Monday, October 31, 2005

Jonathan: Anticipation (we're still on our detour about the engagement)

That one word pretty much describes how I felt as the day drew closer for Missi to arrive. I’ll tell this part of the story later, but I had already talked to her dad and gotten permission to propose, so I felt settled about that aspect. The other big thing was finding and purchasing the perfect ring. I spent about three weeks researching and looking for it (I think I know enough now to start a diamond-importing business…), and purchased a ring just in time to pick it up on Thursday morning as I drove to the airport.

Oh, the other thing that I had to figure out was the time and place of the proposal. At first I contemplated a nice restaurant or a romantic spot in the woods, but then remembered that restaurants can be very crowded, and that it often rains in Washington. I give all the credit to this blog, though, for my next thought was how we had this coffee theme in our relationship. I thought, “hmmm, wonder if I could arrange a private moment in a coffee shop…” Being in Washington state I have many coffee shops to pick from, and I remembered one that had a private conference room with a nice view called Mud Bay Coffee.

So I called the shop and reserved a half-hour slot at 2:30 on Friday. Then I recruited a close friend, Rachelle Reitz, to act as my accomplice to set up the room before I arrived.

I picked Missi up at the airport on Thursday, carefully hiding the ring box inside the jack compartment in my trunk. I never breathed a word about marriages on Thursday or Friday morning. Friday we visited my workplace and then toured my stomping grounds in Olympia. Truth be told, I ran out of stuff to visit about 1:30, and drove around until I thought of a cool store to visit – World Market. We popped in there for a bit, and then I tried to call Rachelle to let her know we were on our way. Stupid me, I had forgotten to get her cell phone, so I just had to trust all was ready.

I casually said, “Hey, Missi, I feel like some tea or coffee. Wanna check out this cool coffee shop with me?” Being ever ready to try new things, she cheerfully agreed, and we headed to Mud Bay. As we walked in the doors I noticed Rachelle in a corner peaking out behind a newspaper, which told me that all was ready. We ordered tea, then I escorted Missi into the empty conference room…

Missi: Sorry I must stop our story for a quick moment

Before I go any further...and before I burst inside from keeping it untold...I must say...

I'M ENGAGED!!!!!!!!!!
I'm not joking!! Here is the ring to prove it!
AHH!!!! LOL!!
So...I was going to type the romantic story but...I think I'll let Jonathan tell his first...and then I'll tell you about the actual proposal.
hee, hee
(Is that ok babe?)
Here are more cute pictures, of the day after our engagement, compliments of Mike Reitz and Nathan Mehrens.
(Trust me, they worked really hard on getting these amazing shots of us. For the pic's of the ring Nathan was standing on a couch and Mike was using a Torch Lamp to aid the photographer! LOL)
Ahem.

Tuesday, October 25, 2005

Missi: Trying not to think about it.

I knew Jonathan was coming out to Virginia, and because of this, I knew I needed to back off on emailing so I wouldn't be all stupid and silly when he came.

I'll never forget that morning. All morning long I was anticipating his return. I woke up early, got to work on time. Casually chatted with co-workers mentioning..."Yeah, did you know Jonathan's in town for the wedding? Yeah...."

I assumed that when he got in I'd be one of the last on his list to visit. After all, we were only now becoming friends. So I tried not to think about who he may pick to visit first. When he walked in the door of my office, I was standing and had my back slightly turned. At first I was just like,
"Oh, Jonathan's here," and then I was like
"HI!!!!"
I walked right up to him and gave him a hug, he seemed extremely happy. I mean...abnormally happy for a Jonathan.
He sat and chatted...and chatted...and stayed...and chatted. I thought this highly uncharacteristic, but I rationalized it, thinking,
"He is very tired, he doesn't want to walk around and mingle when he can just sit in one place and rest."
After all, he had taken the red eye.

I didn't know at this point that I was his first visit. But after the first ten minutes of him chatting in my office, I could tell something was up.
In my spirit I began to get super nervous. I tried very hard not to show this though, and just kept smiling and seeming pleasant.
Leaning back in his chair, he put his arms above his head with his hands behind his neck...and he launched into "it."

