Story of Us - His Part 3

Finally!

He has finally finished his side of our story. (With Editorial Corrections and Comments in Red!)


I know, I was supposed to have this written ages ago but something happened; call it life, call it procrastination call it what you like but I finally got round to my final installment. (I call it laziness, if you're asking)

So I’m back on my way to America for two weeks, again I could have done anything else with my time. I could have gone to one of the 4 places I was originally going to (bragging yet again!), I could have actually started my new job and trained with the rest of my colleagues from the other company but no…. I chose to get on a plane and go back to see this girl I had left less than two weeks earlier. And anyway I have my training planned for my return.

I land in Orlando again and negotiate customs and immigration with no problems this time and as I walk through to the lounge area there she is, at least she was there to meet me this time, so we get my bags, head back to the car and start the journey to Jacksonville. This time was more like a vacation with Cassie showing me more touristy things such as the parks in Orlando, St. Augustine etc. of course there were more places to eat and I had to buy as many reeses (Reese's Cups were not in the UK at this point. I couldn't believe it the first time I heard this news. I said "Geez Reese's Cups are like their own food group over here!") as I could fit in my case to go back with, but on the whole I was on vacation this time and took it pretty easy. Two weeks later I head back to England to start my new job and prepare for Cassie’s trip over, Cassie at this point had booked a flight over to England and would be there for Valentine’s day, which suited me but I was a single guy living with my house mate Matt and the place was not exactly ready for female visitors. The next couple of weeks saw me getting into my new job, attempting to clean the house and generally just doing what I do.

So the day arrives and Cassie calls me en route to England, Heathrow is about 2 ½ hours from my house and she is due to land at 10pm so I have plenty of time to take care of my day before I have to set off, but I get to the airport at just the time her flight is due to land, there’s no point being early as she has to go through immigration and she took a US laden flight so it would be a while before she got through to where I was waiting. At the airport I got talking to a guy who was there to pick someone up and he told me the flight was running around 30 mins late. This turned into an hour and they finally landed at just after 11pm. (We were EARLY to London. They made us circle Heathrow for who knows how long before landing. BUT, I actually told him the flight was due to land at 10:55. That put us right on time!) She came through the doors into the waiting/pick up area and walked straight past me, AWESOME I’m that memorable! I called her and she turned round still not seeing me so I waived and she came over, everyone says our daughter looks like me so now all she has to do is hold Georgia up in front of her and check her face against the ones in the crowd. We kissed (obviously) and headed back to my car, she went to get in the wrong side and I asked if she really wanted to drive on the wrong side of the road the first time in England after such a long journey, she made some comment and sat in the passenger side.

The journey home was pretty straightforward as we don’t have all the eateries and things off the side of the road like they do here, but at one point Cassie did ask me why there were houses in the middle of the road and who would chose to live in the middle of a busy highway. I looked over to the central reservation and asked what she meant, no houses that I could see, she said “right there, there’s houses in the middle of the road”, I laughed and pointed out of my side of the car and said “that’s the middle of the road, see the cars over there going the other way”?, she made some comment and I laughed, it was dark so I’ll give her the benefit of a long days travelling and the dark. (Forget long days, traveling and dark, I was in a country driving on the WRONG side of the road! I'd never seen anything like it! Ever!)

Now here we are in England in February, if you’ve never been to England at that time of year it’s cold and wet and daylight is not very long, but I have plans and one of them involves something Cassie wanted to do… I asked what she wanted to do in her 5-6 days in England, her response nearly had me leaving her at the airport, she actually said she wanted to go to Paris!! (Trips to Europe, that's what the kids want. 22 countries in 3 days. {extra points if you can name the movie [except Casey!] } Forgive me for wanting to do it all. I'm American for crying out loud. I didn't realize all the underlying hatred between the French and English! ) Are you kidding me, here we have this entire country with so much to see and do (which we still have not done! Even with all our visits to England.) especially for someone who has never even stepped foot in it and she wants to go to France, not London, not see the country, FRANCE!! So being the nice bloke I am, I say nothing to her and book a hotel and tickets for the Eurostar to get us there. I tell her to this day, I’ve taken you once so any more trips are yours to take on your own. Not that I’m Xenophobic (???? Show off with your big words) you understand but there is a mutual dislike of French and English.

We are in Paris over Valentine’s day, you have to impress a girl right? and I have this ring with me which has very specific planning surrounding it’s being given. The idea was we would take a walk down the banks of the river Seine and at midnight I would propose, I mean, Paris at midnight on Valentine’s day who can say no? so we go out for a meal and take the Metro downtown to Notre Dame, we get off and walk around the cathedral before crossing the bridge and walking down the other side. Now remember I told you it was cold and miserable in England in February, well Paris is no different, it was FREEZING! Cassie has a cold (read FLU!) and we are walking with a wind blowing round us down the banks of the Seine and after a while I can’t feel my legs, Cassie is complaining (I was sick with the flu and he had me out at midnight, walking along a river, in the freezing cold. And for the record, I wasn't complaining, just freezing) and at 11:45 I give up and we look for a Metro station. We finally find one and head back to our hotel with me thinking “this girl has no stamina”.

