-it-out!” like uncle joey from full-house.
it wasn’t until he asked me to basically be his wife on the first date that we made it official…stay tuned for the next post on wednesday!
questions:
1) let’s hear it…how did you and your sweetie meet?
2) do you like to play games? (like real games, not with people’s hearts)
3) did you get that backstreet boys’ reference in the above question?
please leave me comments and show some love so when we pay for internet in malaysia i will be ultra excited to hear all about you!
Paula Howley
August 18, 2014 at 9:49 am
OOOH! this is fun! can’t wait to hear the rest!
1. I was planning my move to England to start my radio career and I was touring Ontario one last time to make a bunch of money for the move. It was my “Kiss My Ass Goodbye” tour (unofficially named after Ben Folds). My agent booked me in this town called Brantford, Ontario which is known for being the home of Wayne Gretzky and the place where Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone. The downtown core was boarded up. I called my agent demanding she book me somewhere I could make $ and she asked if I would stay just one night as a favour.
so instead of trying to hustle I decided to watch the baseball playoffs at the bar and drink. (Like this was somehow different from most other nights). well, sitting at the bar already watching the game was this very handsome man. I mean wow. So I parked myself right next to him and we started chatting.
Well, we didn’t stop for 7 hours (but we had the alcohol lubricant that you guys didn’t). some things happened after the club closed which I will not disclose here but needless to say, the guy told me he loved me and I believed it. We exchanged addresses (because he didn’t have a PHONE-not even a LANDLINE phone!!!) and the next morning he forgot my name and I asked for $50 for a cab to take me to my next gig and it really wasn’t very romantic anymore.
but. I kept thinking about him and wrote to him and he wrote back (I have a speech about this somewhere) and we did the phone thing for 3 months and I cancelled my trip to England and went to British Columbia instead! I think I will write this in detail for my daily memory writing today.
2. I LOVE games. love love love. My family used to play LIFE, Battleship, (my brother had “Trump- the board game”), Pictionary, Trivial Pursuit and our favourite, Balderdash. Monopoly drew blood on one occasion and tears on more than one. we are hardcore.
Now this makes me sad- my husband does NOT like games. WAAAAAHHHHH!!!! This makes me SO sad because he doesn’t GET how fun they are. We do, as a family play Trouble with Meaghan and sometimes chess too but that’s about it. My poor Pictionary and Monopoly are gathering dust on the shelf. and because we only had one kid, I can’t just play with Meg because games with 2 people are a drag. lol
3. Only after you pointed it out. Remember, I’m old. ……………………………………………………. whatevs!
Paula Howley recently posted…Public Presentations For Kids
chelsea
August 19, 2014 at 12:58 am
awww i didn’t know you were almost headed off to england when you two met!!! thanks for your honesty in it not being the best memory in the morning but so great that you listened to your thoughts and wrote to him! i am however very sad for you that he doesn’t like games!!! you can play with us 🙂 maybe he just needs to try some different ones?
Vivien
August 18, 2014 at 12:53 pm
Just wanted to say the story of how you and Ryan met NEVER gets old!
Vivien recently posted…Two Words for Humour
chelsea
August 19, 2014 at 1:02 am
bahah i’m glad you’ve seen him tell it in person because he does some great impressions vivien! i do what i gotta do.
Nathanial
August 18, 2014 at 1:27 pm
2) yes! I love games. Boxed/Collectable card games more than board games, but board games are fun too. I’m part of a small board games group at my church.
3) yup!
chelsea
August 20, 2014 at 4:24 pm
hoooray that you love games too! sounds like a fun way to connect and get your fix through your church group nathanial.
it also brings me joy that you got my backstreet boys reference 🙂
chelsea recently posted…“I’m Not Looking for a Girlfriend, I’m Looking for a Wife!”
Mary Swanson
August 18, 2014 at 2:49 pm
1. We met at a Baker’s Square restaurant. Each of us were there for breakfast by ourselves. While waiting for a table, we chatted a bit. He was called to be seated first and invited me to join him. We have been together ever since. The amazing part was neither of us lived near the restaurant but happened to go there that day.
2. I love to play card games. My parents loved to play and taught all 7 kids to play. My husband’s family also likes card games. 500 is my favorite.
3. I was never much of a Backstreet Boys fan. I am a country music gal.
chelsea
August 20, 2014 at 4:26 pm
what an incredibly sweet story mary!!! i love it. what a fun way to connect with someone over breakfast for the first time. so brave both of you 🙂 i haven’t played 500 before but now i’m on a mission to learn it! so fun that your parents taught all 7 of you to play games-what a fun time that must have been!
i feel you on not loving backstreet boys…i’m in n*sync all the way 🙂 although i can get behind some country music, especially in the summer! hope to see you soon here!
Amanda
August 19, 2014 at 4:19 pm
Oldyweds, hahaha. Also, oh the days of exchanging IM screen names. I for sure remember that. My husband and I met in college too. My freshman roomie was dating someone on his floor in the dorms and kept telling both of us that we should get together because we had so much in common. I was all “I’m in college! I ain’t got no time to be looking for a boyfriend!” But he kept pestering, and when I needed someone to go to a concert with me because no one else liked that music, I thought of him. Finally I gave in and had him introduce us. And well, obviously we hit it off, haha.
chelsea
August 20, 2014 at 4:28 pm
thank you for laughing at “oldyweds” because i said that to my husband and i barely got a chuckle but certainly cracked myself up, amanda 🙂
hahah i feel you on that “i ain’t got no time looking for a BF” so fun that you finally hit it off at a concert and the rest is history 🙂
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