My, Ahem, Our Story
On December 19th of 2015, I left China on a flight from Hong Kong to the states with no clue of what I was going to do with my life. What I'd learned in the months prior to my flight was that God had a different plan for me and I wasn't going to be staying in China another six months, which is what I intended. It's quite “funny,” but I had never booked my flight home for Christmas with a return leg...God saved me the trouble of that expense long before I knew I'd not be going back to Asia.
This sweet face is of one of my students, Happy, with me on my last day at ISD.
When I got home to Charleston, I had an amazing Christmas break, dog sat for the Meggett's over on James Island while they were gallivanting around on their Christmas beach vacation, and enjoyed catching up with friends and family. I was lucky because when I was home for the summer of 2015, I bought a car, so I had that to drive when I returned, but I didn't have a house, and I didn't have a job, and that was a huge burden at the time.
Mary Beth Meggett, that same friend for whom I dog sat, worked in CCSD schools, and she and I had worked together over at Stiles Point (where I spent the majority of my teaching career in the states). She knew me personally and professionally, and when she found out in November that I was moving back to the states in December, she told a principal she knew that I’d be returning to Charleston. That principal called me and “interviewed” me in December right before Christmas. The interview was quick. I got a tour of the school that day. I suppose Mary Beth had shared enough about me, and the administration at Pinehurst Elementary thought I’d be a good fit for the opening they suddenly had, so I got the job. That was one huge burden lifted.
Next was the house. I knew I could only be a guest at my dear friend Caroline’s for so long. She’d been an angel storing much of my furniture while I was away, and she said it was no problem for me to stay with her, but I’m a grown woman who only had one roommate outside of the dorm in college, and well, you may know how that went… ;)
I reached out to Wendy Thrower, a friend for whom I’d babysat over the years and a realtor I knew could help me in my search. I certainly didn’t have a lot of funds, but I did have an account with enough for a downpayment, and I did have the new job, so the loan was pretty easy to ascertain. Wendy and I began looking at houses sometime in January.
Before moving home, I had spoken with HGTV’s House Hunters several times, and they said as soon as I put an offer on a house, I could make my audition tapes and send them in so we could see if I’d get on the program. I think you know how that turned out! If you haven’t seen it, by the way, it’s airing internationally (I just got word that friends saw it in Paris), so keep your eyes peeled for repeats!
Wendy and I looked at about five properties in Park Circle throughout the month of January. I had another friend show me one place in West Ashley near Avondale. That was it. When we first saw my little house, I was pleased, but not in love. Wendy convinced me it was perfect though, and I value her opinion, so I’m extremely happy I chose this one.
I put the offer on my house in January. It was accepted after some negotiation and my close date was set for February. I was so excited, and so ready. I’d been back and forth between Caroline’s and Mom’s as well as Sarah’s (the friend I’d lived with in college), and as grateful as I was and am for each of them being such wonderful hostesses, it was time I had my own space.
Here’s a little TV secret for you. I never considered the two other properties on House Hunters. I already lived in my house prior to filming the show! Oh, and when we filmed, Chance made a cameo appearance. I said then that he better be sticking around because I knew it’d be awkward to watch him with me if he and I were no longer together!! But if I’m telling the story chronologically, I have to rewind, because in January, I’d not yet met Chance!
This is the crew with us at my house on the last day of filming.
Along the same time as the offer on the house was put in, I was speaking with a friend from Ireland, my dear friend Luke, who had recently moved to the US. He had already met a girl and he and I were bantering about how I was from the US and I didn’t know how I’d meet anyone being back home. Luke convinced me, after much hesitation, to sign up for a dating site, and actually, one that I was under the impression was only for casual dating. I was not really interested in a fling, but I also didn’t want to be single forever, so I bit the bullet and I joined Tinder. Yup. That first day I played around swiping left or right and I had a few matches. Chance was one of them. After a day or two on the dating app, I deleted my account. It wasn’t because I was in love at first text, but honestly because I thought the whole thing was weird. Chance and I had been messaging though, and by this time, we’d exchanged numbers.
On Friday, February 13th, I was teaching at Pinehurst when I got a message from Chance that his friend had cancelled on him for the Garth Brooks’ concert at the coliseum. He asked if I’d like to go in his friend’s place. I let all sorts of things go through my mind.
“You shouldn’t accept last minute invites.”
“Garth Brooks…is that a show I want to see?”