The next day we grab the pastries and drinks from the hotel café and eat breakfast in our room (we did that every day of our stay there) (OMG the pastries! I want to go back just for the pastries!!) then head off to see the sights. Cassie is a big believer in jumping on sightseeing busses (travel trip ~ get a 48 hour pass on a sightseeing bus that lets you hop on and off. You can see everything from the bus the first go round and make notes on where you want to stop. On the second go round stop at the sights you wanted to take a closer look at. You don't miss a thing!) so we catch a taxi to the Eiffel tower and start from there. As we are standing underneath the tower I ask if she wants to go up, I’m thinking we can get to the top and I can propose there (Tom Cruise stole my idea for his proposal to Katie), the lines are pretty short and we can see Paris from the top. She says no she doesn’t feel like it and can we just catch a bus? (Again, I had the FLU! I said, "do you think it's a good idea for me to be going to the top with all that wind and it being so cold when I am sick" and he said "good point") GREAT! We walk to the bus stop just down street and jump on a sightseeing bus and travel round Paris on that, she’s not feeling great I later find out so we stay on the bus, no jumping off at the Louvre, no walk down the Champs Elyse, just riding a bus. By now I’m thinking I’ll be proposing at some Metro station or on the train back home, we finally get to the stop across the river from Notre Dame and grab a hot chocolate at the café there before crossing the river to the island the cathedral is on. We go for a walk round the inside to try and warm up a bit and there is a full on service going on! Back outside I decide that if I don’t pull this ring out now I never will, I had been carrying it round with me since last night and she still hadn’t caught on I had it nor had she got it on her finger. I say something about spending the rest of our lives together and she says something agreeable (sorry I can’t remember exactly what was said, something to do with nerves) and then I pull the ring out and say “so that means you’ll wear this and marry me then”. She looks at the ring for what seemed like a long time and I say “is that a yes or no” I mean you do hear stories of girls saying no at the wrong time. She just looks at me say’s “yes, yes,yes,YES” and I put the ring on. The ring was a labour of love in itself, I had researched the 3 c’s of Diamonds and found a jeweler clear across the country (OK ~ this is especially funny for me. He said he traveled all the way across the country to get my ring. I couldn't believe it! I was so impressed so I asked "How long did that take you?" and he answered "3 hours". Wait, What? 3 hours? I could travel for 3 hours and not even leave my state! It would take 3 DAYS to go across our country!) from me who custom made the ring and setting and put the specific cut of diamond in it which I found out beforehand is Cassie’s favourite cut.

So I finally did it, I finally proposed to her in Paris on Valentine’s day albeit not how I wanted to. We leave back for England the next day and the rest of her time here is spent visiting family and friends, on the Friday I have to go to a meeting so I arrange for my parents to pick Cassie up and take her out for the day which they did, they took her to the beach! Still they had a great day and they got to know each other pretty well. (If you've never heard me talk about my in-laws let me just say they are the best. I haven't met anyone that has in-laws like mine. They really are cream of the crop and I am so lucky to have them! You hear so many horror stories of in-laws and we certainly don't always see eye to eye but we are respectful in our very very very few and limited disagreements. I think they know I love their son very much and they treat me with respect because of it. I think they have raised a truly remarkable man and therefore I have no choice but to respect them! They are wonderful people and I am just as in love with them as I am the Englishman!)

5 weeks after Cassie’s trip to England, we arrange to meet up in New York, Cassie’s favourite city (sorry all the rest of the cities), for the weekend. I fly out Friday afternoon and we meet up at JFK and catch a taxi to our hotel. Cassie shows me the sights and places she likes to visit as she used to live there, it’s a very touristy week-end and too soon we are back at JFK waiting for our flights home. In less than 3 weeks I will be flying to Florida to get married so back home I get ready to leave my life behind and start a new one in the US. The day comes and my dad picks me up from my house to take me to the airport, it’s a trip he will be making with my mum, sister, niece and brother-in-law the next day. I get to Jacksonville and here I am, England and everything I had is now behind me, my family are flying in the next day and everything they can fit in their cases that is mine is all I can bring with me.

It’s been a truly whirlwind 5 months in which time I have gone from confirmed bachelor with all the toys I wanted to this guy whose madly in love with this American, and only has what can be brought over in 2 suitcases and whatever room was in my families. For the record, you cannot fit Ducati motorcycles, bass guitars or awesome stereos in suitcases but you make choices in life and I definitely made the right one when I married this girl. (Awww, how sweet. And I concur!)

Jason's Part 2

This is Jason's Part 2 of our story. I have to admit, this really touched my heart. I hope you enjoy as much as I did.

Pt 2.

The idea for me was to write the first one and then write enough to let Cassie put one entry a week on her blog, but she had a different idea, like a typical editor she wanted more and sooner….. I won!! So here’s part 2 of my side probably with more editorial comments, enjoy…

So here we are in the airport and she has FINALLY showed up and taken my opportunity to have a week in Orlando away, so we make our way to the car and the first thing I notice about America is just how warm it is in December, now let’s be fair I have never stepped foot in the country so didn’t know what to expect but to me this was warm. On the way to the car my phone decides to pick-up a signal and just as we get to the car I get a message telling me that Cassie is running late and she’s really sorry, it’s from her but thanks to modern technology it arrives after she does she may as well have sent a postcard. So we get to the car and start to make out way out of the airport and I decide I will call Chris my mate back home. As we drive out of the parking garage onto the mean streets I look over to Cassie and just keep looking, I know she says I don’t take a good photo but she does and she looks just as good sitting next to me so most of the journey back to Jacksonville is spent just looking at her. To let you know how much attention I wasn’t paying to the road Cassie was on the phone to her friend Wendy when we drove onto a bridge, and this wasn’t just a small bridge, this thing was long and had no warning of coming up so I look round to see we’re just getting onto this bridge and say something in the form of an exclamation which makes her laugh, she tells Wendy and she laughs. The next part that Cassie decides to tell everyone about me is when we have to stop for gas along I95, she asks if I’m hungry and I could go for a bite to eat so she pulls off the highway and asks if I like Taco Bell, I have no idea as we don’t have Taco Bell in England but Taco’s are Mexican and I like Mexican food so she drives through Taco Bell to get us some Taco’s which makes me exclaim “a drive through Mexican, BRILLIANT” she finds that funny enough to tell people to this day. Then she pulls into the gas station next door and tells me to go ahead and start eating. After filling up and getting back in the car to find me with taco over my face exclaiming “ these things are Brilliant” which makes her laugh again as how can someone get so excited over Taco Bell, all I remember thinking was “I’m going to like this place”.

