A Love Story...Part 4

We were finally engaged!!! FINALLY!!! I waited 2 years for this! The next morning I went to my mom and dad's house early to show my mom my ring!

Our engagement photo.

Pretty quickly I moved back home and Jeff got an apartment that I helped pay rent on. So things were a bit different for a while.

The next couple months were spent wedding planning and getting things ready ASAP- we were getting married in about 3 months so had a lot to do. My mom busted her behind and opened her wallet for about every single thing for my wedding- I am so thankful because I cannot imagine all the hard work and money she invested! My boss at the time designed and made my wedding dress as a gift to me- I still am in love with it! We ordered flowers and a cake, found a photographer..all at the last minute. I wanted a wedding in the Fall!!!!

We were starting our Fall semester of college- but were able to get some days off for our wedding and honeymoon...we would just have A LOT of homework when we got back! Things were all falling into place and went smoothly planning wise. A week before our wedding I was driving home from work and got my first traffic ticket- I ran a red light. I knew I did as soon as the light turned red before I got my car across that white line- I looked back and there were 2 motorcycle cops just sitting there...in California this cost me close to $400 to get it off my record..UGH! The next day Jeff got pulled over for having a light out- but was given a fix-it ticket. And then 4 days before our big day we woke up to hell breaking loose....

One of the twin towers were on fire and airplanes were crashing all over the place...it was a literal nightmare. One of the worst days ever. Jeff had left for school but came back home and we watched together as a plane flew through the second tower and life as we knew it was different. It was scary. We had TONS of stuff to do this week and were still working and going to school while doing them, so we proceeded with life. My flower girls' dad was in New York I believe at the time, so with all planes grounded he was unable to make it to our wedding. Other then that and the whole somberness of it all, our wedding was unaffected.

On September 15, 2001 I became Mrs. Sara ..... YAY! It was a great ceremony and my hot hubby dipped me and gave me a wonderful first kiss as husband and wife!! We partied on at the reception and had tons of fun! Afterwards we headed out to our honeymoon in San Diego...on the way there we spotted Ray Romano pumping gas at the gas station...super cool! When we got there and turned on the news, the events that we were seeing really hit us for the first time since we had been so busy before.


Here are some pics from our wedding!!

So there it is folks...almost 11 years later and I am still madly in love with my husband. He is an amazing Godly man, husband and father. I am so lucky he chose me!!

A Love Story...Part 1

A Love Story...Part 2

A Love Story...Part 3

A Love Story....part 3

Now where were we?!?? Oh yes, he took FOREVER to tell me he loved me...finally on Valentines Day, just about a year after our first date he gave me a sweet card...and said  wrote I love you...lol. So....the next day we left to go to the youth conference he was a chaperone at every year...and I went with him this year. It was lots of fun, but on the first night I couldn't stand it anymore and I SAID I love you...and he said it back, and I am happy to say he has said it every single day since!

Whew now that we were over that hurdle, we went about our dating business and kept on dating...we were both in college full time and I was also working full time. Jeff had been looking for a job and was able to get one out of town in the LA area. Thankfully he just commuted and I was able to go with him quite often. He was a youth director at a church down in Reseda, CA. It worked out good for his school schedule, except he always had to be there on Sundays and sometimes Saturdays, which were my days off. I went with him a lot!!

About a year and a half after we started dating we were talking marriage. We used to love to take drives around mountain sides and all over and just talk; one of those times we talked marriage. I mentioned to my parents that we were wanting to get married soon and my mom told me that I needed to live on my own before getting married. OK. DONE! My friend Michele had an apartment and an extra bedroom so I moved in. It worked out great. My mom was also concerned that I would not finish college if I got married (I still had 2 years left)...I promised her I would..(and I did!)

So I lived on my own for a while, and worked and went to school..and we kept on dating. 2 years after we started dating, we made it over to a jewelry store and he said I could try on some rings. So I did! And I found one that I loved...and we ordered it! And then I waited, and waited...and wondered when he would pop the question! After 2 months of waiting I finally asked him if he was ever going to give me the ring. He said well I have a credit card issue and haven't been able to pick it up..UGH!!!! Well, we were finally able to work that out and we went together to pick it up. Then we went back to my place and he placed the bag on the tv in my room. And we sat there and stared at it! I finally said, are you ever going to give it to me. He said yes and went and got it. Then he gave it to me and said, "So, do you still want to marry me??" - romantic eh!?? I said I guess so...

TO BE CONTINUED......

A Love Story...Part 2

I forgot to mention in Love Story...Part 1, that we HAD seen pictures of each other...this was back when you waited for the picture to load and it started at the top and went down down till you could see it. I remember watching as his face was slowly uncovered...it got to his eyes and I was smitten...then when I saw the whole thing whoa baby!!! What a hottie...and guess what?!! He was 24!!!! A MAN!!!!

I agreed to go out for coffee with him on February 11 (this date will be significant later in our lives). I told him he could pick me up at my house but had to meet my parents first. He agreed. I spent a lot of time getting ready and looking cute. He finally got there but it had been a windy day so his hair looked different then the picture I had seen, so I got a wee bit nervous. He just looked over-all different that night- so it caught me off-guard. Plus I was meeting a guy from the internet- which at the time was weird. I took him in to meet my parents- I think maybe he said hi but at least they got a good look at him in case I never came home! We got in his older BMW and off we went headed to Latte 101...a coffee shop near both our neighborhoods; that back in the day was pretty awesome! On the way there he went a different way then I usually go- this way goes by an empty field and some dark streets...immediately I knew...

