I'd sworn off men. Hadn't been on a date in almost a year - hadn't been physically intimate with anyone for 2 years. I was coming off of a series of "bad" relationships and I was not interested in starting a new one.
But, the universe, it seems had other ideas.
It was St. Patrick's Day. I hadn't planned on going to that local bar and grill that night. Turns out, he hadn't either. But we both ended up there anyway.
I was with my roommate. After getting a couple of girly umbrella drinks at the bar (and getting hit on by a couple of nice-but-no-thank-you guys), we took our drinks out to the patio to enjoy the unseasonably warm evening and to avoid the more meat-market feel of the bar area.
We were chatting and laughing when I heard this deep, rumbling voice behind me ask if I he could join us. So, I turned in my chair and saw ...
... a lumberjack.
Seriously. That was my first impression: This tall, broad-chested, dark-haired, red-cheeked, brown-eyed, long-lashed, baritone with a red plaid shirt, blue jeans and a friendly smile - He looked like he belonged on a package of Brawny towels.I said yes.
For the record, my Darling Husband tells me his first impression of me was "Nice Rack."
Awww. Innit-he-sweet?
So, he and his friend (who, a few years later would serve as our Best Man) did join our table and we had a nice chat about work, beer, pets, family, our town, and so on.
That first impression stuck for a while. My roommate would tell me "your sexy lumberjack called" or ask if I was going out with "Mr. Brawny" again. Which, of course, I did.
Our first date was coffee; the second was a B.B. King Concert. Thereafter followed by the usual ... movies ... a candlelight homemade dinner (Don't worry: He cooked, not me!) ... a day hike in Yosemite ... dinner with his family ... Easter brunch with my family.
Still a bit gun-shy, I was taking things one day at a time. Somewhere, in the back of my mind, I kept expecting it all to end.
But it didn't. And, before I knew it, I was agreeing to be Mrs. Lumberjack.
It's been 12 years since the night we met. And we are still working on our happily ever after one day at a time.
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How did you meet your significant other? Did you "know" he/she was the one?
18 comments:
We met on a blind date. I was coming to the end of my lease on my apartment, my job was soon to be downsized and I'd already called my dada and asked him to drive across the country to help me move to Seattle (where for some reason prospects seemed better). Then I agreed met this guy in the Acme parking lot...and well, over 10 years later we still joke about how our life started at Acme and the Iron Horse Grill.
I came home that night and called my mom and told her I didn't think I was going to move after all.
I met my hubby at a dance and I thought he was soo obnoxious. Next thing I know my friend is setting me up on a blind date. With the same obnoxious guy! 13 years later, he's still obnoxious, but he's grown on me. :)
We met online. Seriously. I wrote a three-parter about it years ago:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
I met my guy because he kept hanging around my group of girl friends as ONE OF THE GIRLS!!! lol!
I never thought in a million years we would end up together...
But the guy grew on me!
And I haven't turned back... plus he's hot! :)
Oh, you all have such interesting stories! :)
Andrea: Isn't it funny how those casual decisions - like going on a blind date - can change your whole life?!
Valerie: Must have been fate!
SFD: I did NOT know that! Off to read the story! :)
Shelle: Some guys just take a while to grow on you, huh? ;)
What great stories! Isn't it weird how things like that happen when you least expect it? Earlier this year on our tenth anniversary, I blogged about how I met my geek: http://talulattdh.blogspot.com/2009/01/best-decade-evah.html
ZenMom - I love your story about Mr. Brawny.
Me and Mr. Brutalism met the first night of grad school. He sat next to me, I asked him to walk me to my car...yadda yadda yadda...I tried to set him up with several of my friends. About six months later (after we became good friends) we were out one night and it just kind of hit us that we should be together. After our first official date, we were exclusive.
ZM- I love your story!
Hubby and I met at a church activity. My sister saw him first and pointed to him and said, "Look at that guy. He is so HOT!" I looked and there he was. We didn't date until about 6 months later, but by then we knew we were going to get married.
Great topic...
Ha ha, funny story actually.
I was friends with a guy named Ed, who was married to a woman named Michelle, who was the mother of William, who I now call Sexy Papa.
Sexy Papa was too young to go bar hoping with me and his mom and step dad. So he babysat my 2 year old daughter instead.
Then while I was managing a retail store, I was looking for help, and my friend, Ed, told me that William needed a job. I totally hired him because he was eye candy. The rest, as they say, is history.
Tallulah: Always when you're not looking, right?
Brutalism: I love to hear those it-just-snuck-up-on-us romances. :)
Youngblood: Love at first "hot", hunh?
Missy: You win. :)
The Mrs. and I met in what's probably a very typical story these days: on-line. E-bay. I put myself up for auction, she bid $0.50 and the rest is history. (Personally I think she overpaid but don't tell her I said that).
I had you for a minute there, didn't I? I can see someone now going "wha? ebay has personals??" No, seriously, we met on-line on a well-known dating site, but not that one. What is a bit different is what I first noticed in her profile picture. Bear with me a moment:
Early March I was laid off from my job. Mid march my faithful companion, a cat of 10 years who helped keep me sane through my divorce a few years earlier, passed away. Late March I was looking at profiles on-line and saw a girl with a cat on her shoulder and the cat looked a *lot* like mine who'd just died. "And wow, the girl is beautiful!"
I made the mistake of telling her story that on our first date so I'll probably never live it down. On the other hand the first thing I said to her when I walked into the restaurant was "wow, you're even thinner in person than in your picture." It wasn't a line - it was raw, unfiltered honesty. But I gotta tell you guys, if you want to steal it and use it as a line, it's a good one.
(Seriously, it wasn't the most flattering picture.)
Aww, Jason, that's a really cute story.
I think you are totally worth at least .50 cents. ;)
such a bunch of sweet stories :) Mrs Brawny has a nice ring to it!
Me? Ummm... BORING - we met in the parking lot of our apartment building during the college days... he and his brother gave my sister and I a ride somewhere and that night she and I decided that we'd marry these guys... didn't know them real well so we said we'd just marry whichever was older (her) and whichever was younger (me)...ummmm... I got the older guy...
HOWEVER - we've made up a TON of good juicy stories about how we met because ManOfTheHouse and I got sick of saying "we were in the same building in college..." yeah... us and everyone else...
Awww, so cute! My hubby and I met in college. He moved in across the hall and the rest is history!
The future WonderWife™ and I met at a drunken kickball game that I organized (seriously, best adult sport ever!). We bonded over a bucket of fried chicken. We went out on our first official date two days later and have been together ever since. One of these days, I'm going to do a proper blog post about it.
I hope you do, DGB. If only because I really want to know how to play drunken kickball. ;)
Okay I know I am totally late to the party but I found my Hubby in the basement of my parents house. And when I walked in from school (college) my mom told me I could not have what was in said basement, Well you all know you never tell a teenage you can not have something.
This Mom- that is CLASSIC!
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