Apartment 203: I Love Me Some Him: Big News

{I accidentally deleted the original post, so this is the recovered version. Crisis averted.}

I want to tell you a story today.

Once upon a time, in the year 2010, a math teacher and an after-school care teacher had a conversation in the gym of the Academy for Sciences and Foreign Languages. She listened and crocheted while he vented. When he was all talked out, he went back to his classroom. She wanted to do something nice for him, but what? So she wrote her list prayer and an encouraging note on a piece of paper, folded it up, and took it to him. This was the prayer:

Dear God, please grant me these things.
Serenity for acceptance
Peace to be alright with what I accept
Clarity of Mind to maintain that peace
Strength to stand on my own
Courage to remain standing
Love to be an understanding soul
Open Ears to listen
Open Heart to listen
Wisdom to make good decisions
Patience to wait
Trust to know all things are in God's divine control.

He folded it up and kept it in his wallet.

------------

And that's how Lamar & I met ^.^ It's funny how situations that are so unpleasant and painful can push us to cross paths with the right person at the right time.

Date night at Sam & Greg's Pizza downtown.

When we met, I was working 2 part-time jobs and hunting for a full-time position. That position turned up, a little while later, as a customer service rep in a call center. I told Lamar that my last day at the school was coming up and he said, "Since you're going to be busy learning a new job, we should go see a movie now while you have time." (Slick slick Mister...) I agreed, and we planned to see Book of Eli on March 17th. That night, I had second thoughts, but I did go... and showed up late. (We missed the beginning... oops.) After the movie we ended up driving donuts in the parking lot trying to decide where to eat. Since it was super late, IHOP was the only thing open. We talked until some ungodly hour of the morning... so late that one of my girlfriends called to make sure I was OK, lol! There was such an ease to our conversation. That quality, in itself, is hard to find.

Our EPIC snowman! I think it was our first proper snowman ever.

Neither of us remember when we "officially" became boyfriend/girlfriend, but somewhere down the line the conversation went kinda like this.

Lamar: I already call you my girlfriend.
Caleisha: I call you my boyfriend, too.
Lamar: So that's it then, huh?
Caleisha: Yep :)

I'm sure there were more words, but that was the gist of it...

We are SO silly together. We keep each other laughing :)

I know it's very cliche to say, but we've had ups and downs and there are things I regret. But what makes it better is how much we know that we love each other. I've told him that he is such a picture of grace and love to me. He's my own 'Christ Object Lesson' and I'm very blessed to have him in my life. I have his back all the time and he has mine. :~)

Christmas with his family

To continue the story:
Recently there was a young lady and a young man who had been dating for nearly three years. She was a data entry clerk in Alabama and he was a math teacher in Florida. They knew that long distance relationships were hard, but were determined to keep themselves locked on one another. They sent text messages throughout the day, talked on the phone during his planning period, chatted on facebook, skyped after work, and occasionally sent emails. He visited her for Thanksgiving and she visited him for Christmas. But when Valentine's day came around, all she could think and wish was for them to be together. So she texted him to chat. Their technological bridges would have to suffice. The text messages went like this:

Her: Good morning Babes & Happy Valentine's day :~)
Him: Right back at ya booski! Happy Valentine's day! I love you! :~)
Her: Are you on planning?
Him: No
Her: Ok. can you call me when you are please? I almost started crying in my salad just now :(

Getting ultra touristy while visiting my family

He called her a bit later and she felt better to have spoken to him. Later that night, she prepared to perform at the Luvapalooza show with her poetry club. She sent him the site where he could watch the show stream online.

After her poem (and the minor panic attack that followed), her friends in the poetry club called her back on stage when she'd gathered herself. They gave her roses & a Build-a-Bear from him (complete with St. Patrick's day dress for their first date) and each person read a verse from a poem he wrote for her. And when it got to the last verse-

HE WALKED OUT ONTO THE STAGE!

oaerhooapk;o,akijkhfd;vajmpianeuhv';mtj;anyhb;roba,tr yhakjrpekrj ci !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I ran to Lamar and gave him the biggest hug ever!!!! I didn't want to let him go. He finished reading the poem and then told me that throughout our relationship I'd shown him so much love, through joblessness, family sickness, and all kinds of other times.

"You've shown me love and since God is love- you've shown me God."

He pulled out a beautiful pearl ring, got down on his knee, and asked me to marry him. ^.^ What could I say but yes? Well technically, I said "What kind of question is that? Of course!" (really Caleisha? lol)

Backstage afterwards. I love his forehead kisses :~)

So that's our story.
We are two people who God has blessed to find each other. Lamar makes everything better in my life. He understands me and does so many things that show his character. He loves me through my emotional ups and downs. I love loving him. (Wow... cheese much?) I'm looking forward to many many more years loving and learning more about him. I can honestly say that I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that God brought us together. And that thought makes me feel like the other crappy, cruddy, relationships we've had were to get us to that day in the gym of ASFL nearly 3 years ago.

Wading in Lake Guntersville

Now that this is a proper BOOK, lol, I'm going to end this here. Please pray for us as we venture into this engagement period and then on into marriage. Pray that God will put a hedge around us. Pray that we'll continue communicating and doing it well. Pray that we make proper choices in wedding planning and life planning. Yeah... :) I loves me some him! ^.^