My story continues...

First off let me apologize for such long posts. I normally wouldn't write so much, but I am trying to be brief about each event and not drag this series out for the next month. So, thank you for reading... I really appreciate you taking the time to hear my story.

Now where were we? Oh, yes I had just met Jon! What a whirlwind courtship we had. After 4 weeks of just hanging out with "his church group" we had our first official date on October 2, 2003. He cooked dinner and we watched Master of Disguise. It took him and hour and a half to make the move to hold my hand... I was just about to take matters into my own hands when he finally wrapped his hand around mine. So sweet, so subtle, so him! We also shared our first kiss later that night and I believe it took him about as long to make that move. Unexpected I believe for both of us we never looked back. Over the next 2 weeks we shared many dreams, plans, the past and the present, but as all good things in my life do, it had to be interrupted with some kind of drama.

(My pole in Dothan... we took this picture in March of this year! It's still knocked over...)

I know you are all wondering if I can ever go without some kind of difficulty and the answer is simply, "No." After just 2 weeks of dating while traveling back to my dorm room one evening I decided to grab some caffeine at the McDonald's in Dothan. When I began to make my left hand turn into the parking lot I was T-boned by a Camaro. Of all things... my favorite car... a Camaro! I spun several times and came to a stop as I slammed into a pole. I emerged unscathed except a few nasty bruises. The other car's passangers were also fine. My poor little car was not. Here I was all alone in a new city with no family. What else could I do but my call my new boyfriend to come and get me. So, I called Jon (who had already gone to bed as he had to be at work at 2 am) and told him that I had had a small accident and needed him to come and get me. And that's what he did. He arrived and made sure I was okay and then firmly told me that this was no "small accident" and why did I not tell him how bad it really was. Well, it was my first wreck and seeing that I was unharmed I thought it turned out pretty well... except for the car. Long story short, my grandparents came out the following weekend and drove me (and Jon) to Tallahassee where I purchased my Saturn.

(Me and Jon the morning after getting my new car. We had just had breakfast with my grandparents... another funny story, but I'll spare you. This is also the first ever picture of us together! Granny had to show everybody back home who my new man was.)

Now, you would think the drama would end there but it didn't. Shortly after that incident I found out that the Medical Clinic I was working at would be closing for lack of business which meant I was out of a job. The job that would pay for my new car and food and gas. Enter my sweet Momma and my grandparents who helped with expenses even though they really didn't have it to give. So, I survived the first semester (with all A's I might add). I had been to Florida to meet Jon's family and he had come to MS to meet mine. We exchanged our first "I love you's" and began to dream about a possible future. We were in love and my life was a wreck, but we would make it work.

In mid-December and the end of the Fall semester I had to make a tough decision. I was still without a job as folks with good resumes don't get consider for Fast Food joints and the bookstores and I knew that I would not be able to afford tuition for the Spring semester. My mother urged me to move back home, but I couldn't. How would I leave Jon? So, I made the decision to permanently move to Dothan, Alabama, about 30 minutes from the school. I sadly withdrew from BCF and continued to look for employment. And just before Christmas break I was offered a job at Flower's Hospital in the Emergency Room. Yes! I'll take it. Within a week I had a new job (that I loved by the way), a new apartment (my first) and I was moving again. My life was also going in a whole 'nother direction from what I planned. What was going on here?
I guess you'll have to come back tomorrow to find out... and just a warning, the drama is far from over :) Hakuna Matata!