Dear 100hookup,
On October 19, 2006, you introduced me to the love of my life and the setting was perfect. I was in the comfort of my home, hair thrown up in a messy bun, and my best Saturday night club-wear was hanging neatly in the closet. That night, I received an email from this cute, blonde mystery man. In his email, he had quoted a few lines from what I gathered was a song, which prompted me to search the lyrics on the Internet to discover from which song these lyrics came (the guy certainly knew how to keep himself on your mind). A few hours later, a female member of 100hookup emailed me, letting me know that she was friends with Blonde Mystery Man. She said he was a real catch and encouraged me to make contact with him. I was impressed and messaged him back right away.
A few exchanged messages led to a few IM conversations, which inevitably led to our first phone contact. The calm and collected sound of his voice, colored with a hint of flirtatiousness, sent my heart racing. A few days later, we met in person at our local bookstore for our very first date. As I got there first and nervously awaited his arrival, I absentmindedly fumbled through the books arranged on the nearest display. When I spotted him, I also realized I'd been trying to appear focused on thumbing through the latest adventures of Curious George. I tossed the book back on the table and managed a final hair check. Finally, my adorable Mystery Man was no longer such a mystery as he stood in front of me in solid form. His photos, the humor in his messages and IMs, and soothing voice all came to life in an instant. We walked down to the coffee shop in the bookstore and talked for hours. Within a few days, we were on our second date. This playful and flirty date started with me driving to his house. As I pulled up, I saw him leaning in his front doorway, door already open and waiting for me. The body language and smirk on his face sent my pulse into a euphoric rhythm. Opting out of the more typical dinner and a movie, we planned on getting pizza and playing games at our neighborhood Peter Piper Pizza. The rest of the night was spent ski-balling, free-throwing, and eating some delicious slices of pizza. Much snuggling back home followed.
Eleven months into a relationship fit for a fairy tale, he and I went to Sedona, Arizona for a romantic weekend of sight-seeing, spa treatments, and some adventurous off-road four-wheeling. On the last morning of our trip, my wonderful man and I took a hike on one of the resort’s trails. It was a beautifully bright Sunday morning and he had been documenting the highlights of our weekend on videotape, so it was no surprise to me when he broke out the camera to film some of our hike. A few minutes into our trek, he set the video camera up onto a nearby boulder, came back over to me and told me that the video camera had a digital photo-taking feature, and that it would automatically start taking consecutive photos of us. So we held each other and posed. And then posed again, and posed again. After we were finished, my man started walking toward the camera to turn it off, but stopped and turned back toward me. He held my face in his hands and proclaimed the most beautiful affirmations of his love for me. He then got down on one knee, pulled out the most beautiful ring I’ve ever seen, and asked me to marry him. I could not believe that what was happening was real. I instinctively got down on MY knee, because I didn’t want him to be down there all by himself. I cried, yelled out "yes" about 20 times and practically had an out-of-body experience as he placed the ring on my shaky hand.
Eleven seems to be our lucky number, because we were engaged for that many months before we got married. On August 30, 2008, my husband and I tied the knot in Scottsdale, Arizona. Now we are embarking on our first wedding anniversary. Reflecting upon the past year and the commitment we made to each other almost one year ago, my husband and I remember the day we made our vows in front of everyone we love. The wedding was FUN, romantic, and absolutely ideal - the only thing missing was the personification of 100hookup: the perfect matchmaker.
Thank you 100hookup, for doing what you do.
Sincerely,
Heidi & Josh
Phoenix, Arizona