One Year Down...

60+ wonderful years to go.

We have certainly had an adventurous start to things. Moving, renovating, having a baby (at home!)...quite a special year...although, I could totally do without the renovating ever again.
Stephan, I'm so glad I married you. I can't imagine a better fella to spend my life with. I love you. :)
Happy Anniversary!

P.S. To those of you curious about Sophia, she's doing really well now. The staph on her lip is completely gone, and the rest of it is beginning to heal very nicely. So far, the only side effect from the antibiotic is a mild diaper rash (praying it stays that way). We've been doing a few new things to counteract the winter dryness, and even her eczema is starting to get better. Yay!

Totally Addictive

In my web wanderings I happened upon this incredibly addictive site.  Here's what I've spent way too much time doing lately...

You have to try this!

Photo Surprise

My friend, Martha, sent me a lovely little surprise email with photos from the wedding.  She's actually the first friend to email pictures...hint, hint...I saw all those cameras flashing.
Here are a few of my faves...

The cake was very special to me.  It's a pile of made-by-my-mama cream puffs.  I have fond childhood memories of her making giant cream puffs.  The funny thing is that she probably only made them two or three times in my life, but, boy, did those memories stick like glue!

I'm so glad to have some snow eating photos!!  Levi was hilarious about the snow.  He still talks about his snow.  "Where's my snow?"  Followed by a sad voice, "My snow gone."  Awww.  And, to think, it's highly possible that he might not see snow that sticks for a few more years.

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Oh, and, yes, he did wear those galoshes down the aisle.  He's worn them every day for about a month now.  They are two sizes too big for him, but he totally doesn't care.  He also screamed all the way down the aisle and during the first part of the ceremony.  My dad convinced him to relinquish his death grip on my hair by telling him he could go outside.  Martha's husband, Bob, took over from there and helped him make sculptures with sticks in the snow.

Thanks, Martha!

Wedding!!

We are technically over our no good, very bad, rotten stinkin' awful stomach bug, but we are still recovering from our week of dealing with it plus moving, plus never ending home renovation projects, plus trying to get a two year old settled into a big change. So far Levi is okay with moving except in the morning when he screams at us from about 6:30-7:00 and then finally accepts oatmeal as a substitute for going home. Y'all, it's been a rough week.
On the upside I married an incredible man (who has changed a total of 5 of the nastiest diapers I've ever seen...all in one week) and we had a beautiful wedding.  So, here are a few pics of the wedding that I ripped off of my sister's facebook page. 

The "cake"...homemade cream puffs dusted with powdered sugar...heaven...

The eating of the "cake"...

One of our few family photos....Levi insisted on spending most of the wedding outside....And, oh, what's that you see covering the ground?  None other than snow in Mississippi in February....a rare event that obviously nixed my outdoor wedding plans.  It was beautiful at least.

 

Levi...because he's way cuter than us anyway...

  

And, the getaway...

 

So, there's a taste of it.  Once we get a little more settled in and I get my camera's memory card (and other people's photos...ahem...hint, hint.) then I promise I'll share more.  It really was lovely.

Guest Post: Erin

Last but definitely not least we have the ever so wonderful Erin from It's Your Movie to finish us off.  She's a mama to two intensely adorable little ones, and she's just announced that a third is on the way!  Erin blogs with a genuineness and candidness that is so very endearing.  You should definitely head over and give her a huge "Congratulations!!"

It has taken me a long time to write this post.  I'm sure Madeline had no idea what a funny subject marriage is for me.  I have avoided blogging about my wedding and marriage for a long time, but I feel compelled to tell this story.  This is all I know about marriage.

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I cannot believe the path I took to get to where I am.

I married my high school sweetheart when I was 20 and he was 22.  It's a long story, but we got married for all the wrong reasons and in the wrong way.

