A not-so-typical love story...

Since my friend Logzi suggested we all tell our "love stories' in honor of Valentine's Day...Here is ours:
I was 17 and the janitor at our church. I would go in on Saturday afternoons and clean before Sunday's service. This one particular afternoon, I noticed a really old, gray truck driving around and around the church parking lot. I started getting nervous (I was at the church all alone). I called a friend, an older man, who lived nearby and went to our church to tell him I was worried. It turned out it was just Matt teaching his little brother how to drive. That was our first "interaction." The next time we saw each other, he was working at a grocery store in the meat market and my best friend, Keri, and I were spying on him because her parents were suggesting she might like him. We ended up talking to him that day and I noticed how cute I thought he was. Our first date was on a Wednesday night after church. He asked me to go to Braums for ice cream. As we were standing in line to pay for our ice creams, he felt in his pocket and told me he had forgotten his wallet and he didn't have any money. I didn't have any either so I was freaking out...but then he told me he was just kidding. That was the beginning. We dated for about a year before we broke up. I tried dating someone else for a couple of months but it didn't take long for me to realize that I was MISERABLE without him. I would look at him across the church and miss him SO much. One Sunday morning, I was so sad, I went into a back room and sobbed. The pastor of the church, who knew our history, heard me crying and went and got Matt and told him to go talk to me. He told us that he knew we were going to get married someday. From about that point on we started dating again---on and off---but never seriously. I guess I had really messed up by breaking up and dating someone else and Matt was not about to commit to me again. For about 6 months, we dated...but I was not his "girlfriend"...we were just "dating." I would practically BEG him to let me be his girlfriend....but he never gave in. Then on December 26th, we decided to go to the mall because he hadn't bought me a Christmas present. We walked around and ended up randomly walking into Zales and looking at diamond rings. I saw one I liked, tried it on and he said, "do you want it?" I said, "yes" so we bought it and walked out and said...."I guess that means we are engaged?!!?!!" We set a wedding date of March 28th (1998) and that was that. Well...there is one more funny part to the story. That following weekend we were going to go visit my family for Christmas and so we decided to hide the ring until then so Matt could ask my dad for my hand. So...we were at my brother's house---the whole family---and my dad goes outside for something and Matt takes the opportunity to go out there so they could be alone to do his "asking". Well...if you know my dad...he can be pretty intimidating. He's very blunt and long-winded. Long story short...poor Matt was out there for like over an hour..and we were all starting to get worried about him. (most of the women already knew the big secret...how's a girl gonna hide that from everyone?? he he) I guess my dad told him that I was used to living nicely and being treated good and if he could keep that up...he could marry me. Of course...I am really the lucky one.
It's hard to believe we are going on 9 years of marriage this March! We've certainly had our share of HARD times...but there is no question that he's my other half. We have a lot of different points of view and are actually pretty different people in a lot of ways...but that is what keeps things interesting and what keeps us balanced. I fall more in love with him every year that we are together..which makes the future so EXCITING!
So...what's your love story???