How did you meet your SO?

[JenStone]

I always ask this question at dinner parties whenever there''s a lapse in conversation...everyone loves telling their story!

I''ll start...

The very first time my boyfriend and I met, I was a freshmen and he was a senior (college). He approached me at a party and tried to pick me up - unfortunately, his reputation preceeded him! He used to have quite a reputation as a player back in the days.

I got scared when he started talking to me, made a lame excuse, and ran away.

I took two years off from school and when I came back, I had trouble readjusting to school, especially since I was older than almost everyone. Meanwhile, my boyfriend was still around because had gotten a job in the same city after graduation. We would always run into each other whenever we went out because we had a lot of friends in common. He is very social (I''m pretty shy) and we quickly became good friends.

Unfortunately, when we first became good friends, we were both dating other people. Then his girlfriend broke up with him, and about half a year later, my relationship with my then-boyfriend came to an end also.

At this point, we were still just good friends and I never really saw myself attracted to him. We would talk about the people we were dating, and everything seemed fine. THEN he started dating a freshmen (he was 26 at the time!) and I found myself constantly teasing him for robbing the cradle. I also couldn''t understand what she, considered by many to be one of the best looking girls in that class, saw in him. I slowly started to realize that I was jealous of that girl. And I realized I had feelings for him too.

At this point, I didn''t want to do anything about it because 1.) we were such good friends, and 2.) we had so many friends in common - what would happen if we ever broke up?

I kept my feelings a secret for several months. By this time, he had stopped seeing the other girl. One night, we went out to dinner, just us two, and came back to my place to watch Finding Nemo, which had just come out on DVD. I didn''t think anything different of this night and became pretty engrossed in the movie....when suddenly, he made the first move!

He later confessed that he had always been attracted to me, but was afraid to try anything. Two and a half years later, we''re still together, going strong!

...To this day, he swears he doesn''t remember hitting on me my freshmen year. I don''t believe him.

 

[Mandarine]

Jen that''s such a cute story!!!!!!!!!!!

I met my BF one beatiful night in Paris....

just kidding (but that would be nice!), we met on match.com!!! He e-mailed me first, we e-mailed back and forth for a couple of weeks...then he called, we talked for hours!...we decided to meet and that night I told my best friend that I had met my future husband!!!. That was almost two years ago and I''m still head over heels, crazy in love and as happy as I always dreamed I wanted to be

M~

 

[JenStone]

Thanks, Madarine!

Ok, now I feel like an idiot. All my time on PS, especially on the LIW forum, I''d never read the "Introduce Yourself" thread and now I see that people have posted their stories on there already! Doh!

Oh well, at least you guys know how I met my sweetie now...

 

[Mandarine]

it''s ok

Thanks for sharing your story!

There is also a thread aout how many of the LIWs met their SO online.....the list is pretty long, so I don''t feel alone!

 

[anchor31]

Aw... Nice story Jen!!

Mine is rather long and a "who''s who" kind of thing. About 6 years ago, my brother was dating girlfriend A who''s family moved about 1h30 from the area. While visiting her there, he met girlfriend B, who he started dating 3+ years ago. Girlfriend B has a cousin who happens to be my boyfriend J''s best friend (they were army buddies), and girlfriend B and my boyfriend were friends up until a few months ago (long, sick and twisted story, will not get into that!). So, through girlfriend B, my brother met J. They have similar interests and my brother was going to school very close to where J lives, so they became friends too. My brother invited J to a New Year''s party he threw at his residence apartment on January 3rd 2003, and for some reason my brother had a picture of me on my 17th birthday looking rather cute and happy (I really should find it and keep it!), and J saw it. He asked my brother "who the pretty girl in the picture was"

, so my brother introduced us through IM.

