Our Story, Engagement Prequel

I have written and deleted this post quite a few times. I struggle to put my finger on when the story of Will and I truly starts.

Of course there is the first time we saw each other, which I remember vividly.

There's also a set of circumstances that led up to that meeting, and another huge set of circumstances that led up even to that.

We are not one of those "we met in High School" or "we were friends for ages before we dated" couples.

Will and I met shortly after I turned 23. He was 26 and a half.

We were saying I love you a few weeks in. I moved in about three months later. We were engaged three months after that. I do NOT normally condone this type of behavior, but we will get to that.

I suppose it all really started when I made the decision to move to Cincinnati. You can read more about that time in my life here.

I am originally from Dayton, Ohio. To go to any legitimate sporting events or parties or malls or zoos, you had two options. Drive the hour north to Columbus, or the hour South to Cincinnati. For whatever reason, I'd always chosen to head north. Cincinnati seemed "lesser-than" compared to C-Bus to me before I actually moved here.

That was a huge misconception, but I will go into that another time.

I was spending 50% of my time on campus and the other 50% up in the burbs where I worked the 3 years I attended UC. During that time, Will was just a few miles away. That we know of, we never crossed paths.

Making matters even more interesting, my senior year I moved away from campus and rented an apartment exactly one mile away from Will's home (where we live now). I lived there for a year, and still, we never crossed paths.

Probably because he was busy dating too many awful girls and I too many losers. You have to kiss a lot of frogs, right?

When I was a few months out from graduation, I began to get a little depressed. I felt lost.

I was a billion dollars in debt. I'd just been dumped by a guy who was lucky I ever even dated him (I am not cocky, he was just that bad). The most sour part of all, I had NO job prospects.

I wanted desperately to move away. To start over. But I was scared, poor, and all my friends had moved back to out home town.

On a whim I sub-leased my 2 bedroom apartment (which I LOVED), put most everything I owned in storage, and moved in with my Dad back in Dayton.

I had no job there so I spent most of my time applying for jobs, driving south for work, and spending time with old friends in Dayton. It was a good couple of months. I went as far as leasing an apartment with a friend back home. I was ready to leave Cincy behind.

As usual, God had other plans for me. A few weeks after I signed that lease, as I was headed to the airport to take a mini vaca to Nashville with my best friend, I got a job offer in Cincinnati.

My last vacation as a single girl. Ever. And the only 2 pics I can find of that amazing weekend.

I soon moved back to my old stomping grounds. On my first night out back in town, my friend Ashley and I went to the bar to celebrate my return. About seven minutes in to our mission to have a crazy night, I met Will.

Part two.

Part three.