Valentines day contest!!

Hey everyone! I am having a contest for Valentines day!

First prize is a portrait session(up to 2 hours) with coffee table style book of photos from the session, and a $25 print credit on pictage for ordering prints, AND $200 off a wedding package(if you are getting married assuming I am available on your date). 3 other couples will also win a free portrait session with me. This could be an engagement session, or a(married or unmarried)couple that wants to have some nice photos together.

Originally I said the session had to take place in April or May, but now any time from Feb 15-May 20(if I am available).

What you need to do is message me with the story of how you met/got together!

Deadline is Midnight on Feb 13!

Voting will be done by a few other photographer friends and myself.
Winners will be announced on Valentines Day, Feb 14!

I cant wait to read all of your stories!

18 Replies to “Valentines day contest!!”

  1. jacqueline says:

    It’s not a very exciting story really, but I love to tell it! My name is Jacqueline, and I moved back home after being away at college for one year. I got an apartment soon after, and the day after I moved in I found out I had mono, strep throat, and a sinus infection. I had to stay home, all by myself, for almost a month. The first time I went out with friends, I went to a local 24-hour restaurant with my best friend Emilee, her friend Megan, and two of Megan’s coworkers, Ross and Jesse. Ross and I were the only ones who did not have curfews, so we stayed after everyone else left, and ended up staying at the restaurant until 4am, just talking! It was amazing. That was three and a half years ago, and now we are engaged and plan to get married next year!

  2. Heather says:

    Oh I couldn’t resist this one… 🙂 Here is Monica.. Nothing SUPER special but it was a carnival ride for Steve and I. I had worked in Valpo at a place called Opportunity Enterprises, Long story short, I got hurt BADLY on the job and couldn’t do it anymore so I left there. My faithful cousin who worked at Walgreens pulled me in as a part timer and that is where Steve and I met. We both fell for each other instantly. But we couldn’t “act” on it due to the fact he was management. We flirted DAILY and SO many opportunities came along for him to jump but he didn’t and I didn’t push him. He told my cousin that he was scared and had NOTHING to offer me and still lived at home with him parents Yada Yada Yada. My Cousin played the medeator between us for almost a year before she finally said LOOK you two need to hook up and date and see where it goes cause you’re both killing me. I’d get mad when he had girls come in and see him at work and He’d get angry and jealous when I had boys come see me at work. So FINALLY I approached him and said I’m off this weekend if you wanna do something. He looked kinda taken back but he said umm. let me check my schedule and (I already looked at his) said you’re off on Saturday too, Lets just NOT tell anyone what were doing and see where this goes. We arranged to go out to Bass Pro Shops ( WE BOTH LOVE NATURE and fishing) they had just opened and had a great restaurant and neither of us had been there. So we went on March 31 2007 and stayed there for 5 hours seeing and doing everything they had to offer. Since that day, WELL, you see the end result! We dated “quietly” til June when we decided we would like to be EXCLUSIVE and we came forward to talk to the STORE manager and he just laughed and said I knew it.. Steve put in a transfer then we became exclusive, bought a house, got engaged and will be married on July 12 2008!! You’ll be there too. So thats the funny story about how I got my raise at Walgreens!! I got in good with management!! 🙂
    Hope you enjoyed it-
    Heather~

  3. Becky says:

    On March 18, 2002 my best friend/roommate Monica, our friend Charlie, and I drove from West Lafayette, IN to Fort Wayne, IN. We went there to see Bane play and also hang out with our buddies in What Feeds the Fire and a couple girls we knew from Detroit/Windsor. Poison the Well also played. It turned out that a couple guys, David and Darrell, came to hang out with WFTF from Dayton, OH. We all hung out and had a great time even though most of the band was sick and Bane ended up not playing. At the time Monica and I were booking and throwing shows on the campus at Purdue. Darrell and David were in a band so we got their email addresses and IM screen names. I liked both of them, but had a boyfriend at the time so didn’t really think about either of them as anything other than a couple cool guys who were in a band we could potentially book. A year later Darrell and I were together. We’re now happily married and had our first baby three months ago.
    <3Becky

