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| {our first picture - taken at St. Mary's - March 2008} |
Michael and I first met in the fall of 2007, when we were both students at the University of Michigan. I was the music director of the Newman Choir (a student ensemble) which sang at the weekly 7:00 p.m. Mass at our church, St. Mary Student Parish. Michael joined the choir (his first choral experience!), and that's how we met. Michael tells me he thought I was cute, but that I seemed too old for him to have a chance. I remember taking note of his height (I'm pretty tall, too), but other than that I was focused on learning all the new choir members' names at the beginning of the year.
As the year went on we started talking (and sometimes flirting) at various gatherings or with a group of students after Sunday Mass at Cottage Inn Pizza (yum!). We would often see each other at daily Mass too, which was another chance for us to talk. I really admired Michael for his strong faith and the way he was living it. Michael tells me he liked seeing me at daily Mass because he got to see another side of me - not in "choir director mode." I suppose "choir director mode" could be a bit...umm...intense/high energy/leeeetle-crazy at times. :)
One day after daily Mass, Michael stopped me at the water fountain and asked if I had dinner plans. I did not. So we headed towards Noodles & Co. on State Street for dinner.
At this point I had butterflies in my stomach. You should probably know that no guy had ever asked me out before, and I was wondering if Michael had, in fact, just asked me out to dinner...! On the walk over there, we bumped into someone else we knew, and Michael asked her to join us. "Oh," I thought to myself. "Maybe this is not what I thought it was...?" She declined, and so it was just the two of us at dinner (which I was happy about). [Michael says now that he was happy, too - he had asked without thinking very much because he was nervous!]
What I remember most from that dinner is how immediately comfortable I felt talking to Michael and being with him. He was not like most people I had met, and definitely unlike any other guy I had met. I knew it could be serious pretty quickly. And frankly, I was scared.
Now thank goodness God blessed Michael with the gifts of patience and persistence, because I did not exactly jump into a relationship. In fact, I came up with every excuse I could for why we should not, could not be together as a couple. My favorite one to mention was that he was "too young for me - far too young for me" (he's a little over a year younger than me - so not that serious!). When my family or friends would ask about him, I'd say "He's just a nice guy. He's just being friendly. He doesn't actually like me." Even though he would ask me out to lunch/dinner multiple times a week, walk fifteen minutes from his dorm to bring cookies to me at my apartment, invite me to join him at Church gatherings. Oh no, he didn't like me. He was just friendly. :)
On February 13, 2008, my roommate, Gabriele and I were up pretty late doing homework in the living room of our apartment. Midnight was quickly approaching when we heard something at our apartment door. It was a scratching-sort-of-rustling sound, and it was right by the doorknob. We looked at each other. "Did you hear that?!" I said. She put her finger to her lips to signal for me to be quiet! I promptly curled up into a ball on the couch where I was sitting. Thankfully, brave, Jersey-girl Gabriele tiptoed over to the door and without making a sound, hooked the chain lock for some extra protection. All the while, the noise continued. She peeked out the peephole. "What do you see?!" I said. Again, I got shushed, so as not to be heard by the pending intruder. A few seconds later we heard footsteps walk away from the door........and................silence.
Aaaaaaaaahhhh! We both freaked out a little. She said she couldn't see the person's face - that he/she was covered with a hood. We invented possible scenarios about what could have just happened. Eventually we came to the conclusion that it might have been our eccentric landlady stuffing something in our door. We tried to go back to studying. But I couldn't focus.
"Can I just open the door and see if there's anything out there?" I asked.
"What?!" Gabriele questioned.
"I just want to see if there is actually a note or something stuffed in our door!"
"Leave the chain lock chained!" Gabriele said, urging caution.
I undid the deadbolt and slowly cracked open the door.
Oh my, this is getting to be quite a long post..............to be continued!
To read part two of our love story, click here!
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| {spring dance at St. Mary's in 2008} |
One day after daily Mass, Michael stopped me at the water fountain and asked if I had dinner plans. I did not. So we headed towards Noodles & Co. on State Street for dinner.
At this point I had butterflies in my stomach. You should probably know that no guy had ever asked me out before, and I was wondering if Michael had, in fact, just asked me out to dinner...! On the walk over there, we bumped into someone else we knew, and Michael asked her to join us. "Oh," I thought to myself. "Maybe this is not what I thought it was...?" She declined, and so it was just the two of us at dinner (which I was happy about). [Michael says now that he was happy, too - he had asked without thinking very much because he was nervous!]
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| {after this picture was taken we realized we were sitting in a patch of poison ivy!} |
Now thank goodness God blessed Michael with the gifts of patience and persistence, because I did not exactly jump into a relationship. In fact, I came up with every excuse I could for why we should not, could not be together as a couple. My favorite one to mention was that he was "too young for me - far too young for me" (he's a little over a year younger than me - so not that serious!). When my family or friends would ask about him, I'd say "He's just a nice guy. He's just being friendly. He doesn't actually like me." Even though he would ask me out to lunch/dinner multiple times a week, walk fifteen minutes from his dorm to bring cookies to me at my apartment, invite me to join him at Church gatherings. Oh no, he didn't like me. He was just friendly. :)
On February 13, 2008, my roommate, Gabriele and I were up pretty late doing homework in the living room of our apartment. Midnight was quickly approaching when we heard something at our apartment door. It was a scratching-sort-of-rustling sound, and it was right by the doorknob. We looked at each other. "Did you hear that?!" I said. She put her finger to her lips to signal for me to be quiet! I promptly curled up into a ball on the couch where I was sitting. Thankfully, brave, Jersey-girl Gabriele tiptoed over to the door and without making a sound, hooked the chain lock for some extra protection. All the while, the noise continued. She peeked out the peephole. "What do you see?!" I said. Again, I got shushed, so as not to be heard by the pending intruder. A few seconds later we heard footsteps walk away from the door........and................silence.
Aaaaaaaaahhhh! We both freaked out a little. She said she couldn't see the person's face - that he/she was covered with a hood. We invented possible scenarios about what could have just happened. Eventually we came to the conclusion that it might have been our eccentric landlady stuffing something in our door. We tried to go back to studying. But I couldn't focus.
"Can I just open the door and see if there's anything out there?" I asked.
"What?!" Gabriele questioned.
"I just want to see if there is actually a note or something stuffed in our door!"
"Leave the chain lock chained!" Gabriele said, urging caution.
I undid the deadbolt and slowly cracked open the door.
Oh my, this is getting to be quite a long post..............to be continued!
To read part two of our love story, click here!
I love Love Stories Elise!
ReplyDeleteAnd yours did not disappoint!
Will be waiting for more...
Elise- I love this story so far! I'm excited to read the rest :). Thanks do sharing!
ReplyDelete