We met in the fall of 2007 while we were both working at Best Buy. At the time, we were both yucky smokers, and one day while Josh was outside waiting to be picked up, I offered him a cigarette because I had seen him smoke before. We started talking about how my 18th birthday was coming up, and how I would be getting my first tattoo. I was so nervous and had no idea what to expect, so I started asking him questions because he already had one. I told him that I was probably getting a butterfly on my hip, and asked how they would bandage it. He told me that oftentimes, tattoo artists will 'wrap' it in saran wrap to keep the area moist at first. Being my giddy, blonde (at heart) self, I said, "They're going to wrap me in plastic wrap?!". He started cracking up and clarified, saying that they'd only tape a piece over the tattoo. From that point on, having already embarrassed myself to death, we became much better friends.
The day that he finally built up the nerve to ask me for my number, he walked from his register at the front of the store to my desk in Mobile, a short ways away. He walked right up to me and said, "Hey, give me your number.". Smooth, right? I gave it to him, and he turned around and started walking away! I said, "Uh, don't I get yours?", which totally caught him off guard, and he managed to mumble a, "I'll text you.". Things grew from there and we became a couple.
My living arrangements at the time were less than pleasant, and just a few weeks later, I moved in with Josh and his friends, Rick and Trish Rush. Three months later, on March 28, 2008, we found out that we were pregnant. We were living with my dad at the time, but moved out shortly thereafter to our own apartment. Shortly after that, due to our financial situation, I moved back in with my mom and stepdad, and Josh moved back in with Rick and Trish.
Every night, Josh would call me and I'd hold the phone to my stomach so the baby could hear him. He kicked like crazy anytime he heard Josh on the phone! He would get so excited. We would read to him and sing him little songs, but we still felt like a phone call wasn't enough. Deciding that we would benefit more from living together, we moved back in with the ever-generous Rush family. On December 3, 2008, we welcomed Joshua James into this world. He is the light of our life.
Everyone always says to move in together, then get a dog, then get married, then have a baby. Well, we do things a little differently, I guess. Being parents challenged and strengthened our relationship in so many ways, and ultimately brought us closer together. On November 15, 2009, two days before my 20th birthday, Josh proposed. We were having a small get together at my mom's house and after I finished opening my cards, I looked at my mom who was standing there, awkwardly, with a goofy grin on her face and her camera up and ready! I looked to my left, and Josh was on one knee. He started reading a beautiful letter that he had written me, and at the end, he said "...I couldn't ask for anything more. Well, actually, there is one more thing...will you marry me?" He stayed there, kneeling, holding the ring box open (which held the ring of my dreams!), as I giggled and teared up, until I finally took the initiative and snatched the ring and put it on my finger! I am now the future, Mrs. Joshua Robert O'Grady. I cannot wait to expand our little family, and to spend the rest of my life with him, as my husband.
