our story | part 1

we truly "met" over a coffee date. it was a long coffee date, that included a long walk, and many shared interests that were developing months before we even knew we were interested in each other. greatest coffee date ever. But a friendship starts before that. Some of you are very familiar with our story. Some of you aren't. Some know all the details, some only a few. So let me fill in the gaps, and remember some of the greatest months of my life. If you're up for it, read on....
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My freshman year of college at Northwestern was marked by being busy. I was playing volleyball, spending more time at the gym or on a bus than anything else, and when I wasn't doing that, I was managing about 3 separate friend groups... each semester. Trying to find my place. 

At that time a friendship was being formed. One that I didn't know about yet. It's Fall of my freshman year, 2006. My very good friend (since kindergarten!), Nick, had taken a work study job within the athletic department at NWC doing some broadcasting and statistics for the volleyball games. His desk mate was this guy named Jared Johnson - and these two were a bit intimidated by each other at first... each thinking the other was this hot-shot on campus, both trying to impress their boss, and not really knowing how to act together. After a few games, it was made obvious that Nick knew me. He talked about me, he greeted my parents, and from what I hear, this made Jared even more intimidated, as he had noticed me. As they worked more and more together, (and Nick continued to try and correct Jared on how to pronounce my last name...)friendship began to form.
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Volleyball takes up a large part of the "pie graph" of my life. It was a passion. A lifestyle for me. An emotional feeling every time I stepped onto the court. Heck, every time I even look at at a net I get a surge of memories and emotion. Jared says that in those games and moments he watched me play while he was broadcasting, he was drawn to me. My passion for my game, my joy when I was playing, my joy when I was cheering on the sideline, my competitiveness... he says there was something about the way in which he was "introduced" to me (watching me live my passion) that made him know he wanted to get to know me. All of this he thought silently...
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Months went by. About 6 to be exact. I continued to float around friend groups, be busy, and have no clue who Jared was. Around March, I met this girl named Toni - who had an established mixed friend group - and we hit it off fast and furious. I melded into this group like it was my job. I was with these friends 18 hours a day, practically. Toni, Skyler, Sydney & Ashley. And the guys? Well, their names were Nick, Jared, and Ryan. :) God knew.

But let's backtrack first. One day, I walked into the dorm building to see my new best friend studying with this guy. And he was..... bald. Completely bald. Yep, freshly shaved head shinin' in the light of day. Of course I went over to talk to Toni, and she introduced me to Jared. A friend from one of her classes that also "..was, like, best friends, with Nick, Sky! You know Nick, right?!?" Nick. Of course I did, and anyone that is friends with Nick, I can be friends with. Now, from what I hear, this was thee moment Jared had been waiting for for like, 6 months. To be introduced to me. And we later laughed over how ironic it was that God chose that moment - right after Jared had, on a whim with some guys, bicked his head. Makes you chuckle a little bit over God having some fun with teenage relationships. :)

My memory is a bit foggy over the details of this interaction, but I do remember one thing. One thing Jared probably wishes I didn't remember. I got a pickup line. Toni laughed, Jared tensely laughed, I laughed - probably only because I thought it was unbelievable he just did that, and he was cute, even with with a shaved head... and as funny as it is to say; that's how I first was introduced to my husband. With a bald head and a pickup line. 

This group continued to grow... we spent as much time as we could all together, and my memories of my spring semester of my freshman year of college go untouched in my mind as some of the happiest days of my life. Big statement, but it's true. And within that bigger group, a more intentional relationship began to form.....
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part II coming soon.