Our Love Story

This weekend is my one year wedding anniversary and although hubby and I were together for over 5 years before we married, this past year has been completely unique. I love him even more now that we have made this lifelong commitment to each other. We both work actively everyday to show our love and appreciation for each other. In honor of our first anniversary I thought I'd share our story: how we met, how we fell in love, how Tom kidnapped me in order to propose. And because I love them so much, I'm tossing in a few photos from our engagement session.

Tom and I met through a mutual friend in Philadelphia during our freshman year of college. Later I found out that Tom thought I was "gorgeous". I had just gotten out of a relationship and really wanted to focus on school. So while I was flattered, I pushed it out of my mind. Or at least I attempted too. But I just couldn't stop thinking about him. I mean what 18 year boy uses the word gorgeous to describe a girl these days? He just seemed like such a gentleman so I decided to get in touch with him. After our first date, we saw each other everyday for the next two weeks. And then he asked me to be his girlfriend. Well of course I said yes. Things were just so easy with Tom. I instantly felt so comfortable with him. He is such a loving and affectionate person. I simply felt adored and I wanted to do everything in my power to make him feel the same way. 

After dating for only two weeks, Tom told me that he loved me. Well I completely freaked out! We'd only known each other for a month and him saying that to me was terrifying. I may have totally yelled and made him leave. I know.... I know. But the concept of us caring for each other so much so quickly was just a bit overwhelming for my teenage self. I'm so thankful that he took it with a grain of salt and showed up the next day. Looking back on that now, I still can't believe that he came back. 

At the end of freshman year, Tom and I both transferred to schools in completely different states. Thankfully, we were only a 3 hours drive away and our relationship stayed strong. I'm actually a little bit thankful for the distance that we had because it made me appreciate what a wonderful man I have. For the remainder of college, we continued to nurture and improve our relationship. And when we graduated, we finally moved to the same town, just outside of DC.

During that time, Tom and I applied to graduate school-dental school for me and PhD finance programs for him. While we did apply to schools in the same areas, the schools that fit us best are located 700 miles away from each other. There was a lot of uncertainty about our futures, but I knew that our relationship would be the one thing that wouldn't change. Well I was wrong.

On a day that I will never forget, Tom told me to pack an overnight bag with a nice dress. I assumed that we were going into DC for dinner and staying in the city for the night. Tom knows me so well and knew that I would fall asleep the moment we got into the car :) Thus, he was able to successfully drive me across several state lines without my knowledge. Instead of driving 30 minutes into DC, he drove five hours to Philadelphia-the place where we had first met.

Now a smarter person than I may have been suspicious at this point. I however was completely clueless. I didn't even realize that we were in Philadelphia until Tom told me. Once there, we checked into our hotel, a charming Inn that used to be a factory. Tom knows my love of old hotels! Then we had an Italian dinner (my fav) at the nicest restaurant that I've ever been too. Just after dinner, we took a stroll in the park. Again, I didn't think anything of it, but Tom was leading us to the spot where we had our very first date. And there he proposed. 

P.S. Check back tomorrow as I will be sharing Wedding Photos!

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