  4. strwbryfields03 says:

    I was directed to do this and i suppose it is a semi entertaining story.
    In highschool I did four years of marching band. In the season of my junior year there was this new hot guy standing in the middle of the field and i was thinking, “yeah I’m going to like this!!” Well, as soon as he opened his mouth I no longer liked “this” For a year there I was nothing but an unpleasant person to him. We called him the Marching Nazi. Turns out this hot guy was our new marching instructor. By the next season my section and him broke bread and we all eventually got along. Summer turned to winter where the speaking to eachother nicely began. He came to me to talk about another girl. Spring time came around and we were talking on a daily basis and going for late night car rides and I was sneaking to his house in the middle of the night. We were eachothers dirty little secrets and it was thrilling. To make a long story short. I started to date my marching instructor who has quite a few years on me. I am now in college and it is always a great story to tell and i throughly enjoy the “You date your teacher?!” The day I graduated highschool he asked me, “So, is it safe to call you my girlfriend now?”

  5. Amanda says:

    I just got back from Colorado, where I stayed for the summer, and I was working at the YMCA/attending Indiana University. I decided that after being in Colorado where people of all ages seemed to be so active that I wanted to set a goal for myself. The YMCA was offering a half- marathon training class and I decided to join, even though I knew running a half-marathon would be a big challenge considering I had never been very athletic. It was in the running group that I had met Adam. On my very first day he ran with me (he was in much better shape then me and had ran long distances before, now me on the other hand had never ran more than a mile, and I was struggling!) After that fist day, it wasn’t long after we went on our first date! We ran together every day. Adam also convinced me not only do a half-marathon, but we ran a full marathon together, never leaving each others side. Two years later, when we were out for a run on “our trail” he bent down to tie his shoe, got on one knee, took out a ring and asked me to marry him! Now we are planning a wedding for October 2008 (the month we had first met each other)
    -Amanda

  6. Libbi says:

    Hi Monica… do I count as eligible?
    You may slightly remember it 🙂

    I was studying overseas for the spring semester in Cambridge England with my best friend. We had a friend who was getting his MPhil from Cambridge at the same time, so we were spending a bit of time with him. So, we had multiple long breaks during the semester through our university’s study program, but we had to stick around for a few other classes at the seminary next door. So, our friend John invites us to a choir concert/performance at the Master’s Lodge at Queens College, smart dress only. So we get all dressed up and trek across town, spend some quality time with him and meet what I believe is the President of Queens College. Then in order to get rid of us, John introduces us to Matthew, telling us that he has tri-citizenship and he should explain the story. So he tells us but is then whisked away for warm ups for choir and Claire and I take our seats.
    So the choir performances happen and we join everyone else for appetizer type foods afterwards. Well, Matthew sticks around Claire, John, another friend Flora, and myself and continues with the conversations. I’ve had a few glasses of wine by this point in time as has he, and so we’re going back and forth a bit, and I’m getting a little overexcited about my current studies. Well, everyone gets dismissed from the dining area and there’s talk about gathering at the Q bar (Queens College bar; each college has its own) for someone’s birthday and that Matthew should show up. So eventually we get there (after a trip to the market for actual food) and Matthew decides to sit at the table Claire and I stake out. There’s a bunch of flirting, jokes, and talk about the rings Claire and I were wearing and covenant theology. People are buying Matthew drinks, so he’s a bit over the top at this point in my own opinion although I thought he was fun to talk to and he made me smile. So as Claire and I were preparing to go, I said to Matthew that I hoped to see him again, and he proceeded to kiss my hand. I dismissed the act due to the amount of alcohol he had consumed.
    Claire and I went home and Matthew promptly facebooked me (cheesy yes I know).
    We went to the last choir performance at the chapel for term but didn’t get a chance to talk to the boys. But both John and Claire were performing in a concert later that week and I didn’t want to go by myself. So since I had made a new friend, I sent Matthew a message asking if he was planning on going and if he would like to go together. Well he proceeded to ask me to dinner as well, paid for everything that night, had a wonderful conversation (he made me laugh and smile basically all night) and asked me to spend time with him again. I had convinced myself before going out that night that it wasn’t a date.
    Matthew asked John if he had gone on a date with me and John told him that I tend to do that kind of thing and not to get over excited. I probably wasn’t interested.
    I on the other hand, had promised to let him know if Claire, myself and a visiting friend would go to a pub that weekend.
    My friends made me let him know what was going on and Matthew met up with us at a jazz pub in Cambridge and was told by my visiting friend, Hannah, that I liked him.
    2 weeks later we went on a ‘real’ date and decided that we would officially try the dating thing.

