How We Met: I met James while playing ultimate frisbee. The first time I saw him, was like a scene from a movie. Two years ago I saw him jumping for an ultimate frisbee disc on a adjoining field and was instantly attracted to him. I asked my friend Scott who he was, and he responded with “Oh that’s James”. He came over shortly after that and Scott introduced us. At that moment I was hooked(he was much better looking up close). We talked for a few minutes and then James had to go, I decided it was time to go as well and we headed for the parking lot. I’m not usually the first one to approach someone I find VERY attractive, but for once I decided to give it a shot. It was a Thursday evening so I asked him if he had any exciting plans for the weekend. He said “Yeah, i’m going to visit my girlfriend.” (Of course he is, the good ones are always taken…I thought to myself.) “Oh, that will be fun” I responded. Shortly after that I decided to head home.
Over the next few weeks we saw each other in passing at frisbee tournaments. It was like I was back in high school with a huge crush on the most gorgeous guy, who has no idea I like him. We said hello and shared a few words here and there but never had a real conversation. Except when I found out the very important fact that he and his girlfriend broke up the weekend he went to visit her!!! I turned my flirt on and waited. It wasn’t until a tournament in Galveston where we really hit it off. A bunch of friends rented a beach house for the weekend and little did I know James would be staying there also! This was a party tournament so the drinks were flowing and the night was going great we were talking and getting to know each other. Someone came up with the bright idea to take a walk on the beach, so off we went. James and I were the last one out of the house so we were alone behind everyone. We had been talking on and off the whole night, and it was wonderful. When we got to the beach we decided to take a swim. Well sort of, the water only went up to our waist. There were a few little fish jumping and I started to joke that something bigger was chasing them. I could immediately tell that it made James nervous. So what did I do? I kept teasing him haha.
I kept teasing him while looking at the fish jumping right in front of us. After a few minutes I laughed and turned around to look at him. Suddenly I stopped breathing! HE KISSED ME!!! I could not believe it, the kiss was amazing. This is first kiss I have ever had that truly took my breath away. So there we were kissing in the ocean under the light of the moon. I’m not sure how long we kissed(I didn’t want to stop) but it seemed like a while. Our friends starting yelling saying they we heading back, so we decided to go too. We walked back to the house, holding hands the whole way. Who knew this would be the beginning of the rest of our lives?
Ever try to surprise your significant other but they had a bigger and even better surprise planned for you?! Yes, my [now]fiance and I planned a surprise for each other on the exact same day! His was WAY better, obviously. Let me explain…
So I planned a surprise birthday dinner for James early in the week in April. I told him that I was taking him out to dinner for his birthday on Friday the 24th which also happened to be our anniversary. He didn’t know it, but I had invited 10 of our closest friends to join us at the restaurant as a surprise. The week went by rather slowly. I was very excited for his birthday dinner and unfortunately I had picked up a rather nasty cold. I spent all week downing hot tea and emergen-C to try and fight it off but nothing seemed to help. Finally Friday was here and although I was feeling better, I wasn’t 100%. Mid-morning my boss comes into my office and tells me to go home. I fight her off telling her that I feel fine and want to stay and work(what?! Now I really know i’m sick). She doesn’t back down and finally I give in and head home. Usually she isn’t so pushy, but I didn’t think much of it… I figure I can take a nap before the surprise dinner.
I pull into the garage and James’s car is missing. It was weird because he had been working from home lately. I walk in the house and ask the dogs(yes I talk to my dogs, i’m a good dog mom) where James is. Before I can finish my sentence, my best friend Meredith pops her head around the corner with a bouquet of flowers and a huge smile on her face. The next few minutes is a blur of hugging, crying, and high pitched squeals. If you have never seen two best friends being reunited, it is quite the show. I went to college in Ohio, that is where we met and where she still lives, so we don’t get to see each other very often. James had flown her down for the proposal!
Once the chaos had settled down reality hit and I realized I was GETTING ENGAGED(No other reason she would be in Texas)!!! Meredith explained that we would be going on a scavenger hunt and that to get a clue we needed to send James a selfie of the two of us. Once he got it he would send us a riddle for us to figure out the next location. While we were getting ready Meredith informed me that James had a dinner planned with both of our families. So I sent a text to everyone I invited to dinner and told them that something had come up and unfortunately I had to cancel. I was vague because I couldn’t tell anyone I was in the process of getting engaged, our friends spread gossip like wildfire!
Each location we went to had a special meaning to our relationship. The first location took us to an indoor go kart track where James and I had our first date. Meredith and I rode the go karts and had a blast. Once we took a picture we headed to our next location, which was Central Market where James and I do a lot of our shopping and occasional dinner dates. Meredith and I had lunch and caught up with each other. After a cute selfie we realized the third stop was the fields where James and I first met(picture above). The last stop was where we shared our first kiss…East beach in Galveston.
As we walked up from the parking lot toward the beach I saw a golden retriever in the distance(It is like a quarter of a mile to the beach). So not knowing that this is our last stop I make a comment about how cute the golden retriever is. Meredith replies “That’s not a golden retriever.” As we get closer I take another look and my heart stops! It wasn’t a golden retriever it was my dog Oliver. Meredith grabs my hand and we head toward him as the tears start flowing. As we get closer we see both Oliver and James’s dog Brewsky sitting very nicely, facing us. They are both wearing signs and have a white rose attached to there collars. Behind them, standing on the beach is James, holding a single white rose. I really wish I had gotten a picture.
When we got close enough and the dogs realized it was us, they went crazy. They pulled off of the in ground leash and made a bee line straight to us. They jumped all over us like maniacs and all we could do was laugh through the tears. You see, chaos with the dogs was such a normal routine in our lives, it made the moment that much more perfect! After what seemed like forever the dogs finally calmed down enough to stand still so we could read their signs. James’s boxer Brewsky was wearing a sign that read “Will you be my mommy?” and my dog Oliver was wearing a sign that read “Can we keep him, mom?” It was so cute and perfect I couldn’t contain the tears. I managed to pull myself together the best I could and headed toward James. He was beautiful, standing there so calmly even after the chaos with the dogs. I walked up to him wiping the tears from my eyes and looked into the eyes of my future. The picture above is my reaction, I screamed YES at the top of my lungs. It was the most amazing day of my life!
But the day wasn’t over just yet. We headed back to town for dinner with both of our families. It was the perfect ending to truly signify our two families becoming one!