Our Love Story

Ok - So I know I am not a regular blogger, but I couldn't resist documenting our own love story, now that Grace has extended an open invitation to linkup with hers....it's going to be long and drawn out and probably only contain relevant-to-me-information, but this is for posterity's sake. I'm never short-winded when it comes to these sorts of things.

At my first apartment off-campus in Steubenville, on Oak Grove St.

To set the scene...

I, an Alaskan (no real reason to mention this...) and an almost-engaged-but-dumped-for-the-priesthood-depressed-young-woman decided to go to Franciscan University to study Theology, since what else was I supposed to do now that I wasn't going to get married and have a bunch of babies?!  Since I "couldn't ever imagine meeting someone else that was perfect for me" (so dramatic!) I had come to the resolution that while at FUS I would be a single, mousy lady who studied all the time and made some cool girl friends to hang around.  No dating (why would anyone want me at a school with an overabundance of ladies?) and no fun.  Why I even went under these terms, I'm not sure.  But the important part is that I did.

Making burgers at the St.Francis Festival for the household 'Equites Lux Sacra'.

The first two weeks of school were....lame.  I wasn't meeting people that I was interested in developing a friendship with, all the people I had known there (2) were dating each other and NOT available, and I just wasn't fitting in with the Charismatic crowd (I had Traddie tendencies).  But lo and behold, after August I found a group of people who I liked!  And one guy who I like liked (and NOT my future husband).  This guy was NOOOOoooOOoOOothing like my ex (or Matt), but I liked him and developed a HUGE monster crush.  My life revolved around making excuses to hang out with him and our friends, hoping to have chance meetings on campus, and being bad and sneaking into his and his roomate's room with my roommate, because we were just all 'friends'.  How quickly my previous resolution flew out the window!

After a induction ceremony in the chapel at Bonaventure.

But, another guy in our circle of friends (que Matthew, my future husby) was also starting to hang around us (actually, just me) as much as possible - going to Lord's Days with the guy's household (as my roomie and I were also doing), asking me to study Español with him, making food for us and opening his house to us that was off campus and therefore exotic and exciting for this gal, etc.  I, however, was absolutely not interested in him because I had him!  But, I would occasionally mention Matt to my cousin (my bff) when I'd call and liked him as a friend and as a person....just not as a dude to date.

Bucca di Beppo, Spring Formal

Eventually, winter formal came rolling around and I was wishing and hoping for my crush to ask me.  It was definitely within the realm of possibility - I was pretty sure feelings were mutual, and all my friends were dropping hints for him to ask me...but HE DIDN'T.  As I was waiting, day after day, Matt came up to me in the library one day, and bypassed all the smalltalk and flat out asked me if I'd go to the formal with him.  Since I was a good Catholic girl I couldn't think of an excuse and I couldn't lie to him, so out of guilt and lack of plans I begrudgingly said yes.  The worst part was that my crush, after hearing this, DID ask me to the dance...but I couldn't just dump Matt!  I had principles!  I was dreading the night, but we actually did have a great time.  I felt incredibly comfortable, we were dancing so horribly that multiple times that night I laughed out loud, and Matt only asked me to slow dance once.

As the year progressed we continued to get to know each other better: He took me (along with his sister) to see The Fiddler on the Roof with the real Tevia from the movie (we both grew up with the musical and I was so excited to go, which is the only reason I said yes); we had some good conversations, and we were seeing each other more frequently in our circle.  I was also getting more and more disappointed in the lack of any sort of romance with my other guy.  I knew he liked me, but he just was a pokey puppy and didn't do anything.  Dumb.

We got lost in Pittsburgh trying to find the hotel.  Eventually we found it and posed in the parking garage!

As the year was drawing to a close Matt's dateability factor continued to go up as the other guy's was sadly sinking. One night after being dropped off at Bonaventure, (wallowing in depression because Matt had beaten my crush to asking me to Spring formal by asking me a month and a half before the dance) I asked my friend Zach (my cousin's future husband) why Matt was dumb.  He retorted that my crush was the dumb one and  that if Zach could choose any other man to be like, he would choose Matt.  Right then the Heavens opened up and a whole new light shone on Matthew.  Why of course!  Matt did meet way more 'requirements' of a future husband than my crush did, I did feel much more comfortable around him and had a much deeper friendship with him than I had with the other guy...I suddenly realized that Matt was right there the whole time - slowly pursuing me, being persistent and not accepting defeat, while this other guy did nothing to fight for me or even gain me!

And so I opened my metaphysical door to him and tried to do whatever I could to let him know that I was interested.  I didn't want him to lose heart!

At some point in all this, my cousin Maria made me watch Sense and Sensibility with her over the phone, because she was convinced that our story was like Marianne and Col. Brandon's.  I'm not a big Jane Austen lady, but it seemed to me that the stars were aligning and pointing in Matt's direction.

Drinking and bowling during Grad Week.

So I put myself out there, trying to be more receptive to him...and it worked!  He seemed to get the gist and at the end of the year we decided to keep in contact with each other throughout the summer.  Thus began the   daily 3 hour skype/phone calls and daydreaming about our future lives together. By the time we were back at school we pretty much knew we were going to get married...it just was a matter of time!  But that's another story that I'll type out some other day.

Helping some friends move. By the next time I saw him, we were in love!