"So," He said with a cheesy grin.
"I have a question to ask you."
I think I stopped typing on my computer at this point, cocked my head to the side and said, very sweetly,
"Sure."
He began again, saying, "I traveled all this way, 3000 miles, just to ask you this very, very important question...."
~pause for effect~
"Would you mind having coffee with me tomorrow morning?"
Without missing a beat, so as to not let him think I was curious or thought his question odd, I said,
"Yeah, sure. What time?"
When he responded with "7:00 a.m." I thought I was going to fly over my desk and strangle him. But instead I kept my senses and said that wasn't a problem. (the nut!)

So then he leaves. He leaves my office with a smile and a very light step. And I'm left to ponder his words so few.
I think my heart was beating a mile a minute as I tried to figure out,
"WHAT THE HECK DOES HE WANT TO TALK TO ME ABOUT!!!!"
It couldn't be that he wants me to be his girlfriend, cause...how would that work!?!?!? He can't be wanting to just "catch up" cause we can do that with a million friends around us and at a decent hour on a Saturday.

Grrrrrr

I tried desperately not to think about it for the rest of the afternoon. I continued not to think about it when I got ready for Jenna's wedding. I didn't talk about it when we girls drove to the wedding. And I totally ignored the subject while waiting outside for the wedding to start.
I avoided JB all that evening. Trying not to stand near him or talk to just him. I kept my distance, afraid I would give something away, or he would...and that would be so much worse.

That night we all had a HUGE party at Amanda's place. I decided I could hang out and talk to JB there, so I sat next to him while we played games, and talked to him casually while people walked around having a good time. But when he left suddenly, and seemed upset and disoriented...I couldn't help but wonder..."what is he so stressed about?"

That night I went to sleep, throwing up a quick prayer for the next day, I said,
"Lord, whatever it is Jonathan wants to talk to me about. Please give me the right words to respond...for only you truly know my heart."

Sunday, October 23, 2005

Jonathan: The point of no return

No, actually I didn't have a plan. I was stumbling along, trying to figure out what I felt and whether Missi was just being friendly or actually was interested.

You'd think the daily emails and occasional phone calls would have given me a clue, but she was very good about having a rational excuse for the communication. She's a very friendly person, and so maybe she was just wanting to keep in touch...? The phone calls only came when "I was the only person she could reach," or because it was late, she was driving, and needed someone to keep her awake. Naturally, since I'm 3 hours earlier, she thought I wouldn't mind.

I did come to the point, however, where I decided I thought she was pretty cool, and that I wouldn't mind if this relationship went somewhere. I needed to get through the Bar first, however, as there was no way I could pass if I started a big new relationship...:)

I had already planned to fly back to VA for Jenna's wedding the weekend after the Bar, and decided that would be a perfect time to talk to Missi face-to-face about what was happening. I planned out what I would say weeks in advance, and found a couple of Xbox games as a "hello" gift (I know, doesn't sound romantic, but I had to pick something that wasn't too romantic while also being personal).

We didn't email much during the week of the Bar, as Missi was trying not to distract me... When I returned from taking the exam I jumped back into the email cycle, expecting her to be excited about me coming out. Hey, after all, I was trying to work up my courage to take a plunge off the cliff and bare my soul, so I was hoping for some increased excitement on her part too. So much for that. She suddenly turned into this monosyllabic pen-pal, barely answering my questions with short, uncharacteristicly bland e-mails. My heart sank, but I was determined to give this a shot, so I packed my bags for Virginia.

I arrived on Friday morning (red-eye flight), and headed to her office to chat. As soon as I walked in her door and saw her lovely face, I knew that I was doing the right thing. We chatted for awhile until I took the plunge, holding my breath the whole way.

"Missi, do you want to go grab a cup of coffee with me tomorrow morning?"

Friday, October 21, 2005

Missi: Pretty much the end of the world...

It's like 3000 miles. Come on....