We first met in person on April 14th 2003. After that meeting, he wasted no time inviting me to girlfriend B''s older sister''s wedding, in which he was in charge of the ceremony music. Our first unofficial date was on my 18th birthday (it''ll be 3 years in a month!) and we saw each other a bit through the summer, but it was hard because we both had crazy summer job schedules and lived 1 hour apart. There was some drama about his ex coming back into his life that almost ruined everything, but I won''t get into that either. On August 23rd was girlfriend B''s sister''s wedding, and that''s where we both realized that we were in love and wanted to be together. Cliché, but what can I say?

On August 31st, he was holding my hand while we were taking a walk but made no move for anything else, so I took the initiative and kissed him (go me!

). On that day we decided to see each other in an exclusive relationship, hence the official dating anniversary. We knew it wouldn''t be easy because we were an hour apart and we already knew I''d be leaving 300 miles away in January 2005, but we decided to give it a try anyway. It wasn''t all roses and we had some rough patches (I even considered leaving him once, and I think he did too at another time), but we got through them together.

Now, I''ve known him for 3+ years and I can''t imagine not having him in my life! We balance each other other and we''ve learned so much from each other; we undoubtedly are better people than we were then.

 

[TravelingGal]

I was 30, tired of corporate life, didn''t own a home (not too many can afford it in L.A. now), didn''t have kids, and didn''t have romantic prospects.

So I said "f*ck it!"

I quit my job, bought the backpack you see in my avatar and headed off to Europe. While I felt quite young and spry, nothing makes one feel older faster than ending up in a hostel with 19 year olds. That in and of itself is not bad, but when they come up to you and say they want to look like you when they get to be *your age* it''s pretty disconcerting

(I mean, come on, did they think it really went that downhill in 11 years?) A drunk 23 year old (and I''ll admit he was cute) actually accosted me a hostel hallway and started to grope and kiss me. Amused, I joked that had we exchanged perhaps a deep minute or two of conversation beforehand, I might have considered it. The joke was lost on him.

Anyway, I was pretty structured in itinerary my first couple weeks in Europe. But finally I just thought, why not go wherever the wind takes me? I found a very cute hostel brochure for the Krumlov house - a little place in Cesky Krumlov, Czech republic. Without a reservation at the hostel, I jumped on a train and got there much later than planned...it was dark....

Since it was so spontaneous, I had no solid idea of where to go once I got off the train, and the map was kind of cartoony. So I just started walking, hoping to find the Krumlov House. It was a magical, misty night...the cobblestone streets were slicked with ice and the warm reflection of the streetlamps cut through the very cold night.

I tried to find the place, with no luck. My map was getting wet from the mist/drizzle and would fall apart soon. I passed by one hostel - "Hostel 99". I paused and considered it, but moved on.

I asked for directions to Krumlov House, but I didn''t speak Czech. A man and his little daugher glanced at my backpack, then led me to another hostel, and waved goodbye. I stood and stared at it for a full minute. I was cold, hungry, tired, but for some reason REALLY liked the cute little brochure of the Krumlov House. I moved on again. By this time I had been walking lost for over 30 minutes.

It was with great relief when I found it! The young gal welcomed me in warmly. It was actually a cozy house, and not a hostel, with only half a dozen people staying there that winter night. Scott was one of them.

He still says he remembers the moment I walked in the door - he couldn''t see me but he remembered my voice, saying "I''m so glad I found you! Do you have a bed open?" And that is exactly what I said.

I found him very attractive, and figured he was gay (as I have terrible luck with men I find attractive.) But the best thing was he was older than me! It was a mere 10 months, but hey...at least he wasn''t going talk about getting to *my age!*

He was Australian and had quit his job to travel too. I had to love that sexy accent!

We traveled on and off for weeks together...going our separate ways and meeting in Italy if we wanted Gelato, or Austria if we wanted Schnitzel. Europe was our playground, and I cannot tell you how absolutely glorious that kind of freedom was. Even then, I cherished it because I knew that was the last time in my adult life I could do exactly what I pleased...just be entirely selfish and that was O.K.