Our wedding was in a courtroom on a Wednesday afternoon.  I didn't even really do my hair.  My mom wasn't there.  I wore a $300 floral Nanette Lepore sundress I bought at Nordstrom the day before. I felt important as I was purchasing that dress but nothing like a bride when I was inside of it.  My shoes were pinchy and I remember the judge looking a little like he disapproved as he read us our vows.  We repeated a few things and signed something.  Then we were married.  We didn't have wedding rings.  We didn't go on a honeymoon.  We loved each other but we didn't know what we were doing.  I have a lot of regrets in this area.

We weren't very nice to each other or good at being married for the first couple of years.  It was confusing. I have regrets in this area too.

It wasn't until three years later when I (tada!) got pregnant with our first baby that we figured it all out and really learned how to be married.  No, actually not "to be married" -- to be partners in a marriage.  I remember one particular evening during my pregnancy, I went to take my nightly bath and instead of grabbing my well-worn copy of "The Mother of All Pregnancy Books", I grabbed a bible.  I read a little but I mostly prayed.  I broke down and sobbed and asked for help and forgiveness and a path that made sense.  I asked God to show me how to be a wife.  It's funny that most women freak out about impending motherhood, but being a mom never worried me.  I had a weird innate confidence that I could be a good mom, but I also knew I couldn't truly succeed at motherhood without first learning to be a good wife.

I don't know if I am a "good" wife now or not, but I know that I try really hard.  I am very mindful of my job and my commitment to my husband, but I'm not perfect and always wish I could be better.  I am and always will be a work in progress.
I do know that I love my husband entirely.  We are not exactly the same and it sometimes takes a lot of my patience to balance our personality types, but I think he's the coolest person I know and when I wake up at night and look at him I kind of want to wake him up too so I can hang out with him some more.  I miss him when he's at work and I do everything I can to make his day easier.  And every single morning when I wake up and head out to the kitchen to give the kids breakfast the sink is empty, the dishwasher is running, and the coffee pot is full.   This is his way of saying, "I want to do everything I can to make your day easier" and I can feel it all over as I pour my coffee.

We've been married for almost seven years now and I am thankful every day that this is my life and that he is my husband.
One of these days, we are taking that honeymoon.

Guest Post: Dera: For Better, Worse, Sickness, Health, and Sink Full of Dirty Dishes

The next gal in the line up of guest bloggers is Dera from Casablanca.  If I could plan my own neighborhood (as in exactly who lived in it) Dera would definitely be one of my neighbors.  Our ridiculously cute children would play together while we had tea and gardened.  It would totally rock.  And, seriously, if you haven't checked out Dera's blog yet, you are missing something special.

Sweet Madeline was kind enough to ask me to be a guest writer while she goes on her wedding break.  I happily agreed, thought of at least a hundred personal funny wedding accounts (although you could click here for a good one) that I could choose from to use for my guest post, and then slowly began to forget each of these stories over the weeks to come OR they lost their humor the more I thought about them OR I became distracted by the numerous distractions that are so distracting that they can actually distract me from the first distraction.  Every time I'd sit at my computer at the end of the day, one of the following events would occur:

1. Terry (husband, web designer by day, movie-watching steam-blower by night) would kindly ask me to get off the computer so that he could (and I quote) "spend a fraction of the time with his wife as those ladies in the computer get of me".

2.  A child would come out of their bedroom, complaining that she had a nightmare, in need of a happy story.  (Something you don't know about my super special children?  They have the ability to enter REM only seconds after being put to bed!  Amazing, I know.)

3.  The current furniture arrangement of our living room looks directly into the dining room, which ultimately is the tunnel room into the kitchen.  Straight back to the kitchen sink to be exact.  If the dishes hadn't been finished by the time my butt was ready to plant itself onto the couch for the night, I would eventually be guilted into getting back into the kitchen each time I caught sight of the mountain of stinky pots in my sink.  (Note to self: rearrange the furniture.)

4.  I would find myself browsing around Terry's favorite online shops, in search of the perfect present for his upcoming birthday.

