The Way We Were

Since our 10th anniversary is at the end of the week, I thought I would chronicle our time together and tell how this family...

came to be.

We met at Central Washington University where I was studying Early Childhood Education and Brad was pre-med. (Yeah, that turned out well.) Brad and my dear friend Erica were in a Spanish class together and they soon became study partners (because A) he was fluent in Spanish and B) she is HOT.) Brad started hanging out at our apartment all the time and the three of us soon became inseperable. Erica and I were both dating other guys at the time so our time with Brad was strictly benign but always a blast. He cooked us dinner. We tried to get him to drink beer. All the humble beginnings to a match made in Heaven.

Or Ellensburg.

But whatever.

I had never really spent any time alone with Brad as Erica was always around, and since she was officially "the hot one" and I was "the funny one" I never thought that Brad would see me any differently. At some point, I broke up with my boyfriend, who, although he was a good guy, just didn't have enough "Brad" to him to make me want to stick with it. Brad became the bar that Erica and I judged every other guy against, and even though neither one of us were dating him, he was our standard. He had the perfect combination of charm, wit, intelligence, humor and kindness that made us want for something better. And then Erica went home one weekend and left me and Brad alone and we carried on with all the stuff we'd have been doing if Erica had been there.

At some point that weekend, things changed a bit.

I was still the funny one, but maybe a wee-bit hot as well. Hottish. To Brad. Crazy.

When Erica came back to our apartment that Sunday night, I remember sitting on the couch with her and telling her that things had changed. I told her some of the conversations we'd had throughout the weekend, the looks he'd given me, the playful things he had said, and although I still believed it was all in my head, Erica confirmed my suspicions.

Brad was crushin' on me.

The following Thursday night, Brad invited me, just me, up to his dad's house to watch Friends, Seinfeld and ER. Somewhere in the middle of Must See TV, Brad put his arm around me. And my first thought?

The funny chick beat out the hot chick!

Oh yeah ladies, humor had won out over hotness and I felt like I had just scored a major victory to for every short, chubby, funny girl out there.

Our first offical date was the following Saturday night. We went to his sister and brother-in-law's house for a BBQ and then we went and saw Up Close & Personal. And somewhere in the middle of SNL, we kissed for the first time. And we've been smooching ever since.

Stay tuned tomorrow for Brad & Karen: The Dating Years