So, Jonathan leaves, I go into depression and one day decide..."this just isn't right. He's right there in front of me. He's sitting there, on AIM, waiting for me to say "Hi," why don't I? We are friends, I can do that." *pout*

*clock ticking*

"Okay, I'm gonna say "hi"

And that's what I did. About three or four times. It took me that long to realize we were never gonna carry on a conversation on AIM, since we both were at work and couldn't be "chatting." So I figured the only solution to this was to get his email address. I wasn't really sure how to get it in a "sneaky" fashion. So I just asked him for it.
After I did, I was in such a crazy mood and figured he would totally not expect a funny email from me....I couldn't wait 24 hours to write him a "Melissa" email.

Full of random silliness, and needless nothings, I figured the email looked and acted like nothing more then "friendship" and thus I was safe.

But then there was this other guy...He was nice, kind, funny, and in Virginia. And I was sad, lonely and...in Virginia. We started hanging out and it didn't take me to long to realize that he was starting to "like" me. I liked the guy, he was really cool...but, I didn't want to start something with him...not yet at least. For some random reason I decided to seek Jonathan for advice.

To my great shock, Jonathan had pretty much nothing encouraging to say about the newly budding relationship. His only encouragment was to start putting up "red lights" to tell the guy I wasn't interested. Around this time our not-yet-daily emails became daily emails (this was in like...June) I realized this was a topic of discussion that Jonathan was interested in and all of a sudden I found myself becoming more and more open with JB and realizing more and more just how much I really did like this guy.

Guilt filled my soul, as I knew my long, pretty much daily emails were interupting his work days and study time. I didn't want to be a distraction while he was studying for the Bar, but the more we talked the more I didn't want him to just disappear in the huge expanse of miles that seperated us.

The week he took the Bar I decided I needed to back off. We had been chatting on emails for 3 months now and honestly...where was this going?

Wednesday, October 19, 2005

Jonathan: At the end of the world

Not really, Washington's a pretty cool place. It was quite an adventure getting there, driving for four days in a gas-guzzling moving truck, sleeping on my couch in the back at little truck stops. I finally arrived in Olympia, though, and started figuring out my new life.

That was in the beginning of April, and for the next month I unpacked, dove into my new job at the Evergreen Freedom Foundation, and started looking for a church. It was a bit lonely that first month, I will admit, especially after the whirlwind of parties I had left in Virginia. But then I started studying for the Bar - such fun!

Missi and everyone else back in VA were still in the back of my mind, but had started to drop off my radar screen, since I didn't anticipate seeing them again for a long time. But one day...

Bling! Up popped my IM screen on my work computer. Missi! My heart quickened a bit when I realized she didn't have a work question, she just wanted to say hi. Problem was, I didn't really have time to chat at work. She caught me a few more times after that, but it was always difficult to carry on much of a conversation, with both of us so busy. About the third time she casually asked for my e-mail address...ooh, a fascinating development. I gave it to her, with the thought I would wait a day or two to write, just so I wouldn't appear too eager.

So much for that. The very next morning I opened my email to discover a loooong, very random and lighthearted email from Missi.:) "Cool," I thought, "she takes the first step, and it's very natural for me to reply with a long return email, since that's the friendly thing to do..."

Well, that started the emails. Every day. Long ones. Checking my email in the morning began to be the highlight of my day. After this went on for about a month the thought "could this really turn into something serious?" began to grow too loud in my head for me to keep ignoring it.

I began formulating a plan to find out the answer...

Monday, October 17, 2005

Missi: The last few weeks

And behold, Jonathan becomes social. *queue dramatic music*

To be honest I'm kind of upset, I mean...just cause he didn't have school to deal with and just cause he was about to move to the other side of the world...WHY did he wait until the last few weeks to start hanging out with us?!?!?!!?! Didn't he know he was gonna make me miss him so MUCH!??! WhY?!! Oh WhY?!?!

Ahem.

Ok. Sorry. I'm better.

Old Rag.
I was so excited about that hike!! We were gonna have a blast!! I knew it!
We got to Sheetz and I got packed in a car with like 5-6 other girls.

