Our Love Story – I Don’t Believe in Love at First Sight

I do not believe in love at first sight. Actually I DO when it comes to shoes, food, puppies, kittens.  and seeing my little man for the first time. So I guess I’m lying when I say I don’t but when it comes to our love story it was not the case. Our love story is the quote ” Timing is everything. If it is meant to happen, it will, at the right time at the right reason.” I one hundred percent believe in God’s plan, and our story embodies it every way. I remember looking back at all the heart breaks, the single days, and all the other times it never worked out, and I thank God every day for it. Because it lead me to the man of my dreams, my prince charming, my love for eternity. Gag now while you read this post, and I’m sure my twenty five year old single self would have been gagging reading this too, but it is surprising how one person can change your views in love. P.S. Excuse the grammar, I am just so passionate about this story, I’m writing from the heart, and sometimes my heart has run on sentences. 😉 So lets begin to the first day this Princess met her Prince.

It was March 2010 of my last semester of college, I was headed to an interview at Buckle for a Manger training position at the Galleria. I remember getting introduced to Josh for a slight moment in passing. I just remember a nice handsome smile, a twinkle in his blue eyes, and a confidence of any ex college baseball player. He was very cute, don’t get me wrong, but in my head he was just like every other cute jock I knew in college, or at least thats what I categorized him in. No at that moment, I did not think he was the love of my life, the one I would marry, or even date.  But the story continues.

So that summer we worked together, and come to find out he was also the assistant and a manager in trainee as well. He had several months of training under his belt when he first started so he ended up having to train me at some point. I remember there was some slight competition on the floor, and at one point he made me so frustrated I cried. I remember trying to communicate with him on the floor, and he would just laugh and say “Use your big girl voice, I can’t hear you.” I remember getting so angry, and feeling so humiliated I used my BIG GIRL voice, and I said, “We need to talk in the back.” I had never been talked to like that in my life, and in my college years of being my sorority president, working in past positions where my opinion was always valued, it hurt my ego. At the end Josh felt horrible and apologized. In his mind he was being just awnry, and being the Mr. All American guy he was, he never really had anyone stand up to him. But not me, he met his match. Lol, I was Miss Independent on a mission to make something of myself and be a successful career women.

But from that day forward, I gained his respect, and we became good colleagues after that. He also became my mentor as he paved the way for the other trainees at the store. We went on to San Antonio, where he ended up managing his own store, and several months later I was later transferred to help co manage at another store in San Antonio. On my last month in San Antonio I ended up working in his store, and that was the time I found out I was offered a store in Florida right on the beach. I remember having one of the toughest decisions of my life, as I never ever lived on my own in a different state before. But I wanted so bad to leave and venture outside of my safe zone in Texas. My family was against it, but it was Josh that really helped me make my decision to go. He always supported me in following my dreams, and so I remember sitting at the food court and listening to him, and realizing how much he really meant to me. I was forever grateful to have him as my friend and mentor.

After I moved to Florida I only saw him once after at manager meetings. We fell out of touch. He  left Buckle to pursue a different career in marine transportation, and I lived out the rest of my single life in Florida. It was definitely an eye opening experience living there, and I’m so glad I did, because I found myself there. It must be something about living on the beach and being able to see the sunrise and the sunset that brought me closer to God. I remember being alone, running along the beach, and wondering where my life would lead me to next. Florida was everything I could expect for a single girl like me, it was fun, there were beautiful people everywhere, and it was a great way to explore different dating scenes. But I soon grew tired of it all, and my heart yearned to be back in Texas, closer to family and friends. I didn’t have the life work balance with my career, and I was not interested in the dating scene anymore. I wanted the next person I dated to be something real, something with a future.

So two years went by in Florida, and an opportunity allowed me to go back home to Texas. It was another hard decision for me to leave my new friends and to leave my beautiful beach home, but I knew my heart was in Texas. I decided to transfer back to Houston and work at the Buckle closer to my home. One day as I was talking on the phone with the manager in Houston, she asked me if I knew Josh. I was so surprised because I didn’t expect him to be shopping there. She wanted me to recruit him back for the holidays. I hadn’t talked to him in forever, and he had changed his number at one point, so I decided to leave him a message on Facebook. I was not even sure if he used it, considering he hadn’t updated his Facebook picture since 2007! But I guess God had plans for the both us, because at that same time Josh was talking to one of his captains about me as the one that got away (awww I know right?). So when he saw my message he immediately called me back. I remember being out for one last night with a friend in Del Ray  and getting the call from Josh. So that night we talked for a short 15 minutes and caught up. I found out he had moved in with his cousin only down the street from where my family lived, and he was currently single. So we set up plans to meet up after I moved back to Houston. I remember having the biggest smile on my face and wondering what he would be like when I got back. It seemed like so much had changed and that he had matured over the years.

