Janae is the BEST!!!

Now that Janae has shown me up by posting a series of little articles about us, I'm going to post one just about her. First of all, any woman who can spend more than five minutes with me has the patience of a saint (in Janae's case, of the latter-day variety). I have been extremely impressed by her from the first conversation I had with her. My memory is a little fuzzy about what we talked about (probably because of something in the spagetti sauce), but we were able to carry on a good conversation beyond "what's your name?", "where are you from?", and "what do you do?" (all the classic questions). After our conversation was over I thought I would be really smooth and not get her phone number, which I regretted for the next four months, and actually couldn't get her out of my thoughts. So, the next time I saw her I didn't waste any time getting her number. Janae's kindness and thoughtfulness toward others is one of her traits that has drawn me to her the most. Things that I would never even consider she thinks of and actively tries to make people feel comfortable and accepted. She has more energy than the energizer bunny on crack, so she keeps me on my toes. I look forward to creating many more happy memories with Janae and am constantly amazed at how lucky I am to have her in my life.

When I fell in love...

While it wasn't just one event, I do remember very clearly a couple of experiences when I realized I might be falling for Nate. The first - when we went latin dancing. I remember thinking how cute he was and how much fun I was having. Another time was when we were just hanging out at my place and randomly decided to read a children's book. I don't remember the book, but I remember laughing hysterically throughout as Nate read each page in a different accent. He really missed his calling in life and would have been very successful doing voice-overs. I'm glad he provides endless entertainment to me with his talents. Of course, both of these experiences were just the beginning...

Just one month to go...

We are counting down, and couldn't be more excited! With Boston behind us, our table re-finished, and many of the major wedding decisions made, we can now focus on more of the details in our final weeks! My list of To Do's is much longer than Nate would like it to be, but we'll get there.

Heading to Denver

Big change... seems to come with more big change. Nate has accepted his opportunity to attend school at Daniels College, at the University of Denver (DU) this fall, which means I get to move not once, but twice this summer. We both have mixed feelings, but overall are very excited and feel very calm. We'll miss DC a lot - our friends, the monuments, and the city - yet also look forward to being closer to family, snowy winters (as a result of marrying me, Nate now is required to learn to ski!), and camping more during the summer. We're not looking forward to the mounds of debt ahead for school though of course. I feel very lucky because it looks like I should be able to keep my job, which I love, and transition to the office there in Denver. I'm hopeful at least that all will transition smoothly. We hope we won't have to say goodbye to DC forever, and really, if Nate gets all he hopes for, this will only be the first move out of many in years to come.

Two years to the day...

Today officially marks two years from our first date. Nate loves to eat at dive restaurants, so we picked up take-out (one dish was amazing, the other not good at all) and had a little picnic at the tidal basin (we shared our food that night and have ever since, to his sister's dismay). Nate's favorite place in DC is the Jefferson Memorial, and my favorite time of year is during the cherry blossoms, so it worked out perfectly. Since then, we've made it a tradition to return each year on the date, have a picnic, and enjoy our favorite things in DC together.

Tonight was especially exciting because Nate proposed again - only this time with the ring! We finally received it and are very excited. Nate designed it himself, and it took a little longer than expected, but was well worth the wait. I love it!

How we met...

The most common question I have received in the past few weeks is "How did you meet?", so here is my version...

Nate and I met about 2 1/2 years ago on a beautiful fall day, over spaghetti. We had dinner at a mutual friend's place, interesting conversation, and that was that.

Four months later, we ran into each other again, at a similar dinner party, only I was on my way out when Nate was just arriving. We made a little bit of small talk, and he tricked me into giving him my number by convincing me he was interested in playing ultimate frisbee with me. I was a little confused at the request (because the info was posted every week on a listserve so he didn't need me), but willingly gave my number anyway. However I made it clear that I wasn't going to be able to play for several weeks so not to call me until then. A few days later, he called anyway. It was unexpected, but he was so fun to talk to, that I didn't think too much of it, and didn't even realize his motive until an hour into the conversation when he asked me out (and I was also thrown off because my friend was interested in him, so I totally didn't see it coming; I told him I'd have to get back to him, talked to her, and she was amazingly supportive). That was Tuesday and our first date was Friday. We got takeout at some hole in the wall restaurant, walked around by the tidal basin (cherry blossoms were in bloom), and talked for hours. We haven't run out of things to talk about since.