Weddingbee bios

FI is an incredible guy. He was raised by his parents, who are still together, on a dairy farm in central NY. He has a brother, 6 years younger than him. He was an amazing athlete, excelling in football and basketball. His parents worked hard on the farm, and he spent a lot of time with his grandparents and extended family, all who live close by. He spent his childhood and early teens riding bikes with his cousins, milking cows and doing chores. In high school I think he said 15 words all four years. FI is naturally shy, but having to be home all the time on the farm left little time for socializing with peers and made FI's shyness worse. But he learned strong values, to work hard for what you have, to appreciate the joys in life, to prioritize family, to be honest, faithful, caring and loyal. FI went to college, becoming a phsyical education teacher. He has always gone home on vacations and weekends to help out on the farm. He is the most fantastic man I've ever met, and will be a completely loving and devoted husband and father. I can't wait to marry him.

I was raised on a farm as well, also in central NY. We had horses and dairy cows until I was three, then my dad sold the diary farm and bought beef cows. I spent summers picking rocks from the fields (yes it's just as torturous as it sounds) and putting in hay. I loved riding horses, exploring in the woods on our property, and playing sports. I was not a very popular kid in middle school, but had a core group of friends that I developed in 9th grade that lasted through highschool. My parents divorced when I was 11, and that years of drama and heartache for myself and my siblings (older sis and younger bro). I am an adventure seeker, and love mountain biking, hiking, camping, raod trips, traveling, etc... I love sports, nature and my dog, Marley. I am an introvert by nature, as I fended for myself frequently and really only had a small group of friends in HS. I finally escaped to college, but with little direction. It took three colleges (but still only 4 years) to get my Bachelors in English. I spent the following summer living on my savings and finally enrolled in a social work graduate class. My professor encouraged me to apply to the program, which I did, and ended up with a Masters in Social Work 2 years later. I moved to Albany back with my dad and his new wife + 3 step siblings. Several months ago I took a new job, moved in with FI and am adjusting to grown up life.

fall 2003. I was just entering my sophmore year at Binghamton University. Eric was attending grad classes at SUNY Cortland, where he also received his Bachelors Degree. We met at a party through some friends of mine at BU. I was immediately attracted to his quiet demeanor and country-boy background. We started dating and lasted a solid 2+ months. Then I did something I can only attribute to being young and stupid - I broke up with him. To my credit, I was Eric's first girlfriend and he was very over protective. He had an idea on how things should be, and my young, liberal, naive self didn't see eye-to-eye with him very well. On the other hand, I could easily see myself with him forever. I never doubted his faithfullness, loyalty, or kind nature. But, like I said, I was young and stupid. I broke his heart. I regretted it almost immediately. I felt awful. Eric took it hard, and took his anger and hurt out through manual labor on his parents' farm. Mainly the wood pile waiting to be chopped up for fire wood. I found out through Eric's brother that he wasn't doing so well, but we didn't talk much over the next couple of months.

However after a short while, we did reconnect via email and myspace. We both moved on to different relationships, but stayed in close touch. We were both very committed to our relationships, despite the challenges and rough spots. There was one conversation about us, where I asked Eric if he thought that we'd ever get back together or would have stayed together. I was on a break from my relationship and he was in a very rough patch in his. His reply was that he always felt that when we were a little older we'd have a second chance together. Nothing came of it at the time, but those words never left me. I admit in tough times, I definitely had moments where I thought the grass would be greener on the other side, but I think I am truthful in saying that I definitely committed to the relationship I was in, and they ended not because I was looking backwards, but because the other person was just not the right person for me. And I know without a doubt, that Eric was the same way in his relationship.

In March of 2008, I was single again. And one night, after many beers, I im'd Eric, basically insisting that he and I meet up. After a few sober conversations, we did meet in May. I drove down to Horseheads to visit him. I was so worried that after 5 years without seeing each other, I wouldn't recognize him. But the second I saw him walking toward me, my heart jumped. We talked about so many things. That evening something definitely rekindled. I just knew that we would end up back together. I was relaxed, and didn't feel pressure to do anything to make it happen. I guess I just knew it would happen in time.

At this point, however, I was graduating with my Masters Degree and planning to move from Rochester to Albany. It was a tense time for me, as I was preparing to leave my two best friends, the city I had grown to know and love, and move back home with my parents. I did get nervous about not seeing Eric before the move, but I couldn't worry about it too much. He and his ex were having an awful time through the post-break up time. We spoke frequently as friends, and I offerred him what support I could. At this time there were no discusssions or plans to get back together. I wanted Eric to be able to grieve his relationship and come to his own conclusion that he felt the same way. It's hard to describe, but I knew that it would happen in time, whether it was a week or 5 months. It was june 10 when Eric invited me to come see him again. It was like we had never been apart a day. That started a summer of long trips to visit each other, as I was looking for a job and he was on break from teaching. We had a lot of time to get to know each other again, go on hiking and camping trips, and get to know each other's families. It was just what we needed and we had a glorious summer that we will both remember forever.

FI and I had gone ring shopping together several times and I knew it would be coming. My only stipulation, as it was December, was not in front of other people. I wanted it to be a special moment between the two of us. I had an idea that he had ordered my ring (bluenile.com) but he has all of his packages sent to his parents' home about an hour away, because he's never home during the day. I came down for a weekend (we were still long distance), thinking that he must not have gotten it yet, because he hadn't had time to get it from his parents yet. We went to one of our favorite parks, which ended up being closed for the season. We spent a while debating whether to park and hike in, or go change our plans. We decided to hike in, but took a wrong turn and ended up spending well over an hour getting to the top of the hill, where the park buildings, overlook area, and monuments were. It is one of our favorite places to go together. But by the time we got there, I was freezing and wanted to go. He had been acting a little strange, and I wondered if itw ould be the day, but convinced myself that he couldn't have gotten the ring yet, so it couldn't be that. We took some pictures and finally he bent down to tie his shoe. As he stood, he had the ring box in his hand and opened it, and asked me to marry him! I had no idea how he got the ring, but said and eager yes!! Right after we booked it out of there, since my hands were frozen just taking my gloves off long enough to put the ring on! We went to dinner and then a few hours later made phone calls to our families. It was a perfect day!