Today, i'm doing a little bit "different" of a link-up than my usual WILW.
In the spirit of Valentines Day, and boy am I a sucker for the month of LOVE :), I thought i'd post mine and Shane's very own love story. Some of you may already know about our relationship, but I'd love to share it anyways... I mean, I may be biased here, but I think it's a fairy tale.
So I'm linking up with this new blog to bring you OUR love story... here goes.
1. How long have you and your significant other been together?
We started dating in September of 2004. We've been together almost 7 1/2 years now.
2. How did you meet? {What's your "love" story?}
Shane and I met when I was a freshman and he was a senior at Andrew Jackson High School. We sat together with a group of friends during lunch every day and we seemed to get along great. After Shane graduated and began attending USCL, we continued to hang out and he finally built up the nerve to tell me how much he really liked me. I of course, was thrilled :) After a few months of talking and convincing our parents that we could handle the age gap between us (4 years is a big deal when you're in high school), we began dating and have pretty much been inseparable since. We both went to the same college, (University of South Carolina) and Shane got a job in Columbia after he graduated. (we still live in Columbia to this day)
3. If married, how long have you been married?
We just got married on August 27th, 2011. Hard to believe that we've been married half a year, time really has gone by SO fast.
4. If you are married, where did you get married at? Big or small wedding?
We had around a mid-sized wedding (about 130 guests.) in Florence, SC. Florence is my family's hometown and we got married in my Grandma and Grandpa's church. They were married for over 50 years and that church is "home" to our family so it was a pretty sentimental place to get married.
Our reception was held at Osbornes, Inc, a special occasion venue in Florence.
5. Do you have any nick-names that you call one another? Do share!
Anyone who ever has been around me and Shane for more than 10 minutes, knows i'm notorious for putting about 20 extra syllables in Shane's name. Shane becomes "SHAAAAAAANEEEEE" regardless if i'm trying to get his attention, yelling, crying, or just being needy about something. But no, we really don't have any nicknames for each other. It is pretty fun getting to refer to each other as "hubby & wifey" though.
6. Name 3 things you love most about your honey.
Shane is the most level headed, patient, and calmest person I know. I love those qualities about him because I am the complete opposite. He is the only person that can calm me down, and when he tells me "everything is ok" I truly believe it. I tend to over exaggerate or can be a drama queen at times, but he knows exactly how to deal with me and can bring me off my ledge when I get super stressed out.
7. Tell us how he proposed?
Shane was living in Florida for the first 8 months of 2010, so our time together was limited but so special. Because of both of our busy schedules, we had to plan our visits to each other pretty far in advance. Shane planned to come up the end of April for a long weekend, which was right when I had finished classes and was preparing for exams. My mom had also been in the hospital, so needless to say, I was distracted that week. That Monday was our last full day together before Shane had to drive back to Florida on Tuesday. Shane and I spent the morning in Lancaster visiting my Mom, then we headed back to Columbia for our last night together. When we got back to Columbia, Shane suggested that we go out to a nice long dinner. It was obvious both of us wanted to slow down the time before he had to return to Florida. After dinner, we got back to my apartment, and Shane turned to me and said let's go for a walk. I don't know why, but I said yes (I don't really go for walks) But, It was SO pretty outside. The sun was setting, the weather was perfect, and I figured we could spend some more alone time together. So we started on our walk outside, when Shane starting talking about what a great weekend he'd had with me. He told me that being with me made him realize that he never wanted to spend another day without me and he wanted to spend the rest of his life with me. After he said this, he stopped walking. He grabbed my hand and said "And I don't just want to be your boyfriend anymore." And then he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. After that it was all a blur. I'm pretty sure I screamed, cried, and said YES a million times somewhere between all of that.
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| Celebrating at my apartment right after Shane proposed |
8. Is he a flowers and teddy bear kind of guy for v-day, or strawberries, champagne, and rose petals?
He's a little bit of both. He has been known to surprise me with flowers, AND i've come home to wine and romantic dinners before. We've been together for so long, I feel like he knows me and knows the kind of mood I'm in. He's pretty good at figuring out what I want and surprising me with it (it only takes me emailing him links every once in a while) hah!
9. Are you a sunset dinner on the beach kind of girl, or pop a movie in and relax on the couch?
I love a romantic dinner but we have such crazy busy schedules that relaxing nights are also perfect... I guess i'd have to say i'm a little bit of both.
10. Tell us one thing you'd like to do with your significant one day. If you could do anything? Go anywhere?
I definitely want to travel more with Shane. Neither of us have traveled too terribly much and that's one thing we'd love to accomplish before we decide to have children. We want to travel while we still can enjoy the time to ourselves.
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| We went to Vegas with my family for my 21st birthday |
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| Clearwater, Florida |
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| On our honeymoon in Montego Bay, Jamaica |
11. Tell us what you plan on doing on this Valentine's Day.
We've been discussing where we want to go to dinner, but we've definitely made plans to go see The Vow... i'm a sucker for romantic movies and Shane has agreed to take me!
12. Are you asking for anything this Valentine's day?
I've given Shane a few hints to things i'd like, but this is one holiday where I usually let him just go with it without too many suggestions. I do love some chocolate though, so I hope that's somewhere in the mix.
13. Give us one piece of advice of keeping a relationship strong and full of love.
Find what works for YOU. Every relationship is different. Shane and I have grown up together and neither of us have been in that many other relationships outside of our own, but we're OK with that. We want to spend the rest of our lives just loving each other. I have never met another relationship like ours and we've faced a lot of jealousy/resentment from friends in the past because they want what we have or don't understand it. We just love each other unconditionally and everything else falls in to place. I truly believe that when you're with the one you're meant to be with, it just works. Just don't try and compare what you have to what someone else has, and you'll appreciate your relationship a lot more.
14. Show us a picture of what love means to you.
This picture was taken the very beginning of 2010. It marks what seemed like the longest few months of my life. It was the day Shane moved to Florida for a job promotion. We were still just dating at the time, and I was still in school. I would be lying if I didn't say it was hard, but gah if it didn't prove that our love could withstand anything. Being away from each other that much made us realize that we never wanted to be away from each other again (hence, why Shane proposed months after he moved to Florida.) Shane was finally able to get transferred back to Columbia in September of that year. Although it was hard, it strengthened our relationship more than I could ever explain.