In Sorrento, Italy, we came to a head...I wanted to go to Greece and would have loved for him to join me. He wanted to go to Sardinia and wanted me to join him. My time was running short in Europe...I had only 2 more weeks until my flight home. But I came to Europe first and foremost to see what I wanted to see...not for a whirlwind romance with no long term prospects - so I stuck to my guns and decided to continue to Greece. I remember him sadly asking what were the odds of him coming to America in the next 5 years? I shook my head and he made a big "zero" sign with his fingers. He had never been to America and didn''t care to visit. We made a pact that if we were still single in 5 years, we would meet in Croatia, our favorite country that we had visited together.

On Wednesday, April 23, 2003, I tearily kissed him goodbye at the train station in Naples, Italy, believing I would not see him for a long long time, if ever.

Exactly 52 weeks (1 year) later on Wednesday, April 21, 2004 he set foot in America for the first time to come and visit me.

Exactly 52 weeks after that, on Wednesday, April 20, 2005 we sat in the U.S. consulate in Sydney, Australia. It was his scheduled appointment to process his greencard, which he had applied for in the U.S. Greencard LOTTERY. 10 million people apply, and only 50,000 people get it. Fate was about to give us a very big chance to try to give our relationship a go.

We''ve been living together since August of last year. Sometimes I still can''t believe that my European romance turned into the love of my life. I feel so very lucky that I threw caution to the wind to live my dream of being a backpacking bum.

Sorry the story is so long, but I don''t mind telling it, as I think it''s just one that shows sometimes fate intervenes on your behalf. I passed by two hostels to find him! It''s a story I''ll be happy to tell my grandkids someday.

(btw, if you want to check out the brochure that started it all, you can see it at http://www.krumlovhouse.com/main.php?open=maps )

 

[monarch64]

Hee hee, I''ll make mine short> I was on a date with another guy, we went up to chicago after a month of knowing each other, and the first bar we went in, I locked eyes with my now-husband as he was coming into the bar. We spent the rest of the weekend together, dated long distance, (3 hrs) for 4 months, then I moved to Chicago into an apt. with him, and we got engaged and became husband and wife a few months later!

The guy I was dating at the time I met DH went home and ended up marrying my Best friend''s best friend! Everything turned out for the best, honestly! We all went to each others'' wedding and still laugh about it to this day.

 

[anchor31]

TravelingGal, what an amazing story!! You really made me dream of those places you saw together, thanks for sharing your story!

 

[Patchee]

On the street where we work, I said hey and that was that!

not kidding either!

 

[sumbride]

TravelinGal... WOW!!! Your story is what I wanted "Before Sunrise" to turn into.... Fabulous! Wow!


My story isn''t quite as exotic, but it felt "mean to be" to me. We''re another Match.com couple... He was at the top of my list with a 100% match, but didn''t have a picture posted so I waited a couple days, chatted with a couple other guys via email, but kept coming back to his profile because he mentioned my favorite band (REM) and I''d never dated a guy that could share my appreciation for them. He sounded NORMAL in a sea of "look at my abs" men. I sent him a note and he wrote back a few hours later. Within a week he''d given me his number. I called him and we talked for a couple hours, then he asked me out for the next weekend. I was FREAKING OUT because I hadn''t been on a date since my disastrous breakup almost a year before. I knew I was over the other guy but wasn''t sure how ready I was to date. I said yes, of course, and tried to keep myself busy that week.

We met at a Morrocan restaurant, and when he walked in the door he flashed me a smile that totally melted my heart... Something just CLICKED. It wasn''t "love at first sight" because I actually took a while to be sure I was in love, but I knew something about him in that instant. Later in the date, he said something about me that was obvious to him but nobody had ever noticed before... it completely surprised me how aware he was. So that was it for me. I went on one other date that I had set up previously, and he stopped seeing the girl he''d been dating casually.... and then we were locked into a relationship that''s been truly wonderful.

