Thursday, May 13, 2010

The Story of Us

tumblr_kqvk32R8oc1qzyrwvo1_500_large {we heart it}

So last week was “Matt Week.”  Kind of like “Shark Week” but not as creepy.  It wasn’t an intentional dedicated week, but with a dissertation defense and a birthday, it couldn’t be anything else but “Matt Week.”  Matt Week brought many of you out asking, “How did you and Matt meet?”  Lindsay was actually the first reader to ask about Matt and I’s meet story, and I told her eons ago I’d post about it.  Eons later…here is the story of us, at least according to me…

In the spring of 2006, I interviewed for a Ph.D program in Texas.
Matt was a year ahead of me and already in the program.
I came to interview; he sat on the student panel who interviewed
me.

He was loud, confident, and laughed a lot.
I noticed, but barely, because I was so anxious about the interview.
In one question, the panel asked, “What makes you weird?”
(Umm, how the hell are you supposed to answer that?!)
I tried to think of something weird, something that wouldn’t make it sound like I tried to find something-weird-but-secretly-normal.

I said I did Jazzercise.
Matt and everyone on the panel laughed.
I laughed, but fakely.  Damn.  Had my “weird” been too weird?
That following Monday, I got a phone call from a professor.
I got into the program. 
I guess my weird was ok.

Matt apparently thought I was attractive/hot/cute (or some other guy form of the word.)
He and his best friend Miguel referred to me as “the Jazzercise girl” for the rest of the summer.
When I got to the program in the fall, I (aka Jazzercise girl) had a boyfriend.
Matt was sad.  Matt attempted some flirting.
I wasn’t impressed.

I thought he was loud, obnoxious and kind of cocky.
He thought I was stuck up, bitchy, and vanilla.
Those are common misconceptions of both of us.
Matt is confident (and yes, pretty loud) so it can be seen as cocky.
I am shy as hell in new situations; it comes off as snotty and stuck up.

But over two semesters of graduate statistics, we found two mutual friends…Clare and Miguel.
Me and Clare were besties.  Matt and Miguel were besties.
Matt, Miguel, Clare, and me.
The four us began spending more time together, but always as the four of us (or just the besties together.)
No variation of Matt and I together without the others; we weren’t that comfortable with each other.

One night, the four of us were supposed to meet for dinner and drinks.
Clare texted, she had yoga and couldn’t make it.  Dang.
Miguel texted, he got caught up in something.  He couldn’t make it.
CRAP. 
Without the four of us, Matt and I would be clueless and awkward.
We’d have nothing to say to each other.
We each furiously texted half of our phonebooks to try to find someone else to join us.
Someone else to water down his cockiness.
Someone else to water down my snottiness.

No one could come.  Not one single soul.
Damn.
It was too late to cancel without looking like losers.
We’d have to go.
Just the two of us.

We sat out on the patio at a baja taco bar.
The aluminum chairs squeaked as we sat down.
Oh God.  This is going to be awkward.
And it was.
For about ten minutes.
Then, with no one there to rescue us, no one there to cover, we had to be our real selves.
Our real, non-cocky, non-bitchy selves.

Two hours later, we went our separate ways.
I can’t lie and say “there were sparks…we knew right away.”
But we both left feeling…different.
Different about each other, different about ourselves maybe, but mostly, different about the way we saw one another.
Not crazy and conceited, but funny and soft,
Not snotty and vanilla, but hesitant and thoughtful.

Weeks went by.
We continued to hang out the four of us, but our real selves were much more visible.
Then one night out, things were different.
I have no idea what was different, why it was different, or why we didn’t question it more.
But things were different.  Really different.
There was an undeniable spark between us.
We could both feel it; everyone could see it.
It was weird. 
And unexpected.
But we went with it.

A few weeks later, it was just us.
Together.  Serious.
Me and Matt.
It was weird and really out of character.
I look back now and think, was it really that way?
Yep.  It was.  (I sometimes re-read the emails to smile and make sure.)
It was weird alright.
But it was awesome.

I flew to Arizona to meet his family.
I loved them, and they liked (or pretended) to like me.
A few months after the spark, we sat in the customs office so Matt could apply for a passport to spend Christmas with my family.
(My fam was living in London at the time.)
Now I look back and think, good Lord, that was so fast, what if we’d broken up?
How awkward.
That thought didn’t enter my mind then.
And I’m glad it didn’t.
Matt came for Christmas, something I’d never let anyone else share with my family before.

We talked about marriage early on, but both agreed a full year of dating was necessary.
So we dated a year.
He took me ring shopping and then surprised me when I least expected it.
It was perfect.
And better than I’d ever imagined as a child.

We continued to grow together, facing challenges.
Ups and downs.
Life.
A year later, June 26, 2009, we got married.
It was the best day of my life.
And a fabulous page in the story of us.
We are so blessed to have one another.
Life is hard, people are not perfect.
Relationships take work.
But there is no one I’d rather have by my side through the ups and the downs, 
And the pages of life
than Matt.

* So there you have it… the story of us.  I hope this wasn’t too personal or too much.  I sat down to write and this is what came out.

22 comments:

Lindsay said...

Thank you for sharing that with us Allison! You guys seem great together, and that's such a sweet story! :)

Anonymous said...

Aw, I loved reading about your story. It's so neat and interesting how people come together. I was a June 2009 bride too :) (the 20th).
Congratulations on all of the awesome, happy things in your life!

emily said...

wow! that is so adorable!! it was so nice to hear your honesty how the first night you truly werent like THIS IS HIM. ... you just knew it was different. great story! you sound like a beautiful couple!

Cdog said...

That was a great story. I love following your blog.

goroyals83 said...

how adorable! I loved the style of how you wrote this with short sentences and little snippets. It sounded magical. :)

Anonymous said...

What a great story! I love when the spark just kind of sneaks up on you like that. :)

Anonymous said...

Thanks so much!!!!! It's a beautiful story!!!!

Anonymous said...

So adorable! I love it so much, I read it twice! Can I ask what type of PhD program you're in?

Anonymous said...

Beautiful and funny -- Just what I needed to pick up my afternoon! I love the story of how I met my hubby and I love equally hearing how other gals met theirs. Like you and Matt, I can often come off as stuck up and vanilla (in fact, I'm also very shy at first) and Mr. M is so confident he can come off cocky ... I love that another couple had to break through these "barriers". Adorable! Congrats and Happy Birthday to Matt!

Alicia Lund said...

what a sweet story and you really are a great writer! :)

Wendy said...

Thanks for sharing! Love your blog. You guys seem like a great couple.

Glitterista said...

I just found your blog and love it!

What a beautiful post. Hearing how people meet their significant others is one of my absolute favorite things.

Caitlin J said...

I just would like to say...I totally called it first! :) I'm still very proud of that!

Lillian-Juda Leonard-Beach said...

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This chick's got style said...

Sweet :)

This chick's got style said...

Sweet :)

caknitter said...

Such a sweet story. :-)
Thank you for sharing it with us bloggers.

Arlene said...

Aww, that was such an adorable story! I wish you both the best.

Pink Champagne said...

Such a sweet story! Isn't it so much fun to remember the early days when you were first falling in love and getting to know each other? I have all of our old emails from 4 years ago (I know, crazy... but they are archived and I could never delete them). Cheers to the two of you!

Unknown said...

"Like shark week except not as creepy" classic.

I love stories like this! The whole change-of-heart-story gets me more than a love-at-first-sight story any day!

you're adorable together :)

Anonymous said...

I love LOVE stories! Makes me want to share mine!

Marcie Frantz said...

so sweet!

How did the two of you get engaged??