"You can't talk to her..."

The story of how we met can be quite scandalous, depending on who is telling the story. Our families have been friends for many, many years (my uncle and his dad are best friends since college). We have an 8 year age gap between us, so had we noticed each much earlier in life, the story would be even juicier. We met over Thanksgiving Day weekend in 2005. I remember my cousin talking about some guy that she was friends with (turns out it was Mr. D and he was on his way over). She said that if they were both single by the time she was 30, then they were going to get married. Well, she wasn't too thrilled when Mr. D and I crossed paths over the mashed potatoes and hit it off. In fact, despite being friends with Mr. D since, oh, birth, she stopped talking to us. So my family was forced to pick sides, and things were a bit tense for awhile.

Ok, I'm not going to lie, things were more than a bit tense. I have a very large extended family, and I've never really been the topic of family gossip. This was the first time that I was involved (although I didn't want to be) in the family drama. Lucky me. All the while, I'm trying to start a relationship with this really great guy that I met, and I'm hoping my family doesn't completely scare him off.

To make matters more complicated, we lived 5.5 hours apart. Mr. D introduced me to the art of text messaging and it kept us connected during the day. We talked frequently, and both of us made a lot of trips up and down the state, and we averaged seeing each other every two or three weeks. We bonded over our love of football, riding quads and weekend getaways. Being with him was always an adventure and lots of fun.

And it still is! I'll leave you with a picture from our first official date... a New Years Eve party at Groomsman C's house... Did you have weird family drama when you met your fiance? Did you have to deal with jealousy from those close to you?