blast from our past
I just found my OLD camera in a box that we unpacked yesterday. I was looking through the memory card and found so many fun old pictures! I thought it might be fun to share some of them with you and give you a look into my past….
Our Story
Dave and I were "set up" through my friend Annie. She and her husband were living in Seattle at the time and they met Dave through a mutual friend. She told Dave about me and suggested to look me up on myspace. (yes i had myspace at the time…embarrassing). Annie told me that he may try and look me up. He sent me a message and asked for my email. We emailed a few times, but I was dating someone so it kinda faded. Then a month or so later he emailed me again. I wasn't dating the same guy anymore so I responded this time. We chatted over email for a week or so and then talked on the phone. Our first conversation lasted 7 hours. We stayed up until 4:00am talking. There was an instant connection. After that we talked every night 4-5 hours a night for 3 weeks straight. 3 weeks after our first phone chat, he flew to Utah to meet me. (we had seen plenty of pictures of each other). The first time I saw Dave, he seriously took my breath away. He was not as good looking as his pictures, but ten times better. I got so nervous and acted like a nerd for the first 15 or 20 minutes. I couldn't even find my car in the parking lot because i was so frazzled. I knew I was going to marry this man.
After our first meeting, we spent a month flying back and forth between Seattle and Utah. Everyday we emailed (multiple times) and chatted for hours. Things moved super fast. I would come and visit him for a week at a time (I worked from home and was able to) and he would come to Utah on the other weekends. At the end of November Annie (my friend) and Mark let me know they were going to Utah for 14 days and if I wanted I could stay at their house so we didn't have to fly back and forth to see each other! We were super excited! I packed up my things and drove to Seattle 2 days later! (Crazy???….na….just in love). The rest of our story can be told with the pictures I found on my camera….hope you like it!
Christmas 2006
This was our first Christmas together. I had just gotten back from Maui with my family and I couldn't wait to be with him! We had only been dating 4 months at this point, so we were all googily. Dave flew me to Seattle to share the Christmas with him. He didn't have an extra bed in his condo, so I slept on a miniature couch (it was all they had).
It was just us over the holiday. One on one. We had so much fun! We delivered "bum" packages, made a yummy Christmas breakfast, opened presents, watched movies, drank hot chocolate and had a Christmas feast at McDonald's. It was the only restaurant we could find open. We ended the night going to a movie with Annie (my friend who set us up) and her husband Mark!
A week after Christmas, Dave got a job in Portland so we packed up his things and moved him. It was really sporadic and last minute. He left a job at Boeing for a new adventure at Freightliner in Portland. I drove behind him in his car while he drove the Uhal. It was only a 4 hour drive, but it felt like forever!
I spent a few days at his new condo and then flew home. The next day I packed up my car and moved to Portland. It was impossible for us to date in separate states, we HAD to be together. I worked for my brother at the time and he was so awesome and gave me a job working from home so I could be with Dave. I moved into an apartment complex across the street from his townhouse. All I had with me was my clothes, bathroom stuff, and a blow up mattress. NOTHING else. I was living on love!
Here is a picture of my "bed". It was a blow up mattress. I didn't have enough money for furniture and since I moved with such short notice, this was the best that I could do.
I spent all my waking hours at Dave's town house. Since I worked from home and needed Internet, I had to go to Dave's house to work. We ate dinner together every night, hung out…and then when it was time to go to sleep, I'd get in my car and drive 15 seconds across the street! (it was cold or I would have walked). It was important to us that we didn't live together before we were married. Although I really only slept and showered at my apartment my apartment was good for something. It was the principal of a deicision we felt was important.
Valentines 2006
This was our first valentines. Dave left me a basket of chocolates and the sweetest note on my doorstep. I decorated his house the night before and came over first thing the next morning to make him a yummy breakfast!
A month later, Dave went on a business trip to Germany and I came to the airport with a little surprise…I had died my hair! He barley recongnized me!! It was funny!
