Sarah: HIMMH

In case you don't watch How I Met Your Mother (HIMYM), I'll tell you up front that this post title (which stands for How I Met My Husband) pays homage to that show. 'Cause I love it.

Even though Frank and I don't really celebrate valentine's day, I thought I'd share the story how we met.

I was a college freshman filled with dreams and the hope of possibilities. I had the foreseeable future planned out for myself: Go to college, meet cool people, get a degree, join the peace corps (or some other organization like that), travel the world, meet more cool people, have life changing experiences, maybe in my late 20s meet a nice guy, get married, have kids a couple years later.

Spoiler Alert: That's not how things turned out.

When I had just entered college, I had never really had a "serious" boyfriend or relationship so I wasn't necessarily looking for one. I told myself to build good friendships with people and focus on school. I had a passion for people, cultures, and service--so I went to school for missions. I had seen the Invisible Children video for the first time in high school and I felt so drawn to Africa. As I discussed my interests and passions with my older sister (who was a senior at the same university), she told me that I should talk to a guy named Francis because he's from Uganda.

Speed things up to the first couple weeks of school. I had joined the university choir, which provided a good way of interacting with various people who didn't share my classes or major. I had noticed this guy who sat behind me, a tenor. One day in the cafeteria, after choir, that same guy and I were next to each other in the dinner line. I asked him his name and he replied Francis. I made the connection that he must be the same Francis my sister told me about (after all, how many Francis' do you know?). So I made the leap and asked him where he was from. Uganda. Suspicions confirmed.

And this my friends is how, in our first interaction, my future husband shot down my dreams:

Me: I'd like to live in Uganda one day.
Frank: Why?
Me: I'd like to be a missionary.
Frank: Uganda doesn't need anymore missionaries.

And he proceeded to walk away while I, reaching for an apple, stood dumbfounded. After that conversation he kind of intimidated me.

Fast forward to February when a select group from the choir went on tour to Florida. Francis and I were both in that group. We spent a lot of time together over those 4 days. It was then that intimidation of our first conversation started to melt away And it was also when I first felt the flutter of butterflies when we talked to each other. At one point over those four days a friend asked me, "Do you like Francis?!" And I replied that I did.

In Florida together

Once back in good 'ole Elgin and out of the rays of Florida sunshine, Francis and I began to hang out more than usual. A few weeks after that, on February 29th, he asked me out.

While we were dating

Since then we've had our ups and downs. I broke up with him once and we were apart for four months. Then I realized the error of my ways, we talked about it, processed through some stuff, and started dating again. Two years after that, before I even graduated college, I was a married woman.

 

Sealing the deal