Better late than never? Linky Party!

So, I'm seriously late in coming to blog land.
But that's because my insane grad school class required us to do 13 hours of homework. That's right. THIRTEEN.


I'm not thrilled about it, but that's it.


So, I finally came back to reality today and I came across Ms. B's linky party!!!


Annnnnnnnd, since I love them so much because they introduce me to more and more blogs that are out there, I wanted to link up. Even though my blog is barren lately. Like, for reals.

So here's Ms. B's linky party!

And......

Here's my story of how I met hubs-to-be.

Preface: I am not and never was a stalker. But this story makes it sound like it.
But I swear I'm not. Promise.

So rewind to 2007. I graduated college and had a boyfriend, and I was looking for teaching jobs in Pittsburgh, All over PA, NC, SC, and VA. Finally got something here in Virginia!!!

So, fast forward to about 2 1/2 weeks into my teaching career, and my relationship ended. I was crushed. I had no friends. Moving on to October (I promise this is relevant), I find an apartment, and start searching on Facebook and myspace (woah throwback) for people my age. Girls were rude, and guys just wanted--you know.

So, I messaged Justin. He seemed normal. He worked for the school district. He liked similar bands. This could be fun--I always hung out with guys at home.

He ignored me.

So I started talking to other people, and eventually dated a guy.

And I messaged Justin again when grades were due.  Because he scans student records. And knowing NOTHING about our enormous district, I figured it was his job.

And he ignored me again.


...


...


Seriously???

For like a week.

And then he messaged me!!!

And we started talking on AIM (yes, another throwback), and got along really well. And I was still dating whats-his-face. So it was completely platonic. Which was EXACTLY what I was looking for.

Eventually we went to the local sports restaurant (we both love football--and I since got him into hockey!). He wanted to go there because his cousin was the bartender and he thought I might be a creepy stalker. Yes, he admitted he ignored me because 1 he was shy and 2 he thought I was slightly crazy.

And we hit it off, and I was invited to hang out with him and his friends. Then it got to be his cousin's birthday in February. And I texted him when I shouldn't have. And even though I was dating the other guy (things had been going south for 4-5 weeks), I still said "PS I like you." And he freaked out. And I had no idea. And so things ended with whats-his-face, and Justin and I kept things normal. 

Then after "proving" myself to him and his friends, we all went on a beach trip in May, and when we got back, we ended up together. May 26, 2008. :o) Enter the montage of photos:

Things have been great, and then last year on our anniversary, he proposed!  Which I knew already, because we bought the ring together on a trip to NY. And then I kept it a BIG FAT secret from everyone in my whole whole life (Soooooooooo hard to do!!) until our anniversary.  He was so cute--he kept it simple, like I had asked, and bought me a card and wrote me a letter listing all the reasons why he knows our marriage will last forever and always plus a day. It was super sweet, especially because he's not very mushy, like ever. And I loved it. And I love my ring so so much, and I have to post a picture of it, even though it's been like 10 months. :o)

And now we're planning the wedding for next August. Yes, 2013. I'm in grad school and life is too crazy for us to pull it together this summer. So we said, who cares? Let's wait!

So that's my long story. If you made it to now, you're a super trooper!!