.our love story . part three.

Oh, the days of college. We were both still very young and learning who we were. I struggled with insecurity, and Leslie (who grew up with brothers only) struggled with how to deal with the fragile emotions of a female. We would fight over the dumbest things (who doesn't in the early years) and not speak to each other for sometimes days at a time, but we were always proud of the fact that we never broke up, no matter how difficult things seemed at the time. We always kept the mindset that we were made for each other, and we gradually worked through all the petty insecurities.

We got engaged on our 10-month anniversary. Leslie took me to a mountain around sunset because he knew it was my favorite time of the day. I totally knew it was the night he was going to propose, so I planned an outfit to wear that I wouldn't mind getting engaged in. It was a sleeveless black turtleneck and jeans. :-) I remember we were on a flat rock that looked out over scenery for miles. He got down on one knee and I cried when he asked me.

Leslie graduated from college a semester before I did, and he got a job selling cars at a Chevy dealership in his hometown. That last semester without him was sad for me. I was lonely and basically went through the motions of going to class, doing homework, etc. until the day came for me to graduate. I don't remember much from that last semester. Only that I lived for weekend visits with Leslie.

After I graduated, I lived with my sister and her husband for about 6 months while Leslie and I planned our wedding. Our second year of dating/being engaged was a tough one for us. That's about the time when the "new" wore off and, even though we loved each other no matter what, we fought a lot. I think we were both trying to turn each other into the person we wanted each other to be, instead of learning to adapt to each others' needs.

Time went by, we grew up a little more, and on August 12, 2006, after almost 3 years together, we finally became Mr. and Mrs. in a small(ish) church that we attended in college. The budget was tight, and I was happy with the shabby/french country look we were able to achieve with the decor.

{September3, 2004 - The night we got engaged}

To be continued...