Our Story – Adventures
Part Four
Doug and I recently celebrated our 8 year wedding anniversary as well as our 10 years together anniversary (yes, we totally still celebrate boyfriend/girlfriend dates- because more anniversaries = more dessert!!)
So lucky we are and so many memories we’ve shared if feels like we’ve been in love and married for a lifetime, not just 8 years. Thinking back, it always amazes me how so many little things had to align in order for us to cross each other’s path at the perfect time. So I thought a great way to celebrate would be to relive our beginnings and tell you a little more on how we became “us”!
Everyone has a story. This is ours…
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Missed the first part? Catch up here:
A: “I’m not leaving” he told me on another date a few weeks later. I tried to play it like I wasn’t ecstatic but I’ve never been a good actress. I hugged and kissed him and from then on we were officially official 🙂
A few days later I got another surprise. He was able to to keep his job! Whatt?! yes!! The hospital was understaffed and he was a great employee so when the boss heard he might not be moving anymore, they happily kept him on staff. Since we had already working side by side the whole time, continuing that “work relationship” was easy. We were true professionals and became a great team. To avoid any issues, we didn’t tell anyone at work though, you can imagine the drama we could have encountered!
Every morning we were coworkers and every evening or weekend, we would have a blast going out to eat, watching a movie or taking little road trips. Those were my favorite because to avoid running into anyone we knew while out on a date, we started going to new spots away from Tampa. We had fun discovering places we wouldn’t have found otherwise and would make it our little adventures! We would get in the car and one of us would pick a direction to start driving to. We would talk and drive until we got literally got lost then find a place to eat or hang out. We ended up in some crazy places but always left with great memories.
Every day that we spent together, I would fall a little more for him. All my life I had been so very careful in who I gave my heart to and who I dated, I always felt guarded in my past relationships. From the very beginning I didn’t feel like I need to be guarded with Doug. Since things moved so quickly, I had many friends tell me to be careful (I couldn’t blame them for feeling that way) but I was never scared. I was… happy. Everything felt right this time.
So right in fact, that after only 6 months of knowing each other – we bought a house together….LOL.
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D: Yep. You can say it. We.Were.Crazy.
I cancelled my plans for Carolina, deciding to lose my home deposit rather than lose this special lady! And after only 6 short months of secret dates and fun-filled weekend trips, we decide to buy a house! I know… not the most conventional choice, but then again, we had both done things the “safe” and “correct” way in the past and had vowed to throw out all logic and follow our hearts this time. Don’t get me wrong, we knew in our heads it was a crazy move but somehow it felt very comfortable. Explaining this logic to our family and friends who, as expected, thought we were completely nuts, was a different story though! Luckily, after a few months of seeing how happy we both were, they all came around.
Things at work were going great and we continued to work really well together. So well, that many times our co-workers would mention that we would make a great couple and should go out some time. I would nonchalantly say, “Who…me and her? We’ve been dating for months already, even bought a house together!” Knowing me and my sarcasm, they would just laugh, roll their eyes and walk away. That never got old, haha.
The following months went by very quickly as we started working on the house. It was new, but badly in need of some personal touches. Little known fact: Ailyn was a construction worker in her past life – I’m positive. I mean lunch-pale, hard hat, tool belt, the whole deal. It’s the only thing that explains how much she loves remodeling a house! And so it was, that me and this tiny 5’1″ construction pro, began tackling one room at a time. We painted walls, cut and installed chair rails, attached crown molding, wired ceiling fans and as each job was finished we would plan for the next. Eventually, an entire year passed and there was only one room left in the entire house that remained completely untouched…
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A. He asked me one day when we were going to finish the room. Ugh.. this room was a pain in my butt! It was oddly shaped with part of the roof making one of the walls a weird slant and was too small. We had a hard time deciding what to turn it into but finally choose to make it a guest bedroom with a daybed for an easier fit. We headed to Home Depot (my favorite place- lol) to choose wall colors and materials and then picked a date to finally finish it.
That morning I was scheduled at work and he was off so I asked him if he could get started with taping the window sills and doorways so when I got home, we could get started. I really wanted to just skip to the decorating and be done with my least favorite part – painting- but I knew it had to be done. He agreed and I headed off to work. A few hours later when I returned, exhausted from my shift and not really in the mood for any kind of manual labor, I called out to him. He responded he was upstairs in the room.
Still in my scrubs, I ran upstairs, opened the door and saw him standing there… in the middle of our newly painted room – in a suit, surrounded by candles and flowers, hiding something behind his back.
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Bonus pic 😉 LOL
Last part of Our Story – Part 5 click here