    Now we’re engaged and getting married in May and we’re excited. And we’ve had a great time enjoying the engagement photos you took of us last month! Thanks so much!

  7. Michelle. says:

    My story all starts with Latin. My freshman year of college, I met these two crazy girls in my Latin 101 class that kept talking about Krazyfest, had fun hair, and kept talking about Star Patrol. These two girls were roommates and quickly became my first, and best college friends. We had some crazy adventures and even ended up dying my hair bright pink.

    One of these girls was a photography major who also booked shows around our campus. One night, some bands from their home town came to play, and we had a huge slumber party/dinner back at their place. Now, one of the girls and I were and still are vegans. The other girl ate a little bit of meat at that point, but hardly ever. These friends of theirs from home knew this situation. Well, two of the boys stopped by the grocery store and brought back more ground beef than I knew was sold at once, and proceeded to make hamburgers on the vegan’s grill. That says something about someone’s personality. He was weird and quirky and so am I. I found out years later it was that fateful pink hair that caught his attention. Seeing that a friend of ours thought MakeOutClub was a club we created, of which I was president, it goes without saying that we had an entertaining evening.

    Now, my boy went to school across the state, near my home town. We kept in touch, and he even surprised me for my birthday by showing up at my friends’ apartment. He transferred schools to be near me come the next fall. We had some disagreements, and even some falling outs. Over the years, we kept in touch as friends with this weird attraction. Several years and relationships later, we went to spend some time together, as we were both living again in that college town. We realized we’d grown up, and that it made perfect sense.

    The end of the story is that after quite some time together, we packed it up and moved to another state. We’re happy. We’re not engaged because I’m obsessive about every detail including the ring, the season, and minimum/maximum amount of time I will be engaged. Oh, and he’s still supposed to surprise me! Ha. But, no. We’re quite happy and we’re in it for the long haul.

    Maybe I should get around to taking the time to thank those two girls….

  8. girlx512 says:

    It was October 27, 2000.

    I was in high school and he was in a band. He played guitar and the band had a show scheduled at a local VFW hall. I was going to the show with my friends, most of which new him and the band. While walking through the parking lot we came across him and a bandmate searching through his old Chevy Caravan for his lost shoe. The van was a complete wreck–everything from a milk crate to a large rock to a cordless phone was in the back, and they were rummaging through the junk searching for his shoe. My friend did a typical “Kristy, this is Art. Art, this is Kristy” introduction, and that was that. We smiled at each other, surely with a little googly eye in there, and here we are seven years later, 113 days to go until the wedding!

  9. Sarah says:

    OK, so I don’t really want to share the story(it’s embarrassing and really too personal), but if I come to Michigan City could I just pay you to take some pictures?

  10. Monica Z. Phohtography says:

    Sarah, Absolutely! Let me know when!

  11. Chris Foresman says:

    How We Met, Part 1: My version

    It was summer 2007. I was working an engineering internship at Whirlpool Corporation in St Joseph, Michigan. A quaint, touristy town on the eastern side of Lake Michigan, St Joseph is full of expensive beach houses full of rich, vacationing Chicagoans. I was not one of them.

    While toiling away on some spreadsheet or other, I saw a MySpace post from my good friend Jessica: she had two tickets to the upcoming Pitchfork Fest and she couldn’t go. These were the highly-coveted, long-sold out three-day weekend passes. And, these tickets were the only way to see Slint perform their landmark 1992 album Spiderland in its entirety. I had to have those tickets!

