Although my life was full of adventure before meeting my future husband, the adventures just got A LOT better once he joined the picture.
As a result of too many Meg Ryan movies, I always envisioned meeting my husband at a party or in a small cafe. I would be wearing a cute vintage dress and red lipstick, he would be in a suit with a conservative yet playful tie. We would make eye contact and then turn away as we blush. He would smile and wait for me to look again. He would know, somehow deep down inside, that I was "the one". I would be flattered but shy. Over the course of an evening he would woo me and eventually get me to agree on a date. He would then court me until I fell hopelessly in love with him and the only option left was to marry him because it hurt to think of my life without him in it. Well the reality is much more boring so if you stop reading here I understand.
We met in January 2011. I was not wearing a dress, no most definitely not a dress. I was wearing my hold high school hoodie that my family begged me to throw away. Yeah the gross red one with the ripping pocket. I know it looked horrid but it was soo comfortable! oh and a pair of oh so flattering sweats... as if any pair of sweats is ever flattering. I was sitting on the couch of my good friend who I had recently stopped dating. I know I know this is really ideal. Then walks in Kenneth. He was cute and kind, and after completing a semester in Madrid, had just moved into this house. At first I thought he was shy but then I realized I am just overly obnoxious with questions and he was probably in shock. At the request of a roommate he pulled out a ukulele. Ok so he is cute, willing to deal with my at times crazy personality and musical?! (Later on I learned he is a remarkable violinist) I was sad when he left that night to go hang out with a "friend". A "girl-friend" would have been more accurate. That night as I laid in bed I kept thinking about him and how I wanted to get to know him better. The only problem was that I had just stopped seeing his roommate and men have some kind of code about that. Oh yeah, he also has a girl friend. Not to mention the fact that my red hoodie probably didn't get me the love at first sight thing that I always dreamed of.
Over the next few weeks I invited him and any of his roommates to as many events as I could find. I even asked him for spanish help as I had just started teaching Zumba to a group of women that spoke very little English. He took pity on me and began tutoring me in Spanish, although I really just wanted to talk to him in English. And then it happened- the moment when I knew I loved him and really hoped he liked me too. A mutual friend had a few extra tickets to the Grace Potter and the Nocturnals concert. Although not familiar with the artist I would always take a musical experience over homework. I casually suggested he invite Kenneth as well. He agreed but said that Kenneth had a test the next day and would probably be unable to come because the concert was in Salt Lake, 45 minutes away. To my great excitement, Kenneth had his priorities straight and decided a concert was much more important. As we go the venue we realized that most of the people at these kind of shows know every word of every song, so not wanting to stand out we decided to sing along at the top of our lungs. Although most of the words were wrong I loved his willingness to look like a fool. I know, some women look for a man with ambition and kindness. I don't know, maybe because I feel like a fool so often I need someone who is comfortable being a crazy fool beside me. As the beer flowed freely, the crowd got crazy and Ken oh so kindly pulled me close to protect me from the wild dancing wailing. As he pulled me close I fit perfectly in his arms. That is saying something because of my small 4'11'' stature. He was big enough to protect me yet not too big to dwarf me. I knew that I wanted to marry him. Crazy I know but I think we have already established that I am a. It just took him the next year to figure out that he too was willing to be crazy and marry me. A year of driving through snow storms to Colorado, spending months apart as I backpacked around the world, dates in the library, a lot of concerts and salsa dancing and many late night walks I convinced him that crazy is sometimes a good thing. On December 31, 2011 under the fireworks on Capital Hill in Salt Lake City Ken took me to a place where we had previously gone to look at the stars, and there he asked me to be his wife forever. A new year and a new chapter of my life.
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