And how we met...
Well it started in the summer before my last year of undergrad. I had had a falling out with my roommates/best friends and moved to a new place with a friend who left me with two roommates I didn't know. So I was developing my friendship with my bud Bridget. And spent a lot of time with her. And she had moved into a co-op on MSU's campus.
Side Bar: the definition of a coop.a
So one night I was coming over to meet her roomie's for the first time and everyone was out on the front porch of O-house drinking and playing darts. And I saw this one boy who I thought was very cute throwing darts and then drinking his beer. I was introduced to everyone and then a girl came out and the cute boy kissed her so I crossed him off the list as taken. That was Joe.
Well through out the course of the year I became good friends with most everyone in the co-op and pretty much lived there (rather than my apt. with my creep-star roommate Rick). I went on a few dates with some of the guys there. None of that panned out. And Joe's chica (they were never officially an item) ended up going down to Paraguay with the Peace Corps. And with all the time I had been spending with him I started to develop a crush. My friend LaFawnduh (really Christina but that was her uber sweet nickname) had a crush on one of the other coop boys so we would plot how to spend time with the boys and just be little girls about our crushes. Well eventually I confessed my crush to Joe (after numerous attempts to give him the hint and him not getting it I took the blunt approach). He didn't talk to me for about a week.
That weekend after was the co-op annual No Pants Party. It's held every February and you can wear anything but pants. Yes, I do mean anything. Wrestling unitards, underroos (aka underpants), a barrel, a skirt, cut-off shorts, etc. So I decide if Joe doesn't want to talk to me or date me then I will show him what he is missing. So I got all dolled up in my skirt from Paris with the slit up to my thigh and a top I bought in Chicago very similar to the halter part of Marilyn Monroe's famous white dress. And I showed up making my grand entrance.
Everyone was already a little tipsy. And the party was pretty packed already. I found LaFawnduh and Bridget. My other coop friends including Joe found me. Joe was a little tipsy too and put his arm around me. And that's when I knew he liked me back. So I said I would sell cups with Joe. We were down in the kitchen selling cups and doing pant checks. NO PANTS! And I leaned in and he got the hint and gave me our first kiss. I told him it took him long enough. He said sorry and kissed me again. It was cute and silly.
The rest of the party was just fun times and silliness and I asked Joe if we were gonna cuddle that night? He said yes and by the end of the party we went up to bed and snuggled all night. Okay and made out a lot. The next morning pretty much everyone in the house had hooked up with someone and all laughed about it. I spent the day hanging out with Joe and the rest of the coopers. The day after was Valentine's Day. I went to school and then over to the coop (as per usual) and was doing my homework when all of a sudden on the keyboard of the lap top I was typing on slid a red rose wrapped in pink tissue paper. I looked up and it was Joe smiling at me.
Isn't that the cutest thing ever?! I gave him a pack of skittles that I got for him. Turns out he wrapped it himself and gave every gal in the coop one too. He didn't want anyone to not have a Valentine. Then the whole coop watched The Notebook, Joe and I split two bottles of wine, and we snuggled, and Joe cried and when people teased him he said, and I quote: "You'd have to be a robot to not cry at this movie. Man fuck you guys!" Then I stayed over again because I was super tipsy and we snuggled all night. It was the start to us dating. And it was pretty perfect. We pretty much stayed the night together every other night. And stayed up until 5am talking and getting to know each other. And don't get the wrong idea, we didn't have sex until we had been dating for 6 months and the time was right. It was just a really sweet beginning to a soon to be four year relationship. February 12 is the big 4 years. Eek! So exciting. :)
So that is the story of Joe and I.