It''s weird what we have in common... not just REM, hair and eye color, and placement in our families, but completely detesting gravy which makes both our families laugh as we were "the only ones" that felt that way. We''re just a natural fit, we just work. We belong together. It''s just right.

The other weird thing is... after we met we started discovering all the places we could have met before and never did... He used to work on the same street I did, but he quit a week before I took the job... we attended the same singles events but on different weeks, we both loved the same deli, etc... etc... etc.... but it took Match.com for this computer geek to meet my shy accountant.

 

[Caribou]

I was having a horrible year...I broke up with my EX, which was good but very dramatic the way it went down. It made me loose a lot of trust in people not just in men. About 4 months after it had all happened, my roommate/best girlfriend was insistent that I come up to her in-laws property (they weren''t her in-laws then). I really didn''t want to go but she was so persistent I didn''t want to disappoint, plus after my break up I decided that I was going to be more social and do more things, not just mope around the house being all depressed. And it was after all; it was July 4th, long weekend to be cooped up in the house. Anywho, I had to call my friend because I got lost and she kept talking about this dude, K, I remember thinking ''who is this person that she keeps mentioning''

...anywho, I finally made it there and I was talking to Jen and I turned around and this tall, kind of goofy looking dude was walking towards me.

I had an ''ah-ha'' moment, ''this is why she was so insistent that I come up to their property and why she kept mentioning his name''. I have to say though, best way to hook two friends up, and don''t tell them what you are doing. Anywho, I wasn''t really interested, he was nice enough, cute enough, but there wasn''t a spark there. However, I was having a ''good day'' so I was being more talkative than I normally would be seeing as I wasn''t interested. We were talking about my roommates dog and he said ''one day I want an English bulldog''

me and my friend stood there with a shocked looked on our face, she asked ''did (her husband) tell you to say that?'' he said no looking very confused, probably thinking we were crazy. So I told him that I ADORE English bulldogs, had a couple when I was little and have always wanted another one, it was just too coincidental that he would say that. So I said, jokingly, ''if you''re serious I''ll marry you right now'' (was it an omen)....later my friend pulled me aside and asked me what I thought of him and if I would go on a date with him. I said, ''he''s nice enough; no spark, not 100% sure I would go out with him because I didn''t think it would work''. Then she told me how old he was….24 (at the time) I was 32.

H*LL NO! Too young, I mean, I was having commitment issues with guys my age and older,

a 24 year old is not going to want to same things as me, I don''t care how many times she swore he was mature for his age. A few days later, my roommate said that he had asked for my phone number and would I want to give it to him, I told her no, I didn''t want to waste either of our times…..then after a few days of talking to her and my other friends who encouraged me ''you never know''…''age is just a number''....''he''s so mature, has his sh*t together'' blah blah blah. I told her to go ahead and give it to him. Which I later found out made me seem a little crazy.

On our first date, he brought me a flower

(never happened before)…we went out to dinner, sat in a park, and then got a couple of drinks, the entire ''date'' we talked about everything that you are suppose to not talk about on your first date (our Exes., issues in life, etc)

…..we found out that we had broke up with our not-so-SO on the same exact day…weird coincidence? I decided that I wasn''t ready for love and at that point didn''t think I''d ever want to fall in love again, so we agreed to just be friends. For the next few months, he''d call, I''d ignore his calls…I''d call back ever once in a while but not every time, he ended up briefly dating a co-worker of my roommates (didn''t last, she''s crazy), about 5 months after our first date I realized that I couldn''t stop thinking of him

and that when I was feeling sad and lonely I''d have thoughts of ''well I will always have K'' but how could I possible know that because I didn''t really ''have K''. So about 6 months after our first date, he called, or did I call,......we had dinner and I realized that he was just a great guy and although I still wasn''t sure if I wanted to date him (I still lacked a lot of trust from my breakup) I knew that I wanted him in my life. So after a couple more nights out, he asked what was going on between us and I told him that I still wasn''t sure I wanted to date him and that I still didn''t trust people but I was willingly to see what happened between us. I grew fonder of him as time went on, he was very patient with me, taught me to trust again…one day after a few months of denying it, I realized that I really really liked him. We were at a bar and I told him I was going to be really selfish but that whatever was happening between us couldn''t continue if I didn''t ask this of him, and I told him I didn''t want him to date anyone else until we knew what was going on, was that okay. Not only did he agreed, he told him he had already decided not to date anyone else!!! I couldn''t believe it, so not what I was used to

