So, a little back story.

I grew up in Oklahoma. Spent my early life there, went away to Arkansas for college (a lateral move at best), then back to Oklahoma for grad school. When I finished my Master’s in December of 2004, I was at a bit of a loss for what to do next.

“Come out to Virginia,” my best friend from high school said. “They pay their teachers pretty well.”

It made more sense than sitting around in Oklahoma, where I’d never be able to teach history (they tend to only hire coaches to teach history in Oklahoma because even coaches have to teach in that state, and they’ve all got history degrees for some godawful reason). So I packed up in July of 2005 and headed east.

In between, I’d started communicating with Michelle (my eventual wife) via instant messenger. She’d just gotten out of a long-term relationship. We chatted a lot, and I says glad to know someone else would be around when I moved out to Virginia.

When I arrived, we started hanging out a lot. Michelle recognized from the beginning that we liked each other as more than just friends. I, dolt that I am, didn’t see it. Also, I was still more than a little intimidated by her. I hadn’t really had a girlfriend in college or grad school, and my high school relationships were…well, high school relationships.

So I balked. Eventually, she got frustrated with me and said we couldn’t hang out anymore.

Then we both happened to be at a mutual friend’s party one night in early April. We got talking, hashed things out, and ended the night as a couple, essentially.

I think that brings us up to speed.