This past Saturday, April 4, was a special day for me and Jason. Saturday marked 10 years since the first day we started dating! That's right - an entire decade of Jason & Heather! So, to honor that special day that took place on April 4, 1999, I thought I would share our story.
In fall 1997, Jason and I moved into Anderson College as freshmen. Now, I think I should pause for a moment here and say that earlier that year, in the spring of 1997, Jason and I both, without knowing each other or even meeting that day, went to Gardner-Webb University one Saturday to interview for a scholarship. That college was the first choice for both of us, but neither of us got the scholarship and each ended up choosing AC as our second choice since the GWU scholarship was the determining factor in whether or not each of our families would be able to afford an out-of-state school. Was God going to make sure our paths crossed or what? Anyway, we both enrolled at AC and settled into our college lives. We were having a blast and making new friends, and I was pretty seriously dating someone who I was traveling home on a regular basis to see on the weekends.
Sometime during that fall, one of the girls on my hall developed a crush on a guy in one of her classes. Alllllll we heard about was Jason Burley, Jason Burley, Jason Burley. Really, I got tired of hearing about Jason Burley. One day several of us were hanging out in her room, and she invited Jason Burley and his friends to hang out as well. Now, keep in mind, Jason Burley was not at all interested in her (although I didn't know this at the time, and really didn't care since I had a boyfriend), but he and his friends came over just to hang out and have a good time. When the guys got there, we headed downstairs to be introduced to Jason Burley. When I saw him (serious boyfriend aside!) my first thought was, "If she gets him, I'm going to be mad because he is way too cute for her!" That was the start of many days and nights of hanging out as a group with Jason Burley and his friends.
Jason and me with some of our friends during freshman year
I don't really have any clear cut timeline from this point, but I do know as the months went on and the group changed, I remained friends with Jason and his two best friends, Jason Jones and Jordan. Over that time, there was a flirtation that developed between me and Burley (there were two Jasons in the group, we had to have some sort of distinction!). However, there wasn't anything serious. Although if Jason tells the story, he wanted there to be but I didn't have any intentions of breaking up with my then boyfriend. So, I continued the long distance relationship, and he dated a few different girls here and there. I remember distinctly being jealous our sophomore year when the new class came in and the guys started hanging out with some new cute freshmen girls. Again, Jason's story is, he wasn't getting anywhere with me, so he figured he better move on.
Sometime during that year, after he broke up with one of those cute freshmen girls he dated for a while, the flirtation got a little more serious. We started spending time together, just the two of us, talking on the phone, doing a little secret hand holding, and going out for drives together and spending hours talking. We even had our first kiss during that time, which was so great it should have convinced me right then and there to dump the other boy! I think Jason decided it was now or never, so he stepped up his wooing a bit, and I started finding roses on my car from a "Secret Admirer" and "mysterious" notes in my mailbox. His extra efforts were definitely working, because I was taking notice and feeling conflicted since I was still dating the guy from home. I know, I know ... I was a bad girlfriend. I think the breaking point finally came when I realized I was feeling guilty for going on dates and spending time with my actual boyfriend, because I was thinking of Burley all the time. So, finally on April 3, I broke it off with the old boyfriend after a very strained date, came home, and IMed Jason to let him know (IM ... ha ha! This was definitely 10 years ago!). We officially started dating the next day ... and I had to train myself to start calling him Jason instead of Burley!
Some dating pictures
We had such a fun time dating in college. I think sometimes we even were "that" couple that made people gag. But, we had a great time together. In 2000, I graduated AC a year early, leaving Jason with one more year while I went on to graduate school at Winthrop. I'm not really sure what started happening around August of 2000 when we both started back to school but things got kind of weird with us. In October, which is the time I lovingly like to say Jason lost his mind, Jason broke up with me. I was devastated and was very depressed for a few months. Finally, around Christmastime, a few of my RA's at Winthrop introduced me to some guys they knew. We went around to their apartment a few times to hang out, and I think they were interested in setting me up with one particular guy named Toby. Toby was cute and had just broken up with his girlfriend. The thing that sealed my interest in him was when he and some of his roommates came to our residence hall and serenaded us with Christmas carols. I had found another guy who could sing, so I was sold. Things never got off the ground with Toby, though, because one night while I was getting ready to go to his apartment with the girls, I heard a message pop up on my IM and guess who it was ... Jason. I tried to act very cool and nonchalant, while informing him I was on my way out for the night to see another boy, but by the time we left for Christmas break that year, he had already made a visit to Rock Hill, took me on a date, and won me back. What can I say? I can't resist him!
The following year on December 14, 2001, we went out for dinner and to see the Lights Before Christmas at Riverbanks in Columbia. We came back to his parents' house, sat on his front porch swing, and he gave me an early Christmas present. I opened it to find a scrapbook, the first page completed with pictures of the two of us and a title that said, "Just the Beginning . . ." As I was sitting there still trying to figure out what was going on, he got down on his knee and asked me to be his wife. Of course, there was no hesitation. I said, "Yes!" and we were married almost exactly 6 months later on June 15, 2002. We moved back to Anderson where Jason had his first music minister's job, I finished my final year of graduate school, we moved into our first home in June 2003, had our precious Camryn in February 2006, and made our first big move as a family in August 2008.
The night we got engaged
Wedding Day
We didn't get to do anything special on Saturday to celebrate, but this weekend, we have a date night planned to go to PF Chang's while Camryn spends the night with my sister and brother-in-law (insert big thanks here to Lindsay and Justin who are almost 30 weeks pregnant for agreeing to keep our little ball-of-fire!). In addition, my sweet husband surprised me Sunday by informing me that after dinner on Friday, we will be staying at the Marriott Renaissance in Charlotte overnight! I knew I made a good decision when I started dating him 10 years ago!