…from then on we grew closer and here we are today, getting married in September.

I really feel very luck to have him in my life and I also feel very deserving of him. I''m so appreciative of my friends for introducing us. I love the way things went down, and wouldn''t change it for anything….I think the slowness of it helped us form a strong bond of love and friendship. Oh and about the age difference…I''ve realized…. he was WAY more mature than me.

LOL! I could have answered ''how did you meet your SO?'' in one short statement...''Through friends''.

 

[Cailet]

I met my bf in college. He was the RA for my best friend''s dorm floor. The next year I moved in with my best friend and he was MY RA. I actually worked on the dorm staff (volunteer coordinator) so I ended up doing a lot of projects with him - got to be friends with a lot of the RAs for the dorm. I always thought he was cute - but he was my RA - and it was "against the rules" for an RA to date one of their residents. Well -bf had a friend that worked at a movie theatre and a bunch of us went to a couple of midnight previews of new movies. Then one weekend no one else wanted to see the movie that was being previewed - but the bf and I still went alone.

Let me insert a quick fact: I am dumber than a box of rocks when it comes to recognizing if someone likes me or is flirting with me - so I had no clue that he was considering all of these movies and other misc outings as "dates"!!

We go along seeing movies together - sometimes alone sometimes with others. Then finally a movie premiers on Js birthday. He comes back from the BARS to go to the movie with us. In the middle of the movie he grabbed my hand! I almost had a heart attack! Here we were out with a bunch of other RAs and he is grabbing my hand. Well - we''ve been together ever since (with one small break!). Turns out he told his boss that he was planning on dating me and argued with her that the "no dating" rule didn''t apply to us since I was also a part of the staff.

We still joke about not having an anniversary -- cause I see us as starting to date on his birthday and he thinks it was months before that!! Luckily we have gotten a lot better at communication since then....

Oh - and we also went to the same high school (he is 3 years older than me) and we never knew each other. AND we both worked at the same Taco Bell in high school (he quit a couple of months before I started). Crazy how the world works....

 

[AmberWaves]

I met my fiance when I got my first job at Jamba Juice (smoothie chain). He was my boss.

He said he remembered me from when I came in for my interview. Good memory! I started in September, we were dating by November. He was one of those super nice guys who do everything for you, but when you''re 17 and have seen nothing of the world, you don''t appreciate it. At least I didn''t. His affection and love suffocated me. It didn''t help when our Manager scheduled us together every time. I got angry at him, and despite my friends and family telling me he was the best, I dumped him. On his birthday, 4 days after our 3 month anniversary, and 4 days before Valentine''s day.

I was a SHMUCK. He quit his job, and I got promoted to it.

I never forgot about him, and I realized a few years later that I wondered about him still. After 5 years of dating the jerks I thought i had wanted, I realized I wanted PAUL. So I searched for him for 3 years after that. I finally found him in 2003. We''ve been together ever since. He forgave me, and never forgot about me. He told me that he knew we''d end up together, yes, even back then when I was a bastard.

We moved in together in 2004, and got engaged last week.

 

[JenStone]

Who needs romance novels or romantic movies? These are all sooo much better! Some of these are definitely stories that will be passed down for generations.

 

[TravelingGal]

They are good stories! The Jamba Juice story made me laugh...to decide years later that the guy you dated when you were 17 is the one for you...how cool is that?