The rest of the drive home was pretty uneventful, not that I would know otherwise as I spent it looking at her the whole time. ( I know pass the bucket, but we had got to know each other very well having never even kissed until earlier that day and that is an awesome thing to build a relationship on).

So we get back to her place and I am so tired I just have to sleep but I have this present for her that the guy at Orlando Airport let me keep, and keep wrapped, so I have to unpack first in order to get it out of my suitcase. We stay up for a while and it’s only when I start to fall asleep that we call it day. The next day Cassie takes me to her office to meet her family and get through the Spanish Inquisition, not really true because as everyone knows – “No one expects the Spanish Inquisition, their greatest element is Surprise…….”. Thankfully she rescues me and takes me to a bar-b-que place for dinner (I’m still English and it’s still Breakfast, Dinner and Tea), Cassie has already gone through the rigmarole that ensued in Bono’s and to be honest I very nearly turned into the English tourist who shouts very slowly at the locals in the knowledge that this will make them understand what you are talking about. It’s funny how everyone apparently spoke the same language but the waitress and me needed Cassie as a translator, I’ll put that down to being in the South as this still happens to this day. The funny part is I have had to slow my speech down and really take care of my pronunciation to the degree my friends back in England now think I’m a hick! And there are still people I meet or talk to every day who can’t understand me, Drive throughs are fun, and Dollywood can be hilarious! But anyway I managed to get what I wanted without acting it out because really how do you act out toilet activities to get your question across?

Lunch was unbelievable and the rest of my time over here was spent mostly being shown off to her family and eating everything possible, a bit like a travelling Zoo animal really with a lot more translation. We did go and pick Christian up from his dad’s one day and go to the Alligator place in St. Augustine for the day, I remember Cassie driving to a Krispy crème and getting a box of 12 doughnuts which Christian did a bloody good job of devouring when he got in the car, all I remember thinking is she tells me this kid has ADHD and she’s giving him sugar covered doughnuts this could get interesting.

Now I had a short haircut when we met and Cassie had a military ID card so she was paying and trying to get us the military discount when I open my mouth and ask if we can go into the gift shop to look around while she pays, there went the military discount. My mouth gets me into trouble on a regular basis and Cassie has found this out to her detriment on many occasions. Anyway we get in and have a very good day and Christian and me get along very well which could be the only time we did as very shortly afterward I married his mum.

On the day of my flight back to England we knew the day would end with us apart and neither of us really wanted it to come but we both had lives to get back to so it was inevitable. We stopped by her office to say bye to everyone and for Cassie to check on a couple of things before leaving, I took this time to ask her dad for his permission to get engaged in February when Cassie came over and he looked like he was going to cry, I’m sure there are still times when my marrying his daughter makes him cry for entirely different reasons, he called Cassies mum Faye over and told her what I had just asked and she hugged me hard and did cry just a little. They asked if I was moving her to England or if I would be moving here, I explained we hadn’t got that far but we would sort that out when the time was right.

We took our time getting down to Orlando and spent as much time as possible just being together before I had to go through passport control and back to the gate. At the gate I felt I just had to call her so I found a quiet corner, not easy at an airport gate in Orlando with a flight full of Kids and parents running round, but I called her and fantastically got her voicemail so I left a message telling her how much I had fallen in love with her and how I couldn’t wait for her to come over to England in February only 5 weeks away, I mean really, how sad had I become! I got on the plane not having heard from Cassie and knowing it would be at least a day before I could talk to her again.

The flight back was cruel, I got sick and spent the first part of the flight throwing up, my seat was next to an exit door but it was the door that has the slide packed in it so I had about 6” of legroom, major uncomfortable and can’t eat, not the best way to spend 8 hours of your life I can assure you butI got home and thankfully my dad was there to pick me up as it’s not the best idea to land at 6am and have to drive 3 hours home.

Then it was back to reality and life as I had left it, I had a meeting the day after landing that meant me getting up at 5am to drive “down South” for the day to start the year off with motivational stuff for the agents, 2005 was going to be a very good year for me. The next day after the weekly meeting for my team I get a call from my boss who tells me to meet him the next day, this does not sound good so on the way home I call Cassie and tell her what is going on and promise to keep her informed.

The meeting with my boss is not a good one, the company has gone bankrupt for a ridiculous reason and such a small sum of money I could have written a cheque for it myself, but after meeting my boss, Jeff, I call Cassie – here I am just having lost my job and I’m making transatlantic phone calls. I tell her it’s not good news but ask her if she could put up with me for two weeks, the funny thing is when I was leaving Florida my Brother-in-law Mark told me if I really liked this girl I would be back sooner than I thought, I did think he was nuts at the time because it takes a day just to get here so it’s not like I could fly over for the week-end or something, but here I was less than one week after leaving making plans to fly back.

I booked the flight back when I got home and prepared to spend another 2 weeks with this girl who had completely knocked me for six when I met her for the first time less than two weeks earlier. Jeff had arranged for the top people under his management to join another company and before flying out we all met with one of the directors of this new company who gave us a very promising introduction to them, we all left feeling very good about it but the training was going to take place whilst I was away so we made arrangements to get me trained upon my return.

The next day I was on my way back to the airport for my return to Florida and this girl who made me cry when we parted company last time….

Happy Anniversary with His Part 1

6 years ago today I married my love.

I have posted my version of our love story and would highly encourage you to read it!

In honor of our anniversary I will post "his version" of our story. To make sure no tales are told (and because some things may need a little translating) I will be giving you my commentary in red. I hope you enjoy!

