How We Met

Brad had just finished up his student teaching and was living in a tent for the summer (I kid you not) at Tuttle Creek State Park when we met. He was applying for teaching jobs, and the lease on his apartment was up. Not sure where he would end up, needing a place to stay while working his summer job, and being the frugal and adventurous person he is, he decided to rough it that summer. When I met him, he was super tan and had a long beard. Needless to say, I didn’t have my “potential boyfriend” radar on at all, even though I was 27 and single.

I was about to begin my third year teaching at Medicine Lodge High School when I visited my college roommate in Hutchinson and accompanied her for her usual Sunday night Bible study. Brad’s parents were the leaders; though, I hadn’t met this scraggly-bearded boy yet. His parents invited me back for a Fourth of July cookout, and since I didn’t have any other plans, I joined. (Meanwhile, they had called up their son and told him to come home. They had a girl they wanted him to meet.)

The reason I say it was “sort of” love at first sight was because though we only dated two months before becoming engaged, I can’t say I had any interest in Brad at first. He was sweet, but his beard was a little too long, and he lived in a tent for crying out loud. We were just friends. But Brad’s beard got shorter, those talks got longer, and it wasn’t long before those friends quickly turned into two people who visited on the phone over 40 hours per week, not kidding.

It was two months after we met that Brad, who had never dated anyone before, formally asked me to date, expressing that he felt like this relationship could potentially end in marriage. I was stunned. I had met him two months ago, and he just threw out the “M” word! We agreed that we would date as long as both of us felt that marriage was a possibility until our relationship either ended in a parting of ways or a union.

Two months later we were looking for rings! During our friendship, dating, and engagement, Brad and I would both drive home to his parents’ house in Buhler, a halfway point for both of us, and we would spend the weekend with his family. It was perfect.

We were married May 16, 2015, seven months after Brad popped the question. We would have gotten married sooner, honestly, but I was in Medicine Lodge, and Brad was in Junction City. We scheduled our wedding for the first weekend after I finished up teaching. Brad took two days off school so we could have a small honeymoon in Wichita, and then I traveled with him to Junction City where we lived for the remainder of the week as he finished up his school year. From the tarantula incident to debuting my theme song, those three days in Junction City were… memorable. I’m wondering if Brad’s tent may have been a nicer option. That’s a whole other blog, though.

The point of this blog is that we met, and I’m so glad we did.