Love him

If you are a hater of Valentines Day, or mushy, lovey-dovey stuff AVOID this post and any others that have a similar title. :-) I love my husband more now, than I ever have and I wanted to tell our story, or part of it, anyways.

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How we got engaged:

{backstory}

So we were in college, in Louisville, Kentucky. It was the spring of 2001, and we had been dating for a while - like over a year, off and on. I was working 2 jobs to pay for everything: Days (30 hrs/wk) at Dillards in the 'fragrance department' and nights (20ish hrs/wk) at UPS. Worst job ever. Midnight to 4 am. I hated that job. My supervisor was jerk - enough of a jerk that Chad cornered him in the bathroom at one point and got in his face for being verbally abusive to me and another girl. (*sigh* - my knight in shining armor.) Anyways - I had 8 am class that semester also, which meant I barely slept, I didn't always remember to brush my teeth.

Regardless of my lack of hygiene at times, Chad took care of me. I had known from pretty early on that he was going to be my husband. He worked at Dillards too, and in his department they gave him a shirt for a New Year's promotion in 2001 that read, "I'm the ONE". I still have that shirt, and will probably never get rid of it. He was providing for me long before he knew I was 'the one' for him though. He fed me a lot of the time, since most of my money went to pay for tuition, rent and my car payment. He fixed my car for me, when it needed it, or paid for it to be fixed if it was more serious. (;-) He loved me, even if he didn't know it.

Once he DID know it, he was forbidden from saying it. He'd had lots of girlfriends leading up to me, but never once had he used the 'L-word', even when they were proclaiming their undying love for him. We had a rule: No saying 'I love you' until there was a diamond on my finger!

Anyways - my mom was getting remarried and I was to be Maid of Honor. As I am sure many can understand, I was very emotional about this day. Happy and sad at the same time, but mostly really tired. I got up Friday morning, went to class, Dillards and then home to pack for the trip from Kentucky to Kansas for the wedding. That night we went to work at UPS, and after work we went straight to the airport, since our flight took off at 7:00 a.m. We landed in Kansas by 10:00 a.m. and hit the ground running: I had to get my dress fitted, my nails done, go tanning and then to the rehearsal and dinner. By the time I went to bed that night I had been up for over 36 hours. It was not good for my emotional state, to say the least.

{the big day}

We were up early and off to get our hair done, then back to the church to do make-up and get dressed. Typical wedding day stuff. As I recall the photographer was a bit nuts. (I'm sorry, photographer, if you ever read this - but you DID have a public breakdown at the end of the day.) We did TONS of pictures beforehand. I was annoyed.

Finally I saw Chad. I was SO relieved. I hugged him and noticed he seemed a little weird. Like HE was nervous or something. I was being very me-centric at the time, wanting him to listen to me whine and feel sorry for me. By the time the wedding ceremony was over I was a wreck and just begged him to take me home. [remember: very tired, very emotional, and very tired] As he ushered me towards the reception he said, "This is your Mom and Rick's day, you need to be here for them and your sisters." I rolled my eyes. Voice of reason as ALWAYS. I proceeded to the reception, pouting, but able to see the bed light at the end of the tunnel.

{the bouquet}

The one thing I was looking MOST forward to about the reception was the bouquet toss. I mean it was my mother's wedding and I was in a serious relationship. I deserved that bouquet. The biggest problem with my theory was that my mom was a kindergarten teacher. We assembled in the middle of the floor for the toss and I was immediately surrounded by about a million 5 and 6 year old girls! I was ticked - one of those little 'darlings' was going to catch MY bouquet! Literally, I was standing in a sea of children, trying to decide if it was ok to sacrifice THEIR bodies by jumping OVER them to catch it... This didn't help my attitude. I looked around for a sympathetic face, but didn't find him.

Next thing I know, I hear the photographer count out "Ok! 3.....2......1!!!" Mom starts to throw it over her head, but stops and turns to her right. 'What is she doing?' I thought. She pitched it off to the side, where a bunch of on lookers were standing. Before I could figure out what was going on, out from that crowd reaches my boyfriend, who catches MY bouquet, and starts walking towards me in the middle of the room. The sea of girls part and there was a collective gasp from the entire room. Or maybe it was just me gasping - either way it was loud. He reaches for my hand and drops to one knee, holding a ring box in the other hand. Suddenly we were all alone and I heard him ask, "Shaina, will you marry me?" I remember him putting the ring on my finger and hugging him around the neck and almost immediately everyone was there again, and cheering! He claims I never said "yes", but I think I communicated my response adequately. Afterwards, people were flocking to say congratulations, and my sisters and friends (who got to stand right beside me while it happened) were clamoring to see the ring. It was wonderful - I floated on a cloud the rest of the day.

{later}

That night, as we snuggled on the couch, he said,"Oh - I almost forgot. I love you." *insert melting heart* And he's loved me ever since. We've loved each other ever since.

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*sigh* Such a romantic gesture.

So I know I'm not the only one out there with a story about how much their man loves them. Spill the beans girls! (And guys, if you want.) I've even tried to get Mr. Linky here for all of our Love stories to Link together. Anyone want to offer any catchy titles for this love fest? I want to steal a phrase from my friend Sarah that she uses all the time: Love my Lover.... But thought I should ask first.