The Story of Us

Chad and I met online through Emode.com (I think it's tickle.com now). He isn't the first person I'd met online, but I was the first for him. He sent me an email through the website and my co-workers encouraged me to email him back. We spoke on the phone a few times before we actually met. I actually had a boyfriend at the time but he was kind of a jerk so I said, who cares, I might as well see what else is out there! :P The first time we met in person was February 13, 2004. I went to his house and watched a movie with him and his friends and stayed until 4 in the morning just talking. So we decided to go out the next night, on an official date. :) So yes, our first date was Valentine's Day. I later found out that he almost bailed on me... he was trying to come up with an excuse not to go but couldn't come up with anything good. He came to pick me up and came to the door with a single red rose. We were getting ready to go and realized he'd locked his keys in the car. So we had to wait for a locksmith to come unlock the truck. We finally made it to the movie, 50 First Dates (seems appropriate right?). Of course I found out later that he'd already seen it with his friends and didn't tell me. Such a dork! After the movie we went to the store and bought some food for dinner and I made him lasagna and garlic bread. haha and then I kicked him out so that I could go over to my crazy boyfriend's house.
We dated for a few weeks (about 3), in which time I dumped the crazy boyfriend. My friends weren't so sure about Chad and we had a long talk one night in the hot tub about whether I should really be dating him. I wasn't entirely sure how I felt about him but knew he really liked me and I didn't want to hurt him because we were good friends. So a few days later, the day after he'd taken me on a really nice date, I told him we could only be friends. He took it a lot better than I expected but that's because he knew I just needed time. We continued talking every day, usually by texting, for the next 2 weeks. At the end of the 2 weeks he told me he was going out of town with his friend to go to a funeral and that he wouldn't be able to talk to me for a few days. I told him to have a safe trip and I'd talk to him when he got back. The weekend that he was gone was really good for both of us. When I wasn't talking to him, I missed him. I sat up one night talking to my friend Ryan and told him that I thought I missed Chad. He asked if I really missed him or if I was just lonely. I thought for a second and realized I really did miss him. haha That scared the crap out of me!!!!
Well Chad finally text me on Tuesday and we got in a fight (through texting) over something really stupid. We both said things we really didn't mean and then felt bad after. Chad came to my work later that night to apologize and we sat in the parking lot talking for a while. When he broke the rules and kissed me. He apologized but I said it was alright so he kissed me again and then left. I walked back into work apparently very starry eyed! My co-worker asked me if I was alright and I just said, um I think so. So we started dating again but just dating, I told him that I wasn't ready for a boyfriend. I told my co-worker that I knew it was just going to go fast if we were exclusive and that scared me. I knew deep down that this was it but was too afraid to admit it to myself.
On Chad's birthday I went to take him to lunch, but he wouldn't let me pay! Later that night, after I got off work, I went to his house to spend more time with him. When I walked into his house, the front room was all lit up with candles and he was standing a few feet from the door in a suit and tie and holding a single rose. I was stunned but managed to ask him exactly what he was doing! It was his birthday, not mine! His response was, and I quote, "Even though it's my birthday, I want you to feel special no matter what day it is". I melted! That's the first day I realized I was in love with him but I was still scared. On March 31 / April 1 I told him that I would be his girlfriend. A week later he bought a ring. But I wanted him to meet my family first and to ask my dad's permission. So we made a trip out to Missouri to visit my family. We were engaged on May 14th (3 months to the day from our first date). He asked me on a walk near my parents house. It had just rained and we were in a grove of trees with water dripping down off the leaves. It was so green and beautiful... perfect!
Three months later (to the day, yet again!) we were married on August 14, 2004 in his dad's backyard. It was very laid back and fun! We went on our Honeymoon a month later to Hawaii, it was beautiful and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves - HAHA even our horrible sunburns!
So it's been just over 3 years and we're still going strong!