Tomorrow, Tommy and I will celebrate 2 years as a married couple. To me it seems like we have been married longer than that. It is somewhat difficult to remember what life was like without him in it. I guess that is a good thing, right? I thought I would take this opportunity to tell "our" story.
My now sister-in-law, Mindi, is actually responsible for us meeting. She and a friend used to go country line dancing at a place called Wild Country about 45 minutes from us. One weekend they met the Moxey twins there. They soon became friends and looked forward to meeting up with them when they went there on the weekends. I can remember Mindi talking about the Moxey twins and wondering why she was spending so much time with guys that were not my brother, ha. I am not really sure how long they knew one another before I met them, but I'm guessing at least 2 years. Tommy even came up here a few times to visit them. In May of 2004 a group of us went to Wild Country to celebrate Mindi's 21st birthday. I didn't really know if I wanted to go or not since I did not know how to line dance and bars were not my thing at all. Good thing I did. I remember when we picked up Mindi on the way down she made some comment about how her friend Tommy was going to meet us there and he would probably "hit" on me. I just laughed. I asked how old he was and she said that he was the same age as them (meaning 3 years younger). We all met up at Applebee's to eat. Tommy was there and we ended up sitting at the table across from one another. He was unlike any guy I had ever dated or even been friends with. He was wearing cowboy boots, a cowboy hat and tight jeans. His eyes drew me in right away. I have always been an eye girl. Throughout supper I kept catching myself staring at him. I thought that this guy is going to think I'm some sort of freak!
After supper, we headed to Wild Country. We found a few seats by the dance floor and I camped out to watch them dance. It was actually fun to watch the variety of people that were there. Tommy was a really good dancer. I remember going to use the restroom and when I came out Mindi told me that Tommy was looking for me because he wanted to dance a slow song with me. I was so nervous. It was like Jr. High all over again. The cute boy likes me. I anxiously waited for the next song and finally it came on. For the life of me I can't remember what it was. At the time I kept thinking to myself I need to remember this song. I really didn't want the dance to be over. For me it was an instant attraction. I don't know if I would say "love at first sight" but it was something. Like I mentioned before he was so different than any guy before. He was just like my dad and brothers. He liked hunting, fishing, and all the other "redneck" country boy things.
We had a really good time that night. Tommy actually ended up coming back with us and we all stayed at my parents house. The next morning my mom questioned who the strange guy was. I explained that it was Mindi's friend that she had talked about before. It is kind of weird now looking back on that. She was all worried that we picked up some random person at the "bar". Ha. Now he fits in with my family sometimes better than I do!
The next few months I spent a lot of time driving down to see him. I was fresh out of Graduate school and looking for a job. That October I started the job I'm at now. The following April I bought our house and in June we were engaged. It really didn't take us long to figure out that we were meant for one another. Planning our wedding was so much fun. Tommy actually helped with a lot of the details. I made did all the decorations, the flowers and jewelry. I loved every minute of it. My mom says every now and then that it was so much fun that I ought to do it all over again. I told her maybe for our 20th we can have a vow renewal or something.
I'm thankful to have a husband who loves me and loves my family. It is a blessing that he gets along with my father so well. I have never been that close with my dad so it is good that my husband is. The rest of my family loves him just as much as I do. He and my mom gang up on me all the time. I never really believed the statement that girls end up marrying someone like their fathers, but in my case I guess that is somewhat the truth!