5.  I would read Madeline's blog, captured by a another Levi-hammer-bedtime-lovey anecdote (!!!), making me long for a little boy of my own.

6.  I'd download pictures from whatever backyard adventures me and my girls had that day, lovingly reminiscing the day's ordinary events as if we had gone to the moon and back.

7.  I'd fall comatose by the warmth of the laptop on my lap, the fire that was built for me in our little living room fireplace, and my couchmate, Terry.

So why am I telling you this?  This was not intended to be the happy funny super-fantastic wedding memory I wanted to bestow as a gift to the bride-to-be.  It's not just to justify my tardy post (although I hope it does), but to serve as a reminder of what this is.  THIS is life shared.  Life shared is busy and chaotic at times, but isn't that what it's all about?  What good is it if not shared with a handsome couchmate and cutest offspring this side of the Mississippi?  (And guuuurl, I've seen the pictures and he is one handsome couchmate.)  What better wishes can I give than that?

~Madeline, here's to nights of fewer blog posts and more mister.

Here's to the invisible vault of memories that you will be storing up as they get greater and sweeter and bigger, now that you're sharing them with mister.  Here's to life shared!

 (I'm virtually toasting you, as I cry virtual drunk tears of joy.  Love you!)

Guest Post: Leigh: The Secret To Our Happy Marriage

Today's guest blogger is the ever fashionable Leigh from Marvelous Kiddo.  She's a breastfeeding, babywearing, homebirthing mama with one heck of an awesome sense of style.  She lives in NY with her hubby and two marvelous kiddos.  You're sure to be inspired by a visit to her blog.

A Recent Conversation

or

The Secret to Our Happy Marriage

Taro (to Leigh):  "You're good at everything."

Leigh (to Taro):  "And you're good at everything else."

Guest Post: Holly: Yes, Dear: Sold on Marriage

Today's post is from Holly the blogger behind Tropic of Mom.  Holly is a super sweet, exceptionally witty and wonderful mama to two little boys.  Have you seen her boys?  Double cuteness!  And, if you are currently drowning in snow and wishing for summer, you're sure to be cheered up by Holly's beautiful, sunny Florida photos.

Men. Women often think men are clueless when it comes to love and the art of wooing women. Some men are true romantics through and through. Other men start off a relationship with effusive adoration for their woman, then taper off after they get the gal and the chase ends. Some men, like my husband, know what they want and go for it -- using sales techniques.

Let me back up a bit.

Madeline has been a bloggy friend of mine since we "met" discussing babywearing, back when Levi was a baby. She is a lovely person -- and really, I don't say that about a lot of people because how many times do you get to say the word "lovely" and not come off sounding merely quaint? Madeline personifies lovely. So I was excited to read that, in her words, she's getting hitched! Because everyone wants to see their friends happy in love. It has been fun to read about Stephen and how he and Madeline met.

Because our Barefoot Mama is getting married the same time of year that I did -- my husband and I just celebrated our anniversary -- I thought I'd share how my husband proposed to me.

Barefoot.

Isn't that perfect for the Barefoot Mama?

See, we were on the beach. We were college students without a lot of money for dates. But this one warm November night, we splurged on an IMAX movie and later headed to the beach, as we often did.

Once we were settled in the sand and listening to the waves, my husband started asking me questions about the future. "Are you going to stay in the area after college?" "Do you think we'll stay together?" "We've had a good relationship for a long time, haven't we?" These were things we had talked about before, because we had been together for years -- since high school -- and I was almost-but-not-quite tuning him out (shh, don't tell him!) because I felt like we had been over it all. So I was humoring him. "Yes," I said. "Yes, yes, yes." Everything he asked me. Yes, dear. It's all true. We've got a good thing going. Yes.

But suddenly one of the questions was, "Will you marry me?" and I said yes without thinking. Yes! Wait a minute -- what did he just say? He tricked me!

