So I'm starting this blog because tonight, while staying up late to edit for the first time since last fall, I put my headphones on and heard some songs from last summer that put me back on a path of remembering how Justin and I began our romance. After talking with him, and us both trying to remember a few things, I decided to start a blog just for us that maybe...maybe...one day we'll let our children read! :)
So parts of this are hard to write and put down in front of me, but they are important to understand how we came to know each other. Unfortunately I was married when I met Justin. I also had made the mistake of being unfaithful with a close friend of his. Thru conversations about Justin with this close friend of his I became intriqued in who this Justin friend was that told his friends just how it was and could be honest with them about them being dumb and making a mistake (he told his friend this about me). Even though Justin could be brutally honest with this friend, this friend talked very highly of him and had nothing but good to say about him which perked my interest.
This all took place in May of 2010. Things very quickly fizzled out with this "friend" but fast forward to around June 1st when I was talking to this "friend" via text and found out that he and Justin were in Gatlinburg. I jokingly, but not really, asked if best friends were off limits. I think he wasn't too happy about that, but I went ahead and friend requested Justin on Facebook anyway. He accepted and we began to talk via Facebook and text. Very early on I knew there was either something different about this guy or he was a great artist that knew how to pull me in hook line and sinker!
On June 9th, 2010 we talked on the phone the entire night it seemed. I wanna say it was like 6 hours. Thankfully we both have Verizon so it was free M2M! I can remember laying on the floor of my bedroom talking to him on speaker phone because I had to keep my phone plugged up because the battery drained several times. I can't remember everything that we talked about but I can remember how comfortable and excited I was to talk to him regardless of how sleepy I was. I couldn't get enough already! I can remember him always saying he wanted to know something new about me and I would say "I don't know what to tell you, you just have to ask me questions!"
The next evening we made plans to meet for the first time...a first date in the making. I had a session that evening I can remember and it was so hot. If you know me, you know how bad I sweat so of course I brought a change of clothes, makeup to touch up my freckled face, deoderant, and something to make me smell good. We planned to meet at Casa Fiesta on Louisville Rd. I parked in the back (apparently near his truck but didn't know that at the time) and changed clothes in my car and "primped" before going in. I remember texting him that I was there and him replying that he was the only bald guy in the back! LOL He was sitting in the back in a booth and looked so nervous that I suddenly didn't feel as nervous as I was before walking in. White t-shirt and shorts if I recall correctly. *Note that just a few weeks ago Justin revealed to me that I had lipstick on my teeth that night and he didn't tell me!! How embarrassing!!* I remember eating and drinking to loosen up (both of us were nervous). The dinner went well but neither of us wanted the night to end just yet. We walked out to our vehicles and talked a bit and finally decided to drive to the Capital. I got in his truck and rode with him. When we got to the Capital we decided to get out and walk around. I remember sitting on the front steps at the top talking and some crazy black bugs kept landing on his white shirt and I can't flicking them off. I think Justin must have trained those bugs to do this to get me to touch him! LOL He even brought up global warming!! Really?! LOL I tease him about this to this day! He was nervous still, give him a break! We also sat on the wooden bench over by the big clock. I even layed my head in his lap. Why I did this I don't know but I remember talking here for quite some time. I already felt so comfortable with him strangely and still barely knew him. The night ended eventually and we went our separate ways. *Justin told me later that he really wanted to kiss me that night but nerves got the best of him (I'm glad actually)*
About 5 days later on June 15, 2010 that first kiss came about! I don't remember what we were doing or talking about (fail I know) but we were at Justin's on his couch. I think we were watching a movie.
Some time soon after this Justin and his twin sister Jennifer left for a quick family trip to Myrtle Beach. June of course is one of my busiest months and me being the night owl that I am (writing this first entry at 2am), I stayed up late a lot of nights...okay, most nights because I didn't want to go to bed (because the "beast" was there). So when Justin got up one morning (June 18th) before leaving the beach to watch the sunrise, I was up too. So we watched the sunrise together in a sense from two different states! Here's our pictures we sent each other of our sunrises:
*Justin posted the above picture on Facebook on June 18th with the caption "last day at the beach no Joy in leaving either ! :( - - remember no one knew about us still...
I left for a week's vacation on that Sunday (Father's Day) to Kiawah Island, SC. Came back earlier (June 24th) than I told anyone to drive to Owenton to stay with Justin. Couldn't get enough of him. We talked so much the week I was at the beach and I just couldn't wait to get back to see him again. His birthday was coming up on the 27th of June and I wanted to do something special for him. You see I had a wedding in Vevay, Indiana on Saturday the 26th. It's Indiana, no one knows me there right so unfortunately I lied and said the wedding went late and I was just going to stay overnight. I reserved a suite at Ogle Haus Best Western on the river there in Vevay, room 217. Well Justin ended up checking into the room before I was done with the wedding and I think he was quite surprised that I splurged and got a suite. I remember him sending me pictures of the room saying I was in trouble! LOL See the pictures below that he sent me via text while I was still at the wedding:
Text from Justin: "way ahead of u beautiful just had to be sure! lol"
So his birthday surprise went very well and very well planned. I had a cake for him that I sneakily brought in to the front desk and asked them to have it delivered to our room at midnight. I gave them candle to put on it but told them that they didn't have to light them. But what a great staff! Like clockwork at midnight there was a knock on the door and I made him answer it. They had lit the candles and everything! I think he was surprised and happy! He said the cake was great! The rest of the night was memorible for sure. Hey Justin, was the heighth of that bed perfect or what??!! LOL He even had gone out and gotten tealights to put around the bath to make it romantic. He got a great bottle of wine (a new one that I still buy now to this day cause I like it - picture above) ready and chilled for me.
