Adam and I met about 5 years ago in Honolulu, Hawaii when I was working with an organization called Youth With A Mission (YWAM). Jordyn, Adam's younger sister, had quickly become a close friend of mine and kept trying to tell me that I should marry her older brother. She would always bring this up in a teasing manner like, you should marry Adam because he's so much taller than you or you should date my brother because he's close to your age and then we could be sisters. All of these reasons seemed a bit silly to me - but very entertaining nonetheless. Jordyn's parents and Adam eventually came to visit the group in Hawaii and Jordyn invited me to spend the day with her family down in Waikiki. I don't recall thinking anything about her intentions at this point...we were so busy with the missions organization that it just didn't cross my mind that she may be up to something.

We went down to the beach and since we had already been in Hawaii for a couple of months we already had the necessary coloring one should have when gracing the public with your presence on a public beach. I still remember Adam walking out to meet us, tall, glasses on (really...in Hawaii buster?), NO tan, t-shirt and those velcro sandal thingys...hmmm...can you say tourist? Anyhow, from that point on I remember he was pretty quiet the rest of the afternoon. I even tried to tell him my famous Vietnam scar story and don't remember even getting a smile out of him for this crowd pleaser. All that to say, after spending the day with Adam and her family...I really didn't think much about my interaction with Adam.

Jordyn and I became really close friends over the next few years and because the Cook family is such a close family, I would always hear updates about Adam...one day he was in Alabama, the next day he was in Korea, but he was never visiting the family when I would visit and so our paths didn't cross for 5 years after the first introduction.

It wasn't until about a year and a half ago that Adam and I met again. I drove from CA to DC with Jordyn, one of the best road trips I have ever had in my life. Along the way, we had so much time to talk that we probably covered every topic you could imagine. One of those topics happened to be Adam, and what he was doing these days. I found myself intrigued by his ambition and all the success he had experienced in his profession and started asking her questions about her older brother. Even questions like: has he been in a serious relationship? If she picked up on my interest, she never admitted it...

After staying in Fredericksburg a few evenings, we drove north to Alexandria to meet Jordyn's parents and Adam for a Georgetown basketball game, which was Adam's idea. I was very excited to see him since learning so much about him on our road trip, and pleasantly surprised to hear that he loved basketball, and that going to the game that evening had been his idea. We waited at the King St. metro for him to arrive and he showed up wearing a grey sweater and jeans and I immediately thought that he was a handsome fellow...and I guess I was kind of surprised because my memory hadn't done him justice :) We sat next to each other at the game (clearly a situation that was orchestrated by Jordyn, now that I look back at it) and I remember chatting a little bit and laughing and finding myself surprised by his witty sense of humor. Was this even the same guy that I hung out with for a day five years ago? He seemed to be so much more fun than I had remembered. The rest of the trip went by so quickly, the times we got to hang out I found myself more and more interested in and attracted to him.

All of this happened while I was planning to go to school in London in January. I was having doubts and was concerned about the costs, and was touched by Adam's interest in helping me talk through the situation and thankful for his wise counsel...little did I know he was trying to convince me not to go to school in London (kidding).

I went home and thought about him a lot. I had promised Jordyn that I would spend her birthday with her so I went back to Virginia a month later and that trip really left me even more curious about Adam. There were a few sweet moments exchanged, but nothing too obvious. After that second trip, all I could do was hope that he would call.

After returning to Seattle the second time, I thought about him all the time. Jordyn was sneaky enough to give him my phone number...just in case. It turned out that the financial piece with school in London was getting a little tricky so I decided not to go. Adam and I talked on the phone and over Skype all of the time. It was during these conversations that I learned so much about him, his adventurous heart, his commitment to family, his interests in life and career and all of these things convinced me that he was an incredible man. I was going through a hard transition with the college in London opportunity falling through and my grandmother passing away shortly thereafter and Adam was such a close friend and such a comfort throughout that time.

When I visited DC and Virginia for the first time around, I really fell in love with the city. The excitement in the air, the inspiration, the patriotism, the old historic homes...I decided that I wanted to move out east for a change of pace and a new adventure and Adam convinced me it was a wise decision.

I bought my plane ticket and packed two extra large suitcases for a new adventure, really not knowing what would happen. I was very thankful for a new friendship and although I was eager to see what may come, I really didn't have any expectations. He showed up at Reagan National Airport in his uniform (all the ladies know there is no resisting the temptation of a handsome man in uniform) and the rest is history :)

At no point did we really have a "defining the relationship" talk...I think it was clear from my decision to move out there, and his encouragement for me to do so, that we were crazy about each other. Adam arranged a fun trip for himself, Jordyn and me to go down to Aruba upon my arrival in DC. My first week was crazy, I had a couple of interviews, scored a job, then we went on vacation for a week, it was fantastic.

It was in Aruba, in the ocean, where we had our first kiss. I'll never forget those first few months, he really swept me off my feet.