My husband snagged me into marrying him using the proven sales technique known as the "repeated yes!" You get the other person used to saying yes so he or she will also say yes to whatever you want that person to do. Clever trick.

And then he sealed the deal by pulling a little black box out of nowhere, with a beautiful ring inside.

Despite the fact I was sold to, and that he pitched marriage to me, well ... to be fair, I have to say my husband is romantic in his own way. And I love him.

I would have said yes anyway.

Yes, I did, and yes, I still do. Yes, dear, yes.

I hope Madeline and Stephen have many years of true romance and love ahead of them!

Guest Post: Nell: All Love

We're kicking this series of guest posts off with the lovely Nell.  She blogs about life as a Missouri mama of 3 exceptionally handsome little boys at Casual Friday Everyday, and now she's added a new blog, Crunchy Pea, to her accomplishments.  Nell has got to be one of the friendliest, most genuine bloggers out there, so do pop over and say "Hello!"

I dreamt about my husband last night.

Don’t you just adore a good, happy dream that involves your better half?

When mine shows up in my dreams it starts my day off being even more in-love and appreciative of him.

Today I watched him play with our baby and smiled to myself with deep joy in my heart. Every time I look at my baby boy I see my husband.

The eyes, the smile, the eye lashes, the teeth, the hair… he is a spitting image of his Daddy and it melts my heart.

After being married for nearly eight years, and being together a total of 12, you might think the love could have faded a bit. Sure, the excitement of ‘new love’ is gone, but the respect and loyalty and friendship have only grown.

I think about us, when the kids are all grown and out of the house, and day-dream about traveling the world with my sweetheart. I think about lazy afternoons sitting on our porch, drinking coffee and reading the paper together.

I think about hikes in the woods with our dog, and vacations together to our favorite place ever… Branson, Missouri. Not a happening place for most people, but it holds love and forever for us. It’s where we eloped and got married. Branson will always be so special to us.

I have to laugh when I remember the actual wedding day. You see, we printed off directions to the wedding chapel from our home in Kansas City. What we failed to realize was that Branson was past the little chapel in the woods. So the directions were backwards.

We drove around the countryside for what seemed like forever, searching for this little chapel in the woods. We drove up into, what felt like a mountain to us, and navigated tiny little roads …

Not only was I frustrated and afraid we’d miss our wedding, but I have to admit I was beginning to get a little freaked out by how ‘country’ it felt. Almost like we might hear a banjo playing at any moment, part of me swears I did!

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, my husband-to-be announced the mistake we’d made. Of course I blamed him. What self-respecting, totally upset bride-to-be wouldn’t have? It got a little heated in that little car of ours. All because of my frustration and inability to control my emotions sometimes. Okay, so I admit I over-react a bit too often.

And then we pulled into the drive-way of where forever would be said and none of that mattered anymore. It was so cute and perfect for us. Out in the country, in the woods, a tiny little old log chapel. A preacher, a witness and a photographer. Music on a tape deck and a few candles lighting the room.

I’ll never forget that day. I’ll never forget Branson. Or the McDonalds food we grabbed for lunch afterwards!

My husband and I have a beautiful friendship. We’re kindred spirits.

I adore what we have together and adore the little men that came from our love for one another.

I had a feeling I’d end up marrying my high-school sweetheart. And I did.

All love.

Just love.

Hitched...Or At Least Getting There

If you are reading this before 10 a.m. Central Time then we are currently running around doing all of the last minute readying and dressing.

If you are reading this after 10 a.m. then we are either gettin' hitched or we've already been there, done that.

Either way this is the day!

Yay!!!

I hope you are sending lots of good wishes and love our way. 

We may not officially be going on a honeymoon, but I am definitely taking some time away from the computer.  However, I have something special up my sleeve for y'all.  Starting tomorrow there will be 5 days of wonderful guest posts from a few of my favorite married ladies.  Each time one of these wonderful posts landed in my inbox it felt like opening a present.   A huge thanks to each of these very special bloggers for making this time in my life that much more wonderful.  

