The story of us.

“I don’t know how to make lots of money
I got debts that I’m trying to pay
I can’t buy you nice things, like big diamond rings
But that don’t mean much anyway
I can’t give you the house you’ve been dreaming
If I could I would build it alone
I’d be out there all day, just hammering away
Make us a place of our own”

-Plain White T’s

I guess I should thank “Tom,” for my marriage. You know who Tom is, remember his white shirt, cheesy looking smile, your first MySpace friend? And for those younger ones let’s just leave it at, Tom was the Mark Zuckerberg of my generation. The first time I “saw” my now husband was one faithful night when I was browsing My Space. For whatever reason his black and white profile picture and his name about “Emo Music Rocks” caught my eye. Don’t worry, I still make fun of him for that name every chance I get. 

He was located in Coachella Valley, about one hundred and something miles from where I was. We began an on-line friendship as I was finishing high school and he was a junior. Eventually after about a year he gave me the news that he had been accepted to the college I was by then already attending. The story at the time was that he had applied to various colleges & that one was the only one that had accepted him. Now I know that he actually was accepted elsewhere but chose our now alma mater to meet me. 

He made a courageous move & moved one hundred something miles away from home. A move I probably would not have made, if I must be honest. As luck would have it, we had our first class of the semester together. I still remember seeing him walk into the classroom. I quickly looked down as I was nervous. I instantly felt butterflies in my stomach as I saw him. We eventually did have our first face to face conversation later that day. 

I remember the day he officially asked me to be his girlfriend. He had told me previously that he was going to ask me out and although I had told him I was going to say yes, he kept on procrastinating. Eventually one day as he walked me to my class as I walked away from him I yelled “So I guess you’re not going to do it again, huh?” He looked at me, smiled, and yelled across the hallway, “Do you want to be my girlfriend?”

So much has happened since that fateful October 4th in 2006. After we both graduated from college we got engaged the summer of 2010. We married later that fall. Thereafter I continued with law school and he began his masters studies. It was a year after he finished his masters and two after I received my JD that we received the wonderful news that we were expecting. Six years after we said “I do.” 

We now have our house of our own, a beautiful 14 month old, and hopefully many many more years of joy and love.

The song I posted in the beginning was a favorite of ours when we were dating. Neither of us comes from a comfortable background. Throughout college and grad school, unlike many of our peers, we had to juggle work and school. We didn’t have the resources to have the latest trend or fancy cars, etc. But together these past few years we have managed to “climb up the ladder” so to speak. And it has been done together, as a team. Although at first it was for us, now everything we do is so our little boy can have everything he needs, live in a neighborhood where he can feel safe, and grow up in a loving home. I hope he also understands that we struggled to get to where we are. Obtaining our careers was not easy and although we want it to be easy for him, I also want him to be appreciative.

And hopefully when he hears our story he doesn’t want to chase blindly after a girl he meets on-line… just like his dad did. And hey, if he does oh how I hope his story turns out like ours.

Where did you meet your SO? Are there any other MySpace couples out there?

XOXO – L.