JEI: Rrrrrrromance Edition

Welcome to Just Enough Info (JEI).  The internets can be a great source of community, and I’d love to get to know you better!  Feel free to share your answers or a link to your own post in the comments.

 

 

Since the stores are covered in red and pink and chocolate and hearts and teddy bears (does anyone buy those things?!?!), Romance seemed like the perfect theme for the week.  Except you’ve got to roll your “r” when you say it.

Rrrrrrrrromance!

Let’s just get this out of the way.  See how young and not tired these guys look?

Oh, Lordy.  Just you wait.

1.  How did you meet your spouse?

Short answer:  We met in college.

Long answer:  We met through an elaborate scheme.

As I was walking to class the winter of my freshman year, I saw David a few paces ahead.  Although I don’t remember the specifics, I’m 99% sure he was wearing a plaid shirt, denim shorts, and brown work boots, because that was his standard uniform in college.  We were at a Catholic liberal arts college, so it took some chutzpah to be Al Borland when everyone else was trying for Justin Timberlake.   I did notice he was wearing a World Youth Day Toronto backpack.

I heard the tiniest voice inside my head:

You should go introduce yourself to him.

Maybe this comes as a surprise, but I don’t actually hear voices in my head often.  So I started arguing with the voice.

What?!?!  I don’t run up and introduce myself to anyone, let alone some random guy.  Plus, he’s a fair distance ahead, so I would literally have to run up like a crazy stalker.  Plus, I couldn’t be late to class because a voice told me to talk to a guy.  Plus, what would I say anyway?!?!

Hey!  I heard a voice in my head that told me to meet you.
No good.

Hey!  You seem to have the fashion sense of a lumberjack, and I think that’s muy guapo.  Want to go get ice cream?
For someone who couldn’t even muster a “Hey,” obviously that wouldn’t work.

Hey!  I see your backpack.  I went to Toronto, too!  I’m Alicia.
Okay.  That might have worked.  That’s what I would have gone with, because it wasn’t uncharacteristically bold or too stalker-ish.

But– in the spirit of true introvertism, I internally debated with myself until the opportunity passed.  That was that.  Humiliation was avoided, and I went to class.

I didn’t forget the voice, though.  I hadn’t ever seen David before on campus, but I sort of wanted another chance.

Fortunately I didn’t have to work very hard.  A few weeks later my roommate was showing me pictures of a barn dance she attended, and I saw David in the background of some of the pictures!

I nonchalantly started asking the names of all the people in the background.  Basically I should be a detective for how cool I played it.

David.

She thought his name was David.

The rest of the details are a little fuzzy, because it was a million years ago, but I had a list of people to email to invite to the pro-life student group I had helped form.  Apparently there had been a rosary group that had met the year before, so those were prime candidates.  The campus Knights of Columbus?  Same deal.  In order to drum up support for Students for Life, I was in charge of inviting people who might be interested.

So I sent a lot of email invitations.  One of those was to David.

He came to our first Students for Life Meeting.  (I told him about neither the tiny voice nor my elaborate scheme to meet him.)  We hit it off.

Fast forward 12ish years…and here we are.

Not too bad.  Not too bad.

 
2.  What’s your ideal date? or What’s your funniest dating story?

I have low, low, low standards for dates.  We were in college when we were dating-dating, so everything we did was frugal.  (Like Mass and brunch with both of us using our separate meal plans–how romantic!)  When we were first married, we were saving for a house and paying off student loans, so our dates were always free.  Now that we have kids, we still can’t really justify splurging on theater tickets or fancy restaurants.

There have been a few times that we’ve been gifted tickets or giftcards, and that’s fun.  Free babysitting is really the best gift ever.  Basically if David and I can escape together to Target, I’ll take it.  We do try to borrow a movie from the library (or catch up on This Is Us) on the weekend after the kids go to bed.  And there’s the whole Melt thing.

I’m grateful that we’re both okay with living simply.  The focus of our dates is spending time together, even if that looks the same-ish from week to week.  Maybe someday our dates will involve = wine + canvas events, cooking classes, or dance classes, but not for now.

 

Now for a mildly funny dating story.

 

My dad told me The Secret of Guys in high school.  Do you know The Secret of Guys?  No?  Here it is.

Show interest in the things they are interested in.

Thus, when early in our friendship David said his favorite movie was Patton, I expressed interest.

 

That’s how I ended up sitting through the whoooooole movie of Patton, folks.  Be careful how you use The Secret of Guys, because you might end up sitting through a boring war movie.  And married.  You might end up married.

Take that as you will.

 

 

 

 
3.  What couple from literature, TV, or the movies best mirrors you and your spouse?

Ah!  This was both fun and difficult.  These TV and movie marriages were contenders:

Jim and Pam from the Office
Lord Grantham and Cora from Downton Abbey
Mr. Carson and Mrs. Hughes from Downton Abbey
Adam and Kristina from Parenthood
Julia and Paul Child from Julie and Julia
Anne and Gilbert (I know, I know.  Everyone thinks they’re Anne and Gilbert.)

With each of these couples, one of us is a better fit character-wise than the other.  If there could be a world where Pam from The Office married Carson from Downton, that would be precisely our personalities.  Maybe it would be better to consider which relationship matches ours.

The winner for us is a little cheatsy.  Frank and Lillian Gilbreth were a real couple, but their story has been told in book form and on screen.  Cheaper by the Dozen (and its sequel, Belles on Their Toes), is one of our family favorites.

 

Frank, a bit stuffy, loves his family and works hard to provide for them.  Lillian keeps everything at home working while being Frank’s confidant and general right hand (wo)man.  I love the way they are two sides of a coin.  Different, but very much the same.

That seems to describe David and me pretty well.

Gem from the movie:
Fix-it guy:  Are all these kids yours, Mister, or is this some kind of picnic?
Frank:  They’re all mine, and believe me, it’s no picnic.

Even though having a dozen kids is the thing Frank seems to be most proud of, it’s not all daisies and roses.  Or picnics.  It’s tough, but Frank and Lillian’s love for each other and their kids shines through on the screen.

When we were young and well-rested, we thought we had romance down.  Turns out that after ten years of marriage, it gets even better.  That’s another thing that Frank and Lillian seemed to understand.

Honeymooners

 

I can’t wait to read your stories!  Feel free to share your answers (or a link to your answers) in the comments.

 

 
Upcoming Tuesday Link Ups
February 7:  Library Haul
February 14:  JEI: Family Time
-What’s your favorite family movie and/or game?
-What’s your favorite family tradition or way to spend time as a family?
-If you could travel anywhere with your family, where would it be?

 

---

This post contains affiliate links.  If you happen to order something using these Amazon links, we receive a small commission at no cost to you!  Thanks!