For V-Day... stories on how you met

[WilmywoodNCparalegal]

your significant other, spouse, current squeeze... whatever! It doesn't have to be a romance novel type of thing... I'm just curious to see how people have met...

I'll start.

I met my hubby-to-be on October 16, 1998. We were both signed up to participate in a clinical research study for healthy volunteers that required two weekend stays.

As soon as he walked in, I thought how handsome he was. He looked pissed (something about one of the nurses giving him a hard time), though. That first night, our study group was playing Trivial Pursuit. He and I were on the same team and we kicked ass! His strengths (sports, U.S. history and entertainment) and mine (science, literature, world history, geography) intertwined wonderfully.

We had a blast. The next day in confinement we played this really lame computer game (a really really bad version of pong), but we still had a great time.

Then, he was my coach on a couple of intense Jenga games (which I lost).

After the last night of our study, I was thinking how much I wanted to see him again and how much I enjoyed his company and how he probably would never ask my number.

Instead, he did, as he gave me a Chris Isaak CD. I was so happy. I went home waiting for him to call. Our first date was on Halloween. I can't say that I knew then he would be my mate for life; but I can say he was the first one I felt really comfortable being with, despite having dated a lot of other men.

On December 15, 1999, we closed on our house.

The next day, December 16, 1999, we got married at the Wake County (Raleigh, NC) courthouse for the great amount of $10. We had our families and closest friends there. Even though it was not a storybook wedding, we laughed throughout the ceremony, I screwed up the vows, and there was not a second of the whole thing that was not punctuated by someone's laughter. That was perfect.

In early January 2000, we went to pick up our first "baby," a 8-week old Siberian Husky girl puppy with beautiful blue eyes and black and white markings. She still smelled like milk.

Our second "baby" was rescued on December 24, 2000, as she was about to cross a major highway, as she was starving and cold.

Even though my hubby is a republican, he has certainly moderated on a lot of issues and he is definitely a liberal when it comes to homosexual rights. I'll keep working on him :)