Sumbride, I did the Internet thing before...back in 1996 when it was still very taboo. I always felt it was a special way to meet someone...you get to know the person pretty well before ever setting eyes on them! I also thought it was pretty amazing...out of millions of cyber folks out there, two people manage to find each other and connect! We found each in an AOL chat room, which was even weirder...match.com and those sites didn''t really exist en masse back then. It makes it a bit easier these days with the profiles and what not. Anyway, it was my first and only, and it lasted on and off for 7 years (long distance).

Btw Caribou, your last line about the maturity thing made me chuckle as well...I''m 33 and definitely don''t feel that mature!

 

[AlliBaba]

I met my guy on eHarmony.

 

[Starset]

bar

 

[icekid]

TravelingGal- what a cool story. I love it!!!

short story for me- playing beer pong at a mutual friend''s party. Mutual friend (who liked me! whoops) and I beat my fiance and his best friend. FI still refuses to admit that I won

 

[AmberWaves]

Traveling gal, I love your story. It's one of those things that make you believe in fate, ya know? Thanks for laughing at my story, back then I hated him, now I love him more than life!

The only thing I wish had changed was, I was supposed to meet his parents the night we broke up, and because I didn't I never got to meet his dad. He passed away a month later.

Thank god everyone forgot, or forgave me for how I treated him back then. But when they say, "I wish you could have met Paul's dad", or when he says, "I wish you could have known him, he would have loved you", I feel horrible. So guilty. One good thing, though. He proposed on the 8th anniversary of his father's death. So we (the family and us) could finally have something good to associate with that day. That's what his mom told me a coupld of days ago. And I must admit he has some great friends. If one of my friends had taken back an ex who treated them poorly, I would have hit her upside the head. He's my home now. I feel better when he's there, and just loved, ya know?

 

[JenStone]

Amber, what a touching story. I too, would feel horrible if that happened to me. Your fiance must be a very sentimental person, choosing that particular date to propose to you. I''m sure his father would have felt very honored.

P.S. - I''m still not used to your new avatar! Your ring is just so beautiful....

 

[AmberWaves]

Thanks, Jen. This is exactly why I know I''m with the right person. That kind of stuff.

I can''t get used to my avatar either!! I see it and go, "Where the heck is Woofie?" My dog''s baby picture was what I was so used to!

 

[sunkist]

My BF and I met in college too. We moved onto the same hall in the dorms. That first week we were all meeting eachother on the hall and the first time I remember meeting him was when a bunch of us went into his room and he was showing us photos from senior year of highschool and his now ex-GF. We got to be very good friends during the next few months and spent lots of time together. He and his GF were in a long distance relationship and kept have problems. They''d do the breakup/ get back together thing. It was really throwing me for a loop and finally they broke up for good. Months later we were still good friends and before I left for spring break he left a yellow tulip for me on my bed

When I came back from break, we went on our first official date to see Fantasia2000. The first few years together were pretty rough still, because we both loved eachother and enjoyed eachother so much, but we knew it would never work out becuase we both had different religions. It''s always been a personal requirement for me to marry a man in my religion. So after 5 or 6 years of breaking up a couple times and then getting back together, he finally had the courage to take this big step and give religion a try. He''d never had any his whole life so it was a big life change for him. But he loved me so much, he had to give it a shot. A year ago he got baptized and converted to, now, our religion! So now we can get married and love eachother forever

There were so many times that this could have not worked out, but I''m so glad that we kept coming back to eachother and wanting to make this work because he is my best friend and I could not live without him. I''m so happy and proud of everything he''s done for us!

 

[sk8rjen]

Oh I just love your stories -- and travelingal, I WISH I could have met someone with a story like that!! Mine could be summed up either "at a bar" or "by friends,"... but there was a bit of a twist. I went out to our favorite bar --OK, rather, I got DRAGGED out by my married friends K & J. I was at home talking on the phone off and on with a guy I had met through them and flirted heavily with a time or two -- we were working up to that official date, AND he was the hot hot rock-star/player type AND I was fresh out of a 9 year marriage for only a few months I wanted FUN!

