MRS_Mikec

Our story begins in 1998 at Oscar's, a local burger and custard joint. Through a mutual friend we were both hired to work there and this is where our story begins. We didn’t really get to know each other, but both of us ended up leaving that restaurant and going to work at a grocery store right next to our high school. By the year 2000 we had spent a couple of years together as acquaintances. The crew of employees at the grocery store would frequently go midnight bowling on Friday nights. There were many nights we were together, but STILL we didn’t know each other well. Truth is, I (Mandy) had a HUGE crush on Brian the entire time. But, he ended up finishing high school at home, and it was as if one day he just vanished. Over the next 12 or so years I would think of him whenever that mutual friend was brought up in conversation. I always wondered what happened to him…. Now, let’s fast forward to the year 2011. My brother was getting his kitchen remodeled. Sadly, the first contractor did a horrible job and my brother needed to have a second contractor come into fix it. I got a call from my brother a few weeks later asking if I remembered a guy from high school named Brian. I sure did! Brian to the rescue to fix my brothers kitchen after the first contractor messed it up. Shortly thereafter Brian had come across my photo on an online dating site and thought he would just say Hi, since he already knew who I was. Well, it just so happened that my first response to him was that I suggested we maybe go out sometime, to catch up, really not thinking anything of it. Any crush I had was long gone and I certainly was not looking for a serious relationship. Over the next month or so we talked constantly on Facebook and eventually Brian stirred up the courage to tell me he wanted to take me on an official date. He told me ever since he first saw my picture on the dating site and then seeing my first reply to his saying "Hi", he couldn't get me off his mind. What started as “hey lets catch up” turned into us really having a lot in common. On April 12, of 2012 we went on our first date and we haven’t looked back. Over the course of our one and a half year dating relationship we realized we were meant to be. The more we got to know each other, the more we realized that God had a plan for us all along. At one point we went to the same elementary school, and lived less than 4 blocks from each other. While we aren’t sure, there is a good likelihood Brian’s twin sisters Brenda & Belle delivered newspapers to our house when we were little. At a different point, a family friend of ours lived in the same apartment complex as Brian. He was friends with the child in that family as was I. At multiple points our paths were close to crossing but it took many more years for God to perfect his plan and bring us together, some 12 years after actually meeting. On October 27, of 2013 Brian gave me the surprise of a lifetime when he got down on one knee and asked me to spend the rest of my life with him. I was shocked and overjoyed! He is my best friend, I am his. We have both never felt more deeply in love and continue to grow our faith and even more in love with each passing day. We are silly and sometimes stupid. We laugh until it hurts and can’t imagine being without one another. On August 9, of 2014 we begin the next chapter of "Our Story" as we stand before God, family and friends to begin our lives as husband and wife.