Dating for Patrick and me was hazardous to our health! It was late nights (or early mornings, depending on how you look at it), 30-45 minute drives, followed by a few hours of sleep before going to school or work.
I lived in South Charlotte, worked at Carolina Place Mall, and went to school at Winthrop University in Rock Hill. Patrick lived in Huntersville with his parents, worked with Webb Heating and Air, and went to school at CPCC off of ... Our days usually consisted of school, then work for me. Work, then school for Patrick. And when we were done, meeting at my apartment or his house. Talking, watching TV, eating dinner, doing homework, and anything else we could think of to spend as much time together as possible. Then at 2 or 3 in the morning, whoever needed to, would leave and drive home. We would only get about 3-5 hours of sleep before getting up to do it all again.
Within that time frame, Patrick pulled many 24-48 hours of no sleep, I got strep (and Patrick would hold my hair back while I puked....so sweet huh?), had my wisdom teeth taken out, and Patrick left for a week to visit family in Texas. How did we survive? How did we pass our classes? How did two young people ever make it to anything on time? I don't know, but by December of 2004, something would change.
It was Christmas Eve, and I had convinced myself that Patrick just didn't have the money right now to buy me a ring and we would have to wait to be engaged. We had said those three little words to each other back in September, so waiting for things to make it to the next stage was hard! But, I knew it would come in time. Patrick and I spent that evening at his parents. We opened our gifts from each other. We sat in the hot tub, under the stars, preparing for meeting my family the following day. If he had the perfect time, it would have been then, I thought. I went to bed kind of bummed, but excited to see family the next morning and spend Christmas at my parents house.
The next morning, Patrick seemed a little out of sorts. He kept going through all of the rooms in his parents house, getting his bag together, and trying to pack the truck before we headed out. Since my bag was already packed, I tried to wait patiently. Once we got on the road, I thought Patrick would calm down a little bit. But he didn't and he didn't seem his usual chatty self. I was even afraid to ask him to stop so I could use the bathroom, for fear he might have a meltdown.
Halfway into the drive, Patrick asked if it would be okay for us to stop by the temple since it was on our way. He had mentioned doing that before, so it wasn't a huge suprise to me. I thought it would be okay, even though we would have to hurry since we were running a little late.
When we stopped, Patrick grabbed his coat from the backseat, but didn't put it on. When I asked him about it, he said he would in a minute, but he was okay right then. Okay, freeze, whatever, I thought to myself. I don't remember what we talked about or what exactly got my attention. But all of the sudden, Patrick was on his knee, asking me to marry him. Underneath his coat, he had been carrying a red, long-stemmed rose. I could not believe what was happening! My first words were, "REALLY?!". I looked around for a ring, but didn't see one. Patrick was patiently waiting for an answer. And once I realized he was serious, I told him YES! It was then that he pointed out the ring, tied to the ribbon on my rose that I had been holding for a few minutes now.
It was an awesome day! Once we finally made it my parent's house, I showed off my ring and everyone seemed to be happy for us. Well, almost everyone.....but that's a different story.
The day had arrived, I finally had my diamond, my Prince Charming, and I was happy! It was every girl's dream come true!
We were married on June 25, 2005 in the Columbia Temple in South Carolina.
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