My workbench in pictures.

That is still a thing!?!

Did you know instantly, or did you just think "This guy has potential..."?

It was a thing seven plus years ago.  No idea about now.

No, definitely not instant.  I remember liking him and he was one I hoped would tick "yes" to me.  But nothing more than that.

After the speed dating event, all the girls went and grabbed a drink together.  One girl asked if we all met our future husbands and we laughed.  If only I had known then what I know now!

And also, not that I would encourage your daughter to have an account/use Reddit, but there are subreddits for woodworking or things like r/DIY where people showcase their creations step-by-step and she might enjoy seeing some of that stuff (if only you could separate it from the rest of Reddit hahaha)

Don’t worry, my daughter already has plenty of places to give her nutty ideas that require me to buy stuff and make a mess. 

She’s also aware of Reddit cause she sees me on it all the time.  She wouldn’t be caught dead using the same site as “the uncool one”

You should totally encourage her to take shop class if it's available to her, though!  I learned a lot about shop safety there, as well as an introduction to all the tools available in the 80s, and we started off by learning about basic drafting concepts, which has helped me immensely with project planning.  I will use that knowledge for the rest of my life.  And it was taught by someone who knows what they're doing and how to teach.  (Or maybe I just had a good shop teacher?)

Also, she might be interested in some of the woodworking YouTubers.  I grew up with Roy Underhill and Norm Abram on PBS.  Now there are literally hundreds of people on Youtube.

Thanks for the tips, but I think she’s already decided for herself that wood working is not her thing.  She wants to laser cut plastic and 3D print.

We met at speed dating.   

This is definitely up there for one of the most unexpected answers I've seen yet! JFK's I think is definitely serendipitous, but that's the power of the internet! Speed dating was not an answer I was expecting in the slightest lol. Was it over here or in the US? Did you stay in contact with any of the people you did the speed dating with?? hah

She’s also aware of Reddit cause she sees me on it all the time.  She wouldn’t be caught dead using the same site as “the uncool one”

haha maybe that's for the best...There are certain things (people) I'm sure you prefer  your daughter be protected from regardless of whatever reason is keeping her off there.

This is definitely up there for one of the most unexpected answers I've seen yet! JFK's I think is definitely serendipitous, but that's the power of the internet! Speed dating was not an answer I was expecting in the slightest lol. Was it over here or in the US? Did you stay in contact with any of the people you did the speed dating with?? hah

haha maybe that's for the best...There are certain things (people) I'm sure you prefer  your daughter be protected from regardless of whatever reason is keeping her off there.

No doubt there’s some unsavoury bits there (ha)

Just like the rest of the internet, I don’t make a big deal of telling her to stay away.  She’s gonna see it anyway sooner or later.

I did buy her a book called Girl Up that talks about the good and bad parts of the internet and i am hoping that does the trick to turn her into a riot girrrrrl rather than a porn model victim.  I’m sure she doesn’t want to hear from her dad about unrealistic expectations from internet porn and her mom is not going to cover the topic.  A book was the best I could do.

Funny thing is that I always warn her not to meet strangers off the internet and certainly don’t get in any strangers car.  Then I use the internet to call an Uber to go drink a beer with HMS Seahorse!

This is definitely up there for one of the most unexpected answers I've seen yet! JFK's I think is definitely serendipitous, but that's the power of the internet! Speed dating was not an answer I was expecting in the slightest lol. Was it over here or in the US? Did you stay in contact with any of the people you did the speed dating with?? hah

Over here.  I was here on a work visa when we met.

I ended up dating three guys from that night.  First guy I went out with, I felt soooo bad.  As within minutes of our date, I discovered he lived with his parents.  Maybe it makes me sound shallow but I had recently moved part way around the world on my own and the guy's mom was doing his laundry.  I just felt like we were SO not at the same place in life.

The next guy I really liked.  We went out many times over the course of a month.  And then out of no where, he just ghosted.

My husband WAITED a month to contact me after the event, which was perfect timing as #2 fizzled out.  Had he contacted me earlier, I'm not sure I would have gone out with him as I was pretty into #2.

I've bumped into guy #1 at the Broad Street Tavern several times.  He's a nice guy and very happy (as am I).

Guy #2 randomly texted me YEARS later.  He asked if I remembered him and that we had met speed dating and did I want to go out again.  It was SO FUN to say, "of course I remember that night - I met my husband". 

I had gone with a friend.  We watched the 40 Year Old Virgin one night and we decided it would be fun to try and worth a laugh.  Which it totally was!  I just didn't realise it would end in something so serious.   

One does have to wonder.  He so completely fits the description of what qualities I was looking for, it sometimes feels as though I invented him.  In one of our earliest phone calls, he made so perfect a response to something I said that I almost got suspicious and thought he'd somehow been stalking me to find out my beliefs/values so he could know the right thing to say.  But then I quickly realized the improbability  of that and started crying because I'd finally found him. 

I've got goose bumps... 

No doubt there’s some unsavoury bits there (ha)

Just like the rest of the internet, I don’t make a big deal of telling her to stay away.  She’s gonna see it anyway sooner or later.

