Q&A Part I

Thanks for your questions!  In an effort to avoid writing the most random post of the century, I'll hit a couple of related questions at a time.  Here we go...

How did you meet your husband?  How long have you been married?


One of my favorite topics!  Isn't it fun to revisit that early, exciting and new stage in a relationship?

In a nutshell, Jonathan and I met on December 27, 2000.  I was sitting at the kitchen table in his parents home, eating a bowl of stew.  He walked into the room, totally had that "love at first sight moment," proposed to me in that same kitchen three years later, and six 1/2 years of marriage later, here we are!

The longer version is that Jonathan and I had totally been scoping each other out for an entire semester.  He first noticed me, a lowly freshman, when I performed in a skit/song competition during Welcome Week.  Of course, being a senior, he kept his admiration away from his roommates, knowing they would never let him hear the end of it!

I had first noticed Jonathan when I accompanied a prospective student to a Bison Glee Club rehearsal.  All the other boys in the room got all rowdy--you know how boys can be when a girl suddenly enters the room--but there in the center of the risers was a handsome, dark-haired guy, cool as a cucumber.  His good looks got my attention, but his evident maturity really peaked my interest.

And so it went, for an entire semester, each scoping the other out from afar.  Finally, that December we both joined a group of about 25 OBU students who had gotten jobs at Breckenridge Ski Resort for the January break.  We were to meet at the Poe's house to caravan up to Colorado.  And that's what led me to be sitting in that kitchen ten years ago.

Once on the trip, Jonathan and I ended up in the same condo (think The Real World with a bunch of good Christian kids who didn't hook up or get wasted), and that's when the sparks really began to fly.  I remember being constantly aware of where he was in the group and attempting to subtly place myself in his vicinity as often as possible.  We spent the first week of the trip skiing together as often as possible.

One day, when we had returned from a day of skiing, part of our group got locked out of the condo.  As two friends went around to try the other door, Jonathan and I stood on the patio.  I began to hum a little song as we waited, and before I knew it, Jonathan had turned me around, took me by the hand and waist, and begun slow dancing with me on the porch.  In full ski gear!  That evening after the rest of our friends had gone to bed, we stayed up until four in the morning, talking and dancing.  Cheesy?  Yes.  Totally heart-stoppingly romantic?  That too.

We returned to OBU, made things official after a day-long marathon date the first weekend back on campus, and enjoyed one semester together before he graduated that Spring.  We did break up for a couple of months during my sophomore year (in a nutshell: sophomore Leslie is immature and wants to keep doing her own thing while the love of her life waits in the wings; graduated Jonathan is trying to find his way in the real world while being strung along by his immature girlfriend...you get the picture), but once we got back together we both knew that we would get married.

Jonathan proposed on October 25, 2003.  We had enjoyed a nice dinner at The Haunted House in Oklahoma City and were hanging out at his parents' house before heading back to Shawnee.  Jonathan found a way to get me into the kitchen, and there in the doorway that he had walked through to see me for the first time, he put his arms around me and began to say a bunch of wonderful things that I can't remember.  But I do remember one thing he said...

"Growing up, I always told the guys that I wanted to marry a girl who made me hurt every time I look at her.  And that's exactly what you did when I walked through this doorway and saw you for the first time.  And I want to feel that for the rest of my life.  So Leslie Carol Horn, will you marry me?"

It wasn't until he was down on one knee that I realized what was happening.  I was SHOCKED.  He presented me with a gorgeous ring that he had purchased a YEAR before (the dude is patient, what can I say?).  He had left the ring at the store in Magnolia, Arkansas, and had just received it the day before.  He proceeded to tell me how he had driven all the way to Arkansas that morning just to have breakfast with my parents, show them the ring, and ask their permission to propose.

We were married July 24, 2004 in Fort Smith, Arkansas.  And six and a half years, a dog, and a baby later we still do the occasional slow dance in the living room.  :)