Just in case curiosity is getting the best of you, I'll let you in on who will be posting this week...

Nell from Casual Friday Everyday

Holly from Tropic of Mom

Leigh from Marvelous Kiddo

 

Dera from Casablanca

And,

Erin from It's Your Movie

These gals rank as some of my all time favorite bloggers, so you should definitely click the links and make new friends (or visit old ones). 
Enjoy your week!  

Wedding Updates and Munchkin Attire

So far almost everything about this wedding has been ridiculously easy breezy.  Lots of wonderful people have volunteered to help out doing everything from taking pictures to lending serving pieces to helping set up.  My dress and shoes were found in record time.  Even the blood tests went smoothly...if you know me you know this is a miracle.  It's so rare for someone to find a vein in my arm without extraordinary amounts of pain and often digging.....seriously, people, blood work is something I dread like nothing else.  But this time it was quick and painless.

So, things have been falling together with little to no effort....except for the invitations and the flower girls' dresses.   Oh. my.  The invitations deserve their own blog posts, but I'll keep it short.  Thanks to a very wonderful family friend they got done.  Now, I just have to mail them!  I know, I'm a tad behind on that one.
The dresses!!  Who knew it could be so difficult to find little girl dresses?  Maybe I just don't know where to look, but the selection was so terribly slim.  And, EVERYTHING was sleeveless...in January!!!  Do little girls not need sleeves in the middle of winter?  I did finally piece together two outfits. (I should probably break in here to explain that there is a pair of sisters who are very close to my heart.  I couldn't pick just one.)  Anyway, with a little sweater shopping, which was oddly also difficult in JANUARY, mixed with a little craftiness I finally came up with something that I like. 

Dress 1:  This is for the oldest sister.  This dress is not as gold and shiny as it looks in the photo.  It's actually a very pale champagne.  I didn't have to do anything with this one except find a sweater.  I so wish I had taken pics while the girls were actually in their dresses!  They were so darn cute. 

Dress 2:  This is the dress that required the most work.  I couldn't find matching dresses or even dresses in the same color family.  I couldn't even find less dressy dresses. This shopping experience left me hoping that I have all boys because I obviously can't shop for girls.  Anyway, this was the original dress...in purple...so not the wedding color...

To minimize the purple impact, I added a blue sash.

And, of course, a sweater.  I am still kind of shocked by how difficult it was to find sweaters this time of year.

The sweater was embroidered with two of these...

I covered them up with two of these felt appliques with button centers...

And for those of you who are wondering what Levi (the ring bearer) will be wearing...

And, yes, he will be wearing pants with this...blue slacks to be exact.  I know something a little nicer would have matched the flower girls a tad better, but getting him into something nicer would have sent my head spinning...not to mention his.

So, three munchkins in the wedding party should equal to totally upstaging me.  I can't wait!

A Ring: Sort Of

Stephan happens to be a very smart man.  When he asked me to marry him there was no ring involved...just the question.  He wanted me to pick out my own ring.  See...told ya...he's smart, huh? 

So, I looked at rings.  And, I looked at rings some more.  And, I kept looking.  They were really pretty, but I just didn't want any of them.  I've gotten used to toddler chasing, dish washing, laundering, and digging in dirt without any ring to worry about.  Honestly, I like it that way, and after all of that looking I decided I wanted to keep it that way.

But, don't think Stephan got off light on this one.  Instead of an engagement ring I opted for an engagement sewing machine....a Bernina to be exact.  I'd sewn on a Bernina before and thought I had landed in sewing heaven.  When I started considering what I really, really wanted instead of a ring, a Bernina was first on the list.