And before I forget - Happy Anniversary Jason! May the next 6 years be only somewhat like the last 6 years. (I'm not going to lie - moving countries, blending families, speaking the same yet different languages - the first couple of years has been really tough and I hope not to repeat some of our mistakes!!)

They say there are two sides to every story, her version and the right one. (already starting off bad! I'm gonna get him!) With this in mind I felt I had to tell the other side of “our story”.

I was a very happy bloke living the single life with not a care in the world. I had my own house, was driving a Porsche and had my Ducati living in the kitchen so it would stay warm and dry in the winter months. (He has always been a bit of a bragger - but I'm not editing him so just bear with it!) I was a successful area manager for a decent sized mortgage broker and loved every part of the life I had, well who wouldn’t. My weeks consisted of working hard and my week-ends (or weekend for us Americans) were spent being a bachelor, hanging out with my friends and family. I played bass in a band so some weekends were spent rockin’ out. (Is this where I should tell you I asked him to get a pedicure with me and as we were sitting in the chairs he told me I was ruining his rock-n-roll image?) Basically life was pretty bloody good and I didn’t need anything or anyone else disrupting the status quo. Funny how both sides are the same at this point.

One Friday evening I was driving home and I called my housemate (roommate to us Americans. Funny how the English are so proper. Jason says "But we never shared a ROOM, we shared a HOUSE) Matt to see what he was doing, he was at home for the evening so I stopped at Asda (a large supermarket, think Walmart) (It's not like Walmart - it is owned by Walmart, so it's Walmart in England) and bought a Pizza and a case of beer, a case being 24 cans. (Does he think we don't know what a case is? Seriously, I may not drink beer but I know how it's sold!) I always did on Fridays but the pizza was bigger if Matt was home and the beer ran out faster. When I got home Matt was playing an online multi-player game, like most nights, and I noticed there were all these pop-ups coming up so I asked him what they were as it was my computer and pop-ups are not usually good. He said they were just people he was talking to, no problem so I went to get me some beer and pizza. The weekend went like any other, meeting mates down the pub, seeing my parents, my sister and niece etc. On Monday I got back from work at around 11pm as usual and Matt was again on the computer playing games and chatting to people all over the world on these pop-ups. He said I should get online and get into some of these chatrooms etc. I thought about it the next day and when I got home the computer was free so I jumped on and checked a couple of places out.

I found a couple of websites and put my basic info in to see what would come back, no photos because people with photos in their websites/profiles are just sadders (??? Jerk!) who try too hard, besides I’m not trying to sell myself I’m just seeing what all the fuss is about that keeps Matt up until all hours of the night. The next day I got online and amazingly there were messages for me, so I flicked through them and deleted a lot but some caught my eye so I sent a couple of messages back to those who weren’t desperate sounding, those who appeared to be online just chatting to people. One I didn’t delete and did reply back to was this girl in America who mentioned her sister a lot, which seemed odd (my sister is my best friend and was the driving force behind me going online) but she wasn’t pretentious or after a husband so she fit the bill and I left her a message. A couple of days later we were both online at the same time so started chatting. More than a couple of hours later I said I had to go as it was late and I told her we could chat if we were on at the same time again.

The next day I didn’t get on as I got home at 11pm and Matt was playing games, but I was trading my Porsche in for another car in the morning so we went out for a last ride in the car, we got it to 155mph which Matt recorded and on the return put the top down but it only got to 136. (More bragging.... Sorry!) We got home and I went to bed and left Matt playing. The next day I got online and there she was, this odd (??? - Jerk!) Yank (??? - I'm from the South! He doesn't get it, South = Southerns, North = Yankees, why is this so difficult? Oh and is this is the place where I tell you we got into an argument one time and he called me a Yank which made me laugh cause, according to him, I was. Was it supposed to be an insult? So I just said, OOKKK Englishman!) who was fun to talk to. Well this went on for a couple of days and that week-end I asked if I could call her, I just had to hear her voice, (OK - that was sweet!) besides I can talk a lot faster than I can type so a 2 hour online chat could probably be done in 20 mins.

On Sunday afternoon I dialed this number and this girl answered who had this cool voice. I know Cassie says the conversation lasted 20 mins but it actually lasted 45 minutes, (I'm sure he's right about this.) I know because I got the bill. The first 20 mins did entail me talking a lot and her just making agreeable sounds, I later found out it took her 20 minutes to begin to start to understand me. There was a lot of going backwards and forwards with the whole “language” thing but only because Americans have decided to rename things and we got onto this whole thing about carts, buggies etc. at the end she told me she had to go as she had tickets to a football game, she meant “American” football not proper football (Oh jeez..... do we really have to get into this right now??) so we ended the call sorting that misnomer out. It actually turned out the game she went to see was the very game one of our national channels was showing that week, so I texted her to let her know the Jacksonville Tigers were being shown on TV in England, she text back it was the Jaguars, that’s how unimportant the game is in England, we don’t even care to get the names of the teams right.

As time went on we spent more time chatting both online and on the phone and I told her I was going to be away the week of Christmas through New Years, she asked where I was going and I told her I wanted to go to either New York, Berlin, Moscow or Cairo. I was in Berlin between the ages of 9 and 12 as my dad was in the RAF and I wanted to see it as a united city from an adults eyes, I have been to Cairo twice and love the place, I always wanted to go to Moscow and New York seemed to be a pretty cool place. She said New York would not be the best place (I LOVE New York - it is always the best place to be EXCEPT New Years. So stinkin busy!!) at that time of year and that Moscow and Berlin would probably be very cold and as I had already seen Cairo why didn’t I think about coming to Florida and she could show me the sights. (to be fair this is sort of the way it went. He suggested maybe he could come to Florida so that's why I said, yes, come on!) The next morning I got online and using my bank account benefits booked a flight to Orlando for Dec 26th, I know Cassie said Dec 27th (I'm pretty sure he's right! I think I got my dates muxed up.) but I remember it was boxing day and the flight was unbelievable cheap for the day after Christmas day. I called her and said “ guess what I’m just about to do. Cassie is not good at guessing games so she said something sarcastic, well as sarcastic as an American can, and I seriously thought about changing the flight to Cairo, but I remembered it was around 5am in Florida so just told her “when I press this button my flight to Orlando is booked” she seemed pretty happy with it so I hit the confirm and that was it, my Christmas holiday 2005 would be spent in Florida.