    But, I couldn’t justify spending the money on two tickets for myself. So I called my friend Michelle. Her birthday was that weekend. How would she like a three-day pass for her birthday? Turns out, she would love one. I called Jessica and she had the tickets over-nighted to St Joseph so I would get them before heading to Chicago that weekend.

    Michelle and I went to the Friday show in the evening. (Slint was awesome, as you might have guessed.) The next day we spent all day at Union Park, sweating in the heat of mid-July. Michelle had planned a get-together at the Showbiz Pizza for adults known as Dave & Buster’s. We dusted ourselves off briefly and headed downtown. We met up with several people, including several friend from Lafayette. Drinking commenced almost instantly. We sat downstairs in the bar for a while, chit-chatting and drinking ridiculously large, fruity drinks.

    After some time, we headed upstairs, where there is a large arcade full of video games old and new, as well as classics like skeeball. We were having a blast and goofing of, as well as you might suspect. Michelle was drinking heavily. Suddenly, Michelle’s ex Gary showed up fashionably late, with his new roommate in tow.

    This young lady was every respectable hipster’s dream. Dark, boot-cut denim; stylish, retro-looking blouse; well-fitting olive drab cotton jacket; black low-top Chuck Taylor’s; perfectly haphazard indie rock hair cut. And, as it that weren’t enough, this outfit was complete with a navy polka-dottted scarf tied coyly around her neck. I literally, in a mere instant, was attracted to this woman. She has barely said, “Hello,” and I was already weak in the knees.

    Now, I have a reputation of letting my excitement get a little out of control, and I did not want to appear too eager. So, with every shred of willpower I could muster, I proceeded to more or less ignore everyone else for the rest of the evening.

    Adriane and I spent most of our time at Dave & Buster’s by ourselves. We played several of the games of “skill,” earning tickets we could trade in for horribly cheap trinkets at the prize counter. I showed her how to play skeeball, which she didn’t seem to like very much. I showed her how to play Centipede, and suddenly she was like Charlie Babbit counting cards at the blackjack table. I think we may have spent an hour or more, just the two of us, playing that machine.

    After a few rounds of whisky (me: Maker’s Mark, her: Jameson), and several tense moments trying to score tickets at the huge electronic spinning wheel, we sauntered over to the prize counter. I got her a yellow Care Bear, apparently a childhood favorite. I went for quantity over quality, and picked up a styrofoam glider, a plastic lion’s head puppet, a handful of rubber snakes…. Wanting a memento that was uniquely Dave & Buster’s, but having already blown most of my budget of tickets, I spied a Dave & Buster’s logo shot glass for a mere 25 tickets or so.

    “Shooters!” I exclaimed, in an exaggerated, effeminate lisp.

    “Did you just quote Kids in the Hall?” she said in disbelief.

    “Yes, yes I did.” She seemed impressed.

    Most of our group gathered around a couple tables between the bar and the prize counter. Michelle had gotten some food to try and soak up some of the ridiculous amount of vodka tonic swishing around in her gullet. And of course, what is a birthday party without cake? A group of us, including Joe, Tony, Lisa, Kris and Mary, along with Gary and Michelle, shared some food, drinks, and generally entertaining anecdotes. I entertained Adriane for a good 20 minutes with the lion’s head puppet, making a silly voice. At first I though it might seem a little weird, but she kept laughing so I milked it for all it was worth. And then some. I loved the way her eyes would squint when she laughed.

    After a time, we decided to go dancing in Wicker Park. Michelle, however, was in no position to remain upright. Gary rustled her into a cab and they went home. Kris and Mary opted out so the rest of us piled in my Toyota Yaris and went to small club on Milwaukee.

    Once we got in the club, it quickly became apparent that only Lisa and I were interested in dancing. Everyone got a drink at the bar, but Adriane, Joe, and Tony went off to a couch in the corner by the front window. Lisa and I headed to the dance floor. The music was loud and driving, and the DJs were playing a great mix of 80s club hits and some newer stuff, like Justice’s Waters of Nazareth. We danced to a couple songs, and I tried going over to get the others to join us on the floor.

    “I don’t dance,” Adriane said.

    “Not even a little?” I goaded.

