How I Met Your Father

I originally wrote this post six years ago on another blog, wanted to re-post it! How cool will it be for our kids to read this one day? it's about how I met my husband, Jason.

The email. It all started with an email from a friend that many of you know..... Mallie. She said she met a nice guy at a housewarming party and thought we might be good together. For those of you that don't know Mallie and might be wondering why she didn't save this catch for herself .... she was already in love with her future husband at this time. The only info I got on him is that he also went to Texas Tech. I replied back and told her he could call my cell phone if he was interested. Now ... it's important to give you a little background on where I was in life. I had been on a few blind dates and a few non-blind .... none of them promising. If you've been single for any amount of time, then you know that going out with a lot of wrongs makes you wonder if you're ever going to find your right. I had come to the conclusion that MAYBE my right just wasn't out there. I say maybe because I of course still had a little hope. I decided that if this were the case, if I really wasn't going to ever find my one ... I better make my life more interesting. So, I cut back a bit on my work hours and ... well... got out there! I was a going out fool. Went out about 2-3 times a week. It was a lot of fun. Then the blind and non-blind dates came along ... none of them promising ... and now we're to the email from Mallie. As for where Jason was in life ... I'd say it was close to the same, and the rest I probably don't want to know! ;-)

The phone call. So, I'm in my apartment watching my beloved Smallville (no, I don't watch it anymore) and a weird number pops up on my cell. "Who is that? Ohhhh, I bet it's that guy Mallie mentioned. Let me see what kind of message he leaves."  Now when you're an established single ... your first question is ARE THEY CRAZY? ANY STALKER POTENTIAL? So, I listened to the voice mail and was immediately curious, in a good way. Jason's got a great voice, could be a radio host..... he disagrees of course. I called him back (after Smallville) and we talked for about 20-25 minutes or so .... had  a lot to talk about since we both went to Tech. I remember hearing a beeping in the background and him saying "dinner's ready, gotta go." So we made plans to go out that weekend. My initial thought was that he sounded really nice and cute. Yes, I could tell he was cute from his voice .....what can I say I was in the zone.

First Date. As I mentioned earlier, I was concerned about the psycho factor so I had him wait in the parking lot of my apartment complex. I had been nervous ALL day. Which was a sign because I had gotten to where I was NOT nervous for dates ... I was nervous because I was already crushing from our phone call. We say hello and I get in his car and immediately tell him how nervous I was .... he told me he wasn't nervous (well why not?) so off to the Down Under Pub 'n Grub it was. I was trying to check him out the whole way to dinner without looking like I was checking him out. I obviously likey! It was a great first date .... talked and talked and talked. He apologized for his corporate hair .... which I kind of found adorable - the hair and the apology. We went to Dave & Buster's then called it a night. He was such a gentleman. I'll never forget the next day - I felt so giddy. I hadn't felt giddy in forever, I had forgotten what it felt like.  Would he call? Oh please call - and don't play that stupid guy game.

Second Date. It's important to mention the second date because it was even better than the first. I let him come to the door this time. We get in his car and I tell him I'm not nervous this time and he said "really? because I'm very nervous this time since I know I like you". Did he just say he liked me? But, guys don't do that. They play games with your head and make you feel like crap about yourself ....what's this guy doing?"  And if you know Jason, you know that's him ... he's a very straight shooter. No games. Sometimes if I don't want the truth ... I don't ask him. I wasn't used to it, but I liked it. Back to the date ....  It was Halloween weekend and he brought me a Halloween goody bag. I had mentioned how much I loved that holiday in one of our conversations - he was just scoring points left and right. I also learned that the beeping microwave during our first phone conversation was all planned. He said just in case he ran out of things to say to me he had put something in the microwave as a planned exit. This way we would have plenty to talk about on our first date if he liked me -- or could make a clean break if it wasn't going well. So that may sound corny to some of you, but I loved his honesty and ability to plan (a fellow nerd!). He even planned an air hockey detour because he knew I loved it. He put so much thought and planning into this date .... it was so unbelievably flattering. And, well .... that's Jason.

And so here we are ..... with three years of marriage and he's still my thoughtful hero. Of course there were many moments when I knew he was the one.  But one of my favorites was when he was bringing his dog over (the one and only Oreo) and we were going to leave her in my apartment while we went to eat. He brought a gate to confine her to my kitchen and I told him he didn't need to do that and I would just shut my bedroom door. He said "no, I would never forgive myself if she ruined your mom's furniture". He remembered? I know it's so small, but the fact that he remembered it was my mom's furniture and was so considerate of my feelings towards it ...it melted me. Still does. Of course now I think he'd like to use some of that furniture as fire wood.

I'm a lucky girl. There are so many of those small things still today. I hope all my gibberish didn't give the impression that we're this perfect couple that wake-up to harmonious chirping birds every day, because we aren't and we don't.  It's more like a crying baby and a messy house.. But who wants perfect?

Who else would make a detour to Wild Buffalo Bill's something or an other's grave site during our Tombstone obsession phase and pose like this? (I need to find this picture)