Our love story

I should preface the description of our love story by giving credit where credit is due... let's be honest, we never would have met if it weren't for craigslist (If this doesn't make sense, don't worry!).

Part I
We first met at a "holiday" party hosted by several of our mutual friends in Portland. I (Reuben) am positive that it was a Christmas pary - I mean seriously, Amanda was wearing a red shirt, it had to have been Christmas! However, Amanda claims that this was a Thanksgiving party - Caruthers brothers, can you shed some light on this? Whatever the festive occasion was, I guess I must have made an impression on Amanda that night despite my apparent lack of fashion sense!
Next came the blizzard of 07 - Portland received a record breaking 3-4 inches of snow which closed down the entire city for about two days. A bunch of us went sledding (using a wind surfing board) up on Mount Tabor. This was a special time, and it was becoming clear that something was brewing. One Sunday after church we started talking and found out that we both had class at PSU around the same time, and so I casually asked if she wanted to meet up and go out for dinner after class (talk about smooth!). She agreed, and I suppose this could be called our first date - although there was no hand-holding at this point! After dinner I asked her (not expecting that she would say yes) if she wanted to come to the Bible study I was leading that night through Intervarsity. She did say yes, and that was quite possibly the most nerve-racking evening - I think she could tell too!
Well, for the several months to follow we spent a lot of time together. I grew to appreciate the Golden Girls, and even started to eat more soluble fiber. Amanda left for Iowa in June to pursue her Masters in Public Health, and while we tried the long distance thing for a while it just didn't quite work out. We kept in touch regularly though, strengthening our friendship during our time apart. This was truly a blessing in disguise as both of us were able to grow individually during this year, causing us to be more ready the second time around.

Part II
This is the part where I come riding in on my trusty steed to sweep Amanada off her feet for good. You might laugh, but it's true... I was riding in the Sea-to-Sea bike tour that summer, riding from Seattle, WA to Jersey City, NJ in nine weeks. Our route conveniently lead us through parts of Iowa, and so I asked Amanda to come out and visit as we camped near Omaha one weekend. We spent an evening and a day together, walking and talking and enjoying each other's company. While the sparks didn't fly immediately, the seed was planted, and the following weekend Amanda came up to Madison to visit again. When she arrived with a bag full of home-made cookies I knew it was for real this time. Something clicked inside both of us around this time and we continued to grow closer even though we were still separated by thousands of miles. I became attached to my phone and couldn't wait until the end of the bike tour so that I could visit her in Iowa. For the next four months I kept Amanda up late almost nightly talking on the phone. We visited each other about once a month, first in September when I went with her to WI to meet the parents. Then in October we met each other in Denver to check out the city as a potential location to move to. And in November we went to California to visit my brother, sister-in-law and little neice.
After spending Christmas and New Years together in WI at Amanda's parents' place, we drove out to Denver together as Amanda was about to begin her internship at the Health Department. I returned to Portland to tie up loose ends, say my goodbyes, and I packed my car to the brim and headed east. It was great to finally be in the same city again and to do normal dating activities as a couple. While our work schedules haven't always allowed us to spend as much time together as we would like, we've been fortunate to take several trips together.

Part III - The Engagement... to be continued