    “Nope.”

    Well, I wasn’t going to win her over with my sweet dance moves. Which is a shame, because I’m not terribly good looking or smooth. I got dance moves and I can cook. That’s it.

    We stayed for a while, perhaps an hour or more. It was long enough to get quite sweaty. We left the club and drove to Adriane and Gary’s apartment. We sat in the living room for a short while. I sat down right next to Adriane, nervous as a schoolboy. Our small group sat and talked for a while, but apparently restlessness got the best of Tony. He grabbed a curtain rod lying nearby, and, mesmerized by Joe’s tight pants (as one is wont to find himself), reached over and poked him in his camel toe. Adriane doubled over in a fit of middle-school laughter. Sensing an opening, I laid my hand on her back and slowly moved it down to the small of her back and caressed it carefully, if not purposefully. I prayed she would not noticed the tremble in my hand. If she did, she made no indication.

    Our laughter may have been a bit too loud. Michelle was in some rough shape and Gary was ostensibly nursing her. We collectively agreed to meet for brunch the next morning at the Chicago Diner, a popular vegan joint in Boy’s Town. Meeting for brunch there had become one of the rituals I performed every time I visited Chicago. We left Adriane to hopefully get some sleep. I had to drive Lisa home in uptown, and Tony and I were crashing with Joe nearby. I couldn’t believe I had met an attractive, well-dressed, well-spoken, intelligent, vegetarian indie rock fan – in short, the woman of my dreams. I had from the second I laid eyes on her been overcome by a wave of infatuation of tidal proportions. I went to bed with my brain swimming in a sea of bourbon and romance.

    Unfortunately, I woke with a throbbing headache, my feet and legs sore from dancing. A warm shower helped ease the pain, but four Advil were needed to really take the edge off. I needed some brunch, and I needed it bad. Michelle and I still had shows to watch all day Sunday at Pitchfork Fest and it was going to take all I could muster to last through the whole day.

    A rather large group met for brunch that morning. Unfortunately, I had ended up with a seat far from Adriane. We didn’t talk much, but I contrived to sit by her by agreeing to share some vegan french toast. Michelle, incapacitated from the previous night’s revelry, was still at Gary’s so I offered to give Adriane a ride home and pick Michelle up. We still had another full day of indie rock goodness coming our way, with De La Soul serving as the proverbial cherry on top.

    When I dropped off Adriane at her apartment I was so nervous I didn’t know what to do. I wanted to kiss her so badly. I wanted to throw my arms around her and confess my passions and desires. But I was afraid, no, sure it would seem too forward. I wrestled with various options, playing out all the possible scenarios and their outcomes in my mind. In my anxiety-laced stupor, I instead gave her two thumb’s up. I thought this allusion to her favorite film critic duo would have seemed sweet, if non-threatening. I later learned this gesture was an indication that I had no interest whatsoever. It couldn’t have been further from the truth.

    How We Met, Part 2: Her version

    Dearest Monica Z,

    My gentleman friend and I met in the unlikeliest and most over-priced of ways: at an arcade for adults called Dave and Buster’s. Ya see, my mongoloid roommate convinced me to give up my plans to see mopey Scottish rockers The Twilights Sad that evening and attend his friend Michelle’s birthday party with him instead. I agreed hesitantly. He tried to persuade me by promising a great many boys in attendance. He quickly backpedaled and confessed that all Michelle’s male friends are gay. “Well, Chip isn’t,“ he re-qualified with a not-too-subtle scoff. I desperately wished he would shut up and instantly knew that I’d made a horrible error in judgement by not going to see the band.

    Flashforward to Dave and Buster’s. My fucktard roommate and i wandered around Dave and Buster’s for a good ten minutes looking for his friend Michelle. Now I realize what a fool he was for not heading immediately to the bar, which is where she and her party were staked out. I waddled up to the gaggle of strangers with my roommate, and he made the requisite introductions. Most of the attendees seemed to be quite sloshed already. But lo, seated right before me like a phoenix was the aforementioned Chip. Bespectacled and glistening from Pitchfork-acquired sweat. “This night might have just gotten a bit more interesting,“ I told myself. Chip – or Chris if you’re nasty – and I began to talk about Austin, SXSW, Slint, whiskey, and Oprah’s obsessive love of macaroons. After moving away from the safety of the bar, we ventured into the games pavilion, where Chris proceeded to whip my ass in every arcade game present. Save for Centipede, which we both came to learn I am nearly prodigious at playing.