The next couple of weeks were spent with lots of Transatlantic phone calls, and hours and hours of IM chatting, I saw the sun come up most Saturday and Sunday mornings. Eventually Christmas day came and I spent it with my family as I have done every Christmas day up to that point. My bags were already packed and my dad had said he would drive me to Gatwick airport in the morning. My alarm was set for 5am and dad came to get me at 5:30. I called Cassie just after we left my house and I told her I would see her later that day, remember it was half past midnight for her and I would be on a plane when she was awake the next day (for her) so it was the last time we talked before I would get to see her in person. The drive down was uneventful, boxing day at 6am is not at all busy, and part of my bank account benefits included the first class lounge (More bragging.... will it ever end??) at the airport so I was OK with that. On the plane I was sitting next to an older couple in the row next to the emergency exit but my seat back wouldn’t lock upright so I was moved back a row, it was a three seat row with no other people in it, so again my flight over was spent laying down a lot watching movies and TV programs, all in all very relaxing.

On landing in Orlando I was able to get to the Immigration desk very quickly, as I said the flight was not even half full, and I managed to get through passport control (Immigration and Customs) with no fuss. I picked up my bag and headed for the toilets, sorry bathrooms, to wash my face and brush my teeth. At the other end of the hall is another desk where you can get your bag searched for contraband, I told the guy at the desk I had a present for my “girlfriend” and it was wrapped as I didn’t realize it wasn’t allowed to be, he was very nice and asked me about it, he was convinced it wasn’t anything illegal and after seeing the box, still wrapped, he told me next time to wrap it after I cleared customs. With that I jumped on the train to the main terminal and headed for baggage claim number 2. My bags came and I got them and decided to wait at the carousel so Cassie could find me when she got there, yes she wasn’t waiting for me when I came off the train. After a long time, I’m not sure exactly how long but EVERY passenger on my flight had cleared the airport, I decided to head out to see if Cassie was waiting at the wrong place, she wasn’t. After a while longer I started looking at the posters around the airport and thinking “well at least I can book into a cheap hotel and do the parks”. I went outside and walked down the drop off/pick up lane, nothing so I headed back inside to the carousel to find Cassie…. Still not there. If I had been stood up I was going to be very upset as I could be in Cairo or Moscow, and how easy would it be to get there now? After a couple more minutes I looked down to row of carousels and saw this female walking towards me looking a bit sheepish (what exactly is sheepish?), and more than a bit familiar. I picked up my bags and headed towards her, we stood there not really knowing what to say so I kissed her…..

