Four Years

2006 was a big year. I graduated from Baylor, moved to Atlanta, started teaching fourth grade. John also graduated from Baylor, moved to Dallas and started clerking at a law firm.

And all that happened within about  five weeks of when we first started getting to know  each other/dating/going steady or whatever you'd like to call it.

I first remember meeting John around fall 2005. He "randomly" started hanging out a lot with the group of girls I lived with and the guys we hung out with. (The girls My best friends and house shall henceforth be known as The Hacienda.)

The group (The A-Team as it was later named) spent a lot of time together senior year rather it be studying, partying, pulling pranks or going on random road trips to Shreveport.

(Car ride on said road trip to Shreveport.)

(Pat Green concert at Billy Bob's)

(Agreeing to wear my alien antennaes)

Somewhere along the way, John asked me to one of his fraternity's rush events. Later he asked me to one of their date parties. Somehow we always ended up talking, riding or going somewhere together. Friends started noticing this as well and when Courtney finally asked me about it, I confessed that I did have a small crush on John Hardage.

(Circa December 2005)

But, I told Court nothing would happen. I already committed to moving to Atlanta, he secured a job in Dallas.  Chances were we'd keep in touch but we were both transitioning into the "real world" where we'd meet new people, live in different cities and have completely different lives. Right?

Wrong. ;)

The week before commencement the A-Team met at my parents house in Fort Worth for a little fajita and margarita night to celebrate the end of school! We continued celebrating at my friend Rebecca's lakehouse and it was there that sparks began to fly. John found me before I headed to bed and we stayed up talked the rest of the night. I am sure I did not sleep. I, of course, told all of my girlfriends the next morning and by that evening, John called and asked me on a date.

A date. With my crush, John Hardage. And he told me he liked me. Three days before graduation. Woah.

He picked me up at the Hacienda on May 10th, 2006 and took me to 1424 for dinner. It wasn't one of those awkward first dates. I mean, we already knew each other so well that all preliminary dating conversation was eliminated. It was just FUN. And then he planned to take me bowling and even brought an extra pair of socks for me to wear. Before the night was over, we already had another date set up the following day to watch a movie.

The next several days went like this: graduation, going to baseball games, watching movies, spending time with friends, meeting each other's parents and talking about what this relationship would look like.

The day after my 22nd birthday John asked on the front porch of my parents house if I would be his girlfriend/ go steady/ date exclusively. I remember telling him it was inconvenient that we would be so far apart, but that there's no one else I'd want to try the whole long-distance relationship with. And no one else I had ever enjoyed spending time with so much that I knew it was worth giving it a shot.

And he even offered to drive with me to Atlanta the next week.

(Stopping by the Mississippi River)

And then we got married.

Three years later.

Lots of great times and good memories in between but it's always fun to reminisce how things all started four years ago.