Nine years ago today Jody asked me to marry him! He didn't want it to be "typical" and on Valentines Day (which is also my birthday)...
Let's time warp back to October of 1998...my good friend was attending SEBTS and was invited by some new college friends to a Judgement House at Faith Baptist Church in Youngsville. She didn't really know anyone so she invited me to tag along. There was a large group of students and my first impression of Jody was not that great. I thought he was really annoying, he would not stop picking on me and I frankly was interested in one of his friends! He made fun of the way I talked (my Minnesota yankee accent), how many earrings I had in my ears (I had 5 in one ear and 3 in the other), how sarcastic I was and what and how I ate my food (I am a picky eater and have to eat things a certain way and a certain number at a time...another post). So after Judgement House we went out to dinner. When my friend and I got in the car to go home she handed me a piece of paper with "Jody 562-4138" and said to call him. Well, I was totally floored and said "why would I want to call him?" and "if he wants to talk to me he needs to call me!" I was an old fashioned kinda girl! He finally got up the nerve to call me in February (4 months later)!!! We talked on the phone and decided to see each other in a group setting. We both wanted to pray and see if God was leading us to each other, neither of us wanted to date until we knew it was "the one". We actually started "dating" in March of 1999, I knew right away he was the one, I believe he did too, it just took him a little while longer to admit it :-) My parents and both sets of grandparents have been married for decades, so the idea of marriage was the next step for me. However Jody had seen divorce in his own life a couple of times (his mom and dad) and the idea of marriage spooked him a little. He told me when we began dating that he would not get engaged until he had dated someone at least a year, so not expect it until at least then!
Fast forward to February 13, 2000...Jody had called me that afternoon and asked me to come over after church that evening to watch a movie at his next door neighbor's apartment (one of our good friends). When I got there I knew something was up (a friend peeked out the window) and when I walked in there were about 35 people (including our good friends from Greensboro) there for a surprise birthday party for me! Jody had planned the whole thing, complete with a birthday cake, party hats, noise makers, streamers, candy hearts and balloons! We had so much fun, had a water gun fight, ate cake and played video games (I know so mature). It was getting late and everyone started going home because we all had class the next morning. Jody called and asked me to come over so he could give me his present, I hadn't even noticed that he had slipped back to his apartment! When I opened the door there he was on one knee (with just a few of our close friends) and asked me to be his wife! I was shocked and said "are you serious" like 5 times before he pulled the ring out and I answered "yes"! Apparently the party was a cover for the actual proposal. When I look back I realize Jody had avoided me the entire night and there were so many people there I didn't realliy notice :-( The funny thing was that Jody (like a gentleman) called my dad and asked if he would give his blessing, so when I called my parents to tell them my dad said "I know" and my mom was shocked!!! 6 months later August 19, 2000 we were married!!!
I have some pictures somewhere, if I find them I'll post them!
Let's time warp back to October of 1998...my good friend was attending SEBTS and was invited by some new college friends to a Judgement House at Faith Baptist Church in Youngsville. She didn't really know anyone so she invited me to tag along. There was a large group of students and my first impression of Jody was not that great. I thought he was really annoying, he would not stop picking on me and I frankly was interested in one of his friends! He made fun of the way I talked (my Minnesota yankee accent), how many earrings I had in my ears (I had 5 in one ear and 3 in the other), how sarcastic I was and what and how I ate my food (I am a picky eater and have to eat things a certain way and a certain number at a time...another post). So after Judgement House we went out to dinner. When my friend and I got in the car to go home she handed me a piece of paper with "Jody 562-4138" and said to call him. Well, I was totally floored and said "why would I want to call him?" and "if he wants to talk to me he needs to call me!" I was an old fashioned kinda girl! He finally got up the nerve to call me in February (4 months later)!!! We talked on the phone and decided to see each other in a group setting. We both wanted to pray and see if God was leading us to each other, neither of us wanted to date until we knew it was "the one". We actually started "dating" in March of 1999, I knew right away he was the one, I believe he did too, it just took him a little while longer to admit it :-) My parents and both sets of grandparents have been married for decades, so the idea of marriage was the next step for me. However Jody had seen divorce in his own life a couple of times (his mom and dad) and the idea of marriage spooked him a little. He told me when we began dating that he would not get engaged until he had dated someone at least a year, so not expect it until at least then!
Fast forward to February 13, 2000...Jody had called me that afternoon and asked me to come over after church that evening to watch a movie at his next door neighbor's apartment (one of our good friends). When I got there I knew something was up (a friend peeked out the window) and when I walked in there were about 35 people (including our good friends from Greensboro) there for a surprise birthday party for me! Jody had planned the whole thing, complete with a birthday cake, party hats, noise makers, streamers, candy hearts and balloons! We had so much fun, had a water gun fight, ate cake and played video games (I know so mature). It was getting late and everyone started going home because we all had class the next morning. Jody called and asked me to come over so he could give me his present, I hadn't even noticed that he had slipped back to his apartment! When I opened the door there he was on one knee (with just a few of our close friends) and asked me to be his wife! I was shocked and said "are you serious" like 5 times before he pulled the ring out and I answered "yes"! Apparently the party was a cover for the actual proposal. When I look back I realize Jody had avoided me the entire night and there were so many people there I didn't realliy notice :-( The funny thing was that Jody (like a gentleman) called my dad and asked if he would give his blessing, so when I called my parents to tell them my dad said "I know" and my mom was shocked!!! 6 months later August 19, 2000 we were married!!!
I have some pictures somewhere, if I find them I'll post them!
3 comments:
I remember that night!! Jody kept calling me to come to his house and I was like an hour away! I said no and he ended up asking you! If he had told me that on the phone I would have been there!!
I hate I missed it! Oh well I was there for the wedding!
this is SOO cute!!! I had heard part of this story but not the whole thing!!! I hope you are doing well!
What a neat proposal! Happy Valentine's Day and Happy Birthday too!
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