Now that you know a little bit of where we were before we met each other, here's the fun part - how we actually got together! We went to college together at Virginia Tech, which is where our story began. I don't know the exact date we first met, but I do remember going over to Nathan's apartment in January 2010 (7 months before we started dating). I also remember that I went over to his place with my then-boyfriend, so needless to say we had no idea what the fairly near future held.
After that day, I saw Nathan around a couple times but never really talked to him. We went to the same campus ministry (Baptist Collegiate Ministries), so we did see each other from time to time. My boyfriend and I broke up that March, and in April the BCM took a trip to Radford University to lead their campus ministry's worship night. To this day I can't tell you why I did this, but I wanted to ride with Nathan that day. So I did the normal thing and signed up as a volunteer to make the ride lists...of course being sure that he and I were in the same car.
We talked the whole way to Radford, and when he had to leave early I agreed to head out with him. I don't remember much of what we talked about besides cooking shows, but I do remember having fun. After that night, I made sure we 'ran into' each other quite a few times over the next month. I happened to get an invite to his Bible study dinner, and then I invited him to hang out with me and my roommate the next day. He taught me how to longboard and how to drift, and I tried it over and over again until my ankle was so scraped up that I still have scars from it.
May rolled around, the year was over at school, and we went our separate ways. At this point, I was sure he was crazy about me, and I liked him, too. In all reality, he thought of me as a friend only and didn't plan on talking to me again until maybe the next year. I got home and just 'happened' to install AIM (yep, this kind of dates me) and would log on to talk to him several times a week. The only hitch at that point was that I had plans to spend the whole summer in South Africa. The night before I left, Nathan called and prayed with me.
I had no idea what would happen at that point - we wouldn't even be on the same continent! But I was so excited to go and volunteer at Door of Hope, and figured that if it was meant to be it would work out. As soon as I got to Johannesburg, I sent him an email, hoping that it would continue from there. And thank God, that's exactly what happened. Our emails grew longer and longer, and eventually transformed into weekly phone calls. That's when we got to know each other in the best possible way - as friends. We would talk as long as we could, and asked each other so many questions that we continued to grow closer and closer, even though we were thousands of miles apart.
As the summer drew to a close, Nathan finally - and fearfully - admitted that he liked me. And that's where I'll leave you hanging until next time - the beginning of our dating journey!
Each week I'm including some pictures of the first few years we were together. They aren't professional or perfect, but I cherish them so much, just looking back at the people we used to be.
Previous Posts:
10 Things You Didn't Know about Nathan
10 Things You Didn't Know about Me
Before We Met
