My story about how we met

My dear friend Kecia asked her friends to post how they met their husbands and since I love to tell all of the funny little comments, clues and anecdotes that led to our "happily ever after" I am more than happy to oblige.

September 1999: My friends and I decided to go to Priority One, which was a weekly worship time that Baptist Student Ministries held on campus. This was our first visit and I was nervous about it. I was sitting in the back of the Campus Christian Center next to Becky Jones and Alyson Mai watching Wyatt Buchanen Hula in a grass skirt and coconut bra. Then it was Matt's turn: Matt had returned from trip a Summary Missionary in Phoenix and was telling about his time there. For the first 5 minutes, I didn't hear a word he said, I thought he was so good looking! He looked just like Tom Cruise! (Pre-Crazy Couch Jumping Scientology Spewing Tom.) I managed to focus on what he was saying but to be honest I can't remember a word of it now. At the end of the night, someone pointed out to me that Matt had a girlfriend but there were plenty of other eligible men in the room if was interested. I wasn't. Most of them were trying on Wyatt's coconut bra - I could never be with a man who filled out a bathing suit better than me.

Four weeks later, I was leaving my dorm thinking about the path my life had taken and wondering where it would take me from here. A nice young man opened a door for me and I thought to myself that it was possible that he could be my future husband. I laughed at myself and this line of thought as I walked to my Ethics class on the 3rd floor of Morrow Hall. As I huffed and puffed my way up another Palouse hill I found myself following Matt to my class. "I should say hello," I thought. "No, don't he'll think you're stupid because he obviously won't remember that he knows you. You've only talked to him twice. He doesn't even know that you're in the same Ethics class! Wouldn't it be funny if I married him? Get a grip Jackie, you're such a dork."

Over Thanksgiving break I was driving down the freeway with my friends, Julia, Meredith and Amy when Julia steered the conversation to boys (like she usually did). I boldly proclaimed that I would marry Matt Munger because he could run fast and jump high. This would ensure our children a fighting chance at some sort of college scholarship. "Who is this? You haven't told us about him!" Julia loved good boy stories. "He's just a guy I know. I don't even like him like that. Plus he has a girlfriend and I really like her. So it's not like I'd sabotage their relationship or anything..." Julia rolled her eyes, "Jackie you're such a dork!"

That spring a friend of mine and I started dating, albeit briefly, and were invited over to Mike and Kecia Sandusky's house for Easter brunch. What do you know, Matt was also invited! Since Lance and I were already on the fritz (he just didn't know it yet) I found myself noticing how
well Matt played horseshoes and how cute he was playing with Mike and Kecia's little girl, and how much he looked like Tom Cruise.

Every year, our BSM would have an end of the year dinner. As we sat down to dinner at the end of my freshman year, I found myself across the table from Matt. As we ate our salad, I announced that I did not want my tomatoes and tried to pass them off to my best friend, Alana, and then to Mike Sandusky. Matt looked up and said that he would eat them so I pushed them onto his plate and he shoved his broccoli onto my plate without my permission. (But I do love broccoli!) Mike and Alana both laughed and shook their heads. I distinctly remember hearing Mike comment about us acting like "an old married couple" and we all just laughed. Silly Mike, that will never happen...

I had forgotten all about Matt over summer vacation. I didn't even know if he was a junior or a senior or ever coming back at all. Well, he did come back and we started dating at the end of September 2000 and haven't looked back since. We were engaged on February 13th 2002 and married in August of that same year.

Of course if you ask Matt about any of this he won't remember a single second. When pressed, he shrugs and says, "I don't remember that kind of stuff! I thought you were nice and wanted to get to know you better." How romantic...