Oh, wait...Jonathan and Greg...are they in a car with only them? Just Jonathan and Greg in that other car? That can't be right.

I think Kara (or someone) shouted "Who wants to ride with Jonathan and Greg?!" Before anyone else had a chance I replied "ME!'
I jumped out of the car and joined the "boys" in Jonathan's spiffy car.

We started driving along, the conversation was dull, the music was relaxing and...

"Zzzzzzzz" Yeah, before you knew it I was fast asleep. All I have to say, is I'm glad Jonathan thought I looked cute, cause I was pretty embarrassed when I woke up.

The hike was fun too! I got kind of jealous everytime I saw JB hang back to walk with girls I didn't know. But then I found myself getting frustrated at myself for getting jealous. So I decided to ignore my feelings and I ran ahead to try to keep up with the fast boys.
We had a blast. Look, here is a pic of JB and me at the top of a high rock. That's JB and me...I circled us :-)

He and I hung up on that rock for awhile. I think we even stayed up there while someone took a group picture. I thought that was pretty cool. But I figured JB wasn't thinking anything, so it was ok if I acted like a girl.

Look how short I look in that pic! LOL!


So after old Rag, I found inviting Jonathan to do stuff was easier and easier. He didn't have school so he was free to do stuff, go bowling, see movies with friends...go out to eat. It was lots of fun. He was becoming more and more a "good friend."

One day I went out and bought a desk for my computer. It was super heavy and I was pretty close to tears trying to figure out how I was gonna carry it up to my apartment. I tried to think of who to ask and started scrolling through my phone.

"Oh...Jonathan, he lives nearby...I wonder..."

I called him and he seemed all happy and ready to help. Man, he blessed my heart at that moment.

When the week of his party arrived I was an emotional wreck. I didn't know what was wrong with me. Everytime I went to visit Nic or anyone in Legal, I'd pass his office and want to cry. I purposly waited until the last day to see him in his office, and when I left with my hands full of M&M's I hurt all the way, deep into my gut.
Why did he have to leave? And why was I so emotional? Needless to say I hadn't realized, or at least admitted to myself, that I liked him.

The night of his party is pretty much a blur. Jenna was nice enough to bring her camera so we could get a pic of most of us... Here we are:


That night I cried when I fell asleep. I was so sad. I figured I was just emotional cause Nic was getting married and had recently moved to her new house...but gosh...I hadn't been that sad for awhile.

The day of his departure I let him borrow my car to run an errand. That night all us friends stayed over and we watched a movie. I fell asleep, and when I woke up it was time to say "goodbye." I pulled on my coat and...

~scene in Missi's head~
Missi "This is the last time you're ever gonna see this guy"
Melissa "I know, why am I so sad?"
Missi "don't be a dork, just give him a hug and say goodbye"
Melissa "I'm gonna cry"
Missi" DON'T CRY!"
~end of scene

I didn't cry. I gave him a quick hug and didn't look back. I got in my car and there on the seat was a bag of M&M's and note to say "thank you" to me for all I had done to make his last days in Virginia so special.
*sigh* Jonathan was leaving...he would drive away to Washington and that would be the end of whatever had just started.

"Goodbye Friend, goodbye Jonathan..."

Sunday, October 16, 2005

Jonathan: Departure

After announcing my imminent departure from HSLDA I started looking for parties and social gatherings to attend, so that I could say goodbye to everyone. To my surprise, Missi seemed to be at the middle of most of them. I think I saw more of her in those last three weeks than I ever had.

Several instances particularly stand out in my mind. The first was a hiking trip to Old Rag Mountain with a big group of friends. All of us gathered in the Sheetz (Leesburg) parking lot early on a Saturday morning to drive out there. It took awhile to sort out who would drive with who, and at the last minute Missi decided to ride with Greg and me in my car. She sat in the back, and about halfway to the mountain I looked back and saw that she had fallen asleep. She was curled up on the seat, wearing a bright pink cap - and I almost swerved off the road as I suddenly realized how incredibly cute she was...

