A Love Story

Since many posts ago I promised to write about our love story, I decided what better day than Valentine's Day to share it.

I don't know a good place to jump in or condense the story of us, so I will start from the beginning. Actually.....I will start before then.

It all started one night in Spring 2009 while hanging out with my good friend Andrea. Her and I were talking about the usual things- life, our love for chocolate, school ( we were both students at ASU-MH at the time) and probably some other topics. Somewhere in that conversation she tells me that I need to settle down with a laid back country boy.  Thinking that was pretty humorous, I told her if she knew of one, she could just send him my way, and didn't think too much more about it.

Fast forward a month or two and she tells me that she has given my number to a guy (Teddy, real name Edward, sometimes called Tedwardo) she grew up with as he was best friends with her twin brother. And he's going to call me. Insert sweaty palms.
 ( Side note: isn't it cool that she's a twin!? Don't ask me why that is fascinating to me, it just is.)

It was a few weeks and I heard nothing. I asked her if she was sure she gave him the right number? Maybe he didn't want to call me after all?

 My grandpa had been teasing me ever since I moved to Arkansas that I was going to be swept off my feet by some pig farmer. HA!
NOT me?
I had recently moved from New York City, grew up in Chicago. Definite city girl.
Fall in love with a camo wearing, pick up driving, loved to hunt, pig farmer?! Not a chance!

So when I grilled Andrea about him she said the last time she'd seen him, he was hauling pigs to butcher!!
I nearly choked on my sweet tea!
I knew this was going to be something.

Fast forward to the end of June 2009 and I am driving a 15 passenger church van full of excited junior high girls, to church camp at Quachita Baptist College. Amidst other issues, one of the other church vehicles we were traveling with broke down and I ended up at a Chick Fil-A with around 40 youth group kids while the other leaders figured out the broke down vehicle situation. So here I stand waiting on chicken and my phone rings, from a number I don't know. I almost didn't answer it. But I did. Even though I could barely hear over the crowd.
And he said in the sweetest country accent I ever did hear,"Hello? Miss Rachel, this is Teddy."

And so it began.....

We had our first date shortly before July and then our second date was a partially chaperoned event to see fireworks with our super proud matchmaker.

It has been love ever since.

We went fishing together, had picnics, saw movies, held hands, shared ice cream. We met each other's families and stayed up late talking on the phone together.

He was so sweet it almost hurt my teeth! He loved Jesus and went to church, felt a call to be a minister, had a heart for kids and made the most delicious lasagna I had ever had! And don't get me started on his brownies!

3.5 months later, he popped the question.
At Walmart.
In front of the rings.

I had told him that I wasn't impressed with big fancy rings( unless of course he wanted to buy me one!) and that a simple, affordable (read cheap!) ring would be just fine. So many times while at Walmart (this IS Arkansas people, and we live in a small town) we would look at the rings and dream about our future together. He pulled out a black ring box from a local (way fancier than Walmart) jewelry shops and asked "how about this one"? He later told me that he was so scared I was going to scream and that all 1,207 people in Walmart would turn and look at us.
The excitement nearly consumed me!

We set a date for May 2010. On his birthday. So he could also remember our anniversary in the years to come. His idea :)

But then we did something sneaky. We went up to Chicago to visit my grandparents in early April. We were planning on having just a small ceremony with immediate family only. And since my grandparents live so far away and were getting too old for the long trip down to Arkansas, we decided to have my grandpa (who is a retired minister) marry us. It was so special to have them with us for that. We did it in their family room in front of the fire place where so many family events had taken place.

Side note: quickly after we were married, I came down with a massive stomach flu. Talk about great timing!

I spent our first night as a married woman hugging the toilet and my new hubby held back my hair and washed my face with a cold wash cloth. He was so sweet and kind!

The next weekend we were sent on a honeymoon to Eureka Springs,by my favorite family of 8, The Arp's and the lovely ladies I worked with at the time. It was so generous and we will never forget their kindness.

May 7, 2010 we had our wedding part 2 and then ANOTHER mini honeymoon to......Eureka Springs!
It was wonderul! We loved every minute of it.

The last two pics are from both wedding days. I didn't wear a traditional white dress either times. I loved both outfits! And I looooooooved my hair on this day. I felt so beautiful! Which is exactly how you want to feel the day you get married right?

I remember on our second honeymoon when we were checking into our little cabin, there was a photographer doing another wedding there in the lobby and she commented on our matching outfits and how cute it was. Isn't it funny how little tidbits like that stick out?

In just 2 months we will celebrate our 2 year anniversary. We plan on spending it in Eureka :)
I cannot believe how fast the time has gone by.
I cherish every moment I get to spend with him.
I love the man that God set aside for me. All the years of praying for the right mate and wondering how it was going to fall into place. And boy did it.
Thank you God.

For all you out there reading this that don't have a hubby or significant other yet- don't worry. It's not about that. God's got a plan for you too. I can't tell you when or with whom, but I do know that all good things happen to those who wait.

Happy Valentine's Day honey. I love you so much!