I knew it was meant to be, when we totally lucked out on our trip to the Bernina store.  We got there during the final days of an incredible sale.  Their Activa 230 was marked at nearly 1/2 off...plus it came with two upgrades that made it nearly identical to the Activa 240.  Stephan still wanted to make sure that this was the Bernina of my dreams and not just the price tag that I wanted.  It totally was.  And, I'm totally in love....with the man more than the machine...I swear!  Ha!  And, Stephan keeps telling me that I'm going to have to walk down the aisle holding my engagement "ring".  What a picture!

We ordered the machine immediately, and although it's in the store one of the upgrades is on back order.  I hope it gets here soon.  I have all sorts of plans for this baby!

As for my lovely, 12 year old Singer, I'm thinking about taking it in to be serviced, and then putting it away to be my new/old back up machine.  I currently have a cheapo machine as a backup.  It's destined for Craig's List.

Racking Up

I'm pretty sure that I currently classify as one of the luckiest gals in the world.  On Christmas eve I got an email from Ken at Daddy Forever saying that I was the "potential" winner of an HP Touchsmart 600 PC computer.  The word "potential" definitely made me wary, so I tried very hard not to get excited.  I emailed Ken with my info, and received a couple of emails in response.  Still, I held in my "potential" glee.  And, then along came the Fed Ex man...on Friday to be exact.

Oh. my. stars.  This thing is so freakin' lovely and wonderful and incredible.  And, it had impeccable timing because that old, nearly broken down computer you see next to the glorious new one, it was on its very last leg.  I had no idea how I would replace it if and when it died...especially since I went and bought myself a camera instead of saving my cash for an inevitable computer crash. Smart. 

Friday evening Stephan came over to put my lovely new baby together for me. From past computer experiences, I was positive that I would need help.  And, then I watched as he popped it out of the box, put it on my desk, plugged it in, and pressed the power button.  Presto! It was ready.

Despite yesterday's whining about technology overload, this thing is actually really user friendly.  Everything is neatly laid out, and it even has a nifty little tutorial to walk you through everything.  The coolest part though is that it takes up exactly the amount of space you see above.  There's no big box to shove under a desk and bang your toes on.  There aren't 50 cords to find plugs for...just one...yet it still holds way more info than my previous ancient computer, and it's so much prettier! Did I mention that you can touch the screen?  Hence its name.  Honestly, though, I still prefer the keyboard and mouse, but the touchscreen is definitely a fun feature.  Oh, and the size of the screen!  The fabulous and large screen makes my day.  Stephan and I don't have a t.v. between us.  We really don't want one...except for those occasions when we just want to chill out and watch a movie.  This is perfect for that.  The screen is big enough to actually be able to see it from the comfort of a couch or bed.  If I wanted to watch movies on my old computer, I had to sit in a chair really close to it which is not terribly relaxing. I love, love, love my new computer.  Thanks a million to HP for giving me this beauty!!!  And, if you're in the market for a swanky, new computer I would definitely recommend this one.

As if that wasn't enough to count me as Miss Lucky, there is more still.  Tonight I kind of melted down a bit.  Okay, so I melted down a lot.  I think it was the sleep deprivation induced by my determination to figure out photoshop.  (Note to self: Go to bed early tonight.)  Anyway, Levi pulled a whole bunch of stuff off my kitchen counter thus adding to the extreme mess that is (or was) my house.  I was tired, and already annoyed at what trying to move has done to my normally liveably tidy house.  So, when cookie cutters and hot chocolate mix spilled on the floor topped off by Levi asking for water and me realizing that I'd packed all but three dirty glasses, I might have started crying.  So, as I was putting Levi to bed, Stephan cleaned up!  Seriously, this is the scene that I saw when I walked back into the kitchen...

He even did my dishes...and made it so I could walk through my house without tripping...and packed up some more of my stuff...and then he told me to relax.  All of this after spending part of the day painting our new bedroom to be...notice the paint on his arms (which should be blue but looks like white?).  I do believe I've found myself a keeper.  This new year is off to a good start with a new computer, a camera, photoshop (even if it gives me fits), and the most rockin' awesome fiance this side of the mighty Mississippi.

