Love is Hard Work

Today is Tony and I's 3 year anniversary. We dated for one year before we got married, so we've technically been together for 4. There's several posts here, mostly for my own enjoyment, but you're welcome to read them, if you can get thru them!

How We Met ~
I was living in small podunk town in northern California. I had a sweet little baby boy, Alex, who was only 9 months old at the time. Being a single mom was no easy task, but I wouldn't trade my sweet boy for anything! Every night after laying him in his crib to sleep, I would kneel down beside his crib and pray, if it be His will for us, begged Heavenly Father to send us a man whom I could love and be with forever, a man who would take Alex under his wing and love him as his own. April 9, 2004 was that night. A girlfriend called me and asked me if I wanted to go to a singles BBQ at a girls house. I didn't really want to go, but I knew that I needed to make more friends other than Alex...I also needed to find a babysitter for Alex. I begged my mom to watch him for me for a few hours and out my friend and I went. When we got to the girls house, we went into the backyard to see everyone. I glanced around and immediately my eyes set upon this guy; he was super cute, had a red shirt on, jeans, and didn’t look happy to be there... It was at that very moment that I knew, I knew it was him. I thought to myself, "I know you"... I had never seen or met him before, but my spirit knew his. Yes, that guy was Anthony Reese. As we mingled, played some volleyball, watched a movie, we talked and got to know each other a little bit. I knew how to play the dating game, I was a professional, but I could sense that winning this guy over would be no easy task. After flirting myself silly that night, he didn't even ask me for my phone number. What the heck?!

The next morning, the singles were hosting an Easter egg hunt for all of the primary kids in the stake. *Hoping* that Tony would be there, I woke Alex up early and dragged him with me to the Stake Center. Poor Alex. He has surely sacrificed in his moms quest for love. When I got there, Tony wasn't there, but about 1/2 hour into it, Tony showed up! He was attending the Police Academy in a neighboring junk town and was scheduled to have class that morning, but it had been cancelled, so he decided to go to the Easter egg hunt. I was ecstatic to see him there, but of course I played it cool. That was the first time he met Alex, they were super cute together. Alex was the cutest baby boy ever.

After the egg hunt, a bunch of our friends headed over to Red Robin for lunch. Alex and I met everyone over there, but we didn't stay long because Alex was being super cranky. On the way to Red Robin, I called my super good friend Tanya. I had to tell her that I was totally into this guy, but I had an issue...he was 22!! I, at the time, was 26 and a mom and the thought of dating a young 22 y/o punk that didn't know anything about anything was troubling, but I was willing to give him a chance, only because I KNEW what the spirit had told me. As we were leaving RR, Tony said "So I guess I'll see you later", to which I replied "Maybe... I'm pretty busy." I wasn't totally lying; being the mom of a super busy 9 month old definitely kept me busy, but I also wanted Tony to work for me.

That next Tuesday, after a meeting that I had, I flew over to Institute to see if Tony was there. When I walked in a few minutes late, Tony turned around & smiled at me. He's got the best smile. At the end of class, they had choir practice, which both Tony and I stayed for just so that we could flirt a little more. It was then that Tony FINALLY asked me for my phone number. Good grief! I had never had to work so hard to get a guy to simply get my number!! But my mommy always told me to "let him chase you until you catch him". My mom was very wise. :)

Well, Tony called me that next night. I have to say that our phone conversation was the most boring conversation EVER. He was watching basketball with his roommate and wasn't paying any attention to the fact that he had a chick on the phone to talk to. After about 20 minutes of this dreadful telephone call, he FINALLY asked me out for that Friday night. It took everything I had not to hang up on his borning butt, but I hung in there and I'm glad I did.