March 28, 2007 (the engagement)
I was sound a sleep and around 4am I heard Dave come through the door (this was pretty normal because we used to workout together in the mornings and he'd come get me). I was really tired and knew he was early, so I rolled over. I felt him lay down next to me and grab my hand. Then I felt him try and push something on my finger. After a few seconds I realized he was trying to slip a ring on my finger. I didn't want to ruin the surprise, so I pretended to be asleep. He kept trying. I don't know about you but my fingers swell up at night, so there was no way this thing was going on. He pushed harder and even pinched my skin. I still tried to act like I was still asleep. After several attempts, I knew he'd never get it on so I slowly opened my eyes and looked at him. He pushed again, this time with my help and it went right on. He then leaned over and whispered "will you marry me". ….and guess what? I said yes!
His plan was to put the ring on my finger while I was sleeping, then I'd wake up and see it while I was working out! lol it cracks me up to this day!! It was super cute even if it didn't go just as planned! This is me after he proposed.
We got married in Utah, So I came home 10 days before the wedding to help prepare. While I was there I had six super fun wedding showers thrown by friends and family!!
June 1, 2007
Dave and I were married June 1, 2007 in the Bountiful, Utah LDS temple. It was a perfect day.
We went on our honey moon to Maui and had SO MUCH FUN!
When we got back home, I moved out of my crappy apartment and into Dave's our town house.
After a few weeks of living together, we realized there was not room for the both of us. One day as we were looking for a new place to live, our car ran out of gas. We ended up in front of a bunch of town houses……..these town houses, ended up becoming our home for 1 1/2 years!!
(we took a bunch of pictures to pass the time while we waited for AAA)
After we moved in to our new home and got settled, we made some car changes…
We set out to buy one car, and left the lot with two. It was fun/long. We negotiated with them for 5 hours until they finally gave us the price we wanted. We let with an even swap!!
ERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR(sound of car breaks screeching)
Ok, sorry about the interrupt in the story…but that is where the pictures end. I have more pictures to describe our journey from that point forward, but they are on my lap to and would make this post…WAY TOO LONG. How about I sum it up with words…
We lived in our town house in Beaverton, OR for a year and half. We prayed everyday for Dave to find a job in Utah so we could move close by family and buy a home…our prayers were answered! We packed up and moved! As you know, we lived with my parents for a year and 3 weeks ago we moved into our very first home!
……..and then they lived happily ever after
If you're still reading, I'm sorry to bore you. It was super fun for me to look back on all these pictures and think about all the good times we've had. I totally forgot about my old apartment complex and our first town house. I was reminded of inside jokes, butterfly feelings, and tons of other wonderful memories while looking at these pics.
I love taking pictures and am so thankful for all of the pictures we took and continue to take. To me, pictures are the story of our life! Each year since we met, I have made a photo book with pictures in it of the year. I love both of the books and look back on them often! It is something I will continue to do year after year. I'm also setting a goal to put all of our pictures into a slide show DVD. If I to do this every year, it will be super easy in the future to whip the DVDs out and have a mini blast from the past session.
Ok people, I think I'm done writing now……………………………………………………………….yup, I am.
QA: How did you and your husband/boyfriend meet??
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Jessica @ How Sweet It Is on 2009.12.08
OMG!! I love the post. My hubby and I also didn't live together before getting married. I love how sporadic your move was. This is so sweet.
Jessica @ How Sweet It Is´s last blog ..Feeling Like A Kid + Upper Body with Resistance Bands.
Tasha - The Clean Eating Mama on 2009.12.08
Such a cute post! I love how you two met and ended up together! Thank you for sharing!
Tasha – The Clean Eating Mama´s last blog ..Slacker
VeggieGirl on 2009.12.08
Beautiful tale
VeggieGirl´s last blog ..Thanksgiving 2009, Part 2: The Sweet Endings
Karyn on 2009.12.08
omg i loved reading this! such an awesome story. thanks for sharing
Karyn´s last blog ..“I said
Christina on 2009.12.08
You guys move (literally) fast, such a sweet story!
Cindy on 2009.12.08
SWEETEST POST EVER!
you guys are DARLING! So glad you met your soulmate!
I knew my now husband for about over a decade thru my job and one fateful day, when I HAD to go to DMV to pay for registration before fines were applied I ran there on my lunch break (with no appointment) and no kidding there he was in line in front of me. I was recently single and he asked me out to lunch.
and the rest is history. we've been glued to the hip ever since.
( he was paying for late registration that day too…without an appointment)
sweet fate!
