Celebrating 5 years- Part 1: Dating

5 years of marriage with this guy:

It has really flown by and been an adventure from day one!

but let's go back a little bit...

When I first met Nathaniel (my freshman year at Lipscomb University) 10 years ago I liked him immediately.  He was tall, dark, and so handsome that one of my friends would always say  that he made her "teeth sweat!!"  Prety sure that was a new one to me, but it was true...he was super cute :)

I could tell right away that people liked him.  They gravitated towards him and it was obvious that people were at ease around him.  Later on when we were dating I would make fun of him because we couldn't walk three feet without someone wanting to talk to him! 

He was a year older than me, but we had the same circle of friends and our friendship began to grow.  When his Tau Phi hayride rolled around in the fall of 2001 his friends encouraged him to ask me to it and my friends encouraged me to say yes.  He asked.  I said yes. 

After that he continued to asked me to his functions and at Lipscomb there was something known as a three function rule.  If you asked a girl to three functions in a row you were considered dating...true to the rule we started "officially" dating January 12, 2002!

early dating

semi formal 12-10-2001

As I got to know Nathaniel I could see that he was just inherently a good person.  He cared about people and valued relationships.  He was sincere and it was evident when you were talking to him that he cared about what you were saying.  I think that's what always drew people to him, and still does.  Nate will sit and talk to people when many would not.  

You know...that guy that the rest of us avoid making eye contact with so you don't have to start a conversation with him?? 

Not Nate. He just gives people the time of day.

Nate and I dated for the rest of college.  Sometimes we were off and sometimes we were on.  There was never any denying our love for each other, but we were young, full of drama, and kind of stupid...well...maybe I was the one full of drama :)

In the summers I would visit his family in Chicago and he would visit mine.  These trips solidified for me  that he was "the one." 

Later Dating 2005