How I came to Marry A....

Never in a million years did I ever think that I would marry a military man. I always said I could never be a military wife because I would always be afraid of losing my husband overseas or never getting to see him due to deployments. I always imagined I would end up with a music guy or really anything but a marine.

The first time I ever saw my husband was through a picture on my friend's cell phone. I immediately pointed Quinten out and said "Wow he's so cute!" She promptly took her phone back and said, "Sorry but he's mine." You see, her brother was a marine as well and while visiting him, she had met Quinten, who happened to be one of her brother's friends. I told her, "Don't worry about me, I promise you I will never marry a military man. No thank you. I can't handle deployments or the constant fear of losing someone."

We went on with our lives after that conversation for the next year or so. Prom came quickly approaching. This was my senior year of high school and I was so excited to see what it held. Quinten came in his marine uniform with my friend. I got to know Quinten throughout the night after my friend introduced us. I tried to stay away from him because I am a respectful person but my friend encouraged us to get to know each other. Later that night, due to circumstances that are not my place to say, Quinten and my friend broke up.

I did not think that I would hear from Quinten again due to the breakup but a few months later, I got a message on Facebook asking if I knew what the "After school App" was. I told him, "Honestly, I have heard of it but I do not know much about it." That was the start of our friendship.

I was determined not to date him due to him previously dating my friend, so I informed him that we would only ever be friends because I couldn't possibly do that to my friend. We would talk for hours at a time and get so close to wanting to be more than friends but I would always stop it because I didn't want to hurt my friend. This response went on for about a year and a half of me constantly saying no and refuting my feelings.

Finally, I admitted that I had feelings for him and felt that I had waited long enough to start dating him. I told him that "I was ready and with that we started our relationship."

We dated for 6 months before actually being able to see each other again in person. This was because I was a full time college student and he was in the marines so he couldn't exactly just come and see me on a whim. When he got new orders that he would be stationed in 29 Palms, CA, we decided we would take the month he had between stations to spend together.

On the day I was finally getting to reunite with him, I anxiously awaited the time to leave campus. My best friend's drove me to the mall in Wichita, KS where I would meet up with him. I was so excited I could hardly wait. When we arrived, I didn't see his vehicle so, I texted him that we were there. He said he was stuck in traffic so we decided to run in to the lady's room. When I came out the doors and was looking for him, I didn't see him. He was hiding behind one of the walls to where I couldn't see him and came out and surprised me. I ran up and jumped into his arms and didn't let go for a while. Then, we all went out to eat some pizza.

Afterwards, Quinten and I set off for Missouri. This is where we would spend the next three weeks. We were very happy to be together again at last. We spent those weeks spending time together, going to the mall, concerts, ice skating, amusement parks, and I also got to know his parents better. It didn't take me long to realize that I was going to marry this man.

After Missouri, we traveled to my hometown so he could meet my parents. There, he got to know them and ended up asking for permission to marry me. When they said yes, I was so excited and so was he.

In Missouri, he let me know that he had just received word that he would be deploying in the Spring. While I was sad to hear he was going, I understood and we talked about what we wanted to do for the future. We decided that we wanted to get married before deployment because we believed it would be in our best interest. At this point, he still hadn't proposed, but we had already started planning.

After we said our goodbyes, and he set out for 29 Palms, I longed to see him again. I told him we should figure out a time soon to see each other again. Fortunately, we were able to see each other just after Christmas. He kept hinting that he was going to propose on the Ocean but he actually ended up proposing in Disneyland right by the castle. I had no idea but was excited to say yes.

We ended up planning our wedding for March 4th, 2018. We got married in a beautiful barn just outside of Wichita. It was simple and beautiful. I loved everything about the wedding. It was everything that I had ever dreamed of. However, the best part of that day was marrying the man of my dreams!

After our wedding, we flew to California where we spent the next two weeks together. Unfortunately, that was all the time we were able to spend together before he left for deployment. Stay tuned to my blog for a story on how we handled deployment as newlyweds.