“I live with my mother! Oh my gosh; I LIVE with my mother. Where can we meet?”
After all that though, I said yes, and so Chance picked my 33 year old self up from Mom’s house for our very first date. The other hilarious jewel to this story is that Mom, who started working at the coliseum after Daddy passed, was scheduled to work THIS show. I just knew for my first date she’d be somewhere watching me. Funnily enough, we did see her, but only from afar. ;)
Our First Date(s)
After Chance picked me up from Mom’s, and because it was such a last minute plan, we decided to drive over towards the coliseum to grab a quick dinner before the show. There weren’t too many options over there, but we thought some BBQ would be appropriate, so we went to Jim N’ Nicks, a local chain. Our dinner was not entirely awkward, but it was a little quiet.
I talk a lot, as you probably well know. Chance was SO shy. Also, because Chance doesn’t drink, I didn’t want to. I had not a single drop of alcohol that night for the show (or the rest of the weekend), which I think is one of the reasons we were able to get to know each other so well. We might not have talked so much that first night, but we had a nice time, nice enough for Chance to ask me out for the next day.
Chance invited me to Art’s in Mt. Pleasant for oysters. I didn’t realize it then, but this is his family hang-out, their go to spot. I briefly met his dad that day! Before meeting Chance, I had popped in a few antique stores and I later remember him saying I should have invited him, that he liked antiquing. That was a surprise, but a pleasant one for sure. Antique shopping is one of my favorite pastimes!
Art’s was a fun, casual afternoon, and again, we enjoyed each other’s company. Chance was still shy, but the next day was Valentine’s and he was brave enough to ask me out again. Chance said he knew it was fast to spend a Valentine’s together, but he wanted to do something if I’d like to. We didn’t want to make reservations anywhere or do anything too romantic as we’d just met, so we opted for a very casual stop at SIP in Mt. Pleasant. I really wanted wine, but I held my ground and stayed alcohol free, so we, strangely, had hot tea with a charcuterie plate. We tried to keep the romance awkwardness to a minimum, but it was Valentine’s after all, so this is what our plate came out looking like:
After our visit to SIP, we wanted to spend more time together, but didn’t really know what to do, so I suggested we go walk the Old Pitt Street Bridge. This a local spot, gorgeous, along the water in Mt. Pleasant. The bridge is just for pedestrians now. It was cold and Chance seemed less into the idea than me, but he complied so we drove over to take a little walk. We didn’t make it far, because I think Chance was freezing, but I was soaking it in. I love the water, I love the marsh, and I love the stars. Those are things I missed dearly when I lived in China. My being home was still fresh…I had open wounds and I needed the salt air to heal them. I even said, that night on our third date, that the place we were standing had magic. Chance may not have fully comprehended, but he didn’t run from me either, and that I greatly appreciated.
As Chance took me back to my car, he presented me with 6 red roses. It couldn’t have been more cliche with the “love” proscuitto and all, but it was so sweet, and we had our very first kiss.
What Happened Next
Well, as they say, the rest is “history.” Truly, it was a whirlwind of a dating relationship, but very early on, Chance an I shared our true feelings for one another. We were honest from the beginning, about everything, our past hurts, our expectations, our dreams. We talked about a future but didn’t press it. When we discussed him moving in to my new house, we said that couldn’t be done unless we were committed to each other and a future together. Chance kept saying he was, so he moved in when I was in France this July (with my permission of course), and then in September, he took me shopping for rings. I had NO idea it would be so soon, but he surprised me with a proposal on September 20th (just over 9 months since I returned from China), and of course I said yes.
We had a meeting scheduled with the pastor to discuss moving Chance’s church membership on the following Wednesday. We had no idea that it’d be possible to get married this year, but when the pastor said the church had some available dates in December, we decided to go for it. We got married at First Baptist Church in Historic Downtown Charleston.
Chance and me at the rehearsal.
Making our way to our dinner at Pane E Vino after the ceremony.
On December 19th of 2015 I moved home without a clue of what was in store for me. On February 19th of 2016 I closed on my first house. On September 20th Chance proposed, and on December 18th of 2016, I married my husband, the kindest, most easy going and eager to please man I’ve ever met. We flew to NYC on the 19th, a year to the date of me coming home.
This year has been the best of my life. God is so unbelievably good and it’s when we are totally lost that He shows us the way.
May God Bless you in 2017. Merry Christmas, and thank you for reading this LONG Christmas card/year in review!
