our love story

It started back in 2005 - we hadn't crossed paths yet & we wouldn't for another 3 years

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but this is where our love story began...

We were both working for the same company.

We sat three desks away from each other.

Almost a year went by...

I'm sure during that year we walked past each other in the hall,

maybe even got coffee (hot chocolate for me) at the same time.

I know that we attended some of the same meetings...

But out of over 100+ employees,

his face & his name was one of the few that I didn't recognize - & vice versa.

(Oh, I should also mention that we lived three houses away from each other, too. 

Crazy, I know.)

3 seems to be our magic number

We sat 3 desks aways from each other

We lived 3 houses away from each other

We *finally* met 3 years after working together

We met at a holiday party (for the company that we worked at in 2005. It's 2008 now.)

Neither of us worked there at this point,

but we both went to the party with other friends that still worked there.

A group of people went over to Luke's apartment downtown before the holiday party.

This is when I officially met Luke.

We didn't pay any attention to each other at first.

He was playing video games,

& I was chatting with his roommate to see if we knew anyone in common

that worked for the Mariners or the Sonics,

since he spent some time working in professional sports in Seattle.

(I was working for the Seattle Mariners at this time)

The night progressed & after many drinks, some bites of food
& a lot of dancing at the company holiday party,
we found ourselves talking to each other.
(of course neither of us can remember what we talked about,
who started the conversation, etc...)
All we knew is that we were talking each others ears off!

We ended up hanging out the rest of the evening,

when the party moved over to the bars, we went together.
When the party moved over to their apartment, I, too attended.

We all stayed up until 6am dancing in the living room, watched the sun rise and the snow fall.
He drove me to my friends house & we exchanged numbers.

From that moment on I knew that there was something that I liked about him.
I learned that he was from Chicago, & I liked that about him.
I learned that we had both worked for a few professional sports teams
(him: Bulls and Blazers; me: Blazers, Suns & Mariners)
I liked that about him & us as well.
We seemed to have a lot in common right from the start...
& the fact that we both obviously love to have a good time (i.e. dance party until 6am... :)

Despite the both of us not remembering our words the first night that we met, 

I do remember that he made me feel comfortable.

When you talked to Luke he would often touch your arm during conversation,
maybe as a way to make someone feel more comfortable, or a way to connect to someone.
Either way, I liked that about him, too.

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Days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months & before we knew it, we were each taking turns driving up to Seattle & down to Portland to spend time with each other nearly every other weekend. We formed a very close friendship from the beginning that naturally turned into a relationship.

When we got tired of the drive back & forth from Seattle & Portland (which was often)
we'd plan trips & meet up in different cities.
Chicago, San Francisco, San Diego, Miami...

When we got tired of the drive & meeting separately on trips that we'd rather be traveling together on,
I moved back down to Portland.

Since we've both been in the same city, we bought our first house & got our first puppy together here in Portland! We couldn't be happier with how our life is turning out & we're so happy that we get to share it together!

And that is all. For now...