(it really helped I already knew him as a customer…I probably would have said no thanks to lunch other wise) I have men/trust issues.
so glad he proved me WRONG!
xoxoxoxo
thanks for the sweet story!
Cindy´s last blog ..It’s snowing
Courtney on 2009.12.08
I love it! Such a sweet, romantic story…thanks for sharing it and the pics with us. And you got married on my BDAY!! Loves it!
I met my hubby on my birthday in a bar…we moved in together 2 weeks later, he proposed a year later, and we married a year after that…the rest is history! :>
Courtney
Adventures in tri-ing
Courtney´s last blog ..Shoveling Part I
C. on 2009.12.08
oh my god!! your story made my day.. and give hope to all those hopeless romantics!!
wish you guys the best!
C.´s last blog ..best.flip.cup.pic.ever.
Katie on 2009.12.08
Oh my gosh I LOVED reliving the Nat & Dave story – you guys are adorable, and I just enjoyed every second of reading about your history.
My husband, Meeker (real name: Michael), and I met the first day of college. I told my roommates that they had to wait for me to put on some mascara in case I ran into my future husband, and lo and behold – I DID! It took a few years for things to click with us, but now are are happier than ever! We got married the same summer as you and Dave!
Katie´s last blog ..Denim and Dropping Temperatures
Chloe (Naturally Frugal) on 2009.12.08
I love walking down memory lane, its fun to see how much has changed and how much has stayed the same.
Love this post!!!
Morgan @ Life After Bagels on 2009.12.08
O . . . M . . . G . . . I love that you shared that. It's so sweet, and mushy and I'm a sucker for it.
Me and Brad met at college, kind of a boring story!
Megan @ Megzz Wins At Life on 2009.12.08
ahh I love your story! Your make me want to fall in love!! I actually just signed up for match.com and although you where matches up through a friend I get weird about talking to people on the internet first but your story gave me hope like it was mean to be!
Megan @ Megzz Wins At Life´s last blog ..Another-one bites the dust!
Autumn Tao on 2009.12.08
I met my husband at the first day of orientation for the high school we both teach at. I had changed careers, he changed districts, and we met on our first official day at the new school. Early October I asked him to watch the Dallas Cowboys Monday night game with me (we're both fans) and sparks flew!! We had our first official date that Saturday: our school's homecoming game and dinner out. We were engaged February 3, 2008 (3.5 months later) and married this past August. It was kismet and we both knew if from the start. I actually sent myself an email after our first date which said he was the man I 'd marry. I archived it and saved if for the day he popped the question, and then we read it together. When it's right, you know it!!
Thanks for sharing your story too… it was a pleasure to read.
Lu on 2009.12.08
That was a great story. I met my husband when I was dating his best friend. He convinced his best friend to break up with me. 7 years, a different country and one college change later, we ended up together. It's been 7 years of marriage and 14 years of knowing him. Geez. That makes me sound old.
Lu´s last blog ..Wondering…
Ashlee on 2009.12.08
I love this post! I love hearing about how people met and I love the engagement story. I think it is so cute that he thought you wouldn't notice the ring until you were working out. And, I moved to another state to be closer to my man and had to save my pennies like crazy because we didn't want to live together until marriage, either.
Betsy on 2009.12.08
That was such a wonderful and romantic story! I loved the picture of you right after he popped the question- you can see the tears in your eyes! Ahh!! I'm such a sucker for these kind of things!
Shannon on 2009.12.08
Such a beautiful story! I met my husband on-line. He saw my profile and signed up so he could write to me. He say's he has a 100% success rate for on-line dating because he sent one email and ended up with a wife! I had to work a little harder!
Shannon´s last blog ..Coming up for Air
Lindsay on 2009.12.08
What a cute story! (And if that engagment picture is not staged, I cannot BELIEVE you look that good at 4am!)
Katherine on 2009.12.08
Such a sweet story!
AnnQ on 2009.12.08
What a beautiful story!!!
I actually met my boyfriend almost two years ago at Gun Shooting Class.
I'd never held a gun before, and this was a class where you learned how to shoot one, and got your permit.
(Lord, does that sound Red Neck-ish? I promise – I live in Connecticut, just 40 min outside of Manhattan!)
