It Started with Hello!

Many thanks to Lindt HELLO for sponsoring today’s story, and giving my readers a chance to win really sweet prizes!

One of my favorite stories to share with people is how Eric and I met, started dating, got engaged and about our wedding. Since that’s a LOT of content for one post, I’ll start by telling you how we met. I noticed Eric right away when we were both freshmen at Samford. Eric is a triplet and his sister went to Samford University with us as well (while his brother went to Taylor). I remember thinking in my immature 18-year-old mind that he could probably never be interested in me because his sister was so freaking gorgeous herself.

Even though one of my good friends was in his friend circle, we never really met until spring break my freshman year. His new group of guy friends and my group of girlfriends were all hanging out to watch a movie one night and the first thing he ever said to me was so small, but made a lasting impression. I was laying on the floor watching a movie with a house full of 10-15 people and he came up and asked if I wanted a pillow to watch the movie on. Of course, I said yes because he could have asked me practically anything and my reply would be the same. I remember thinking his blue eyes were so dreamy (still do!) and thinking he was so hot and just how thoughtful of a gesture that was! The next day his friends ended up coming to the beach to take the denim and white sorority girl photos for us on the beach that everyone just HAS to have their freshman year. (Do the college kids still do that these days? I feel so removed!)

One thing led to another, and the next thing I knew the guy I was dating at the time couldn’t go to my formal with me. I asked him if it was ok if I asked someone else to go with me and he said yes. Eric jokingly tells the story to this day as, “worst decision of that guy’s life!”. I talked with Eric on the phone to ask him to the ADPI dance with me to which he replied that he’d really like to take me to coffee beforehand to get to know me better. As things played out, he never ended up asking me to coffee beforehand so I assumed he wasn’t really interested and that must have just been something to say on the phone.

But then…we went to the formal. And we had the time of our lives! We joked and danced, ate good food and couldn’t stop talking all night long. In fact, the photographer even came up to us and told us that we made a great looking couple. We did the normal awkward skirting around that comment since we weren’t really a couple but I couldn’t help but beam from ear to ear!

The next day, all of our friends were supposed to go see a scary movie together but one by one they all dropped out except for Eric and I. So, he picked me up in Vail Circle (the girl’s freshman dorm) and proceeded to drive me to the movie on our first unofficial date outside of the dance. I knew he must be into me when he stopped at green lights on the way to the movie theater and almost ran a red light! He paid for my movie ticket and we found out later on that neither one of us even really likes scary movies. Ha!

We always ended each date by going back to our dorm rooms and immediately texting each other about what a great time we’d had, I’d get giddy, laugh and feel like I was on cloud 9 with every text I’d read. But then…the summer came all too quickly and we parted ways for the end of the school year not really knowing what to call our relationship (that was only 1 month old)…To be continued….

Isn’t that wild how one moment the person next to you means nothing really and the next moment, it’s the start of the rest of your life with your spouse or a special friend, etc? It all starts with a HELLO!

Recently, Lindt came out with a fun, new romantic web series capturing first connections and it is pretty funny. Visit Lindt’s youtube page to view the new web series episodes, a new show comes out every week through October 9th.

It’s so funny to look back on the beginning of Eric and I’s relationship and how putting yourself out there can really make all the difference in the world. What if I hadn’t asked him to my formal with me? What if he hadn’t broken the ice initially by offering me a pillow? Would either of us had ever made the romantic connection if we hadn’t have been on that spring break trip? It’s fun to think about those kind of things to me and I’m so blessed that we did get to meet and have enjoyed a wonderful 6 years of marriage as of 9/6!

Lindt HELLO is hosting an amazing sweepstakes where you can win SWEET experiences from Lindt chocolate. To enter the sweepstakes, visit the Lindt HELLO Sweet Connections Sweepstakes Landing Page and enter your email address. Entries can be made daily for additional chances to win the below prizes. There are 5 weeks of prizes, so enter NOW so you don’t miss the deadline. Click here to enter!

Now, it’s your turn. What’s your favorite Lindt chocolate? Have you met anyone “by accident” who ended up becoming someone very important in your life?