Who knew one click of a mouse could change the trajectory of your life? A late-night whim of courage turned into a marriage with 4 kids five and half years later. Follow along on our journey to finding love and happiness with some bumps along the way. This is our love story.
Online Dating
My husband and I both had terrible experiences with online dating. I had sworn off ever going on a dating app again. That all changed on November 16, 2016, when I hit the sign-up button on Match. I saw Mike’s picture with his suit and tie headshot and immediately thought “he looks like a nerd and not my type.” About three days later his picture popped up again and I figured why not give this poor guy a chance.
We messaged back and forth for a couple of weeks with me thinking maybe this guy could be what I am looking for if that’s a goofy, driven, compassionate partner. When I asked for my husband’s first impression looking at my profile picture, it was spot on. “I thought this girl has a lot of confidence or she is purposely trying to keep most guys from messaging her!”
Somehow I managed to not scare him off but instead intrigue him into meeting me in person. We agreed to a first date at Smokey Row and I ended up inviting myself to Minnesota for Christmas with his family. It’s true when people say you know when it’s a fit.
Family is most important to both of us so we decided meeting our parents would be the next step. Mike’s extended family got to see my full personality when I dove across the kitchen table playing Spoons. Proceeding to rip the spoon out of his cousin’s hand. Note to self, probably not the best first impression made.
Meeting the Kids
Now came the first part where we had a struggle. Meeting his daughters. When is the right time to introduce a new person into kids’ lives? They have a wonderful mom. I never wanted them to feel I wanted to be their mom. I always said this was the dealbreaker. The girls came first in Mike’s life, so if after meeting me they said no way, the relationship would not continue.
I was full of anxiety and worry as the night came two months later. We chose Chick-Fil-A and Orange Leaf to put the girls in their element. We didn’t talk much except about their school day and what they had for lunch. The only question they asked was “Why do you eat your fries with that sauce?!” (Chick-Fil-A sauce) It was an easy entrance into their world without the pressure. This worked for us and set the groundwork for the friendship to build between us.
Our love story continued to flourish as we both had been in serious relationships. I truly believe God designed our paths to intersect when they did.
The next roadblock was a job loss for Mike while we were just starting to progress our relationship. But through his determination, he found his dream job. This showed me that he would always find a way to keep moving forward. And that would translate into situations we encounter as a family.
We got engaged April 24 with the help of the girls. They opened their hearts to me and showed me I could find a place in their family. We got married August 13 on the hottest day of the century. Or so it felt as we stood under the blazing sun melting into a puddle. Looking back it wasn’t what I had imagined for my wedding. But it was the perfect beginning to our life as a family.
We have been blessed and count each experience we go through as a family as such. Our love story includes living in Grimes, Waukee, and now Ames. The loss of precious Ella Mae through miscarriage. And the joyous birth of our son and daughter. We have celebrated major accomplishments and consoled each other during tough moments. Our love story is far from perfect. But it’s perfect for us.
Now maybe we will get to planning that long-overdue honeymoon. Or maybe we will just plan a Chick-Fil-A date between dropping the kiddos off at their activities. Either way, we will always fight to keep our love story thriving and moving forward with God leading our path.
