From Monica: When Chris and I met I was a 2nd grade teacher and spent a lot of my time grading and prepping for my kiddos, which did not leave me very much time to go out and meet new people, so I joined Match.com. After a few unsuccessful dates I received a “wink” from a handsome man, whose profile instantly caught my eye, as he was educated, a runner, liked hot yoga, loved to travel, read etc… Seemingly the total package! So, I sent him a “wink” back and then waited for him to make his move….
Well, I waited a few days and nothing, so in true Monica fashion I sent him a message and called him out for not stepping up and writing me….”Hello, online dating etiquette 101!!”
My directness has scared people off, but not Chris, he wrote me back and we realized we had many of the same interests, so he asked me out for dinner at a restaurant that I was not too fond of, but he didn’t know and I was intrigued by this guy, so I said, “yes”. On the day of our date he called me and said to scratch that idea, and that we would go to The Vig instead, which is one of my favorite spots…total plus for him!
In true Chris fashion he was late, which was fine because it gave me enough time to get situated at the bar and order a glass of wine. Once he arrived we had a nice time and good conversation. He asked me out again for breakfast before he left for his hometown, ATL for the week and I left for Vegas with my girl friends. Breakfast was nice, but I was not convinced we would make a good couple, as he was a bit reserved and I was (am) super loud and outgoing. He called a couple of times to arrange dates, but I didn’t know if I was into him, so I blew it off. Well, he got to the point where he was done pursuing me and around that same time something clicked in me that I wanted to give him one more shot and I am glad I did because I almost missed out on an exceptional man.
Once I got to know Chris, I realized that he is not as reserved as I originally thought. He has a large personality and a knack for making me laugh and helping me enjoying the little things in life and to appreciate the beauty in all things. He always makes sure to take the time to pull me aside and spend a moment with each other during the craziness of our busy lives. He is the total package!
From Chris: I know what everyone is thinking: so how did you two meet each other anyway? Being single man in this new social media driven modern age I decided to give Match.com a try in Phoenix. After wading through profile after profile I found Moni’s page, liked what I saw, and sent her wink. She she winked back a few days later if I recall correctly, but I was busy at the time and didn’t respond with an email. An unknown number of days passed in the interim before I received an email from her that said something very close to “since you haven’t written back after I returned your wink, I guess I’ll make the first move.” I was slightly taken aback but liked her style. We had a few things in common but really bonded over our mutual enjoyment of hot yoga and the book “Born to Run.”
It was a hard to get a feel for who Moni was from just match, a few texts, and a phone call. After a semi awkward first phone call with each other I only had a basic idea of who she was, but that’s what dates are for. That same first conversation I set a first date for Yardhouse. I think I called her back that same day and changed our date to the Vig after getting a suggestion from a coworker. She told me later on that she was very happy I changed our date location.
So I might have been ten minutes or so tardy to our first date at the Vig, but I did text Moni that I was running (fashionably) late. I walked in, recognizing her from her profile photos as she sat at the bar. Her photos didn’t do her justice! Much later on, she later told me that my tardiness that evening was a big time strike in her book, but you know what they say, good things take time!
Somehow I don’t think I was exactly clear, but I assumed we would eat while she assumed we were meeting for just drinks. That being said we had a somewhat lopsided conversation as I ate dinner and she had a couple drinks. We had a enjoyable, but unspectacular date and both of us walked out intrigued, although neither of us were hooked. That happened a few dates later at comedy show when we both realized that we were pretty keen on each other. We had great conversation, couldn’t keep our eyes off each other, and laughed all night long. If you ask me I think it had something to do with the two hilarious jokes I’ve been telling for years. If you have a few minutes to spare and long attention span, I’ll retell them.
So after a dozens adventures, three seasons of Falcons and Eagles games (in no particular order), countless bad jokes, and everything in between, here we are preparing to spend our lives together! Thank you for reading our story (according to me) and being a valued part of lives. We hope you enjoy the site!!
From Moni & Chris: Now looking back at the time we have spent together, we can’t help but think how lucky we are to be marrying our each other. The past three years has been full of some of the best moments of our lives, and we are so excited for many more of those moments to come as we continue our journey together.
