How We Met

Mandy and I first met early on in our semester while studying abroad in London. A mutual friendship allowed us our first introduction and chance to hit it off. Mandy and I would occasionally cross paths for different events out around London. We talked about our future summer plans and how we would be neighbors back at school, but never spent a significant amount of time together. When we finally parted ways overseas I knew Mandy would be coming back to the Chicago area for an internship and I was happy to have her so close and be able to get to know her better.

Right away when Mandy finally got to town I was anxious to take her out. My first attempt was unsuccessful due to a bit of jetlag and being tired (a common theme in Mandy's life), however I was pursuant and was able to get her out to a Tim McGraw and Faith Hill Concert. To this day will still laugh about the success we had scalping tickets and our inability to repeat that success. For the remainder of the summer we continued to spend time together and grow our friendship attending BBQ's, birthday parties, and simply lounging around. Finally as summer came to a close we admitted our friendship was something more. Mandy returned home for a few weeks before classes resumed at IU, during that time I was fortunate to make it out to Laguna Hills to spend time with her and her family and experience what California was really like.

Looking back I see how truly special our relationship is.  We were brought together in such a unique way and God had plans for our lives to cross paths in so many ways.  We’ve experienced so many different things together and I can’t wait for what else awaits us.

 

London
We had both decided to spend the spring semester of 2006 abroad in London. Although we were in different school programs, we had friends that were in both programs. Chris had been at a pub called “Walkabout” and I met some friends there.  While talking with a group of girls, I saw Chris from across the room and of course instantly thought the blonde haired boy wearing the red sweater was adorable. (Chris insists that he did not have on a red sweater.) Later that night I saw my friend talking to Chris.  Once she had returned to where I was standing, I casually asked her how she knew Chris. She then answered by saying, “Funny thing, he was just asking about you.”

A little bit later that night, Chris poped up and said, “Hi! You’re Mandy Johnson and you live across the street from me at IU.  You’re a Zeta and I’m an Evan Scholar. My name is Chris. Can I buy you a drink?” I was amazed by his confidence, how outgoing he was, and how easy it was to chat with him. We then continued to dance the night away… but that was just the beginning of an eight month friendship. 

Chicago
We got to see a bit of each other in London, but it wasn’t until that summer that we truly started spending more time together. I just happened to accept an internship with a public relations firm downtown Chicago and Chris had an internship just outside the city for Motorola that summer as well. When I got off the plane in Chicago the first message I had was from Chris asking me to the Tim McGraw & Faith Hill concert that next night... he was so hospitable to welcome me to the city with such a fun night and continued to take care of me the rest of the summer.  As the summer went on we spent more and more time together and eventually admitted to all of our friends that we liked each other. Our friendship grew into a relationship and we haven’t stopped growing since the moment we met.

 

Every time I tell this story, I can’t help but think of how amazing God’s timing is. He took me to London to meet Chris, on to Chicago to develop our friendship into a relationship, back to IU to grow our relationship, and out to California to begin our engagement/marriage. God is so good.