Story of Us - Part 3

On February 9, 2005 I woke up really REALLY early. My flight to Washington D.C. left at 6:00 am and once in Washington I would have a short hour and a half layover. My flight to England left at 9:55 am. I was due to arrive in England at 9:55 pm. I had no idea this was actually a little unusual. Most transatlantic flights are overnight flights. I boarded the very small, only slightly bigger than a puddle jumper plane to Washington D.C. It was completely uncomfortable and even a little smelly. I was too excited to sleep, not that I would be able to anyway. I can never sleep on flights. I'm a little jealous of people that can. I wouldn't say the entire flight was miserable but it was very typical of the domestic flights we all get to experience from the cheap seats. The silver lining was I flew United and at the time United was serving Pepsi. And I do love me some Pepsi. Fun Fact: I will go to a restaurant with OK food just because they have a great ratio of syrup to soda water for the Mountain Dew. (Maybe I should rename that to Sad Fact)... Anyway, I got to Washington and made my way to the internationals gate. The flight boarded ahead of schedule. I got on the plane and oh my what a difference a destination makes. This flight was larger, of course, and the seats were bigger and more comfortable. There were TVs on the back of every headrest with tons of things to watch. We were going to be there for a while, 8 hours, so they did a really great job of keeping us entertained. Sad Fact: I was so naive about international flights that I went to Burger King in the airport and got a Whopper meal for the flight. I thought they treated all flights the same and they don't us on regular flights. Not only did they feed me, they fed me two meals and a snack! Not to mention all the drinks I could drink. So as they were closing the doors to the flight I realized there was no one sitting beside me. So I had 2 seats, which was the whole row on the side of the plane, to myself. It was heaven. FYI - domestic flights stink! International is where it's at!! We arrived in London early but Heathrow was having air traffic issues so we flew in circles around London for an hour. We still landed on time. I got off the plane and started the longest walk ever from the gate to the main airport. On the way to passport control I saw the most disturbing sign. It was a huge yellow sign and in big, black, bold letters it said: TOILETS. Gross!! I found this to be the case all over Europe! I had to go through passport control and answer their questions: How long are you here for? What is the purpose of your stay? I passed with flying colors and they let me go through. It was very easy. They were very nice. Let me just say this - if you are traveling to England please let me know. I have gathered quite a bit of knowledge of things you would never think about. Even the best airlines to fly at certain times and times of day to fly. - I walked out of the airport into the waiting area and it was overwhelming seeing all of the people. I finally heard a voice from the side of me that said "hey". And there he was. He helped me with my luggage and we set off for the car park (parking lot to us Americans). The first thing I noticed was how cold it was. When I left Florida is was normal February weather. Maybe even a little warmer. I was expecting it to be cold but it was cold AND wet. We got to the car and I tried to get int he driver's side. After my silly mistake and Jason having a good laugh we were off. It was a 3 hour drive back to his house. I would have been really annoyed but I had to remember I lived 3 hours from the Orlando airport so I had no room to talk. As we were driving, at night, to his house I was noticing a strange thing - they had hotels in the middle of the highway. You know, like in the median. Weird, right? So I said to Jason, ummm, can you tell me why there are hotels and pubs in the middle of the roads? And he said, I don't see them, I don't know what you're talking about. What? How does he not see them. So the next time I saw one I said, there, that one. And he looked in the median and said, where? Are you kidding me? He can't see the buildings? So the next time I saw one I pointed at it and said - THERE and I pointed over my left shoulder. He laughed at me and reminded me that the "median" on the left was actually the side of the road. Because, of course, in England they drive on the opposite side. So when I said median, he looked towards the right, because that was the actual median. I still make mistakes like that which is why I never drive over there. Ever. Period. We finally got to his house and I crashed. I was tired, had been travelling all day and was beat. The next day we went to his parents house. I was nervous. So nervous. Upon meeting his parents his dad said "Welcome to the land of rain and bland food". Truer words have never been spoken! His family was beyond wonderful. Even today I feel like I have the best inlaws anyone could ever ask for. They are kind, considerate and most importantly, they raised a really wonderful son. We spent the 10th, 11th and 12th meeting his family, going to a town called Sheffield to meet his grandmother and great-aunt, meeting friends, touring his hometown of Lincoln. Lincoln isn't far from the Sherwood Forest. We went to the High Street (the main shopping/downtown district) and shopped and had hot chocolate. We went to the Lincoln castle. I'd never been to a castle before. We went to the Lincoln Cathedral. It is the actual cathedral where they filed The DaVinci Code. As we walked around people would comment on my accent. I was the foreigner. It is still strange to be somewhere and you are the only one that talks a certain way. Luckily I usually have Christian to help me feel more comfortable. On the 13th we woke up and I was told to pack a bag because we were leaving for a couple of days. I packed and his mom came to get us and take us to the train station. We boarded a train in a town called Grantham which was headed to Kings Cross station in London. Kings Cross is the station in Harry Potter where they go to Platform 9 1/2 to go to Hogwarts. Once there we took the tube (subway talk there) to Waterloo station in London to board the Eurostar. 2 and a half hours later we arrived in Paris. Yes, THAT Paris. My wonderful boyfriend took me to Paris, France as my Valentine's Day present! It should be noted that I got sick in England. I caught the flu and it was ugly! I was a mess. Must have been all the outside walking in the really wet, cold weather. Luckily, when we got the Paris I was on my way back to good health but I was far from 100%. We checked into the hotel and went on a self guided walking tour of the area of our hotel. We had crepes and went to get a Royale with cheese (cause they have the metric system so they don't know what a quarterpounder is), we ate croissants and just walked around. I got money from an ATM. I couldn't understand what it was asking me but luckily numbers are numbers. We did go to a chemist (pharmacy like Walgreens) to try and get my some medicine. We walked in and up to the counter. I said to the woman behind the counter that I didn't speak French, I was sorry, but I really needed something for the flu. She looked at my like I just shot her mother. I hung my head in shame and started to walk away. Jason went up to the counter, to the same woman, said something in French and asked if anyone spoke English. She smiled at him and went to get the chemist, who spoke perfect English and was able to ask him for some medicine. Which, by the way, was AMAZING! I had to buy more to bring home with me! It was getting late but Jason didn't want to go back to the hotel. I was not feeling well and it was really cold so I was wanting to stay in the hotel room. He asked me to walk the River Seine with him. I gave in and we went. It was 11 pm and we walked hand in hand down the bank of the river and it was beautiful. He could see how incredibly cold I was so he gave in and we went back to the hotel. I really was miserable. The next morning we got up, again I was feeling better, we exchanged Valentine's cards and we ate yummy pastries. I swear to you I have walked the streets of many cities trying to find pastries as good as those in Paris. I am still trying to find them. As you would expect, the croissants were buttery and delicious. We went sightseeing this time on a sightseeing bus, one of my favorite things to do in any new city, and we ended up at the Eiffel Tower, passing along the way places like the Louvre, Champs Elysees and Arc de Triomphe. We wanted to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower but knowing I was trying to get over the flu and how windy it would be and not to mention the line to get up there, we decided to skip the view from the top this time. Hopefully one of these days we will have an opportunity to go back and I will be able to go to the top. After the Eiffel Tower we wondered around and ended up at Notre Dame. It is a beautiful cathedral. It is on the river and quite stunning. We tried to go in but they wanted an entrance fee to "worship" with them. I don't care to turn this into a debate on religion but I pay my tithing to my church so I would never pay to enter and sightsee another church. As we were walking out Jason was acting a little strange. Something I couldn't really explain. Until he pulled me close, kissed me and told me how much he loved me. He said "I am completely, totally and utterly in love with you". Then he pulled out a box from his jacket, bent down (instead of getting on one knee because it was wet) and asked if I would marry him. All I could say was "Yes". He put the most incredible, clear, colorless, Emerald cut Diamond solitaire on my finger. Specially designed by him for me. He told me he drove all the way across the country for my ring. I was flabbergasted! I had to ask, "How long did that take?" "3 hours" he said. Wait, what? 3 hours? Oh my goodness, that would take 3 days in America! OK, seriously, are you kidding me? Did I just get engaged to my dream man, in Paris, on Valentine's day? Yes! I did! We were married April 2, 2005 in Jacksonville, Florida. On the St. Johns River. And the rest, they say, is history.

I love our story. We have a really great one. I can't wait to be able to tell Georgia our story.

