Our Love Story

I consider myself lucky. I met my soul mate at 18 years old. 

At the time, I felt like I had waited an eternity for love. I wanted a boyfriend every year, every day and every second of high school! But it wasn't until I was about to graduate that we even met. 

My friend was dating his friend. The two boys played on their school's soccer team together. My girl friends and I would attend their soccer games, cheering from the sidelines, laughing at them, flirting with them - just being teenage girls! You know. 

I knew God had someone special for me and Corey made me laugh and seemed different from every other guy I knew, especially the guys at my school. Honestly, I just saw him as a friend. I thought he was cute and I had fun flirting with him and hanging out in a group. 

It took a breaking point for me to see what I had in front of me.

See, I had this pattern of pursuing boys who didn't value me. Boys who treated my heart like it was nothing. Boys who led me on, considered me second best, and toyed around with my emotions. Crying on my front steps, looking up at the stars, I was emotionally exhausted. I begged God to show me what real love was. 

The next day Corey and I hung out one-on-one for the first time, going to see the newest Harry Potter movie. I didn't consider it to be a date, but then Corey paid for my ticket so ... I guess it was! I didn't mind.

As the movie started, he jokingly suggested that I could hold onto his arm if I got scared. Ironically, he jumped about 10 feet out of his chair when the dementors jumped out at Harry, and for whatever reason I just found that absolutely endearing.

Spending time with Corey was easy. It's like something just clicked. I loved every second of our time together, even if it was just watching a movie. He called me as I was driving home and asked me my favorite restaurant and if he could take me on a real date.

Olive Garden and bowling it was! Just a few days later we had our first "real" date. We dated for a few more weeks before we became "official" as a couple, on August 15, 2007. Even though I had desperately wanted a boyfriend for years, I was hesitant simply because I was about to leave for college and it seemed like the worst possible timing.

But that's the thing. I have noticed this in many areas of my life even since then - sometimes the best decision, the one that pops out of nowhere, orchestrated by the God of the universe, isn't the most logical decision. 

So I went with my heart. For a girl who leads with her head most the time, I was all-in, full-throttle.

Those first few months were a blur! We wrote love notes, talked on the phone whenever we could, and visited on weekends. The days in between our time together were so hard. It felt like my heart had been yanked out of my chest. He wrote me songs and poems. We made each other mix CDs, mostly with songs about missing each other. Like Romeo and Juliet, we were just a couple kids with stars in their eyes and a whole future ahead of them to dream about. 

It didn't take long before we envisioned a life together - marriage, kids, the whole 9 yards.

Fast forward a year, and I transferred colleges so we could be together (and because my first college cancelled my major and I wanted to go to this other one more, anyways!). Corey started his freshman year and I began my sophomore year. He was a drummer for a worship band on campus and I was on the dance team performing at halftime and in competitions. 

After an amazing year, the economy went crazy. The recession hit. Our financial aid department took away all of our scholarships and aid, so returning the following year just wasn't an option for either of us. We decided (and rather last minute) on a similar Christian college in Florida. Again, an instance of faith trumping logic. We finalized this decision within a matter of weeks before packing up and heading down in our beaters, cruising 95 from New England to South Florida. 

It was our first time living far away from home. We had to get jobs (in telemarketing at first, ugh!) and figure it all out on our own! But, we were in a brand-new place and the possibilities were endless. 

I was studying journalism and Corey was pre-med. I quickly rose into leadership positions on the school newspaper and interned at a high-end PR firm. We spent our time buzzing around town on Corey's scooter, going to the movies as often as possible, and floating in the bath-water-warm aqua waves of the Atlantic. We got to attend polo matches, cultural festivals and the world's best farmer's market (I may be biased). We had no money but we were thrilled. We got engaged in Disney World and got our first apartments in the same complex, each living with friends. It was a chapter full of sunshine.

In 2011, after being together 4 years, we got married! Yahoo! We decided to get married in New Hampshire because that is where we were both raised so we had a lot of family and friends in the area. We used a Floridian theme with pretty accents in coral and aqua. We honeymooned on a Caribbean cruise and headed back south after that blissful summer. We got our first condo together, facing the water, right downtown. I watched the sun rise from the 10th floor every morning and it was a slice of heaven. We had a pool, a gym, and a free coffee in the morning. We could walk to all of our favorite places and our building even had a concierge! We really felt like we were living the charmed life, and we were! 

I started my first job as an editor, and Corey continued his schooling. Once he graduated, we were ready for the next chapter - grad school in Tennessee! It was a medical school program mixed with a masters. It was all for Corey, but I was totally game to go along for the ride. We found ourselves in rural Tennessee in a town built on coal mining and farming. We made ourselves at home, finding our favorite coffee shops and some beautiful trails to explore in the Cumberland Gap. There wasn't much nearby except for a $3 movie theatre and a WalMart. It was a chapter of refreshment, breathing in the cool misty air each morning as the clouds rolled through the mountains, slowing down our pace of living. Best of all, we picked up our puppy, Jasmine, a long-haired doxie, and welcomed her into our family. 

