Our Story: Chapter 1

I have spent hours today going through photos and working hard to catch up on family albums. And while our family story is so important, I realized that I wanted/needed to document OUR STORY, you know, the one before kiddos?

So to start, I need to back waaaaaaay up.

I grew up in a small town in the foothills of the Ozark Mountains. It literally could be the landing spot for a Hallmark movie. Cute downtown, perfect library, a park located off the river, and a scenic drive into town with a HUGE hill where most trucks topple over because drivers never heed the caution "steep" sign. They even built a cute gazebo at the duck pond...

I lived there for the first 14 years of my life surrounded by my grandparents, great grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and a close knit group of friends that I'm still in contact with today. I should also note that I was homeschooled and participated in the same homeschool group until I graduated. I'm convinced it was the BEST homeschool group ever. I miss that sense of belonging. But, I digress...

The second half of my teen years were spent in a small tourist town an hour away from my birth place where my dad and mom owned the local radio station. I spent most of my time volunteering at a local nursing home, working for my parents, reading late into the night, and taking road trips with my family. I had two younger brothers who loved annoying me and being the center of attention. Haha! I'm kidding...kind of.

As I neared the final years of high school, we were looking for a church to call home. This had been one area that had been not so hallmark-ish. Living in a tourist town meant few churches and very few young people. So, a close family friend mentioned one day to my mom that we should visit a church nearly an hour away. Yep, an hour away. And you know what? My parents decided to visit and we ended up going for years after that. That church would eventually be the meeting grounds for Josh and I...

But, before I get to that point, I should probably share  bit about Josh's life pre-us. Honestly, when I think about it, its so obvious that the Lord brought us together, because we didn't share much in common when it came to our growing up years.

Josh spent the first years of his life living in California. I should also note that he comes from a tight family and even more importantly, he is a twin! Yes, they look a LOT alike and do weird twinnish things and are constantly mistaken for each other. Of course, Josh is better looking and sweeter in my opinion...again, I digress...

When he turned 10, his dad accepted a job transfer to my state. They landed in the town where we would later attend the same church. Josh is everything that I am not: tall, funny, extremely talented and has a brain. He completed Architecture school early, took a job in the metro area of our state and started attending church where his twin brother (who was dating a friend of mine) and cousins attended. The first time I met him, I mistaken him for his brother. I thought he wasn't very nice (he was just messing with me for calling him Jacob).

We were around each other ALL the time, but honestly, didn't click. He was the life of the party, and I was busy working and trying to figure out life.

But, all that would change when a random event left both of us carpooling together. It was the first time we had ever really talked and realized we both had quite a bit in common: guitars, music, coffee traveling and cooking pasta. When I dropped him off the next night, I didn't realize he had left an item in my car. So, he had to get my number to call and ask me to look for said item (it was a card).

From then on, he would occasionally call. As the months would pass we would talk more and more...but nothing really clicked into place until I moved to his town to take a job offer...

He volunteered to help me move...and well...that's when our story really picks up. 💓