No, We Haven't Been Dating Since High School

I've been working on our wedding website today. For the "Our Story" section of the template I had to write, well, our story. So, I thought I'd post it here as well.

Joe and Anna met as 7th graders at Wayzata West Junior High. Though their memories of each other at that time are vague, Joe thought Anna was a troublemaker, and Anna thought Joe was tall. Through high school they had what Joe calls a Venn diagram of friends, or slightly overlapping cliques. Many of these friendships we maintain today, and some of these folks, like Clint, played integral parts in our reconnection.

Joe went off to college at University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire, and Anna headed to the University of Kansas. After college, Joe headed to North Platte, Nebraska for his first Job, and Anna headed home to Minneapolis. Jump ahead a few years, Joe's living in Lincoln and Anna's in Northeast Minneapolis. In 2006, with his Nebraskan and also Jayhawk friends Brian and Jenn, Joe travels north for a weekend in his old stomping ground. Anna talks to Clint, meets them all out a bar in Uptown, and as they say, the rest is history.

Well, almost.

Joe still lives in Lincoln, and Anna in Minneapolis. For the next two years, they maintain a happy and hopeful long distance relationship. Joe visits Anna in Minneapolis, and Anna visits Joe in Lincoln. Well, Joe mostly visits Minneapolis. He's much better at the long drives. Twice they meet for weekends in the romance capital (and midway point) of Des Moines, Iowa. 

Finally in 2008, after a year of searching, Joe gets a job with Shire Pharmaceuticals and relocates to Rochester, MN. He's much closer, but still 1 1/2 hours from Anna. They drive on weekends, grateful to get to spend more time together. They travel to Africa for Jenny & Goaf's wedding, further appreciating their Wayzata/Kansas connections. In August 2009, Anna moves to Mankato to attend nursing school. Everyone thinks, "Finally, they'll be closer to each other!" We explain, "Not yet, Mankato is 1 1/2 hours from Rochester."

Anna makes it 3 months in Mankato. She gets up the guts and pops the big question.... "How about I move in with you in Rochester?" Anna and the cats move to Rochester in December, just in time for their first Christmas at home together.

Finally, they are together. Happy as clams. On July, 5th 2010 Joe takes Anna to Quarry Hill Nature Center for a spur of the moment geocaching outing. Anna is unsuspecting, there are lots of bugs, and she really just wants to get out of the woods. Joe says, "No, I see the cache right here." Anna says, 

"OK, open it."

"No, you open it."

"No, you just open it."

"Anna, open it!"

"Fine."

No, he didn't leave the ring in a box in the woods. He left a note, and a question. The answer was yes, and they celebrated with a day at the pool, a nice dinner out, and calls to family and friends. Who all already knew, by the way.

After 5 more months in the Roch, Anna graduates nursing school, and Joe's company calls with a plan. He's relocated to the Western 'burbs, and they move back to Minneapolis to a chic apartment on the park.

Now here we are, still happy as clams, planning away and getting excited to spend our long awaited big day with our dear family and friends.