Story of Us - Part 2

He was wearing a red t-shirt and jeans, was carrying a shoulder type bag and pulling his luggage. I knew it was Jason as soon as I saw him but not because I had previously seen his pictures. As much as I love him, he doesn't always take the best pictures. I can't really describe it but I just knew it was him. The feeling was obviously mutual because as our eyes met, even being 50 feet apart, he dropped everything and ran to meet me and put his arms around me. He kissed me, nothing inappropriate, but very meaningful. It was at that exact moment I realized how much I liked him and how much I didn't like his breath. Yuck! But to be fair, he had just traveled 9 hours on a flight, eating airplane food, drinking orange juice and probably plenty of coffee. After a few minutes of just hugging and enjoying being in the same country we picked up the things he dropped and headed to the car. We got to the car and made some phone calls to let everyone know he was safe and I was normal and we were off on a 2 and a half hour drive back to my place. Unfortunately neither of us can remember a lot of the drive home but what I do remember is 1. As we started going over a bridge of water it shocked the heck out him 2. Taco Bell and 3. He stared at me the whole way back. Of course we have a ton of water here in Florida and therefore have tons of bridges. I'm used to driving down the road and without warning being on a bridge but for an Englishman on his first visit to the states this was news worthy. It really surprised him and made me laugh. No trip to Orlando is complete without a stop for gas at some point. On the way home I needed to stop and pulled off 95 at Palm Coast. It was getting late, it was already dark, and I was hungry. I asked if he was and as I've since learned, he's always hungry. Remembering he liked spicy food and even specifically mentioned Mexican food I asked if he want to grab a quick bite at Taco Bell and we could be on the rest of the way home. Yeah sure he said. So I pulled into Taco Bell and asked what he wanted. Whatever he says. How about some tacos? Yeah sure he said. So I order enough tacos for the two of us and then pull into the gas station next to Taco Bell. Knowing he's hungry and tired I handed him his tacos and got out to pump the gas. I get back in the car and there's Jason, sour cream on the side of his mouth, mouth full of taco, rest of the taco in one hand and he looked at me, with a full mouth and said "This is great!". Uhhh, it's just Taco Bell I thought. Then it occurred to me and I asked him, "Don't you have Taco Bell in England?" His response - "No!" No? No! Seriously? Seriously! So then we started going through a list of all the places they DON'T have in England and I was mentally making a list of must-visits. Back on the road for the rest of the ride I would catch Jason just staring at me. I'm not really sure why but I figure I'm just THAT gorgeous! :) Finally we got to my apartment and crashed for the night. He was so tired from his day of traveling that he was out in no time. But before he could go to sleep he had to give me the Christmas present he bought me. It was at this point that I realized we were supposed to be exchanging gifts. Crap! I didn't have anything for him! So I made another mental note to take him shopping for a new shirt or something. He gave me a box that was larger than an earring or necklace box but smaller than box you would get medical supplies in. I opened it to find a pink (my favorite color) Burberry (my favorite fashion house) watch (the one piece of jewelery that I don't have but really need). I couldn't believe how incredibly thoughtful this guy was. He was really trying to impress and it was working! The next day we went on our first "official" date. I took him to Bono's Barbeque. In England to barbeque simply means pulling out the grill on that one summer day when it isn't raining and cooking hamburgers. So I had to introduce Jason to real Southern Barbeque. You know, the stuff life is truly made of. We were seated and Jason asked the server a question which went like this:

Him: Something she couldn't understand

Her: I'm sorry?

Him: (speaking much slower this time) Toilet? Where can I find the toilet?

Her: (with a really sour look on her face) Oh, the bathrooms are over there

When he came back I politely explained that to say toilet throws people off because we imagine the toilet when he says it. So we use the term bathroom. Seems much nicer. We both had a little laugh. I helped him order, the food came and again, he thought I was wonderful for filling his belly with such deliciousness. Let's face it, this wasn't going to be hard. Have you had English Cuisine? Not always the tastiest of foods.

We spent the next couple of days making the rounds, meeting family, getting to know each other a little better, showing him the best North Florida or more specifically, Orange Park, had to offer. We didn't venture far because we really wanted to focus on getting to know each other better and seeing if we connected. We spent New Year's Eve with Casey and Mark at their home doing nothing terribly exciting. We rang in the New Year with kisses and hugs and togetherness. It really was great. I found out later that as Jason and Mark were talking Mark asked Jason when he and I would see each other again. Jason told him we were planning on me going to England in February. Mark told Jason, "If you like this girl as much as you say you do, you'll be back before you know it." Jason didn't put too much into this little golden nugget of information because he had a job to get back to and so did I. We had our lives to live and we were both very much looking forward to February. On January 2nd we prepared for Jason to go back to England. I didn't want him to go but he had to. We both knew it. He packed up and we were back in the car to the Orlando airport. This time leaving in more than enough time to allow for the crazy traffic pattern that plagued me the first time around. We got to the airport in plenty of time and spent the next hour sitting together in the very crowded waiting area. Talk about privacy. We talked about how much we loved each other (yes, we were using the "l" word) and how we couldn't wait until February. Tears were shed (mostly by Jason and yes, that is the truth) and then it was time. He had to board. I watched him as he walked through security and then got on the tram to head to his gate. I felt as if I was letting him walk out of my life and there was nothing I could do. It was at that point that I broke down and cried. I cried all the way home. I couldn't believe I let this guy leave. What was I thinking? I would have to wait until the next day to even talk to him again. It really was painful. The next day I spoke to him and he didn't feel well. He got sick on the flight home. This would eventually be something he passed on to me. The day after that (now the 4th) he called and said he had been doing some thinking (my stomach was dropping...nothing good ever starts with "I've been thinking...") and would I be able to stand him for two weeks? Duh! Of course! And with that he bought a ticket to come back. He was set to arrive on January 12th, only 10 days after leaving me sobbing in Orlando. I guess what Mark said about being back sooner than he thought was coming to fruition. So now, instead of counting down to February 9th, over a month away, we were counting down to January 12th! January 12th finally came and those two weeks were filled with more restaurants Jason had never been to and places he had never been. I took him to Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. We had a blast riding all the rides and just being together. I did have to work on some of those days so we had fun in between work. One day Jason was in the office and him and my dad were at my Dad's desk talking. I later found out Jason asked if he could ask me to marry him while I was in England in February. My dad gave his blessing. Everyone who knew us could see we were happier than they had ever seen us. We even went to the courthouse and got a marriage license. They're good for 90 days! It was only halfway on a whim. I knew I wanted to marry him and spend the rest of my life with him. I knew it was only a matter of time before I would be his wife. He left to go back to England on the 29th and we only had another 10 days before I would fly to England to see him and meet his family. I never even had a passport before I met him. I have travelled all over this beautiful country but had never been out of it, except on a cruise to the Bahamas. Many "firsts" were happening for him and I and it was fantastic. February 9th came and I was off to England for the first time ever.........

