A Bundle of Myrrh

Did any of you ever go through a “Third Wheel” phase (or “Spare Tire” phase in my case)?
That was me, surrounded by love with none for myself. I’m sure that smile did nothing for my single state.

I was often told that my problem was that I was “just too picky”. I guess I was and I knew that having become a Lutheran my chances of finding “love” had gone from slim to skinny.

All my wonderful homies…married.
This scene was kind of my life…minus the “smug”.

Get out the violins…I’m sighing for myself.

Lovely, Windy Chicago!

So at the age of 29 I was about to just give up on the whole thing, but with maybe a little hope left, I got on a plane and went to the Midwest to find out what prospects for a husband the Seminary had to offer.

And here is where the story gets…better.

It’s funny how well I can still see it all in my mind. From the moment Phil came into the kitchen I was in, it’s all still there, like it was yesterday. (And to think I have PHOTOS of this momentous event!)

I sat with my girlfriends at the table laughing about “Mission Find Aubri a Husband” with our hostess Brianne who would from here on out become our “Inside Girl” since she knew single Sem. Guys.

And then…Eugénie (pictured in middle) brought up Phil.

Was he dating anyone? What happened to that girl he was with? I sat in silence, curious but, leery of where this was headed.

And as we were talking about PHIL, who should walk into the kitchen but PHIL!

I remember this because he looked very hesitant to enter a kitchen full of women and because I was the only dork who stood up to shake his hand. I intended to make him feel more at ease but I’m sure the girls were giggling behind my back.

Then one of the first crazy parts of our story took place. Brianne brought out the Seminary handbook, the book with photos of all the students and told Phil to go through it with me and point out to Aubri all the single guys that weren’t too weird because we were ON A MISSION!

I don’t know what he was thinking, but he was happy to oblige!

So there we sat, my future husband and I, looking at all those men, trying to narrow down which ones would be good options! Ca-raaaazy. Of course Phil had nothing really good to say about most of them. And to be funny I almost let myself point to HIS photo and say “What about this guy?“And you know that whoever was sitting next to me and took this picture was thinking the SAME THING!

Based on the Handbook Session, it didn’t look like my prospects were very good. After a meal at our friends house it was time for Phil to shine. We knew he brewed beer so he took us all next door (where he had his stash hidden in a garage) to let us try some.

I still can’t believe I have pictures of all this!!!

His beer was good.

Real good.

So we decided to take this party over to the Commons Room of the Seminary. And this my friends is where Jesus started something turning in Aubri’s head or heart if you want to be romantic…

Completely out of character for me, I did something BOLD. This must of been Divine Intervention y’all. Instead of going with one of my pals, I told Phil I would ride over to the Sem with him! And it was the first time we had a “real” conversation, the first of many to come….sigh.

And there in the Commons it all began, over a game of Ping Pong.

THIS game of ping pong!

I remember thinking…”Phil’s kind of cute.” And he seemed normal enough. Hmmm.

There was talking and laughing and he didn’t seem too scared off by all of us.

As he packed up to leave and we all said goodnight something in me was already smitten.

And then back in our hotel room, as I took a shower, it happened. The thing I’d heard people talk about, the thing I’d come to HATE hearing about, the “I just knew” moment.

I knew I would marry Phil….well, if he would have me.

To Be Continued.

Part III

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 11th, 2013 at 3:00 pm and is filed under Marriage, Our Love Story. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.