Annie One Can Cook: B+A

B & A's BA Love Story

When I moved to Kansas, I didn’t know a soul (in my new town, anyway)—but as fate would have it, I was put in touch with a local landlord whose daughter, Abby (who many of you may know by now!) was searching for a new roommate. I moved in, we became instant friends and she would later introduce me to my future husband.

Here is how that went down:

Every October, the town we lived in hosted a huge Oktoberfest celebration complete with beer, German music and food, beer, vendors from all over the state, beer, Volga German Heritage events and lectures, beer, dancing and beer—oh, and there is a ton of beer drinking that goes on (it always falls on the same weekend as the universities homecoming so everyone parties extra hard that Thursday, Friday and Saturday). Anyway, this was my first Oktoberfest and Abby wanted to throw a party at our apartment, which was fine by me. We made our plans, bought a lot of beer, vodka and tequila (oh, college..) and prepared our house for the get together.

The day of the party, Abby texted and informed me that one of her best friends was on leave from Afghanistan and would be coming down for the party (I had received a FB friend request earlier in the day from a Brandon something in Afghanistan so I connected the dots and figured it must be the same guy). I didn’t think a whole lot about it and continued on with classes and errands. I returned home later that afternoon to find Abby in the apartment with some cute stranger I didn’t recognize. “Oh, this must be her friend from Afghanistan” I thought as I mentally punched myself in the face for not putting on makeup or doing my hair that day. We introduced ourselves, shook hands and took a shot (classy, I know) before I ran off to my bedroom to make myself look a little more presentable.

The party was fun--a little too fun, in fact (Abby went to bed at around 10pm and Brandon helped me kick out the remaining guests by 10:30). Once everyone was gone and we were alone, we sat around and talked.. and ate burned popcorn (long story short, I was drunk and left the popcorn in the microwave too long but ate it anyway so Brandon wouldn’t think I was high maintenance).. and talked some more. I couldn’t believe how much we had in common (I had just met the man and he openly admitted to me that he not only voluntarily watches Disney movies, but he loves them—keeper!) and how much respected the guy; he really was an amazing man! We ended the night at around 3am as I headed off to bed and as he got comfortable on our couch.

The night we met--there was another guy who forced his way into this picture so I cropped him out..

I returned home to Colorado the next day (my Grandma Mitz had suffered a severe stroke and I wanted to go see her at the hospital) and said my goodbyes to Brandon. I wasn’t sure if or when I’d see him again so it was hard but we promised to keep in touch. We ended up texting the entire weekend and I was able to see him one more time before he headed back to Afghanistan. A few weeks after he left, I received the most beautiful bouquet of flowers with a note saying “If I had a flower for every time I thought of you, I could walk through my garden forever.” Oh, I really really liked this cute and corny guy..

We texted, talked on the phone, sent letters and care packages, Facebooked and Skyped for the next 5 months and built the strong, emotional bond that we still have today. Brandon returned home on February 18, 2011. I was able to secretly connect with his mom (whom I had never spoken to in my life) and surprise him with his family when his bus arrived at 4:30am. We’ve been together ever since.

The only time you'll ever see us smiling at 4:30 in the morning.

Brandon proposed at "The Happiest Place on Earth" in December 2011, we had our fairytale (and very Catholic!) wedding at the Cathedral on the Plains in January 2013, and we welcomed our little Fun Sized Brandon in December 2013. Our lives are very full and richly blessed!