Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Apologies and Excuses

I can't even tell you how much I have missed blogging the last two posts.  It is amazing how much blogging becomes a part of your life once you really get into it, as I have.  I am so sorry for being a slacker, but I hope to plan ahead of time for the next few days so that I don't get too far behind.  I can't explain everything now, but in due time you will understand {I hope} why posting has been a bit sporadic.  Hopefully things will smooth out soon so I can spill the dirty details {and enjoy telling them}.

Until then, I will continue to post as if nothing is happening.  To prove it?  Let me tell you about the man behind the mask blog.

Craig and I met online, of all places.  Though now that is pretty commonplace, 8 years ago...not so much. I had just gotten out of a terrible relationship a few months prior and was ready to meet someone who was - well - the opposite of the type I usually dated. I built my profile and added a picture of myself in {what I thought was} a sexy, though definitely not slutty, green dress.

Exhibit A

I have yet to live that dress down.  Craig still says I looked like Peter Pan.  I didn't hear him complaining though. I do remember him messaging me first, so maybe he had a thing for Never Land.  I don't know. I am not judging.

In any case, we messaged back and forth for several months. I learned more about him during that time than I probably ever knew about any other guy I had ever dated.  That's the great thing about meeting someone on the internet.  You have to actually TALK to them and get to know them.  

This is a great time to point out that I do realize that there are plenty of crazies out there that proclaim to be someone {or something} that they are not. You know, like French models. Bonjour!  Please be careful and do not be too trusting or gullible.

So, we learned almost everything about each other - from family history to favorite foods and sports. *Cough and I got a background check done on him *cough. What?  You can never be too careful.  Besides, you definitely would have also if you had been in the same relationship that I was prior to Craig. 

Back to our story.  It never felt forced or awkward because we immediately clicked.  By the time the Christmas season came around, we were very comfortable communicators. Still, we were taking it slowly - until we each went to our company Christmas parties alone.  Talk about Christmas cheer buzz kill.  We were lonely.  Duh. We decided to take the plunge...and actually meet. Craig was living in Pensacola, FL and I was in Saraland, AL, so being the gentleman that he was is, he offered to drive to Mobile, AL to meet for coffee. Excuse me, but I was not about to show this guy where I lived before I actually knew for a fact that he wasn't a crazed lunatic.

Let me stop right there. How many of you know a guy that would drive an hour plus just to have coffee with someone he had never actually met?  Yeah, me either - until this guy.  Desperate or lovely?  I was definitely still trying to decide.

So coffee turned into dinner at my favorite restaurant.  Dinner turned into a walk through Bellingrath Gardens to see the Christmas lights.  THAT turned into driving to Fairhope, AL {an hour and a half from the gardens} to sit on my favorite pier {where, by the way, he had thought to bring an extra coat in case I got cold}.  Ten hours later, I got a sweet kiss goodnight as he dropped me at my car at the coffee shop in Mobile and drove all the way back to Pensacola while I made my way to my apartment.

Picture taken while in Valencia, Spain just a few months before our wedding in 2007. Craig just pointed out that we look like a couple with a lot less stress.  Yes, there's that.  Now, though? We may have more stress, but we also have more to be thankful for...and we definitely have more joy.

So began our love story.  Well, sort of.  We kind of hit a bump when I may have freaked out a little bit about defining our relationship and we broke up for a bit. My bad. We don't really talk about that. Thankfully, he gave me a second chance and now here we are, celebrating our sixth wedding anniversary with a spunky little three year old boy that is the best of him and me.  

Yeah yeah, I can hear you now. So what, Whitney?!  Why are you gushing about your better half on this here interwebs?!  Well, we just celebrated Craig's birthday and our anniversary this weekend so I am feeling a little nostalgic. So...sorry.

A few more responsibilities...a few more pounds.  A lot more love.
Photo taken by Ken Gehring

Have a great Tuesday! I WILL see you back here tomorrow!



4 comments:

  1. I'm really glad he turned out to be a normal, nice, genuine guy and not a sick-o loser head. Love you Craig!!!!

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    1. Hehe, yeah I should have put the whole "meet the best friend and get interrogated" section too.

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  2. This is so sweet! And did your seriously have a backround check done? You can do that?! Happy 6 years! :D

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    1. Oh for sure! You can see everything from tickets and arrest records to child support and more. It was very helpful - especially considering the guy before Craig had like 4 kids that I didn't know about and had been in jail. Crazy.

      Thank you!

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