Our Love Story - The Shirley Journey

Not our first date, but very close. Look at these babies back in February 2007!

A couple of years ago, I told the story of our first date. You can go back and read the whole thing if you'd like, but I'll sum it up pretty quick. It was about eight hours long and our second and third dates followed the next two days. On Feb 11th, we'll celebrate (not that we actually celebrate, maybe acknowledge) that we've been together for 9 years. That's a long time these days.

I know several people that I went to high school with that have already married, divorced, and are in a long term relationship again (some even remarried). I know I've been out of school for almost 12 years now, but still. Something about that is extremely sad to me. Marriage can be hard. I get it. But I think too many people hop into a marriage without realizing what it's going to be and what it's supposed to be.

What I don't think I really talked about too much in our first date post was that Tom and I were each coming out of bad relationships or were hung up on the last one. When our friends tried to set us up around New Year's Eve 2006, I had no desire to do anything. I preferred to spend my evening crying and sleeping in a bedroom at my mom's house. Who does that?!? In mid-January, I finally took my friend up on a group gathering (knowing it was a poorly attempted set-up) and even though Tom and I didn't talk at all in that group setting, I did ask for his AIM screen name and we eventually hit it off.

We fought quite a bit because I'm a crazy person who just wanted this guy to love me and he was so stinkin' closed off. It actually took him over two years to finally say those magic words we all long to hear. I told him after just a few months because I was so absolutely sure. He used to say something along the lines of “Why do I have to say it? You know I do.” Oh man… silly boys… I guess I stayed not only because I loved him, but because I knew that he really did love me, even if he couldn't say it.

Now, for some crazy things about our love story:

My mother-in-law babysat me when I was an itty bitty baby before I started at daycare.
His best friend is one of my best friend's brother.
Every time we went to a certain pizza place growing up, my mother would say “That's Ms. Sue. She used to babysit you when you were a baby.” She managed the pizza place for many, many years.
My best friend's sister is married to his brother.
Before they ^^ got married, there was a small gathering at a bar (that I was too young to be in at the time). Tom was there and bought drinks for me and my bestie. That was about 6 months before our first date.
I told my BFF that I was going to marry him before we even went on our first date. Except… it was sent via AIM and I had the wrong box opened up and it sent to Tom.
We got married on a Monday, 8.9.10.

Our love has only grown stronger after having kids. I know it's harder to make time for us, but when we do, I think it's more meaningful because of everything we've been through.

Tom and Christina Beaches Turks & Caicos

We caught some alone time to relax while we were at Beaches back in October!

On those occasions that we get time to ourselves, I'm always down for a movie night. That often means a movie on the TV through one of the many streaming services we use, but every now and then, I love to see a movie in theater and really make it a date night. If you're like me and love a good romantic story, you know that the new Nicholas Sparks movie, The Choice, is coming to theaters on February 5th!

This movie is about making difficult choices of the heart to find your destiny and perfect match. That's really what it's all about, right? Finding your perfect match. Not the perfect person, because there is no such thing, but the perfect match for you! And don't worry, the scenery will be beautiful because like many other Nicholas Sparks stories, the setting is coastal Carolina!