So my hottie (seriously, he was just MODEL-hot) finally said he''d be at that bar later and I agreed to go with my friends (instead of him picking me up, which was the original plan, which is why they had to drag me). Well, "K" was more straightforward than her husband and let me know (as good friends do, ugh) that hottie did not EVER go to this bar, especially to see a band like the one we were going to see that nightand don''t expect him. Now, I''d made sure I looked as hot as I could that night (nice jeans, sexy top, actual makeup (somewhat out of character for my dreadlocked, patchworked, hippie-fied usualness for a bit I guess). I looked good (for me) but felt crappy -- I just knew I was being "stood up," since we *had* arranged to meet, and damn, I was SO excited. Did I mention he was HOT?

Yah, so somebody should have just slapped me then, but I guess my hormones were running loose and I was SINGLE and, well, in hindsight, I am embarrassed to have been 31 and acting like that.SOOOOOOOO...

when we first got to the bar, a friend of K & J''s (we''ll call him R), someone I knew a little bit, but didn''t like his reputation, so to speak, was there with a friend. R and his friend (M) joined us at a big booth and then the mnusic started and we were all dancing and drinking and I was becoming progressively more agitated that I got stood up. In the meantime, R and K&J decided to head back to K&J''s house without R''s friend, or myself, both of whom had ridden with our friends. They deserted us on purpose.

So M and I talked (although neither of us could hear much) through the rest of the show about everything under the sun, I used his phone to call hottie a couple of times(!) and told him stuff you would NEVER say on a first date. Fortunately he did the same, making me feel like I had a new friend, and somehow even managed to get his phone number in my phone

Later that night we magically made it back to K&J''s house and just hung out, ended up holding hands like jr high-schoolers and, well, we were a little drunk, so the first kiss happened unfortunatley that way. After he left, I kind of wondered what the heck I was thinking leading someone on after I got stood up. And he was so young! (23) And also wondering what the heck a nice guy like him was doing around crazy people like our mutual friends?? He didn''t ask for my number, but had made it clear he''d like to hear from me...

The next day I was telling my ex-husband I met the *nicest* guy -- and my ex thought that hottie was a piece of work (in a bad way) and told me I should call M. I argued that he was too young, and he reasoned with me, why shouldn''t I just find out if he''s as great as he seemed? So I did, and we went to a movie, and have been together at some point every day since then.

Sorry it''s long, but I don''t believe for a second that "in a bar" truly ever is really the whole story. Funny (sad)thing is, his attractiveness was lost on me that night. I think he''s *beautiful* but I just wasn''t paying attention right away. (A week after our first date, we knew this was something special...) I really can''t imagine being with anyone else now, and I''ve truly never felt like this, even with my ex.

Keep the stories coming!!

jen

 

[TravelingGal]

You''re right sk8rjen, "in a bar" is a million different stories, each one just as fascinating to me. It''s got to be one of the easiest, yet hardest places to meet someone...

Amberwaves, that is touching indeed. I am glad it worked out for you both and that you had such a sentimental engagment. And your ring is lovely!

Yeah, there are parts of my meeting Scott that showed me that when it''s not "time" it doesn''t happen. I was actually in Ireland in October 2003 (a few months before I quit my job for the "big trip) and we found out we were in the same parts of Ireland at the same time. We obviously never met. Even stranger was when I was Salzburg for the first time hanging out with a young guy and girl. I didn''t love Salzburg, so the young girl convinced me to go to another town in Austria, where I ended up finding that Krumlov House brochure. So I left Salzburg and the hostel there 2 days earlier than planned. Upon looking at my photos months later, Scott looked at the photo of the young guy and said "Hey, I know that guy!" Turns out that the day after the young girl and I left, Scott came through town and hung out at that hostel with the young guy, who told Scott that the two girls he was hanging out with just left. I had barely missed him! It would be another week or so before our paths would cross again, this time finally hitting the bulleye.