    Fun fact about that evening: I did not know a) Chris’s name or b) that he lived in Indiana. Minor details, really.

    After more hooch and a shitload of tokens, Chris and I sauntered over to the prize counter to collect our booty. $50 buys you a handful of rubber snakes, one yellow mini-Care Bear, and a plastic lion head on a stick at Dave and Buster’s. This is neither here nor there, although it was while gathering our snakes that I became truly smitten. Kicked in the ’gina by a full-fledged crush, you might say. Yes, that is the time when Chris first quoted the Kids in the Hall.

    “Shooters!” he exclaimed, for reasons I cannot now recall.

    My eyes sparkled with feverish glee and a heaping helping of geek-lust: “Wait. Did you just quote Kids in the Hall?“ I swooned.

    He had. Sweet fancy Jesus, he had.

    Angels sang somewhere in the distance, on high.

    The night progressed in a haze of drunkenness and awkwardness. We closed down Dave and Buster’s and meandered towards Wicker Park to go dancing. Three other people were in tow. I spent the majority of the rest of the evening stubbornly not dancing and pining from afar. When the night finally came to a close, Chris invited me to brunch the next day with his friends. I accepted and spent the next 6 hours staring at my clock and trying to figure out if he liked me too, or if I was misreading social cues as usual. Brunch seemed a bit anticlimactic, and in the harsh light of day, I realized that Chris had only been acting friendly the previous night – that I had, indeed, misinterpreted the whole affair.

    “Cocksuckers!” I cursed to myself.

    After brunch, Chris drove me back to my hovel. I made a wise crack about dolphins asking to get raped because they wear tube tops. That was pretty humorous. When we pulled up to my lovely Humboldt Park abode, I tried lingering in the car as long as I could before getting out, hoping that there might be a lean-in for a kiss or some such sign. No dice. After reuniting with his friend Michelle, Chris had to make an all-too-quick exit to get to Pitchfork again. As we parted, after spending the majority of 16 hrs together, I thought for sure I’d at least get a hug or something. Nope. He gave me two thumbs up. “Well, that seals the deal,” I thought knowingly.

    As is often the case, however, I misread the whole damn thing. After a couple more months, a few spats of drunken vomiting, and two lesbian bars, we started dating.

  12. Heather says:

    haha, I don’t know why i’m doing this, and I’m sure I’ve already told you this, but I figured why not =)

    It all started last year during Christmas break when my best friend and I went to see our friends band play in Cincinnati. We originally never had plans to go…but I’m so glad that we did. When we got to the show, I happened to notice a VERY attractive guy on the other side of the room, but I never thought I’d have a chance….especially since I didn’t even kinda know who this guy was.

    Later on in the night, I went up to take pictures when I felt a tap on my shoulder…it was him. He asked me if I was friends with Dallas (a good friend of mine from back home) and I thought, who in Cincinnati knows or cares who Dallas is, haha….and come to find out they went to school together just a hour and a half away from my home. So we chatted a bit, and then after the bands set I went over and we started talking some more. Later on that night when we got back to my best friends house in Louisville, there was a myspace message awaiting me saying how good it was to meet me and his phone number so I could give him a call sometime. We ended up talking on the phone that night…and most of the nights afterward.

    We continued taking for a couple months and nothing ever really happened…he and I both kind of started talking to other people and then later on in February of last year I had a booked a show that I invited him to, so he came down and we hung out almost the whole night. We ended up making plans for him to drive down and us hang out the following week.