The second was when she called me on a weekend afternoon to ask for help in carrying a new desk up to her apartment. That doesn't sound like much, but you must realize that this girl had never asked me for help before. She was like, "I hate to be a bother, but there's no other guys around to help me carry this." Oh my word. Like it was really a bother. I would have paid money to help her carry stuff around.

Also, she put together TWO going-away parties for me. One at HSLDA and one at Greg's house. I had always hoped for a big bash when I went away, but had never expected her to be the one to put it on (with Vanessa's help). It seemed uncharacteristic for her, since we really weren't close friends.

Finally, the last couple days before I left I hung out with Missi and a few other friends, doing random stuff like bowling, watching movies, and packing. It was really weird, but the thought that kept echoing in my head was, "where did this wonderful Missi girl come from, and why didn't I go after her earlier?" We parted with a quick hug, and as I drove away in my moving truck I thought back on the last few days, and wondered if Missi really was sad to see me go, or if she was just being friendly.

I quickly dropped that thought, figuring that my Virginia friends were in the past, and that I needed to look forward to Washington. Most of them would probably forget me after a few months anyway. And Missi? A nice beautiful girl, but nothing could ever happen, so I'd better forget about her...

Friday, October 14, 2005

Missi

What were my first impressions of Jonathan? *blank expression*

LOL!! hahahaaha! Just kidding!

No, my first impressions of Jonathan were all respectable-ness and sober...kindness. The first week I moved out to Virginia Nic (my sister Vanessa) took me with her (and kara) to his house to have him "help" us with our taxes. I'll never forget how horrified I was at the thought of some strange guy helping me do my taxes. Like I needed any help. Humpf.
LOL.

As the weeks/months progressed Nic informed me that Jonathan was the "big brother" to lots of girls at HSLDA and pretty much a good friend to have when you are in desperate need of M&M's. I never could quite find the nerve to go to his office just to sneak some M&M's and even when I did go...I usually made Nic accompany me.
*sigh*
Jonathan...he was a good guy, and we were just "friends"

(coughing noises in the background)

Then one day he told me some terrible news. It went something like this:

"Hello Missi."
"Hi, Jonathan"
"yeah, so I got a job in Washington and I'm moving in two weeks"
"----------"
"Have a nice day"

Yeah, pretty much I was totally shocked!! I mean, I knew he said he wanted to get a new job and I knew he wanted to do new things. But Washington!!! As in the State! What was he thinking?!?!!?

There was only one thing left for me to do. I'd have to throw him a huge party.

Jonathan: Beginnings

Since this blog is supposed to be about Missi and me, I guess it should start with some clues about how we ended up together.

Honestly, as much as it shames me, I cannot remember the first time I met Missi. Vanessa would talk about her some, usually about how she was perfect and got all the boys, so I was intrigued when I heard she was coming out to HSLDA.

She struck me as professional, quiet, beautiful (of course), and a little hard to read. As time progressed I found myself looking for excuses to visit her office, and wishing she would pop into mine for M&M's. We hung out in different circles, though, so I didn't see her much outside of work.

Shortly after she arrived I found out she had a new boyfriend, which pretty much closed down any thoughts I had of becoming better friends with her. But joy of all joys, when I finally got up the courage months later to ask Nic if Missi and Ben were still together, I found out she had dumped the guy! I had a chance again!

Being the cautious chicken that I am, however, I didn't act on that chance, and by the time I had started to think about her again, she had another boyfriend. Bummer! So I just kept up my "business" trips to her office, and tried to hang out whenever I got the chance. I still couldn't quite figure out what she really thought of me, though, so I didn't really think our friendship would ever go anywhere.

In mid-spring I found out about a job opportunity in Washington State, and announced to my co-workers that I would be leaving in 3 weeks. Suddenly Missi re-appeared in my life in a big way...

Sunday, October 09, 2005

Yes, our blog will be a bit sappy

But you'll just have to live with it...that's what makes us such a cute couple. ~Jonathan

Hahahaahaa!!


Jonathan and I have decided to create our own blog!! So all you curious about what's happening with my sweetie and me...just check out this site:-) Hee hee