P.S. I don't normally freak over spilled anything, but living with piles of boxes is starting to get to me.

As If There Weren't Enough Reasons To Love Him

Have I mentioned he's handy?

 

 

He bought us a house, and...well...hmmm...it needs some work.  Structurally it's great.  Cosmetically it's pretty bad.  Icky, icky wallpaper.  Ancient carpets.  Horrible linoleum floors.  Countertops that really must go.  And cabinets that are in desperate need of some paint and new hardware.  And, the yard is straight out of Sleeping Beauty.  A pair of clippers (possibly a chainsaw) are in order. 

Despite all of this, I love it. Is that strange?  I mean, in my head I see the house we're turning it into. Admittedly, this love might change once I actually move in.  I'm sure the reality of living in an unfinished house with a two year old is going to be a bit rough.  Luckily, though, I think Stephan makes a pretty cute handy man...I'm convinced that will make up for having to look at tarps and painter's tape all day. 

So, You Wanna Know The Details?

For those inquiring minds who have been patiently waiting to find out all the details on how Stephan and I met.  Well, here it is.  Sorry for having left y'all hanging there.

My apologies for reusing this pic.  We still don't have any others.  Crazy I know!

It turns out that Stephan lived just down the road from me for 2 years before we met.  Our families knew each other.  His aunt, cousin, and grandmother are all members of my church.  His uncle used to cut our hay.  We even have friends in common.  We live in one very tiny town.  Despite all of this we had never met...until one fateful day. 
On that day, some friends invited my whole family over for a dinner party.  It was going to interfere a little with Levi's bedtime, so I almost stayed home.  I think it was my sister who convinced me to go and reminded me that we could just leave if Levi was unhappy.  So, off we went. 
Levi spent most of the party playing with my mom and our friends' children.  I spent the first part of the evening avoiding eye contact with Stephan who was definitely trying to make eye contact.  He was persistent though, and eventually struck up a conversation with me.  We chatted the rest of the evening. (Before you start thinking he's after married women.  I quit wearing a wedding ring shortly after Levi was born.  The poor guy didn't have a clue.)
Since I was in the midst of a divorce, I certainly wasn't looking for anyone.  As we were talking, I kept thinking that I should tell this guy that I'm not available, but how does one squeeze that into small talk with a stranger?  I had never been in this situation.  It was quite a relief when the party broke up, and we went our separate ways without him asking for my number. 
But, the next day, I got a Facebook friend request.  About a nanosecond later, Stephan messaged me asking for a date.  I sent him a message back, explaining the situation, and thought that would put the quietus on it.  I honestly didn't even expect a response, but Stephan sent one anyway.  It was really sweet.  He said that he was sorry to hear about what I was going through, and he'd like to be friends with me if that was okay.  So, friends we became. 
We pretty much had the strangest courtship ever...it was spent nearly entirely with my parents and on the phone.  Stephan started coming over to visit once a week.  Soon he started visiting every chance he got.  And, oh, my, the phone calls!  I'm pretty sure we deserve some kind of record for the number of hours spent on the phone.   But, for us, that turned out to be wonderful.  We didn't really have normal dating concerns, so we were able to develop a solid friendship.  However, it didn't take us too terribly long to figure out that this was definitely destined to be something beyond friendship.  Stephan was more than willing to wait for me however long it took which pretty much melted me into a big ole' puddle.  By the time I was divorced we knew that we wanted to get married.  Heck, Stephan had already bought a house with that in mind...sneaky little me got to pick it out too.  ;)
So, here we are...gettin' hitched, remodeling a house, and starting a brand new adventure together.  It all just makes me go "Sigh."...in a very, very good way.

So, now it's your turn.  I'd like to know how you met your significant other.  Seriously...do tell!  If you post your story on your blog let me know and I'll link to you here.