    He ended up coming down and I made us dinner and we just hung out for a bit…then it started snowing…and kept snowing. It ended up being so bad that he couldn’t even drive home, so he ended up staying the night and we watched Garden State, cuddled, played Super Nintendo (haha) and having out first kiss. Every weekend after that he came down from college and stayed with me and as soon as classes were over he moved down here to Evansville. Needless to say, we’ve never left each others sides since. He’s my best friend and I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with him :]

  13. Amy Straka Photography says:

    I usually delete any friend requests on myspace from people that I don’t know, and never respond to messages. I do tend to check out the profiles either way. I checked one out and thought, “Teacher? Communication major? Likes good movies? Friends with Heather? Friends with Brittany? I must know this guy. I never get random adds from interesting people.” So I messaged back and said, “Why did you add me?” Matt replied, “Because you like Blackalicious.”

    We talked online, finally met for pizza and beer at Scottie’s on Valentine’s Day. We went to Vegas on vacation a month later. I never went home after that. We’re getting married next March.

  14. bubbluficus says:

    I first met Jared my freshman year of college. At the time he was dating my sorority sister (and future roommate/best friend) Anne. My junior year, Anne and Jared broke up, and she started dating my first college boyfriend. Jared and I stayed friends through sheer force of my baking skills over the next few years. I moved in with Anne once I graduated and started spending a lot of time at Jared’s house because of its proximity to my job, and his hot roommate. Justin turned me down, I made out with Jared, and we discovered after all the trying to stay just friends we were an awesome couple. We got engaged in October, moved to Arizona in December, and will get married in Michigan City in July 2009.

  15. Stephanie says:

    Hey Monica.. I know you have already photographed us once, but I don’t think I ever told you how Dave and I met. Oh it’s so amazing how technology can change everything. I was in my first semester of college at Indiana University Northwest and Dave happened to be in his last semester at the same school. One night, I was on America Online (AOL) and I was chatting with some friends. Out of nowhere, I received an Instant Message from someone that simply said “hello.” Curious to find out whether I knew this person, I responded. He said he was just looking to talk with anyone that went to IUN and my screen name popped up and said I was online. How convenient that this is HIS side of the story. What guy is just looking to talk online? Ha ha!! Anyway, I began a conversation with him, even though I didn’t know anything about him. We exchanged names, and he sent me a few pictures so I could see who I was talking to. He was so smokin’ hot!! I, however, had no pictures on my computer, so he had absolutely know clue what I looked like. We began by talking about school, which lead to our interests, which lead to exchanging phone numbers(although I never really expected a phone call). After signing off the computer, my phone rang. I answered the phone and I knew from the moment that I heard his voice that I wanted meet him and get to know him. I told my mom that she had to hear how cute this guy sounded on the phone. After two weeks of non-stop, ALL-NIGHT phone calls, and convincing him that I was 5’0” 380 pounds with moles everywhere, he decided it was time to meet in person. (Who wouldn’t want a hottie like that?) It was interesting that he only lived a few blocks away from me at the time. One night, he decided to drive to my house. He brought his best friend with him because, at this point in time, he still had no idea what I looked like. His buddy was there in case I really did end up being 5’0″ 385 pounds and covered with moles. His backup plan just in case I made the car get a flat tire! His buddy was great for giving him support! He came and knocked on the door and didn’t immediately run away,so we went for a drive. He showed me some of the houses that he and his friend had built while working construction. We drove around for about thirty minutes and then he took me home. He was going out with his buddy that night, but told me he would call when he got home. A few hours later, he called! He was glad to see that I was actually nothing like my description and he described me as having a “hot, little ass!” I knew from the minute that I met him that I wanted to be with him forever. We have been together ever since! Six wonderful years.. and a lifetime to go!!! I am so excited to be getting married August 9.. and you will be there too! Enjoy!

