Real People in Love: Cat & Richard

If I've learned anything through the Real People in Love series it's that love can come in any shape, in any age, at any stage. Couples can find each other when they are young and have their love last just as long as it does for older couples.
Cat & Richard are another set of high school sweethearts that join the ranks of those that have come before. Cat records their life, her photography & craft projects on her blog No Wooden Spoons as their family travels around the world.


How old are you & Richard? We're both 26.


How long have you been together?
We've been together for almost 11 years, married 6 1/2 years.

What are your occupations?
He's a Staff Sergeant in the Air Force ( yea, I know the uniform is mmmmm....) I'm lucky enough to get to be a stay at home Mommy to our little girl, and I also run a small Etsy shop on the side.

How did you meet?
We were highschool sweethearts. We first dating in our sophomore year of high school, I was 15 and he was 16. The first real memories I have of him, he was being a class clown. One night at the football game him and his friend came and sat beside me on the bleachers. We talked the whole time and were pretty much inseparable after that. What is funny is in our freshman year we didn't have any classes together, I didn't even know who he was, and the last three years of high school we had every class together (except when I had art and he had gym). We officially started dating May 29, 2000, at the end of our sophomore year.

How did you get engaged?
In the Spring of 2003 we had been dating almost 3 years and we were both college students and worked part time jobs. We saved up for our first vacation together, a short weekend trip down to Disney World. I knew something was up because he had borrowed one of my rings (to check the size) and I had found it in his car one day. When we arrived in Florida, he told me he had something for me and pulled out a necklace box. I was disappointed because I had thought he was going to propose. But then he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. He had tied the ring to hang inside the big necklace box to fool me. We were only 18 at the time, people thought we were crazy, but we were crazy in love.



Tell us about your wedding day (not necessarily elements but feelings too):
Oh I'm one lucky lady! We had 2 weddings (that means 2 anniversaries too!)
We were engaged but hadn't set a date yet for the wedding and he had gone off for Air Force basic training and technical school. He got orders to England, and within the week I had quit my job and flew to Texas to marry him (so I could be his wife and go to England with him on his orders). The first wedding (July 10, 2004) was in Texas and we had a small justice of the peace marry us by a waterfall. My Mom, a family friend, and one of our high school friends there as witnesses. It was so hot and I was so nervous that I thought I was going to pass out. After we kissed people in the park were clapping and cheering us on!

(Our first wedding)

 

(Our second wedding)

Our second wedding (October 9, 2004) was the one we planned to have back home (Georgia) with all our family and friends right before we moved to England. I was late coming down the aisle and everyone joked that I was leaving him at the altar, but we were already married! Richard got all teary eyed while saying our vows. It was my fairytale wedding, and I was so happy to get to share our joy with our family that we missed at our first wedding.

Define Love:
Love is beautiful and scary. Comfortable yet exciting. It's always wanting the best for the other person and wanting them to have the best of you. It's that happiness you get all over when you see each other.

What is the toughest part of being in a committed relationship?
When you opinions clash but you have to come to an agreement together. Sometimes it's hard to see the other person's point of view and be fair.

What is the best part?
Always being with your best friend. Having that person supporting you and encouraging you.

What is the best day the two of you have had together?
Well, we've had a lot of great days together over the last 10 years. I think one that really stands out is my birthday the month after we got married. It was my first time being away from my family and it was just the 2 of us living in a VERY small apartment with hardly anything. He bought me flowers and made me steak dinner that we ate outside indian style on our patio with a candle between us. Afterward, we snuggled up and watched my favorite movie and ate chocolate covered strawberries that he had made. It was exactly where I wanted to be, and it was like a preview of how wonderful our life was going to be together!

What makes you different from other couples?
We can bicker a lot. I think our small bickering keeps us from building up and blowing up at each other. We've very rarely had "big fights". We also touch each other a LOT. We hold hands when we're driving and we're always kissing each other and touching each others arms. We probably make people sick haha!

What is your favorite thing to do together?
TRAVEL!! Absolutely our favorite thing to do together is travel. We love seeing new places and trying new foods. We're very adventurous.

Do you have a song?
I think we have two. When we were dating, he used to always sing "Amazed" by Lonestar in my ear out in public. At our wedding they played "My Valentine" by Martina McBride and that was our first dance. It wasn't planned, the song started playing and we just decided to start dancing.

What is the most essential element of making it?
Showing each other respect at all times. And, it's kinda cliche but really, it's the small things.

What are your hopes for the future?
A couple more kids (our daughter is 2). Lots more traveling and then growing old together knowing we've had a full and happy life. And one day having a big house where our kids and grand-kids can come for the holidays and we can sit peacefully together at a big dinner and marvel over our wonderful family we created together.

Anything else the world needs to know about love?
Love should be easy.


As always, if you'd like to participate in the Real People in Love series just shoot me an email!