I was dead.

Gone.

This guy was gonna kill me and dump my body...

but, alas, we made it to Latte 101- he just went the back way..fee-you!!! I was still alive! We had a nice time drinking our coffee and chatting. I made him show me his driver's license!! Sure enough- he was born on August 24...I was born on his 5th birthday!! I think we stayed till they closed- then we went back to my house and watched a movie...but we talked the whole time! He headed home around 1 in the morning!

*side note* (my mom had told me about how she kept a journal the whole time she dated my dad- so I got to thinking I would start a journal of our dates and time together- I had never done this with any other guys before)

He called me the next day but was leaving that weekend for a youth conference to be a counselor. He did call me on his cell phone at least once every day while he was gone. The day he got home he called and we went out right away!

We chatted again and set up another date. While we were chatting he asked me if the next time he saw me if he could hold my hand. I said yes...and thought, "OMG who asks if he could hold a girls hand??- how cute this that!?!" The next time I saw him, I waited. And waited. And waited- For him to grab my hand. I know he did eventually but I am pretty sure it was close to the end of the date!!

We went on a few dates after that- then on Feb 23- 12 days after our first date- he finally kissed me!! (I know finally right after 12 days..but we saw each other so much I thought he never would!!) That same night I asked him how many children he wanted (what?? this was important to me!!- remember the whole fall in love and have lots of babies thing??) He said he wanted as many as he could afford! Ha! (Too funny because by America's standards we cannot even afford 1!)

We were both in college at this point and he was way more serious about it then I was...so if I wanted to see him I had to show up at whatever coffee shop he was studying at and study right along with him!! Needless to say my grades greatly improved second semester!!

On March 16 Jeffrey called me and told me his grandmother past away. I was so sad for him and sad I never got to meet her. He would be back in a week...a week?!?!? We had been dating a month and to a 19 yr old girl who was smitten...this was an eternity!! You better believe the day he got home he came over ASAP!! We only saw each other for about an hour, but that was enough!!

From then on we had busy schedules and tried to fit in some dates here and there...I think getting my wisdom teeth out was in there somewhere too...we just did the dating thing and got to know each other better...I knew pretty quick that I loved him. We had some major discussions about the whole love thing...he at one point said when I say it I want to REALLY mean it...so I knew he wanted to be sure...which was fine with me..so I waited...and I waited...I thought by Christmas surely he would say it..you know as a gift to me...but no..not yet..so I waited..and I waited....

To Be Continued...

A Love Story...Part 1

 Long, Long Ago...in a village far away there lived a princess...j/k...(well maybe not)...

I grew up in Southern California and had just finished up my first semester at the junior college- which I bombed!!! You actually had to study and work at college...who knew??!! I was 19 and had dated a few guys in high school- nothing serious, just casual dating. I knew though that I hated dating..I just wanted to fall in love, get married and have lots of babies!! I was pretty strong in my Christian faith, and decided I would ask the Lord to only send me my husband because this dating stuff was for the birds! So I strayed away from seeking out men and just did my work and school thing.

I was still living at home (perk of Junior College) and a friend called and said her and some other people were going to Disneyland soon (one of the people was a guy I had dated) and wanted me to come along cause he might still be interested and it would be fun! I decided I was up for it- who knows maybe it should have been something more serious! My friend was going to spend the night and we were going to wake up early and head out. I had to get something out of the garage that was high on a shelf - I went out barefoot- and as I was getting this thing (I don't remember what I was getting) a plastic boot that my mom had worn on her leg when she broke her ankle fell and hit my foot. (ironic?) Immediately my big toe is spewing blood...like straight up in the air..all over the place. I get it under control before I pass out- I pass out very easily! It is decided there is no way I can walk around Disneyland. I am super bummed, like REALLY bummed out and crying. Disneyland is fun even at 19 and even after you have been a million times, so I was so sad not to get to go.

In my mopyiness I decide to get online (this was 14 years ago- not much available so when I say online it was AOL) my screen name was ShopChic5- (I don't exist on AOL anymore so don't go looking) I am browsing around- not really sure what exactly I was doing; when I get an instant message from a Jeffrey330...what a nice guy he was!! We chatted for a while and I asked how he found me- he said he searched for girls in our small town that were Christians and had the same birthday as him...I didn't believe him on the same birthday thing!! And we chatted for a few days online only finding out we had A LOT in common; both our mom's were teachers, we both were going to school to be teachers, we lived a few blocks from each other but had never met,we knew a lot of the same people, we went to the same high school just at different times and LOTS more!! He kept teasing me saying when are we gonna meet- and there was NO WAY I was going to meet this guy in real life!!! I did agree that I would call him about a week after he found me online- when we talked our online conversation just seemed to continue- getting to know each other better...and boy did he have a nice voice...it was DREAMY!!!! We would talk for literally hours on the phone- way past bedtime. Then it had been long enough- the boy wanted to MEET the girl!!!! I finally agreed....

TO BE CONTINUED....