Her

It’s 2:00 am and I can’t sleep. And it is all because of her. The her I use is figuratively. She is me and I am her, together, we are a team. I’ve spent all weekend with her, she left three hours ago.

Her…

We met through the online dating website, Match.com. I was living back in Brookings after my failed Southern adventures. I was also job searching at the time not knowing what would happen. Our first date was Dec. 10, 2012 at Buffalo Wild Wings, we were going to watch Monday Night Football. Things on the date went well, if you ask her she knew we were going to end up together.

The following week however, I accepted a job and moved to Manhattan, Kansas. We decided not to pursue things seriously in the meantime, but kept talking… And seeing other people.

Me…

We didn’t see each other again until Super Bowl Weekend, but there were thousands of text messages exchanged during that time. I went on several dates with other girls, but nothing was there. We stayed in touch and the past each other how other dates went.

She came to Manhattan to visit over Super Bowl weekend, we went on another date and had a great time and then she went to her sister’s place for the rest of the week.

Hmmm…

Over the next few months we would text, exchange messages, and calls. We would also try to see other people. The dating other people attempts did not work out in either of our favors. Over the next couple months, things would carry on status quo with no changes.

Sometime during this period of time, the text messages and phone calls became fewer, for what reason I don’t know. At some point she was ready to give up on me.

Time…

In May, my grandma passed away. I came back to Brookings for a week, at sometime, during this week I believe we met up and spent some time together.

Over the next few months we would talk and things were well between us. Nothing serious had happened until then…

The fight…

In August, I started seeing someone. She was younger and all that jazz. At some point over Labor Day weekend, I was back in South Dakota. The girl I was seeing and myself got into a fight. Which translated me getting into fights with several of my friends and her.

I told her and several other friends to do something that rhymes with “Buck off.” She was almost done with me, I didn’t know that. At some point, after the fights, I contacted her. I apologized for being an ass. I was forgiven.

The visits…

During the next couple of months, we exchanged visits to each other. We spent some time over hobo day weekend at a high school football game photographing it. And it was a blast. Over the next couple of weeks, we talked more and more.

The change…

At some point between visits in October and November, things changed. Though I didn’t notice them much, she did. And she liked the changes. We were never officially a couple, but things had moved that direction with more time spent together.

At some time over the time she was there, I told her, “I loved… That you’re my good friend.” Yep, I told her that, but she knew.

Three words…

The text messages grew fast and furious up through Thanksgiving week. I was due to come back to SD for a long weekend. We met up later in the weekend. After doing not family friendly activities, I told her the three words… I love you, and I meant it.

At some point I realized I put her through hell and treated her like shit, and she decided to chase me. At this point I knew she was it for me, or did it become we?

Us…

Sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas we decide to make things official and become a couple. And we made it Facebook official, because it isn’t real if it isn’t on Facebook!

For Christmas, I was to be back in South Dakota for 13 days. We had planned to get together. Which we did at high school basketball games. I told her I wanted her to become a part of Hartley’s Huddle Media. She’s a graphic designer who rebranded the Hartley’s Huddle Media logo.

We met parents and family at the time and all was well until I had to leave for Kansas again.

Shock…

She came down to Manhattan for New Year’s Eve to spend a couple of days with me. We watched the “Little Apple” drop in Aggieville and kissed and then walked to the car. We slept in late the next morning. Eventually we made it out and about to do some shopping.

It wasn’t the kind of shopping I expected to be doing, but we ended up in a couple of jewelers shops in the Manhattan mall. She was shocked and shaken when that happened, as was I! I took notes and pictures and all the responsible stuff a guy should do when engagement ring shopping.

The move…

I had eventually decided I wanted to be closer to home and closer to her. In January, I came back to South Dakota for a weekend for a job interview. It also turned out to be the weekend I picked out our engagement ring. I got the job and start date and relayed the good news to her.

Over the next few weeks I started packing and the weekend before I was scheduled to move she came to help. We had become us, a little over a year after our first date.

The question…

She knew i had the ring picked out as I had shown everyone except her a picture of it. She also knew that I was going to ask before her parents left for a month-long cruise because she had talked to her dad and he said we had a chat about things.

Unbeknownst to her, I alerted several people that there would be a a better half-time show during the Super Bowl at her family’s farm. Getting down on one knee and I asked my most perfect match the question. And she said “YES!”

Her…

Her name is Heather Christine Kuecker. She’s 6’4″ and has gorgeous green eyes, though they sometimes turn blue or brown. Her smile lights up a room and she is my perfect match. She’s creative, caring, loving and most of all she’s put up with me. She’s encouraged me and challenged me. She walks side-by-side with daily basis. We’ve faced some challenges, but are plowing through them day-by-day. I would give my life for her because she is the perfect one God created for me.

On August 16, her and myself become us. Though our journey has been rough so far, I can’t wait to see what happens next with us!