I love these questions and just had to answer!!! I love Valentine's day and all things pink and red!
1. How long have you and your significant other been together?
We started dating in 2002. So 10 years! We have been married for close to 6 years!
2. How did you meet? {What's your "love" story?}
We met at a flag football game in college. It was the first cool night in Fall of my freshman year. A few months later we were both selected to work at a youth worship retreat in the Tennessee mountains for a long weekend. We really became good friends on that trip. We were the best of friends for the remaining year, and spent most of our free time together, along with our common group of friends. In that time, I fell in love with his entire family. I thought his older "senior" sister was the coolest, and his Mom was my favorite person ever. His dad was my campus minister...haha! I just loved The Whelan's! We talked a lot on the phone over the summer and went to Atlanta for a weekend. He helped me move out of the dorms and into my first apartment. I guess it was after The Edge one Tuesday night that we decided to make it "official"...ha! We had our first real date the following Saturday night, at Roadhouse of course. :)
3. If married, how long have you been married?
We got married on a perfect summer evening on June 24th, 2006. So, we will be celebrating our 6 year anniversary in June.
4. If you are married, where did you get married at? Big or small wedding?
We got married in my hometown in Dublin, GA. The ceremony was at Pine Forest United Methodist Church (the church that I grew up in). Our reception was at the Dublin Country Club (my favorite place to be growing up). I wanted a "smaller" wedding with a sit down dinner. I wanted it to be formal and southern. I think we kept it between 150 and 200 people. I think...I can't even remember.
5. Do you have any nick-names that you call one another? Do share!
Do we ever! I call Matt, Matty...most of the time. I also call him hubs or hubby a lot. Matt calls me sug, sugar, sugar bear, or Nic a whole lot. Sometimes he calls me wind, which I hate. Haha! Every now and then he calls me Nikkisoccer4 taking it back to Instant messenger days when we were in our late teens. I always respond back with ValdostaWhelan. Ha!
6. Name 3 things you love most about your honey.
How hard he works to provide for us. His selfless attitude every single day.
How much he loves me. He is just the kindest, most loving man. He truly knows me so well, and gives up everything to help me.
His sense of humor and love for people. He is a people person and will talk to anyone.
7. Tell us how he proposed?
He asked me to marry him on a Saturday night in June. He had been "golfing" all day and I was taking a summer education class and had been studying all day in the libary. He told me he was planning a dinner date to our favorite restaurant downtown, The Bistro. I didn't feel like getting all dressed up and going, but I eventually gave in. I am so glad I did! We ate the drunken angus (yum!!!) and then went over to Sojourners for a while. We ran into some friends, and I remember commenting to Matt (completely oblivious) that they looked at us funny like maybe we were going to get engaged...because we were so dressed up! Ha! Meanwhile, a good friend of ours was cleaning my messy apartment and following specific instructions from Matt to turn my apartment into the most romantic place that I'd ever seen, with all things that he knew that I would love. After some persuasion, we made it back to my apartment. When I opened the door, it felt like time stood still. I was completely shocked and surprised. There were candles everywhere....lit ones! Tea lights were everywhere and pink rose petals too. There was music from a playlist that he made playing in the background. To this day, I can hear songs from that cd and I immediately remember our engagement night like it was yesterday. I think I began crying as soon as it sunk in...crying and shaking. I then noticed that my apartment was spotless, and that there were two boxes on the coffee table...a big and a small one. I don't remember what all he said, except that it was sooo sweet and nice, but I do remember him shaking as he hugged me and I remember him getting down on one knee. I also remember thinking that the ring was perfect..we had never looked at or discussed types of rings that I liked, so that was awesome!!! He gave me a brand new Bible and had some scripture highlighted in it. I immediately had to call my family! I couldn't believe that they knew already!!! It was perfect. Romantic, thoughtful...he put so much planning into the timing of it all, and private (he knew me even then!). We went to the fountain on campus afterwards (our speical spot and favorite place in Valdosta) and made some more phone calls and just soaked in the pure joy!! I also loved walking into Sunday School the next morning and my friend Laila's reaction, spotting the ring from across the room, she caused a huge uproar that is really fun to remember! That Tuesday night, a friend of ours announced our engagement to the entire BSU at The Edge...and that is a special memory too!
8. Is he a flowers and teddy bear kind of guy for v-day, or strawberries, champagne, and rose petals?
Not a teddy bear kind of guy-I think he learned his lesson after our first Vday. Haha! Every now and then I get flowers. I think I got them one Valentine's day a looong time ago and they were beautiful. He sent me flowers the week before our wedding and I loved that! He also got me flowers when I got my first job (they were my schools colors) and when I completed my first year of teaching. He knows that I'd rather have a flowering plant or bush that will last longer though. We celebrate a lot of special occasions with a romantic flare...but usually for Valentine's Day we both give little sentimental gifts and fun random things that we think the other with love.
9. Are you a sunset dinner on the beach kind of girl, or pop a movie in and relax on the couch?
Both! I love a mixture. Sometimes I love nothing more than getting dressed up and having a romantic dinner date. And I always love the beach at sunset!!! But other times, spending an ight on the couch in my pjs is the way to go!
10. Tell us one thing you'd like to do with your significant one day. If you could do anything? Go anywhere?
I don't even know. Any type of vacation sounds nice right about now. I also just love spending the day around our little town, with no plans. I'm guessing it would be to spend time in coastal South Carolina or Georgia. Shopping, being at the beach, eating seafood for dinner and taking a long walk at sunset on the marsh. I guess I just want to go back to Daufuskie Island...our favorite place EVER!
11. Tell us what you plan on doing on this Valentine's Day.
We usually always go on a nice Valentine's date at a restaurant either the weekend before or after, unless it falls on the actual weekend. We lead busy lives and our extracurricular activities don't stop for a day of LOVE..and we can't stand the crowds. We do however, always do something little and special on Valentine's Day. Last year, we had breafast in bed with a movie. Tonight, we are grilling steaks, asparagus, and baked potatoes. I'm thinking that we will eat dinner by candlelight. Then get some cuddle time as we watch our favorites...Dance Moms and Parenthood.
12. Are you asking for anything this Valentine's day?
I have lots of little goodies that I'd love to have from Broad Street here in town. I'm not really asking for anything specific though. I always love jewelry or furniture...big surprise! Haha!
13. Give us one piece of advice of keeping a relationship strong and full of love.
The Lord is our eveything. We also communicate about everything and make it a point to spend a lot of time together. We both have lots of hobbies, but the good thing is that we actually enjoy doing them together a lot of the time. We are both super busy most nights, but have found that eating dinner at the table each night and going to bed at the same time are two important things for us...and our favorite times of the day!
14. Show us a picture of what love means to you.
*Please excuse the poor quality of the pictures. I really need to scan in all of my pre-digital camera days pictures this summer.