Happy 27th Birthday Love!!
So a little back story as well is that right before I met Justin I had completely a 12 week liquid diet and had lost 25 pounds and also had just gotten my braces off right before I met him. Seriously, got my braces off on June 3rd and met him on Junst 10th! I was so glad he didn't have to endure me as a "metal mouth" LOL! I also went through a stage that I was a new person (looks) so I needed a new hair color too. Wow, did I go to the extreme....here's a before (with braces) and after!
I'm a little fuzzy on the time frame here. Was thinking that Justin got to meet me first as a brunette, but according to the calendar I had my hair appointment on June 9th and our first date was on June 10th. Did we meet before that somewhere??? My oh my my memory is awful, I'll have to see if he remembers...
So fast forwarding to July. July was a crazy month and not fairtale at all. Let me explain. Justin and I continued to fall more and more fond of each other and talked all the time. Every chance we could get away with seeing each other we would steal it away. No one still knew about us. I was still legally married. So I don't know if we got to comfortable or what, but Justin made a trip to Frankfort on July 1st and we tried to go to the park on the East Side of town to walk but it was dark and the security guard told us we couldn't. Soooo my idea was to drive to Liberty Hall and hang out there at the gardens and talk and just spend time together. As we are driving down Wilkerson Blvd and get stopped by a stop light I suddenly look over to the right and freak out and simply say "That's John beside us, don't look!" (the husband at the time). Of course my heart goes to my stomach and I pray he doesn't pay attention. No such luck right. The light turns green and I take off and so does he and cuts into my lane so that I can't go anywhere. He gets out of his truck on the phone yelling asking who the hell is this in the car with me. I tell him my friend Justin and that he needs to get back into the truck and move out of the way. He gets in the truck and I end up back in front of him. I don't know what to do, think, or go. Justin suggests driving to the police department, not knowing what John's capable of doing. So as I turn left to do there, he turns right and yells out the window not to come home! I'm freaking out at this point knowing that life from this moment on has changed. We stay in the police department's parking lot for a couple hours while I talked to several people on the phone. Cyndi (my best friend at the time and knew about Justin from the get-go) was the one I talked to the most. My sister Cindy drove up to the house but I didn't want to see her. I didn't want to talk to anyone!!! I was embarrassed, confused and mad. Justin and I ended up driving to Lexington and rented a hotel room for the night. The next morning Justin heads back to Owenton and I head to the house to talk/yell with John. We did that for a bit and I think finally just exhausted everything and just shoved it under the carpet. Divorce was pending at this point anyway.
Fast forward to Saturday, July 10th around midnight into the 11th. I get home really late from a photoshoot in Northern Ohio that my sisters Cindy and Sallie went to with me. I get in the shower before bed because it was a hot day and I frankly stunk! When I got out of the shower I went to the office to shut the computer down and John followed me in there to what I think was ultimately, to pick a fight. He wanted to yell about me taking our taxes to my sister's house (so he thought, they were actually in the drunk of my car the whole time). This fight esculated unlike any other and he ended up grabbing my cell phone. That freaked me out because of the texts from Justin on there. I take off down the hall to try and get it back and we start fighting. I'm pulling at his arm to reach my phone and he throws me to the ground. Not once, but at least 3 times that I can remember. In the course of the fight I apparently scratched his arm with my nails and he left several bruises and scratches on my arms as well. He, like a dumb ass (sorry but true) called the cops!! He's a former cop himself so he had to know that once a call is made, no matter what you say (he tried to tell them after they answered that we're fine and he didn't need assistance) they still follow through with the call and show up at the location. So guess what, two cops show up, we both have marks on our bodies so we BOTH get put in handcuffs and into two different cop cars!! OMG!! I've never been arrested, handcuffed, or in the back of a cop car IN MY LIFE!! I looked horrible too...wet hair (remember had just gotten out of the shower), no makeup on (a nasty sunburn on my nose), mismatching clothes with no underwear or bra on!! I was mortified to say the least. I'm scared to death too not knowing what's gonna happen. Luckily the cop I had was very nice and understanding and explained everything to me and let me make as many calls as I wanted until we got to the jail. So I make that embarrassing, crying call to my mom that "They're taking me to jail!!!". I text Cyndi and Justin both a simple text of "I'm in jail." LOL Funny now, but at the time I had thoughts of them going through my phone and reading my texts so I deleted some early on precious texts from Justin, including pictures. :(
So 4 hours later and $2000 a piece paid, we are both released from jail, but not allowed to be at the same place until a court date at the end of the month. I quickly tell them I want to go to the house so John had to make other arrangements. Shew, at least I didn't have to leave my house and my stuff. My family stayed with me for a few days after that because I was scared of what he might do. Once I got over the fear I got back to - hey I kinda like living on my own and coming and going as I please!! So I got to spend some amazing time with Justin and our relationship continued to grow stronger and stronger. We were building a foundation (as strange as that may sound) that could not be broken or waivered. John moved back in after the court date on the 27th since neither of us could afford to pay half a mortgage and a rent payment on an apartment.
