A brief history to bring you up to date

I met Don on match.com in January 2005. 2 weeks after we started talking, and our 3rd date, we became officially a couple. It was love at first sight. We both pretty much knew marriage was in our future from the start. Countless hours were spent talking on the phone, getting to know eachother. Living an hour apart, we made an effort to spend almost every weekend together.

January 21, 2006, almost exactly a year after those first emails were exchanged, Don finally asked me that question and gave me that ring. It wasn't too much longer after our engagement when Don finally made the decision to move in with me. There were some ups and downs, but after 2 years of living with each other, we were finally married and happy.

The decision to move from Chicago to Houston was primarily Don's desire. My parents had moved down here, but I never really considered it. It was nice of Don to let me know of his mindset quite a few months after he decided it :) But, I was up for an adventure. We weren't really all that happy with our surroundings in our little college town, and it didn't look as if we would be able to get out of there to the suburbs anytime soon. We just weren't getting ahead with our jobs.

Donald and I arrived in Houston on June 4th, 2008, and have had no regrets since. When we came down, we started looking for jobs immediately (we looked before moving, but it was difficult). A month after coming down, Don got hired at his current job, and I got hired at mine a week after him. We used about all of our savings moving down here and paying our bills until we got jobs, so we basically started from zero once we started working. And as difficult as it has been, we are very lucky my parents let us stay with them.

So, we are in the process of watching our first home being built! Estimated closing date is Jan 6, 2009 (54 days away!). From zero to homeowners in 7 months, I'm proud of the way we worked together to plan out and stick to a budget so we can get finances in order to be able to afford the house.

All in all, I couldn't be happier with the decision I made to be with Don, and the decision we made to start our new life together in a new place. I can't wait for our life to really start in our brand new house, together, on our own.

This blog is to document our journey together... there will be many more posts to come.