I did buy her a book called Girl Up that talks about the good and bad parts of the internet and i am hoping that does the trick to turn her into a riot girrrrrl rather than a porn model victim.  I’m sure she doesn’t want to hear from her dad about unrealistic expectations from internet porn and her mom is not going to cover the topic.  A book was the best I could do.

Funny thing is that I always warn her not to meet strangers off the internet and certainly don’t get in any strangers car.  Then I use the internet to call an Uber to go drink a beer with HMS Seahorse!

Well done! You definitely did good, I think!

it's funny as husband and I joke about how, if we ever have kids, we can't exactly tell them *neverrrrr* to meet strangers off the internet as that's exactly what we did LOL We more need to guide them about safety vs "don't do this". We would just come off like massive hypocrites otherwise.

Over here.  I was here on a work visa when we met.

I ended up dating three guys from that night.  First guy I went out with, I felt soooo bad.  As within minutes of our date, I discovered he lived with his parents.  Maybe it makes me sound shallow but I had recently moved part way around the world on my own and the guy's mom was doing his laundry.  I just felt like we were SO not at the same place in life.

The next guy I really liked.  We went out many times over the course of a month.  And then out of no where, he just ghosted.

My husband WAITED a month to contact me after the event, which was perfect timing as #2 fizzled out.  Had he contacted me earlier, I'm not sure I would have gone out with him as I was pretty into #2.

I've bumped into guy #1 at the Broad Street Tavern several times.  He's a nice guy and very happy (as am I).

Guy #2 randomly texted me YEARS later.  He asked if I remembered him and that we had met speed dating and did I want to go out again.  It was SO FUN to say, "of course I remember that night - I met my husband". 

I had gone with a friend.  We watched the 40 Year Old Virgin one night and we decided it would be fun to try and worth a laugh.  Which it totally was!  I just didn't realise it would end in something so serious.   

Yep. It's official. I LOVE your story! hahaha And I can imagine the satisfaction you must've felt when number 2 tried to text you years later! LOL Was he shocked when you told him you were married? What possesses someone to ghost and then pop back up years later!

Well, today's the big five year anniversary!  Jenga with memories went down a treat!!

My advice would be to get a superfine tip Sharpie.  Fine was a bit to thick.

Well, today's the big five year anniversary!  Jenga with memories went down a treat!!

My advice would be to get a superfine tip Sharpie.  Fine was a bit to thick.

How many pieces are in a Jenga game/set/box/stack/tower/what-do-you-call-it?  Did you do a unique memory for each one?  I mean, 5 years... plenty of memories.  But I'm one of those people who forgets what the ate (or even if they ate!) five minutes after dinner.  If I do this for my husband, it will be hard to organize my thoughts.  Maybe I should start a list now.  I have 'til June.

Happy anniversary!  Congratulations on all the things!  Many of us are right behind you, so we're celebrating you extra hard.  Yay!  Light at the end of the tunnel!   

.Rules. Jenga is played with 54 wooden blocks. Each block is three times longer than its width, and one fifth as thick as its length 1.5 cm × 2.5 cm × 7.5 cm (0.59 in × 0.98 in × 2.95 in).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jenga

I played Giant Jenga at a New Years Eve party once. Great fun! I say go large! 

Yup, 54!  Seemed like a lot at the start but I worked through them pretty quickly.

Yes, Larabee, we plan to get giant garden games in the future.  Right now they'd be knocked over!  Not by us!  Great idea for those without crazies running around.

As an added gift, Frazer rolled over today.  <confession>:  I hadn't put him on his tummy for some time.  He did it immediately with ease... so he probably could have done it long ago.     Great little gift to us when he did it though (we were both there)!

As an added gift, Frazer rolled over today.  <confession>:  I hadn't put him on his tummy for some time.  He did it immediately with ease... so he probably could have done it long ago.     Great little gift to us when he did it though (we were both there)!

Yay!  Flipping time!

(So, like, when we microwave "baked" potatoes, we turn them halfway through cooking... I yell "flipping time!" on my way to the microwave hole -- this is why "no near neighbors" was on our list of must-haves when house hunting.  It really started back when we used to do Potato Day hash browns, eggs, and toast at the old house, and I had to call my husband into the kitchen from another room to flip the hashbrowns because I have never perfected the flip-food-in-the-air thing.)

How many pieces are in a Jenga game/set/box/stack/tower/what-do-you-call-it?  Did you do a unique memory for each one?  I mean, 5 years... plenty of memories.  But I'm one of those people who forgets what the ate (or even if they ate!) five minutes after dinner.  If I do this for my husband, it will be hard to organize my thoughts.  Maybe I should start a list now.  I have 'til June.

Happy anniversary!  Congratulations on all the things!  Many of us are right behind you, so we're celebrating you extra hard.  Yay!  Light at the end of the tunnel!   

haha I think I would definitely need to reference pictures to get some good ideas or else they would all be recent memories (which would just turn into inside jokes).

As an added gift, Frazer rolled over today.  <confession>:  I hadn't put him on his tummy for some time.  He did it immediately with ease... so he probably could have done it long ago.     Great little gift to us when he did it though (we were both there)!

OMG YAY! That's so exciting! (Especially given that you were both there to witnss it!)