The first of August brought the 127 Yard Sale and Justin and I realized we both loved to look at "junk" and made plans to drive all the way to Jamestown, TN and work our way back from there yard-saling! Nothing in Jamestown by the way ha! We stayed at an interesting hotel that was full of artifacts and really random things. Wish I had gotten some pictures of that but I didn't. We had a great time on this trip just being with each other, not worrying about who would see us or tell someone we were together. I think I fell in love with Justin on this trip. I felt so comfortable with him and could for the first time see a future with him. Weird to think I could already see that when I wasn't even officially divorced from John yet, but I did. In my heart I had been divorced from John for a long time before I even met Justin.
The next weekend, August 13th I got to meet Blaine for the first time. I remember bringing up a movie for us to all watch. He seemed to be okay with me so I wasn't too nervous. I never knew it but everyone has always told me I have a way with kids. I don't know, guess some things just come naturally ya know. So the next day, Saturday the 14th we (Justin, Blaine and I) loaded up and headed to the Cincinnati Children's Museum. It was a great day and we had so much fun!! Justin later told me that he tested me a few times that day to see how I was with Blaine. As in walking away (at least making it appear that way) to see if I would keep an eye on Blaine! Justin and his many tests! They made me very nervous in the beginning! So things are going great!
We also took a trip to the Zoo with Blaine on August 24th. See pictures below:
October was super busy with photoshoots so Justin and I knew we would need a vacation in November to reconnect after such a busy month. He finally got to meet someone in my family in October though. My sister Cindy met him on October 30th at his house. She rode up there with me from mom's to see Blaine's costume. So once Cindy knew they pretty much all knew cause she's not one to tell a secret to. That was sort of planned.
Happy Halloween!!
But before that Justin and I had a chance to go to his parent's garage/farm with Blaine and I was able to capture some great photos of him that day! He actually really loves the camera, but would rather TAKE the pictures than be in front of it unless you can catch him like below making funny faces at me! I also posted these on Facebook on my fanpage page as a somewhat first introduction to those family members there are on Facebook. And tagged both Justin and Kara in them. (untagged her later lol) I even framed the last picture on here as a Christmas present from Blaine to his momma.
I had a senior session around the first of October and Justin and Blaine surprised me with supper from KFC at Butler Park. Of course Blaine was ecstatic to be able to play on the playground there. It was a great night! We even layed in the playground for a little while and looked up at the stars...
October 2nd, 2010 I also opened the following card with a set of keys!
November we had a trip planned to Pigeon Forge, TN. I rented a nice cabin that we could just get away for a few days and reconnect. It was much needed and we had a great time! But before we left (no one knew Justin was going with me except his family) he sent roses to Cheryl's house with a card that said basically have a nice relaxing trip in Tennesee. Wow, did he play to them or what, they were like, aw, he's already spoiling you!! If only they really knew how spoiled he made me that vacation!
I introducted Justin to to my parents on November 13th, 2010 at the Wheatley Community Center Annual Thanksgiving Supper. He immediately was introduced to Uncle Leslie and Daddy at the same time and Daddy quickly said, "I'm her dad." before they had a chance to mess with him. Blaine was with us as well and I could tell almost immediately that Daddy loved Blaine. I think he misses having a little one around, since Nathanael is now 10. Mom was at the house so Justin got to meet her afterwards. She was a little quiet, but in her defense I didn't warn her I was bringing anyone by and it was later in the evening and I'm sure she was tired. However, this caused Justin for quite some time to think that Mom hated him! LOL Mom and Justin and more alike than I care to admit and I think they love each other, just stubborn. ha! Shortly after that at a Sunday meal everyone else got to meet him and Blaine. Can't remember when exactly but that's because they aren't as important, not nice I know, but true.
This picture was the first night my mom and dad met Blaine. He got out a game of ....um, crap I can't remember the name, but I'm sure you remember it as an older game made new. He loved playing it with his own rules! lol Then he hopped up in my mom's lap and read a book with her. I was nervous but loved it at the same time!
Here's another fun day that I got to keep Blaine while Justin had to work overtime. You see on the street Justin lived on - East Adair in Owenton - there were a group of ducks that you would randomly see walking down the road (a pond we think somewhere close by) but this day we decided to get some bread and lure them into the yard. Just got home just in time to enjoy in the fun! Blaine liked feeding them but didn't want them too close, he was a bit scared of them!
No comments:
Post a Comment