How Eric and I met...the whole sordid story...

It is time to tell the story...how we met, fell in love and got married...all in less than 3 months. Here is the account of the adventure. Pictures will follow later. :)

Dec 14th 2007: I get a random e-mail from ldslinkup.com that is some guy who's handle is piperhahn. My first instinct is to delete the email without even reading it because I had been getting some weird emails from people on that site...but something told me to open it and read. I found out through this email that he and I were in the same ward and that he had just moved down here in October from Davenport Iowa. He didn't know anyone here and was just looking for friends to hang out with and get to know. He also mentioned that the social scene for Latter Day Saints of our age in this area was pretty bleak. That it sucked to sit alone in church and all that... The last line of his email is what caught me...it simply said: "Will you be my friend".
I thought to myself...of COURSE I will be his friend. If for NO other reason than I HATED to sit by myself in church and knew how the guy felt. It is hard to be Mormon, over 30, and single in a family ward. Sometimes it can feel like you are invisible...or worse yet..."singled" out because you 'don't have a family yet'...but THAT is a whole other post. :) Back to the sordid story.
Dec 17th 2007: So I email him back and let him know that I would indeed be his friend and his pew buddy at church. He emailed right back and suggested that we get together for dinner or something in the week. This is when I found out his name: Eric. He gave me his phone number and suggested that I call if i wanted. I was a little nervous but I called...and we ended up talking for 3 hours. He seemed very nice and normal. But still I was cautious...I mean he could be crazy and just need someone for their skin...to make a purse. You never know! Anyway...he suggested that if my roommate was going to be around the next evening that he could come over to my house and make us dinner. He wanted to make sure Tamara(the roomie) was going to be there so I would feel more comfortable. Good thing...cause I was already thinking about that...(remember the purse?). So anyway Eric says that he will make a stew and bring it over and I will make a dessert. Sounds like a good plan with my new found friend...
Dec 18th 2007: I have to admit that the excitement was building. I had seen a picture of Eric online and he was a cutie. I KNOW I KNOW...JUST friends...but still it is always nice to have a good looking friend to hang out with right? :) Throughout the day my new friend texted me with suggestions for the stew and images of the odd veges he was putting in it...he seemed very pleasant and funny. So about 3-4 hours before Eric is supposed to be over I find out that Tam has to work...PANIC....I have never met this boy...I can't have him over at my house ALONE...my thoughts turned to the purse again..so I called my other friend Brent and expressed my concerns. He asked me if I wanted him to come over...and I said YES. We had the understanding that if I felt uncomfortable at ALL that he would stay till the bitter end until Eric had left. And that if I felt good about it I would give the signal and Brent would know I felt safe and he could go...I think the signal was something like me pulling my right ear and hopping on one foot...you know...something subtle like that. Well it turns out that I was very comfortable and Brent knew it as well...so I was OK with Brent leaving...turns out that Eric knew what I was doing so he invited Brent to stay and eat and hang out with us. That makes me chuckle to think about that...don't know why...it just does. But I digress. The evening turned out to be a WONDERFUL time. Brent stayed for a bit and then left. He told me later that when he left he texted a friend and said it was just like hanging out with 2 Evas... :) Eric and I ended up hanging out and chatting till 1 in the morning. We talked about everything. He was easy to talk to from the very beginning and I could tell that he enjoyed my company...and I enjoyed his. We ended up out at his car talking and saying goodnight..and NO there was NO KISSING...friends remember??? At one point in the conversation there was little lull...and it was quiet...and had the thought: "this is the man you are going to marry". WHAT???? Yeah...you can imagine...I just chuckled to myself and promptly pushed the thought right outta my head. Anyone who knows me knows that my track record with men SUCKS...so there was no way I was going to allow such a fairy tale thought to stick around in my head. So out it went!
Dec 19th 2007: We had talked the night before and decided to go to the Temple the next night (the 19th). So after work we met up and headed out to the Temple. We did a session and then sat in the Celestial Room for a bit. Here is where it gets crazy...We are sitting in the CR and I keep having this thought..."reach over and grab his hand"...WHAT??? No way...NO WAY...I just met this guy...JUST FRIENDS remember??? I was NOT going to HOLD his hand in the CELESTIAL ROOM of all places!!!! So the thought persists and persists and gets stronger until finally I leaned over and whispered "would it creep you out if I held you hand"? He said that it wouldn't so I grabbed his hand...and there we sat in the Celestial Room. 2 people that had known each other 2 days HOLDING hands in the CELESTIAL ROOM of the Temple...what was I THINKING!!!! :) Back to the hand holding. We sat there a few more minutes and then left. We were going to Dinner at Red Hot and Blue. Great night thus far with the exception of the weirdness of the holding hand message...then...right there in the middle of dinner...the other shoe fell. Out of the blue Eric asks me...now you are OK with us just being friends right? There it goes...all the wind out of my sails. I thought something was brewing here...I mean I had that crazy This is your husband thought and then the hand holding in the celestial room...the randomness of us meeting...all that came crashing down around my feet in one small phrase...Dang sometimes I HATE the F word...F R I E N D...
