Published on August 16th, 2008.
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just in an unexpected way....
Okay stay with me. It gets kind of complicated. I had been dating this guy named Jason for a couple of weeks. I was living in Orlando, Florida and he was living in Maryland at the time. I had plans to go visit him Labor Day weekend 2007.
In the interim of me reading "Your Knight and Shining Armor", by P.B. Wilson, I was in the process of fashioning myself to have my husband presented to me. I wrote a prayer in journal, asking God to show me my husband. I felt I was ready. I was happy with myself, and grateful for many blessings, and I just wanted someone to share my joy with.
The day of my flight to Maryland, it was so rainy outside. I'm a teacher, and looking out the window at work, I contemplated cancelling my flight. As it cleared up two seconds later (which is very common in Florida) I decided to go ahead and go. I really had no other plans that weekend, and had drawn the conclusion "why not".
I remembered my prayer in my journal as I anxiously arrived at the airport. I was ready to have God reveal to me that Jason was either worth my time or just another stepping stone to my ultimate love destination. Soon enough my prayer was answered.
I arrived in Maryland on a Friday. That Saturday, Jason and his best friend Brandon were throwing a toga party. It was Jason's going away party (moving to OH for new job) and Brandon's birthday. Friday night, we all went to Wal-Mart to pick out fabric for our togas. Coincidentally, a couple other party goers were there picking out fabric as well. Believe it or not, this is only the beginning of my story.
As we are measuring fabric and rope for our outfits, I saw this guy walking and speaking to others around me. As he greeted surrounding party goers, I remember thinking "okay who is this nice looking guy? And I hope I don¡¦t get myself in trouble due to this instant yet strong attraction." I loved the sound of his voice from the beginning and his energy was incredible. Then, I remember thinking "umm..Ash..you are definitely visiting a DIFFERENT guy. No position to pick up additional prospects". Finally, he made his way over to me, reached his masculine hand out for a shake, and in this perfectly toned voice said "How are you doing? I'm Robb". He looked me so dead in my eye, a shyly turned my head a little and smiled while managing to get my name out. Respecting the position I was in, the conversation was kept casual.
Fast forward to the next day (Saturday). Being a guest of the party host for the weekend, I helped set up (by default) anticipating Robb's arrival (secretly of course). Once the party was in full swing, Robb and I ended up on the same taboo team. Blatant, but respectful vibes were clear. I remember saying to Jason (after a few drinks) "What's that guy's name again? I like him". Later on in the party, Robb and I both discovered we were both huge music lovers. We shared jokes and reminisced as we browsed through the music library on my laptop. We took a friendly picture together before the night's end. He also invited everyone to a BBQ he was having at his house that Monday. I made it my duty to see him again, so I encouraged Jason to attend (possibly more than onceļ).
Fast forward to Robb¡¦s BBQ. As soon as he opened the door, I had this relieved feeling to see him again. I remember he had on a green polo shirt and some blue jeans. My plane was leaving soon, so our visit was very short. Robb was also playing host, so our interaction was minimum. Later on he revealed that he pointed me out to his best friends on the sneak. He expressed his interest in me, but also a concern about where I stood with Jason. I later went upstairs and ran into Robb in the kitchen. He jokingly bragged about some BBQ chicken in the oven. I giggled a little and quickly walked away. I was nervous for some reason. Like a school girl crush kind of nervous. After about an hour, I had to catch my flight. We said goodbye and I wondered if I would ever see or talk to him again.
The next week I emailed Robb the picture we took at the toga party. Emails back and forth led to exchanging of phone numbers, and before we actually had our first phone conversation...he bought a plane ticket to come visit me in Orlando. The feelings were clearly mutual.
After our first conversation, which was amazing, I called Jason that same day and said "I met someone else. I'm not the type to date multiple guys anymore. I would rather pursue this person than you, or try to do both. I just wanted to be clear". He thanked me for my honesty and I never spoke to him again.
I later found out that Robb and Jason were high school acquaintances and Jason's best friend Brandon was Robb's college roommate. We cleared all the "sticky business" in the beginning. We visited each other bi-weekly alternating Orlando and Maryland. After being spoiled for Thanksgiving (seeing each other for a whole week). Our bi-weekly visits turned into weekly. We made our relationship "official" on November 4, 2007. January 1,2008 he moved to Orlando taking a job position entering the field of his passion (non-profit organizations).
We fell in love. We were both everything we always imagined but heartaches in the past led us to believe a love like ours was scarce. We ultimately accepted, we deserved each other. Two wonderful people, both searching for a love to share the rest of our lives with.
July 4th, 2008 Robb proposed to me at my family's BBQ in our backyard. He made an announcement in front of my family stating that he was religious and believed God worked in mysterious ways. He shared how not too long ago a wonderful woman was placed into his life unexpectedly. He got down on one knee and asked to marry me! He did the honorable thing and received my Dad's blessing before asking and of course I said YES! We are now planning a June 2009 wedding. Prayers really do get answered, just in an unexpected way sometimes:-)
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