Yay! Gottagettolondon joins the club too! Is your guy in London proper? Where are you in the immigration process?
Julia, Give us the your romantic movie story... How did you meet? How long were you together before you moved to England? How long have you been there?
Well, it was sort of like "You've Got Mail," though I've actually never seen that movie... so maybe it wasn't... lol
We met on Second Life, which is a virtual world (I can really only compare it to the Sims or something). I was working on my masters in Art and Technology, and was researching Second Life for one of my projects, and he was just checking it out because he plays Call of Duty online, and one of his team members said it was pretty cool. So, our avatars just bumped into each other and we had some cheeky banter about running into each other, and then it went from there. Suddenly we were popping on to see if the other person was around. Then we exchanged email addresses and pics. Then we spoke on the phone. Then we started using Skype to talk to each other, but didn't turn on the webcams for a while. Then we got brave and turned them on so we could see each other. We started talking every day. My father passed away several years ago and I had financed a small property he owned to a family a few years later, as it turned out, they called and asked if I would except $5000 to pay off their debt to me, and I immediately accepted thinking it was my chance to do something crazy. So I called my best friend, asked her if I paid for the trip, would she go with me to meet this guy, as I was a bit nervous to travel across the world alone. Of course she said yes, and was really supportive of the whole idea. "What an adventure!" I thought to myself. If it didn't work out, at least I did something wild for once in my life.
So, he flew into London the same morning (he had never been there before, and was pretty nervous himself, being a small town guy), and we met at Paddington Station. It felt really natural, and neither of us felt nervous, just soooo excited.
That night, we spent hours in a pub, and all 3 of us were trashed when we got back to the hotel. I was in the middle of the best kiss of my life, when suddenly I thought "Oh God, where is my purse???" He ran like a cheetah back to the pub, it wasn't there. He got phone numbers for the American embassy (my passport, money, and everything was inside, what an idiot!!) and was prepared to take care of everything. He said he would get money out to pay for the rest of my trip (he could only stay the weekend) and was soooo sweet and supportive. In that moment, I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him. I just couldn't see myself with anyone else. Instead of doing, ahem, what we meant to be doing that night, he just let me cry on his shoulder, so jetlagged and upset that I had done something so ridiculous. And he was just.... the best.
Sooooo, the next morning, my friend is going through her suitcase, moves it a bit, and oh my god.... there is my purse!!! Crisis averted! We were all three laughing and jumping up and down that I hadn't lost all my stuff after all. He immediately locked up my passport and extra cash in the hotel safe, of course.
Smart guy that he is!!
So, we spent the best weekend ever in London (once the handbag crisis was over) and he asked me "would it be all right if I come to Texas to kiss you on New Years Eve?" *sigh* how romantic is that??? I said something probably pretty un-smooth, but anyway, it turned out that 3 weeks later, he was in Dallas, Texas, on boxing day, and stayed until New Years Day. Best Week Ever.... He gave me a rind for xmas and asked if we could think of a long-term way to be together? Would I consider moving to England? He has a two-year-old son, so it was clear that was how it would have to be. I said yes, but kept it a secret from most friends and family, as I hadn't known him very long, and I didn't think they would understand.
i came to Northumberland for a week in March, to investigate where we would live, and fell in love with the place, though I was already desperately in love with the man himself! I met his family, etc., and then he flew back with me for a week and met my family. We told my family we had decided to get married in May, and I would be moving to England once my degree was finished in August and I had time to sort out the visa. Surprisingly, they were thrilled, as I guess they thought I would never get married!
And the English accent and charm didn't hurt, my mom was swooning over him, too!
So, the rest was history, we were married in Texas in May, camped out in Arkansas for a while, spent two weeks together, then we had to wait for a grueling 2 1/2 months to be together, but fortunately, i was able to finish my degree from UK and I was able to move in July. So here we are, and I am more in love every day, and really glad I took that chance, and believed anything was possible!!!
Sorry, for the length, I really got into telling it this time....