Story of Us - Part 1

(Photo by Jarvis Photography)

I don't have "our story" anywhere except memory so I wanted to get it down.....

I was a divorced single mom and I was happy! And I really mean that. I was happy. I was resigned to the fact that I would be single. Enter Casey, Mark and their delirious happiness. She was so happy and thought I needed someone to share my life with. She met Mark online. He made her laugh. To be fair, he is the yin to her yang, the peanut butter to her jelly, the lamb to her tuna fish. Mark lived in Michigan and took a picture of himself with an onion ring. That's how she knew he was the one! She loves onion rings. He moved here, they got married and are currently living happily ever after. I was so happy for her! Seeing her and Mark get married made me so happy. My sister is a good person who deserves every happiness and she got it! But you know how happy, married people are, they think everyone around them should also be happy, married people. She insisted I try to find someone too. Really? Do I have to? I resisted. I think a part of me was a little afraid of rejection as well. I was divorced. Although I left him, actions leading up to that point did feel a little like rejection. Well, if there is one thing I am it is a people pleaser so to make peace I decided I would go online. I would try and communicate with someone BUT I would only "communicate". It wouldn't go any further than that and to be sure my diabolical plan would work I would find the FARTHEST person from me. Wait, here's one. He's in ENGLAND! There is NO WAY anything could ever come of this! I did have a Method to my madness: Find someone far far away while making sure they spoke English so we could understand each other. Yup, this guy in England fits the bill for that! So I found a guy and sent him a message. There was no picture attached to his profile or anything, cause you know, the ones with pictures are really serious about finding someone. The ones without a picture are just there to people watch. Much to my surprise (or maybe not cause let's face it, I'm fabulous!) he responded to my message. We started chatting online on November 30, 2004. Turns out he was really funny. We would spend hours laughing. Most of the time laughing AT each other. We had a funny little conversation I wish I could remember word for word but we got on the subject of babies, walks, grocery stores, you know, all the crazy stuff and it went a little something like this....

Him: (something about a stroller)

Me: A stroller is what you take a baby for a walk in

Him: No, you take a baby out in a buggy.

Me: No, a buggy is what you put your groceries in at the store.

Him: No, that's a trolley

Me: No, a trolley is something in San Francisco that takes people around the city.

(for the record, his sister still can't believe we have bread in a can..lol)

I found myself spending all hours of the night at my office because we were chatting and I didn't want to do anything but talk to him. I don't remember the exact date but only a day or two later he asked for my phone number so he could call me. I gladly gave it to him because I was DYING to hear his accent. I could not have prepared myself for the insanity that ensued! That first phone call was 20 minutes long and went a little something like this.....

Me: Hello

Him: Something I couldn't understand

Me: What?

Him: Something I couldn't understand

Me: I can't really hear you

Him: Something I COULD understand

Me: Finally answering to his conversation

Him: What?

Me: Something he couldn't understand

Him: What?

You get the point! We spent an entire 2o minutes trying to understand each other's accents and over the phone it is surprisingly difficult the first time. We quickly got the hang of it! We spent the next few days exchanging emails, IM chats and phone calls. On December 7th he sent a text telling me he just had to meet me (well, duh!...lol) and asked if I would be interested in meeting. I was speechless but managed to say of course! He bought the ticket that day. He was set to arrive December 27th and would stay until January 2nd. Just in time to still be here around Christmas and spend New Years Eve together. We then spent the next 20 days emailing, chatting online and doing more talking on the phone. I got home one day and my phone had been turned off because the phone company thought someone hacked my line and made a bunch of unauthorized calls to England. They said if I didn't make the calls they would take them off my bill. Man, it was really hard to be honest on that one. Especially since I was facing a $200 long distance bill. During the 20 days we really got to know one another. I knew he liked spicy food. He was funny and bright. Someone I could hold a conversation with and not get bored. I was already in love with his accent. Finally the big day was here. December 27th. I decided on my outfit: flowered skirt, pinkish sweater/shirt combo, brown shoes with a small heal; my hair: straight and soft. I cleaned out my car. I even had it washed. I'm sure he realizes now what a big deal that was because I NEVER wash my car! I left on time and should have arrived just as his plane arrived. I mean, I wasn't too worried - he still had customs to go through. Little did I know this would be the day that the State of Florida decided a new traffic pattern was going into effect on 95 between St. Augustine and Daytona. URGH! Now I was racing! Needless to say I was late! I was so late, in fact, he thought I wasn't coming. Poor guy thought I had a serious change of heart. He couldn't have been more wrong. I finally got to the airport. I parked my green Honda Civic on the 3rd floor of the parking garage and was practically running to get inside. I forgot what a stinkin maze the Orlando airport really is. Once I finally was in the airport I came off the escalator, turned to the left towards baggage claim and I saw him. He was walking towards me. Yes, that was him............