Our Story
How we met
... and then re-met
Jay and I met last January on a fateful art stroll in Castleberry Hill. He arrived with his friend Nate.
Nate pointed to his friends, telling me their names.
"He's gay," I thought he said. Later, I learned he said, "He's Jay."
From there, we were able to continue with our budding relationship. All I learned about Jay that night was that he hated his job and he was moving to Australia. Half of that sentence is no longer true.
Several weeks later, Jay accompanied Nate to my birthday party.
"Hi, what's your name?" I said as he arrived at the door.
"We've met," he said.
Oops! Jay and I didn't talk much that night.
We chatted more at the February art stroll and their our friendship began. We began routine phone chats, 50+ thread daily e-mails and hour long talks in the car. We were, of course, just friends.
Until he put the moves on me.
In an unusual act of boldness, Jay went in for the kiss on April 3, and we've been inseparable ever since. The end!
P.S. -- The picture to the right is from the first day we met.
The engagement
My best friends Kelly and Lorin told me they wanted to come visit me in Atlanta with their husbands. I told Jay, but he quickly responded, "I'll be out of town that weekend."
After much pleading, Jay was not willing to reschedule for that weekend. He said he was going to Valdosta for a going away party before a former college roommate moved overseas. So, Lorin and Kelly decided to make it a girls weekend.
Well, after a few weeks, the girls decided it would be best if I visited them because Lorin's dad was having surgery and she wanted to be closer to home. I agreed, and the girls flew me up to Chapel Hill.
Meanwhile, I stayed in contact with Jay the whole time. He told me he wasn't having a good time in Valdosta. He went into detail about how the bathroom was not clean.
He also made me quite upset by asking how "Laura" was doing. "HER NAME IS LORIN!" I said. Jay proceeded to tell me he hoped that I didn't expect him to become friends with Jeff and Kyle (the best friend in laws), because they didn't have much in common. Little did I know he was sitting beside them as he set up this ruse.
Anyhow, back to Chapel Hill.
I arrived early in the afternoon on December 19. I hung out at Kelly's all day, and Lorin drove in from Wilmington that night. We were all getting ready to go to a nice dinner when the girls decided to give me some presents.
"We thought you'd be engaged by now, but since we won't see you before you are, we'll go ahead and give you these," they said as they presented me with a bridal magazine and a photo album with tons of pictures of me growing up.
They said they had one more present for me, but it was too big so they had to get it from the car.
I sat on Kelly's sofa with my hands over my eyes, waiting for them to return. I heard them come back in, but I did not hear them leave.
"You can open your eyes now," I heard Jay say.
There he was, my future husband, with 20 beautiful roses and a big shiny diamond ring. I have no idea what he said after that, but it ended with a "YES" from me.
My friends returned, with their husbands, and we all celebrated. We were joined by my college roommates and bridesmaids, Blair and Hayley, for a lovely celebratory dinner at 411 West.
This weekend was so special to me because Jay went out of his way to surround me with my best friends and the people I love. He (at that point) didn't know my friends that well, and he had never been to Chapel Hill. He even called my college pastor and my journalism professor to tell them about his plans.
The bling
Jay and his mom picked out this beautiful ring. It is from Universal Diamonds. It's a princess cut surrounded by 28 diamonds. I love the vintage look!