Corey was busy though, and always studying or going to the lab. I was amazed at what he was able to learn and understand. See, our brains are opposite - him being more the math and science type and mine being more the creative and artistic type! But testing wasn't his strong suite. It didn't take long before he realized this wouldn't work for him for the long haul. Becoming a doctor is a long road, and honestly, it was a difficult decision to walk away from the program but it was the right one. I struggled to earn any kind of income during this time, working various work from home jobs with my puppy on my lap or patiently laying on my desk.

Having no reason to stay in Tennessee, we knew it was time to leave and my heart was already in California. We decided to apply for jobs all over the country. Boston was a strong contender. But for whatever reason, I had fantasized about living in Los Angeles my entire life. 

So California it was. Thankfully Corey was on board with the idea. He's just as adventurous as I am. Yet again, we packed up and moved with as little as possible, and with no jobs lined up. I had a small internet job writing captions at the time. How we secured an apartment is still beyond me, so I defer all credit to the Almighty Himself. Corey got a job at a dentist office in Beverly Hills and I landed a marketing job with a budding health care company. Suddenly things were looking up. 

During our LA chapter, we did so much. We went to sports games, Universal Studios, live TV audiences, kayaked and SUP, went on studio tours, explored museums, rode horses in Malibu, saw celebrities, hiked, and ate cuisine from all over the world. I flew a plane. I took acting classes and built up an acting resume to be proud of, booking a variety of gigs on TV, short films, commercials and more. I participated in an international beauty pageant representing my heritage, as Miss Sweden.  I could go on - we really did it all. 

I can't say enough about this period in our life in such a short post. It was a period of extreme highs and lows. We attended an incredible church and our faith grew tremendously. 

Downside, I was in a few auto accidents, neither of which were my fault, but that's driving in LA for you. It's dangerous! My last one caused me to reconsider my life - If I had died today, I thought, I wouldnt have any regrets except that I didn't get to become a mom.

Well, that did it for me. I knew I wanted to be a mom and I didn't want to wait long because tomorrow's never guaranteed. Our finances had been so up and down, and mostly down, that the idea wasn't even a little bit realistic before that. I didn't think we had to have it all figured out but I knew we needed to at least be able to pay our bills - and even that was a challenge. Honestly we were sinking in a hole, financially. 

Within a few months, Corey had a sales job (an awful one) that was bringing in some money, sporadically. We were hopeful for the future. We got pregnant right away. 

Then a new job offer came. It was the best thing to ever happen to him and us, job-wise. He landed a job as a financial advisor, finding his passion and calling, utilizing his talents to help people create a better financial future, and improving ours in the meantime.

It's a tough industry - the failure rate is high! The first few years are about survival as you build up your business. But we were more excited than ever for the future. 

Within a few months, I started thinking about how I was going to contribute financially when the baby came. I didn't know if I would be able to continue working in marketing and juggle motherhood too. I knew I wouldn't put Owen in day care. I just couldn't. So I jumped in with this business my friend was doing. She was making 5 figures a month and teaching others how to do the same. She was working from home and spending time with her kids. It was what I wanted and i knew I had nothing to lose by trying.

Then the baby came and our lives became so full. SO full of love. So full of purpose. So full of joy. I've never been happier than as a mom. Suddenly, the red carpet dreams didn't mean much. We quickly began to day dream about when we would move back to NH and raise Owen.

Another instance of faith trumping logic. How could Corey leave the best performing office in the country to go to the worst peforming office in the country? But after many conversations, pushing the stroller alongside the tall skinny palm trees at sunset after dinner, and many heartfelt prayers, asking God to lead the way, we decided to go. Only we didn't tell anyone!

OK we told a few people, who could help us orchestrate a surprise.

We moved back and surprised our families. We rented a home, a real HOUSE, a major upgrade from a one-bedroom apartment facing the alley! We began a new chapter, experiencing seasons again, living close to family and old friends. Our hearts were full. It wasn't easy to start from scratch but we never stop counting our blessings here. God blessed the leap of faith by growing Corey's business in ways we couldn't have imagined. He is constantly busy with an ever-expanding roster of happy clients, and growing into leadership positions within his office. I've been able to work my business on the side while focusing most my efforts on being a stay at home mama to Owen. 

We have spent time with family and friends, made new friends, plugged into a local church we adore, and rediscovered everything we love about this beautiful state. 

We've been together for 11 years now. It's hard to believe! Through every season, there have been challenges and victories, highs and lows. But through it all, we see the best in each other. We cheer each other on. We are each other's biggest fans and admirers. We are each other's best friends and ever-present support. I would give up everything I want in a heart beat for him to be happy, and he would do the same for me. I followed him to Tennessee. He followed me to California. 

We give and take. We compromise. We are brutally honest and open. We laugh, we play, we are always silly. We share the same values. We respect each other. We are affectionate. We are in this journey of life together. 

So that's a little (or a lot) about us and our story! It's a love story that is still being written. I can't wait to see what happens next.