Anyone ever seen that cheesy movie "Sliding Doors"? It makes me wonder sometimes what we miss by taking road A over B....or what we gain.

 

[allycat0303]

Travelling Gal!!! Wow what a story. I want to go backing in europe just to have a story like that. It''s too amazing for words.

I met my boyfriend in high school. He was the big school jock that dated all the hot girls. Didn''t have a clue who I was because I was 1 year younger. I had a crazy crush on him and conspired for 2 years to get him to meet him, but we never met. He almost came to my 16th birthday party, but at the last moment went with his friends to a bar

Two weeks before he graduated, he noticed me at lunch time, thought I was cute, and walked up to me and introduced himself to me. I was really mean/cold/unintrested to him because he was acting all confident and "I know you want me" In any case, he says it made him really determined to get to know me because I hurt his male pride, and all his friends were laughing at him because he was getting rejected by a younger girl

I played hard to get for a good 2 weeks, which sucessfully reduced his arrogance factor. We started dating after that. We''ve been together for almost 10 years.

 

[anchor31]

That''s a funny story, Ally!

I''ve seen a pic of your FI and he''s a great looking guy, it doesn''t surprise me that he was Mr Popular at school!!

Good on you for reducing his ego...

 

[Blenheim]

Some of these stories give me goosebumps!

The story that I posted in the Introduce Yourself thread was the equivalent of "we met at a bar," only it was through watching a hockey game with a mutual friend. The "real" story is pretty long, so I''ll try to post it when I have time to really sit down and type it out.

 

[allycat0303]

Anchor: Thanks, you''re sweet. I was actually really happy to see your new avatar (I assume you looks a little like that?) I had this mental image of you with striaght, really long blond hair, really, really thin. Blue eyes, pale... don''t know if your avatar is accurate, but I couldn''t see the pic you posted on the introduction page. So upsetting! You should have one of you and your honey, it''s always cool to put a face to a name.

 

[moon river]

I was a waitress at Denny''s and he kept coming in and bugging me. Then he didn''t come by for about 6 months and I totally forgot about him. One night he reappeard and we starting talking again. It was bumpy at first because I stood him up on our first date.Also, his ex had just started working with me and she was wanting him back at that point. But now we''ve been together for 3+years. We took a couple of months off for a break last year but now we''re back on track.

 

[swt_acacia]

I met and started dating my current boyfriend through a series of coincidences. I was in college on the east coast and in an unhappy long distance relationship. My then-boyfriend had taken a job at Microsoft in Seattle, but I still had two years left before I''d graduate and be able to follow him. In September, I had dropped Seattle boyfriend off at the airport after a visit, and was taking the airport bus back to campus. I noticed a really cute guy on the bus, reading a book, oblivious to the world. He got off the bus at a different part of campus and disappeared.

The following week, I recognized the same guy in one of my classes. Turns out he was the same major and year as me (at a school of 15,000 undergrads), but had taken a year off for study abroad in England, which is why I didn''t know him. In January, he was randomly hired to work in the same lab as me, and became part of my group of friends. By that point my long-distance relationship was on the rocks, and we broke up in March. I told cute-guy-from-the-bus about seeing him on the airport bus back in September, and he said that day he had just flown back from visiting his then-girlfriend in England (they met during his study abroad). That relationship had "gone down in a flaming wreck" in February, so we were both recently single! We commiserated about our recently failed relationships late into the nights. Eventually we started dating, and have now been together for five years!

So I guess in a way we''re a rebound relationship, except for the fact that neither of us actually wanted anything to do with dating when we met. It just became obvious that we were much more compatible with each other than with the people we''d each been dating previously. Five years later, our relationship is great and going strong (except for this whole lack of proposal thing, of course...)