The Story of Us

The picture shown above was taken July 4, 2009 with my niece, Annabelle.
 I originally thought I did not want to use our names in the blog but what the heck.  Why not. I am going to abbreviate my name because it has a different spelling (thanks mom!), and I would prefer to keep my personal life personal from the hundreds I work with across the country in my occupation.

So, hello, my name is Meg.  My husband’s name is Todd. I thought it may be nice to introduce ourselves and let you know how we met and how our relationship has evolved to what it is today.

Todd and I met online at http://www.plentyoffish.com/.  When I read his profile, I felt we had a lot in common and I could relate to him.  I messaged him in December of 2005 and we’ve been talking ever since.  Actually, that’s not true.  He never responded back to my original message, so I messaged him again.  Today, he says that he thought I was “a little crazy,” but he messaged me back! We met face-to-face approximately a month later in January.

Within 6 months of meeting, Todd took me to Niagara Falls as a surprise for an evening and proposed after dinner in a beautiful suite at the Red Coach Inn.

This is the living room of the suite.   Afterwards, we decided to take a walk by the Falls (we had a view of the Falls from our suite, but we wanted to go enjoy the July evening.)  We were walking around and enjoying the sights when fireworks went off! It was incredible. Apparently, during the summer, Niagara Falls has free fireworks for everyone to see on Friday and Saturday evenings. We had so much fun and a lot of great memories there.

We decided that we wanted a small wedding.  I am not really a girly-girl.  I cannot honestly say that I had dreamed of my wedding as a little girl. Todd and I are both very family oriented so we decided that we wanted a wedding with immediate family only.  We also enjoy “Amish Country.”  Where we live, there are quite a few areas that have a predominant Amish population, one of them being Berlin, OH or Holmes County.  My mother found this bed & breakfast called Hannah’s House.  When we went to go view the property, we knew instantly that this is where we wanted to get married: outside on the back patio in front of the rock waterfall.

We got married on Thursday, May 3^rd, 2007.  Why Thursday?  Because I always liked May 2^nd or 3^rd, and our flight for our honeymoon left Friday afternoon!  Todd and I were both late to our own wedding…but we figured they couldn’t start without us.

We had 9 guests at our wedding.  My brother, who is a Marine, made it from California and surprised me by wearing his dress blues.  That in and of itself brought tears to my eyes.  My only surviving grandparent, my grandmother (from my father’s side) was there, my father and his wife, my mother and her husband, my brother and his wife, and Todd’s parents.

We decided to make our own dinner as well.  Even though my parents are divorced, it was nice having everyone all together at the dinner table laughing and having a great time with one another.  Everyone had their own separate room for the evening – and we woke up and had breakfast together as a family the next morning.  It was absolutely perfect for us.

The honeymoon was a cruise to Alaska.  Todd was in the Navy many years ago, and has been to quite a few places around the world.  I wanted a once in a lifetime honeymoon (within the budget!)  Well, the Alaskan Cruise was just that! We had am amazing time and we cant wait to go back again one day. OK, so maybe it’s a twice in a lifetime place to see!

I will not sit here and say that our marriage has been all roses the past 3 ½ years.  We have been through a lot as a couple.  With the help of a mediator (our counselor) and a lot of hard work and perseverance, we are getting to where we want to be in this relationship.  I am being forced to learn the meaning of “compromise.”

Advice and tips are always appreciated.