So I went into the mode I always go into...protection mode. I was going to be polite for the rest of the night...and then never speak to him again after dinner. No way was I going to let myself get into the same situation I had gotten into for years...where he just wants to be friends and I want more. I was done with that...but...I just couldn't get over that he had just said. I wanted to ask him why in the WORLD he would say that??? I mean...I knew I felt something more than friendship and I thought he had as well...so there I sat...arguing with myself about whether I should say anything or slip quietly into that good night. In the end I couldn't NOT ask him...so I did...I said...'Eric WHY in the world would you say something like that to me? I am perfectly fine with being just friends...but I feel like there is more than just friendship here. I am OK with friends for now...but I expect it to move forward". WHEW...it was all out there on the table now...REALLY?? Are we REALLY having a DTR on the 2nd day we even KNOW each other???? Yep...we sure are. He agreed that there was more than friendship there and that he was just being cautious because he had just gotten out of a relationship with someone that he thought was the one he was going to marry...and it didn't work out...and he knew that I couldn't be the one because HE found me HIMSELF...and in a blessing he had been told that he wouldn't be able to find his eternal companion without the Lord's help...and he(Eric) had found me all on his own.
**SIDE NOTE** I found it very amusing that he thought he found me all on his own. That he was inspired to move to Raleigh from Iowa...2 miles from ME...to do a search for single ladies in the area and I am the one that popped up...that he emailed me and I even emailed back...all on his own...no help from the Lord...I decided that I would just let him keep thinking that for the time being...**end side note**
Dec 22nd 2007: Eric and I had decided that he would come with me to my parent's house the 22nd to make cookies with my Dad. We do that every year for Christmas. And then after that I would go with him to a Christmas party. So while we were at my house we made a lobster shaped brownie for the party. Good times. It was a great day and a great night at the party. We were together all day and night...and never got tired of one another. I was very comfortable around Eric and enjoyed his company greatly. And my Dad liked him as well...which scored some points for him.
After that day we were pretty much together every day.
Dec 31st 2007: We were together on New Year's Eve...again no Kiss...friends remember! But we still had an awesome time together. We were becoming very good friends and that was a good feeling. Some time in the beginning of January Eric had planned a trip to Iowa to get the rest of his things from storage and bring them down to NC...I had planned on doing a little travel goodie bag for him. I knew that his Ex was in Davenport and I wanted him to think of me while he was gone....devious I know. ANYWAY...turns out that he got sick...and was not at all feeling like going to Iowa. I was over at his house and we were talking about whether he should postpone the trip...and that it would be so much better if he didn't have to go alone. I thought to myself....I should just go with him, so I suggested it and he was very excited to have me come. He perked up and acutally got excited about the trip. ~he told me later that was the day that he realized that I loved him~
Jan 10th 2008: From the 10th-16th we were on the trip to Iowa. VERY fun trip. On the way to Iowa we went through Illinois and I realized by a glance at the map that we would be passing 30 away from my old home town...Rantoul Illinois. I asked Eric if we could stop by there and see the town and my childhood home...and my elementary school. He said yes and I was VERY excited. We went to my old house first...had to call my Mom for directions. Wasn't she surprised to get a phone call from her daughter that has run off to Illinois with some guys she only knew for a couple of weeks and was asking direcitons to the old homeplace??? So we went to the house...

And then we went over to the school. My old school. Northview Elementary. It was like travelling back in time, and I was loving it! We met one of my brother's old teachers...and she remembered him!!! That was over 30 years ago!!!

We were even able to go on a tour of the school and see my old classrooms, the gym and the lunch room...AND I even got a piece of toast from the lunch lady!!!

After that, it was time for breakfast!!

But that is going to have to be another post...it will be kinda like an on going saga...that's sounds fun huh? ;) Plus...I have been typing for hours!! I need a break...so...the trip and story continues later...