In honor of Valentine’s Day being this week, I wanted to tell you the story of how Ryan and I met. There is no doubt in my mind that God had his hand in this 100%. It’s kind of a crazy story but hopefully you will get it at the end. Here goes…

Ryan and I have a mutual friend named Shane. I knew Shane years and years ago when his family lived in Montgomery because they went to Landmark and our parents were friends. I reconnected with him my freshman year of college. We all attended a small christian college (that I left after one year – that’s another story) and we became really good friends. He lived with two other guys, Mike and Dozier, who I also became good friends with. Mike and Dozier played on the college golf team with Ryan.

Me and Shane in Pigeon Forge.

On Christmas day 2007, I got a phone call from Shane. He wanted me to come to Gatlinburg, TN, for New Years with him and a couple of friends. I agreed to go and also invited my good friend, Hannah. We left a couple days later and met everyone in Huntsville. That was my first time to lay eyes on Ryan. At the time, I had no clue who this kid was but I did know he was pretty. We were in a hurry to get on the road so we didn’t get introduced.

Hannah and me in Gatlinburg.

We both liked each other instantly, but neither of us acted on it. We just hung out and had a great time. Then on New Years eve, he gave me a New Years kiss outside while it was snowing. It was the perfect moment and the perfect kiss. I know that’s cheesy, but it’s true. We were both a bit shy with each other after that, which I later found out was because he had a girlfriend at the time. Yep. I was not too happy with him when I found that out. He had been trying to break up with her for a while, but he hadn’t been able to follow through with it because of other reasons. That’s another story I’m not going to get into, but it is an important part of how we met so I can’t exactly leave it out.

Me and Ryan on New Years eve.

Once I found out he had a girlfriend when we kissed, I wouldn’t speak to him for several days. I was really upset and felt betrayed, plus I had psycho ex-girlfriend going off on me on Facebook for days. I’m not one to put up with this sort of drama and I resented him for putting me in that situation.

One night about a week after we got home from Gatlinburg, Shane conned me into going to his apartment to hang out and talk and promised me that Ryan was not there. Another lie, but this time, it was a good lie. The boys wanted me to go out to the porch to wait on them to join me and when I walked out there, Ryan was sitting on the chair playing his guitar. I’m such a sucker.

He apologized to me and told me he had ended things with his ex and that it was over for good. I told him I didn’t want to date him for a while until he was sure he was over everything and that it was truly over. I didn’t want to get suckered in again. I told him I’d be happy to be friends with him but no more than that.

That all changed a little over a month later after much swooning and pursuing. We had created a really good friendship and had so many mutual friends that it worked out so perfectly. He asked me to be his girlfriend on February 10th, 5 years ago.

We have many similarities, but opposite personalities. I am very high strung and he is very laid back. I am loud and crazy, he is calm and level headed. We balance each other out and we play off of each others personalities. We have such a special bond and I wouldn’t trade it for anything in this world. He told me he loved me for the first time a month later. It scared me because it was so soon, but when you know, you know. We just knew we were going to get married the moment we started dating. We wanted the same things in life, we had the same beliefs and similar families. Everything was perfectly folded together. As crazy as that first week or two was, it was so worth all of the good that has come out of it. Not all beginnings are fairy tale perfect, but we definitely have a fairy tale life now.

Thank you to my precious friend, Shane. Without you, we would have never known each other.

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