How We Met
I was terrified!
This guy could be an ax murderer for all I knew!! But, I really wanted to meet him. So, I came up with a plan. I asked one of my best friends, who was a guy, to come with me. I decided to meet him at IHOP at 5:30pm (super romantic!) I very explicitly told him I would not be going anywhere with him and I would be bringing someone with me. He was fine with it, and we continued to text all day and night for the next two days getting to know each other.
On Friday, May 2, 2008 I walked to the front door of the restaurant, and saw him walking towards me. We introduced ourselves and walked inside. He held the door open, and pulled my chair out for me. I was floored. We both had a fantastic time, and my best friend seemed to enjoy himself too. Right before we left he hugged me and told me he really enjoyed meeting me and couldn't wait to see me again.
Little did my 19 year old self know, I had just met the man I would marry almost exactly one year later!
May 9,2008
Our Engagement
On January 29, 2009 I woke up to Gunnar playing the song he wrote for me. A few minutes later he started playing "Bless the Broken Road" by Rascal Flatts on his stereo, which was our song. It was the absolute best way to start my day. We were going to see my favorite band Rascal Flatts that night AND go backstage! It was going to be a great day.
We got to the show, Gunnar had just gotten off work and didn't have time to change into regular clothes, so he was still in his ACU's (army uniform). I was wearing my brand new dress and my favorite cowboy boots. I found out when we got there that we actually had front row seats, along with backstage passes, I was jumping in excitement the entire night.
Around the middle part of the show, Gunnar was standing behind me and I was leaning against the stage dancing and singing along with the band. Then our song came on, I was so excited to be able to dance with Gunnar so close to the stage while they played it. About halfway through the song Gunnar said in my ear "I love you, and I need to ask you something.." I felt him move away from me.
Time stood still.
As I was turning around, I thought to myself "Get it together Garrison, He is not going to propose, he is going to ask where you want to eat after the concert!" Everything was in slow motion. I couldn't even hear the music anymore. As I looked down and saw that handsome man, down on one knee with a little black box in his hand. I immediately yelled "YES!" and threw my arms around him!
We stood up, and the song was still playing. Gary the lead singer of the band came over to where we were and I held the ring box up. All I wanted was for him to see that we got engaged to one of their songs. That was it!
What happened next, was completely unexpected.
Gary saw me, smiled really big and stopped the song saying "Hang on! Stop the song! Security get these guys up here I didn't get to see it!" The next thing I knew I was being hoisted up on stage with Gunnar in front of 10,000+ people. Gary handed Gunnar the mic and said "Do it again." And right there on stage in the middle of a show he proposed again! After I nodded yes I jumped into his arms and Gary sang to us completely improvised. He sang "We thank you Jesus, for blessing the broken road that led him and her straight to each other, may they have a lifetime of happiness." We danced as he sang to us. It was amazing. As we were walking off stage Gary said "Wait, you gotta put that ring on first!" I realized that I hadn't even looked at it! So I slipped it on my finger and wiggled my fingers so one of my friends who was up in the nosebleeds could see it sparkle!
We got to the show, Gunnar had just gotten off work and didn't have time to change into regular clothes, so he was still in his ACU's (army uniform). I was wearing my brand new dress and my favorite cowboy boots. I found out when we got there that we actually had front row seats, along with backstage passes, I was jumping in excitement the entire night.
Around the middle part of the show, Gunnar was standing behind me and I was leaning against the stage dancing and singing along with the band. Then our song came on, I was so excited to be able to dance with Gunnar so close to the stage while they played it. About halfway through the song Gunnar said in my ear "I love you, and I need to ask you something.." I felt him move away from me.
Time stood still.
As I was turning around, I thought to myself "Get it together Garrison, He is not going to propose, he is going to ask where you want to eat after the concert!" Everything was in slow motion. I couldn't even hear the music anymore. As I looked down and saw that handsome man, down on one knee with a little black box in his hand. I immediately yelled "YES!" and threw my arms around him!
We stood up, and the song was still playing. Gary the lead singer of the band came over to where we were and I held the ring box up. All I wanted was for him to see that we got engaged to one of their songs. That was it!
What happened next, was completely unexpected.
Gary saw me, smiled really big and stopped the song saying "Hang on! Stop the song! Security get these guys up here I didn't get to see it!" The next thing I knew I was being hoisted up on stage with Gunnar in front of 10,000+ people. Gary handed Gunnar the mic and said "Do it again." And right there on stage in the middle of a show he proposed again! After I nodded yes I jumped into his arms and Gary sang to us completely improvised. He sang "We thank you Jesus, for blessing the broken road that led him and her straight to each other, may they have a lifetime of happiness." We danced as he sang to us. It was amazing. As we were walking off stage Gary said "Wait, you gotta put that ring on first!" I realized that I hadn't even looked at it! So I slipped it on my finger and wiggled my fingers so one of my friends who was up in the nosebleeds could see it sparkle!
See video of the proposal here!
Marriage
On Friday, May 8, 2009 at 6:30pm I married the love of my life. I packed up my things from my parents house and moved an hour and a half away to a tiny two bedroom apartment and started my life with my new husband.
So Happy :)
Everything was going great! We were blissfully happy and in love. I was a little bored though, I had gone from working and living near my family and friends to nothing. I wasn't used to staying at home all day, without a car just waiting around until Gunnar would come home from work. Something had to change. So I got a part time job babysitting.
On August 18, 2009 I was sitting on the side of the bath tub staring at a stick on the counter. Waiting for the three minutes to be up so I could flip it over, and see if I was pregnant. After about a minute and a half I couldn't take it anymore and flipped it over and saw that I was indeed, pregnant.
I slowly opened the bathroom door, walked into the kitchen where my husband was eating breakfast. I calmly sat down and said " You won't believe this." and handed him the pregnancy test.
His first reaction was to laugh and say " Yeah right, you drew that on there!!" We were both in complete shock! We had only been married for two and a half months and now we were having a baby! We "had" a five year plan! We were happy, but very, very shocked.
The next 9 months went really well, we enjoyed finding out that we were having a boy, picking out his name, and shopping was the most fun! I loved being pregnant. It was so much fun feeling him kick and wiggle around. I loved everything about it.
Gunnar on the other hand took a little while to come to terms with everything. Looking back now we both know that he was just scared. Mortified actually. Our plans had changed and he had barely had any experience with babies let alone raising one.
At my Baby Shower!
On Monday, March 29, 2010 we were running late for an appointment with my OB/GYN. I was rushing around and decided that we should probably put the hospital bag inside my car. I grabbed my keys and my giant water bottle and walked...I mean...waddled out of the door. Little did I know the next time I would walk back through it, our lives would be flipped upside down.
Brooke
