Queen of His Double Wide Trailer

Four years ago today, B and I had our first date.

How exactly did we meet? I'm sure you are all just aching to hear this story (again?). Well...

B and I were both working in Houston at the same company. Neither one of us ever really thought we'd end up in Houston like that. B was supposed to be going to Law School, and I was supposed to be living in Missouri still.

Things happened, B changed his mind about law school and
I ended up moving having to move to Texas. So there we were. Young,
single, living with our parents, and working around a bunch of old
married people.

I had first heard about B (in late July) through his older brother, Mike. who also worked at the same company. Mike would often talk about his youngest brother, B, and his recent life experiences. Basically, Mike talked B up into this brawny, mountain-God, who liked to backpack in the Sierras and who had just finished living, working, and traveling in China for six months... by himself. I was in awe. AND B was going to be working there! I couldn't wait to meet this guy.

The first time I laid eyes on B, he was walking past me and speaking Chinese on his cell phone. Now, I know Chinese isn't the most romantic language in the world, but I was floored.... and very interested.

B ad the easy life. While I was working for a loan officer who insisted on yanking of his Rolex and sailing it across the room when his processor forgot to lock a loan or what not, B was working right outside my office alongside a much more calm loan officer. B's schedule allowed him to waltz in around 10pm and when he wasn't busy, he spent his time chatting with friends or surfing the net for airline tickets to attend weddings out west.

I tried my hardest to get B's attention... but he seemed to not be the least bit interested in me. I would wear skirts, or stretch my arms above my head in his presence so that my shirt lift up just a bit. Even the lame,"oops, I dropped my pen... let me bend over and pick it up" trick didn't seem to work.

Eventually, I started taking my afternoon break at the same time as him. We found ourselves sitting at different tables at the cafe downstairs - close enough so he knew I was there, but far enough away that we weren't "together". One day, a conversation started and one of us moved in closer. Next thing I know, we were sitting at the same table every afteroon.

We would talk about not having friends in the area and how great it would be to just go out with people and hang out. (I was like, yeah, come on... hint hint!) I even mentioned that a cheesy country music singer (Sammy Kershaw - "popular" in the mid-nineties) was going to be playing at a seedy country bar. I told him I thought it would be fun to go but I didn't want to go alone. He just nodded and didn't take the hint AT ALL!

Later that week, we were sending emails back and forth. I emailed him the lyrics to the Sammy Kershaw song,Queen of My Double Wide Trailer and said, "Now doesn't that sound tempting? How could you not go?"

Apparently, that was all it took . I got a response back asking if I wanted to grab a bite to eat before hand! I was giddy. But I still wasn't sure if it was a "date" or if it was just friends.

We picked up the tickets to the "concert" before dinner. I pulled out my wallet and he said, "No, Let me." That is when I knew. It WAS a date! He was shelling out $20 a pop to see some washed-out country music singer with me! .. and he didn't even like country music!

8 months later, we moved to China together.

10 Months after that... he proposed.

11 months after the proposal, we were
married in Hawaii.