The Mr. and I met sometime during my Freshman {his Junior} year of college through some mutual friends. He had a pierced eyebrow and stood about a head shorter than me when I had heels on {still does actually}. I’m pretty sure I fell in love with this guy the first time I laid eyes on him. He’ll say the same thing if you ask him but I'm pretty sure he’s just being nice. We never actually spoke and it wasn’t until a year or so later that we ended up at mutual friend’s birthday party. He, being the polite gentleman that he is, came up to introduce himself and I, being the sassy curmudgeon that I am, said something like "um… yea we’ve met like 3 times.." a lie. But I was nervous, so what. Needless to say he didn't talk to me anymore that night.
Some time passed and later we found ourselves on a houseboat on Lake Don Pedro and that is where our story really {sort of} begins. He liked my frizzy lake hair and solid ability to down a beer bong {don't judge me}, and I liked his ridiculously cute smile and his half Chinese tan . We unsuccessfully attempted to date that summer and ended up going our separate ways. But, that was it, he had my heart. I wasn't going to settle for anything less.
More time passed and for the first time in a long time we were both single at the same time. Nick had left Chico and moved home to the Bay Area and started his career and we hadn't spoken in over a year. Thanks to the wonderful tool that is Facebook, I started harassing him and told him that "if he knew what was good for him, he’d make a trip to Chico for the weekend". He finally gave in and made the trip up to visit me. We've been inseparable since.
I met his family for the first time that Thanksgiving and we made it official on New Years Eve. A bit backwards if you ask me, but hey, it worked. We took our first vacation together that summer with his parents to Maui.
I finished up school the following December and made the move to the Bay Area. A five hour drive from my hometown and my parents.
For 4th of July 2011 our families joined and rented a chalet in my hometown of Mount Shasta to celebrate one of my favorite holidays of the year. Little did I know that the entire family and my best friends had been conspiring behind my back for the last 6 months, and helping the soon to be Mr. to plan my proposal.
That night, right before the fireworks went off, he pulled me away and took me to the front porch of our cottage. He had covered the entire deck in pink rose petals and candles and in the middle of it all, sat the most beautiful diamond ring I have ever laid eyes on. He got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. I didn’t answer but crumpled to the ground next to him and cried. He had to double check and make sure that that meant yes. Which, DUH!. That night we opened a bottle of champagne with the family and roasted s’mores. We couldn’t wait to start planning and I set the wedding date that night!
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| Pre-proposal mimosas with our parents |
We got married on September 22, 2012 in Yountville, in the middle of the beautiful, world famous, Napa Valley surrounded by 150 of our closest friends and family. It was the best, most beautiful day of my life, and everything that I had ever dreamed that my wedding would be.
We honeymooned in Bora Bora, French Polynesia for 8 amazing days where we lounged, tanned, swam with stingrays and sharks, and drank a lot of fruity tropical cocktails. We are already counting down the days until our 25th anniversary when we’ll get to go back.
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| Lunch at Bloody Mary's |
5 short months later, and here we are! A couple of lucky ducks, living in love.