Anyhow, I'd just ended a relationship two weeks before I attended the class (I'd originally signed up so I'd be able to shoot with my ex). We ended up sitting next to each other, and just hit it off.
AnnQ´s last blog ..Does TV distort our expectations about Life?
Krista on 2009.12.09
What a great story! I don't think the post was long at all. In fact, I didn't want it to be done yet!
Krista´s last blog ..Clearing Out The Fridge
Desiree on 2009.12.09
I loved reading your story and seeing all the great pictures! My husband and I met in highschool (2000-I was a senior and he was a junior). His dad had just been stationed at the AFB in our small town, so they had just moved across the country. A mutual friend introduced us, and we were really good friends for about a year after we met. I went off to college, and we still kept in touch. That October (2001) he and a few other friends came to Las Cruces to visit me. We had our first kiss that weekend. We too would spend hours on the phone. I moved back home to attend school in my hometown of Portales in Decembe (and of course to be closer to him). His parents moved back to SC in 2004- he stayed. We visited his parents that Christmas. We all went to James Island were they have a county park that is decorated for Christmas. You can walk through this park where they have a carousel and a bonfire. It was at this bonfire that we all stopped to warm up. His sister called my name and when I turned around he was on his knee. We got married in July 2005, and the rest is history!
Sarah on 2009.12.09
I love this post!! What a great and romantic story
My husband and I met through Match.com! It was the summer of 2006 and we chatted via email/Google Chat for about 2 weeks and it was just so much fun "talking" with him and getting to know him. One night in early August 2006, we were chatting on G-chat and I was getting ready to leave for Calgary the next day for work. I randomly asked if he wanted to see a movie sometime (he was waiting for the "perfect moment" to ask me on our first date – men!) and he said why not tonight! We ended up going to see Hollywoodland at 10pm that night, and there were sparks a flying! We sat with our shoulders touching during the movie and it was the sweetest/most romantic feeling ever. I knew that night he was the one!
I left the next morning for Calgary and each night raced back to my hotel room to chat with Chris on-line and email him about my day. That weekend when I got back to CO he took me out on a "real" first date and we went to brunch at a fancy golf course…and felt totally out of our element together
over the next 6 months we were inseparable and ended up moving in together and getting engaged! The wedding planning had a few false starts as we were in a shaky place financially and had some issues coming up with a plan that made us and my mother-in-law happy 
We were finally married a year and a half later in August of 2008 in front of about 30 of our closest friends and family (in a very relaxed Chris and Sarah style we had a BBQ afterward with an ice cream sundae bar instead of a formal reception). We were married by Chris' best friend since the age of 2! It was a perfect day, and over the last year we've had so much fun being a married couple and dreaming of all the places our lives will take us 
Sarah´s last blog ..-583
Sara on 2009.12.09
What a cute story!! Btw – I love your hair! you have to have the best hair EVER! I wish mine could be that smooth and nice looking all the time! I met my boyfriend our freshmen year of college through a friend of mine..in March we will have been together for 5 years.
Cara (Cara Craves...) on 2009.12.09
My husband and I met in high school…we dated for about 6 years, and when we graduated from university, we got married.
We have been happily married for about 21/2 years now…time flys!
Cara (Cara Craves…)´s last blog ..How to be a Better Foodie
Kristine on 2009.12.10
Hi Natalie!
I loved this post! I loved that you and Dave decided to not live together until marriage as well! It is one of the main excitements about getting married! Good for you.
Lizzie on 2009.12.12
My husband and I met when he was a semester abroad student at my college. We then spent two and a half years living in different countries before finally being able to be together – my parents (and now my brother and his girlfriend) are also from different countries, so maybe it's a family theme!!
Stephanie on 2009.12.14
Cute story and you are lucky – you can pull of blonde and burnette so well.
Also, I am envious of your eyelashes.
So, my fiance and I met on Match.com. In fact, the (almost) whole story is told on my blog in four chapters. I am working on the conclusion – which will be the 5th chapter.
Stephanie´s last blog ..No honey. You can’t register for my butt.
Once upon a time…. | NO NO 2 YO on 2010.01.12
[...] a complete stranger and I fell in love with him before we had even met. It was like a fairy tale romance. We immediately fell in love and we were married 8 months later. 3 years and and 5 months [...]