I first came across Matt's blog, A Witty Title, through his brother Duncan's blog, which I discovered through Karen's blog. Karen was a friend from UNSW, and when I discovered that her newsletters also appeared online on her blog, I started reading regularly. Doing a PhD means that new avenues of procrastination are always appealing, so I started reading all the blogs in her blogroll, including Duncan's blog, Drawn From Still Water. I also decided to start my own blog.
After a little while, Duncan posted that his brother had started a blog called A Witty Title, so I began reading that too. I liked what Matt had to say - always interesting, thoughtful and challenging. I'd been reading his blog for about a month when he first commented on my blog. Again, an interesting, thoughtful and challenging comment. I kept reading.
I'd always suspected there was something pretty special about Matt, even though I'd never met him in real life. I met Duncan once or twice, and was hoping for a chance to meet Matt. Late last year, Matt left a comment on my blog asking me to email him. Ooh! As it turned out, one of Matt's "friends" had insulted me on A Witty Title, and Matt wanted to explain the situation - that this guy was just being a jerk, annoyed at Matt and taking it out on me. I was really impressed by Matt's thoughtfulness - I hadn't even seen the insult when Matt emailed me! This turned in to a moderately lengthy email exchange, talking about a bunch of stuff.
In January 2007, Matt suggested I come to the Word by Word literary dinner at Karen and Ben's place. I'd been to one Word by Word meeting years ago, and had been thinking about getting involved again, so I decided to go. The added bonus - the chance to meet Matt in real life! I remember we didn't get much of a chance to talk, but we did spend some time exchanging very bad jokes, which was all good. I was hoping he might offer to walk me to my car or something, and maybe, just maybe, ask for my phone number (I've always been a hopeless - hopeful! - romantic!) Not this time, though.
A couple of weeks later, Matt emailed me to ask if I wanted to catch up for coffee in the city one night. Of course I said yes. Among other things, it was the first time I'd ever actually been asked out on a date! We went to the Cortile at the Hotel Intercontinental, and despite my unsociable mood (I'd had a bad day) we talked for about three hours, then walked to Martin Place to catch the train together. He was getting off at Hurstville, and when he left without giving any indication of future plans or asking for my phone number, I was left rather confused. Fortunately he emailed me again on the Monday to suggest catching up for a movie. We weren't able to find a night we were both free until the Thursday of the next week, so we were reduced to an email conversation. He was dropping all these little hints, but I was getting more and more confused, so finally I sent an email saying "Do you find it at all strange that we've exchanged so many emails yet we've only met twice in person?" In response, Matt sent me the most beautiful email I've ever received. I printed it off, and it's still in my wallet! Basically he said that he liked me and wanted to get to know me better so he could see if his interest was just friendship or something more.
I was totally swept off my feet at that point, but unfortunately it didn't last long. I got myself all confused and convinced that it wasn't going to work out and that I should end it sooner rather than later, so a couple of weeks later I acually broke up with Matt. Two days after that I was having doubts. Three days after that I'd decided I wanted to get back together with him, but thought I should wait a little while to be sure. Four days after that, I decided I couldn't wait any longer, so I called him, said that I'd made a terrible mistake, and asked if he would give me a second chance. Fortunately for me, Matt is a wonderfully understanding and generous person, and so we got back together. We date the official start of our relationship from that night - April 2.
If you've been committed enough to read this far, well done! Here comes the exciting news...
Fast forward 8 months of spending time having fun, getting to know each other, talking about marriage, experiencing angst, talking some more, working through a book called 101 Questions to Ask Before You Get Engaged, some more angst, and more marriage talk...
On Sunday night, I visited Matt's church down in Wollongong. I had decided not to drive back to Sydney that night because it was rainy and foggy and not particularly nice weather for driving alone at night. Good choice! After church, we drove up to Bulli Tops and while we were standing there, looking out over all the pretty lights, Matt told me that he had been very deceptive, started fumbling in his pocket, drew out a small box, got down on his knees in the wet grass, said some extremely beautiful things and asked me to marry him. Of course I said yes! Easiest question I've ever had to answer, though not the easiest answer to actually get out. I was crying and giggling at the same time - I was quite hysterical for about an hour!
So, to cut a long story short, I am now engaged to be married to the most wonderful man I have ever known (close call - perhaps he ranks equally with my dad!) I have been so blessed by God - Matt came into my life at a rather difficult time, but it seems that God knew just what I needed. It's been a fantastic year - many ups and downs, but a fabulous time of getting to know Matt and growing closer together. I don't think I can find the words to describe just how wonderful it has been.
I knew it was coming - we'd been talking about getting engaged for awhile, and had even visited a jeweller together to talk about a ring - but the timing did catch me by surprise. Matt did a fantastic job of convincing me that he didn't have the ring yet, and despite a few inklings, threw me off by suggesting dinner on Wednesday night. He said that he had thought about waiting and trying to make it more romantic, but found he couldn't wait. Fine by me! It was such a special night and incredibly romantic, and I'm so excited to be able to tell people that I'm engaged!!
So, now I'm looking forward to 6 months of marriage preparation, wedding planning, (finishing the thesis), and growing even closer to my dearest fiance before our wedding day in June. Hurrah!
Here's a photo of us just after getting engaged. It's not the greatest photo - we were both pretty exhausted, but so incredibly happy!
The gorgeous ring Matt gave me - a beautiful symbol of this step towards complete commitment to one another.