I remember paddle boarding with my best friend Megan the weekend before I left Florida and having a conversation about him. She even asked if I would date him. I remember telling her and one of my other girlfriend that I wouldn’t date anyone when I moved back to Houston, because I wanted to focus on my career. “Famous last words?,” they said. Lol and boy where they right.

The day I moved back to Houston, I had plans to hang out with Josh. He offered to pick me up from the airport, but I was hesitant considering I hadn’t seen him in a year. That afternoon he picked me up, and we went to meet his cousin’s and roommates. I remember seeing him for the first time, and he had changed. He was not the cocky ex baseball player I remembered him as. It was not love at first sight, but it was a great feeling to be reunited with an old friend. That night we caught up and watched the UofH bowl game at Hooter’s. I remember wanting to go there because I hadn’t been since I moved to Florida and I was craving the fried pickles. It was such a relief to go back home and have someone only five minutes away I could hang out with and talk to. That night on we began to build our friendship.

It was a whirlwind friendship that turned into love. Everyday we hung out, we got closer and closer. I remember one day he invited me to a party with friends, but I declined  because I was on a strict diet and workout schedule. From then on we started to go to the gym together, and we became gym buddies. He ditched the weekend parties, the drinking, and late nights and traded it for gym time and a healthier life style with me. He would invite me over after the gym and cook for me every night so we could spend more time together. I don’t know if it was watching him squat, or the home cooked meals that got me, but those were two lethal combinations that got me hooked.

It wasn’t even a month since I was back, that we knew we wanted to be together. I knew it was serious when the day he asked me, he actually updated his Facebook status to being in a relationship. It was the first time he had updated his Facebook in seven years. I remember my friends calling me, and telling me I told you so. Yes it only took a month to fall in love, and 6 months later we were married, and another 6 months after that we had our son.

Two years later, I still can’t believe it. How did I not know sooner? What would have our life been like if we dated each other six years when we first met? God works in mysterious ways, and everything has perfect timing. I don’t think we would have lasted one month together six years ago when we first met. We definitely didn’t have the maturity or life experiences to be married. Our paths crossed so many times, and finally after four years it finally merged together. I watch my hubby and my son sleeping so peacefully, and I think wow, this is my life, and they are my future.  I look at my husband, and I remember dreaming as a child what my Prince Charming would look like. I never imagined I he would so handsome, with sparkling blue eyes, and soft curls of perfection. Some days I get lost just staring in his eyes, and thinking how did I get so blessed?

For all you single independent girls, who think love is overrated, and there is no such thing as a perfect man, well you are right about one thing there is no such thing as a perfect man, but one day you will find a man that is perfect for you. Together your imperfections will fit like a puzzle piece and you will realize God made us all imperfect and incomplete for a reason, because there are puzzle pieces to our life that we are meant to find, that each person will help you bring closer to making your life complete. And at the end of your time when your puzzle piece is complete you will realize that everything, everybody you have ever met, happens for a reason. Love is real, and when you think your heart can’t get any bigger after you find your love, ya’ll have a child together and then your heart feels like it will burst.

Our love was not love at first sight, but neither is our love with God. If I was blind, I would still know our love is real, like I know God’s love is real. Love is not what we see, or words we hear, but what we feel. True love is a love you feel through your bones, and lives in your heart.

Thank you for taking the time to read our story. I know it might seem like a jumbled mess of run on sentences, and sometimes you just want to gag at how sappy it is, but it is one from the heart, and my favorite story of all time. This is the story I tell my coworkers at Buckle almost once a month, and every time we hire someone new. And this is the story that brings a smile to my face and makes my heart flutter every time I tell it.  So now that I have it written down, I hope it lives on for eternity in this internet world. Maybe twenty years down the road I can write a novel about it. Hahaha not sure if it will be best seller, but it will be the bed time story of choice for our future grand kids.

P.S. Thank you Charlotte’s Closet for this beautiful dress!