  16. jko83 says:

    The summer of 2002, almost 6 years ago is when Chadwick and I met. I was just getting over a break up from a long term relationship I was in and my girlfriends decided to take me out. We headed up to a concert in Chicago and were ready to have a good time. While we were there one of my girlfriends introduced us to some guys she had met through her boyfriend who happened to be there as well. We hung out with them that evening, but Chadwick and I didn’t really talk. He was sitting at the other end of the group and he now says he was too afraid to really approach me. We had a really good time at the concert so a couple days later the guys decided to invite us over to hang out at their apartment. I was so excited be to getting out and hanging out with new people that spent all afternoon getting ready; maybe I should mention that Chad and his best friend were living in a high rise downtown so the girls and I were really dressing to impress. Well, we got downtown and everyone seemed to know each other and they were all talking amongst themselves. My shy demeanor left me sitting alone in the corner, until Chad sat down beside me and struck up a conversation. 6 years later with my memory, I don’t really remember much about what we talked about, but whatever it was worked because here we are, about to get married. After that night at his apartment we began spending a lot of time together. He lived in the city for a couple more years and I would drive up there or he would drive down every weekend just so we could be together. In 2005, when I graduated college I moved up to the city with him. A couple months later, we bought a puppy (who we treat like our child) and settled down. Almost one year ago to date, we bought our first house together in Indiana and in November of 2007 on a plane out to visit my parents, Chadwick proposed. He said it was “the closest to heaven as we could get”. We’re planning to marry September 20, 2008!

  17. Shana says:

    I just had to leave the story because I’m a mushy romantic, even though you were already there for the wedding 😉

    Aaron and I met at my first fraternity party at Ball State.

    I was a ‘good girl’ as a freshman and hadn’t ventured down frat row yet. I let two of my friends convince me to go hang out with them at this party.

    So the night we arrived, we went to my friend’s friend’s room. Aaron. We left our coats there and went to hit the dance floor – I really didn’t pay any attention to him.

    Later on, one of my friends (and later bridesmaid) and I wanted to take a break because it was hot and we both needed the restroom. So we went back up to Aaron’s room to snag some toilet paper (because at that house, its BYOTP!). Afterwards, we went back to his room. We were the only three people there. And he was absolutely in a terrible mood. Heather and I tried to be nice, and she introduced me and we made small talk and invited him to come hang out downstairs with us, but he said he didn’t really feel like it. So we made our way back to the party.

    About 10 minutes later, there he was. We hung out for the rest of the night.

    A week later, I went back with those same friends, and we spent all night talking again.

    The week after that was our first date. We have been together ever since. Well, we did break up twice (once in college and once afterwards), but it only helped us realize how important we were in each others lives.

    About a week after Valentine’s Day marks 6 years together. And May 18th will be our first wedding anniversary. We don’t get to spend it together this year, as he’ll be deployed to Iraq, but we still manage to text or call each other every day.

  18. Ciaranais says:

    Well, years ago I didn;t think that my story with my boyfriend at the time, was that special but for me, it truly is! Jorge and I are childhood sweethearts! Our relationship has been a rollercoaster, we met when we were both 9yrs old in Puerto Rico at church, I remember seeing him and thiking he was very cute- I remember like it was yesterday on February 13,1997 he gave me a candy bag with peanut M&M’s and a little clown as a Valentine’s gift, he was so shy!! My friend convinced him to talk to me and he build up the courage to ask me to be his girlfriend, of course at that age things didn’t work out as great but when we were both 13 yrs old we went to the movies and he grabbed my hand and ask me to be his girlfriend again, he even kissed me! Now, I always ended up pushing him away, I guess I was afraid of truly loving someone and being loved back and about a year later my parents decided to move to Florida, I was devastated because he never said goodbye to me and I truly thought that was it for me but God had different plans in mind!
    About two years later I went to Puerto Rico to visit and I saw him and I immediately felt all these butterflies in my stomach but I was afraid making a move since he didn’t seem into me anymore but a few days later he told me that he couldn’t hide it anymore, he wanted to be strong and ignore me because he thought we wouldn’t work out with a long distance realtionship an all so we decided to give us time and just be friends, a year later for y cousins wedding I again went to Puerto Rico and this time we were ready to commit! We became a couple again in 12/19/04– We went a whole year without seeing each other, during that time my parents divorced and I felt more alone than ever before but he was there for me!! He gave me stength! He finally moved to Florida and we were able to finally be together! It’s been 11 yrs since we’ve met, I would have never guessed that that shy kid will be my husband! We getting married in less than 6 months and I cannot wait to marry my Best Friend!!

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