K&C Part 1: He’s From Winona!

I bet you don’t know how I met Kevin James.

Okay, so obviously my besties know. But in the past, I haven’t felt the urge to shout it from the rooftops usually awkwardly deferring to Kevin or mumbling something incoherent about “through a friend of a friend of a friend.” Which isn’t even exactly true.

Can I tell you from the beginning? Because I’m a hopeless romantic, and I really want to. If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you know that I spent some time in the Dominican Republic.

Sadly, I was far from the beaches in Santiago de los Caballeros

I moved down there almost immediately after college and spent three years teaching in a private bilingual missionary school. When I moved there, it was my first time leaving the United States ever.  Needless to say, it was a bit of an adjustment for this freckle-faced girl from Minnesota!

I was 24, and rapidly approaching 25. 25 was always the age I said I would get married. As I mentioned, I’m a hopeless romantic, and definitely intent on seeing my Cinderella ending come to fruition. But I also have a suppressed rebellious streak which meant I was really savoring my days as an independent woman. I was always flat broke, but if I wanted to spend my last peso on imported Sabra hummus and Dominican shoes – that was up to me!

I remember this was the lovely mug shot I sent with my applications to international schools!

My options in the romantic department were rather limited while teaching in the Dominican Republic. Do you have any clue what the male-female ratio is in a Christian school overseas? It’s not pretty. What about a Dominican man, you ask? “Are you racist?” my students would ask (anything to get me off topic!). While my Spanish was improving daily, I have enough communication issues in my first language! Don’t even get me started on the cultural differences in dating!  Despite many proposals that first year, I managed to stay single and ready to mingle!

I prayed about it that summer while I was home in Minnesota. I really did. I poured my little heart out. I was deeply encouraged by the story of Hannah in 1 Samuel 1, and I came to a renewed peace that the Lord was in control.

It’s about to get good, guys.

That summer I spent some quality time with one of my best friends forever, Deidre. And when I say forever, I mean forever. We’ve been friends since we were born, and conveniently, our big brothers were too! Deidre and I have this thing that we say,”In the cookie of life, friends are the chocolate chips!” All this to say, that she has always been a trusted confidante and we can talk about anything. In fact, we probably have talked about everything!

One day,  we were having a heart-to-heart-talk one day about my love life and lack thereof. She suggested online dating. As we discussed it further, I was rather intrigued with the idea and figured,”Why not?” I was leaving to go back to the Dominican Republic in a few days, so I considered it to be a risk-free venture. I would have nothing to worry about with stalkers or accidentally being matched with an ex-boyfriend. So eHarmony it was! I signed myself up for some kind of free trial, filled out the lengthy questionnaire, and it was go time!

I can’t believe I remember it exactly, but I do! My first reaction to seeing Kevin’s little profile picture was,”He’s from Winona!” I think I was talking to Deidre, probably via one of our famous rapid-fire Gmail exchanges.

The first picture I ever saw of Kevin James

In the off-chance that you’re not familiar with Southeastern Minnesota geography, Winona is a mere 30 minute drive from my hometown of Wabasha and home of the nearest Target!

The first picture Kevin ever saw of Corrie Anne

August 2009 was the first time I saw Corrie Anne on eHarmony.  Little did I know we would be married within two years.  You see, I was just was just having some fun on eHarmony talking to a lot of different girls.  What do you expect when they send you 5-10 new matches a day?  The first time I saw her, I thought she was cute and her profile was interesting, but I didn’t send a message.  Maybe I didn’t send one because she lived in the DR, which I didn’t even know what “DR” stood for at the time. Or maybe it was something else.  I really don’t remember exactly.  Eventually I gave into those baby blues and that cute earmuffs picture she posted.  At that point there was no turning back because I just made the best decision of my life.

To Be Continued…