Show Us Your Life: How I Meet My Husband

I jumping back on the Show Us Your Life series over at Kelly’s Korner.

Jon and I meet in March of 2005. My best friend, Amanda, and I had decided to come down to Austin for a short spring break trip. We stayed with my aunt for the weekend. On Friday night Amanda and I went for coffee at Mozart's. I remember telling her that I was feeling really comfortable not being in a relationship and that I wanted to just enjoy being single for awhile. Little did I know, I would meet Jon the very next day.

On Saturday my aunt took Amanda and I to a concert at Antone’s. She invited a few of her friends and one happened to bring Jon along. We all had a lot of fun that evening and I was sad when it was over and we had to say goodbye, but I had a weird feeling that I would see Jon again. 

On our way home from the concert, Amanda mentioned to my aunt that I thought Jon was cute. Mu aunt called her friend, who had brought Jon to the concert, and asked if they wanted to come with us to the kite festival the next day. They did and we all had a great time. When we were leaving, Jon asked for my number and that was the beginning of our relationship.

I was living in Dallas at the time so we had a long distance relationship until I finished up school in May of 2006. When I graduated I moved down to Austin.

  

On December 16, 2006 Jon asked me to marry him and we tied the knot on March 25, 2007.

We have known each other for just over 5 years and been married for 3 now. We could not be happier, especially now that we have this little guy in our lives.

-Lauren-

March

March is a big month for us.

March 12, 2005 Jon and I met for the first time. I was visiting with a friend and my aunt took us to a concert at Antone’s. She invited a few of her friends and one happened to invite Jon. The next day the friend and Jon came with us to the Kite Festival. That was the beginning of our relationship.

Two years later on March 25, 2007 Jon and I were married at Kindred Oaks. It beautiful outdoor ceremony and reception. We had a blast.

Pretty much exactly five years from the day we met, our baby boy was born.

And today we are celebrating our 3rd wedding anniversary. Since we have a 12 day old baby, we obviously aren’t doing too much to celebrate, however since the weather was beautiful today we did make it out this afternoon. We took Aedan for his first trip out to Auditorium Shores. Hiro got to play and then we walked over to P. Terry’s, picked up lunch and had a picnic at the park.

Jon had soccer tonight so Aedan and I have just been hanging out. I am about to go warm up a homemade lasagna that one of my clients brought over for us…yum!

-Lauren-

Its been 2 years

Since we said “I do”.

the married survey

I got this idea from Jen over at The McCradys. I thought it was so cute and fun.

The Story of Jon Micheal Dechiro
& Lauren Elissa Mueller Dechiro

1) Did you have a traditional Proposal? Not really. Jon designed my ring and ordered it in time to propose on my birthday, but when it came in they had messed up and it had to be re-done. It ended up not being ready until the week after my birthday. It was a Saturday and I had gone to run errands that morning. When I got home Jon asked if I wanted to go to lunch...which I would never turn down. So we decided to go to our favorite lunch place and Jon suggested that we take lunch out to Mt. Bonnell and have a picnic. We ate lunch over looking the great scenery and Jon started telling me how I was his best friend and that he loved me. I didn't catch on so I kept responding back with how he was my best friend and I loved him too. Finally he pulled my ring out of his pocket and asked me to me his wife...I obviously said yes! We went back to Mt. Bonnell for our engagement pictures.

2) When was your wedding day? March 25, 2007

3) What day of the week was it? Sunday evening

4) Church/court/other? The wedding was at Kindred Oaks, a beautiful outdoor location in Georgetown. I feel in love with the location the first moment I saw it!


5) What song played while the bride walked down the aisle? Beethoven Piano Sonata No. 8. Not very traditional, but it was perfect for me.

Oh and I went barefoot...you can see my toes in this picture. :)

6) How many in your wedding party? 4 bridesmaids, 4 groomsmen, 2 ushers, and 1 flowergirl



7) How many guests were invited to your wedding? I think we sent out a little less than 200 invitations. Since the wedding was in the Austin area and most of the invites went to people in the Dallas and Tyler area we only had about 100 people at the wedding. It was perfect and just what we wanted, our closest family and friends.

8) How long were you engaged? We got engaged in December and married in March, so 4 months! To be fair we started discussing wedding plans before the engagement. We knew we wanted to get married outside and lets be honest no one wants to go to an outdoor wedding in the middle of the summer in central Texas. Once I feel in love with the venue we had to pick a date that they had open. My friends said I couldn't plan a wedding that fast, but everything worked out perfectly and I wouldn't change a thing.

9) Who did you hire as your photographer/videographer? Our photographers were from Schmitt Photography. They did a perfect job of capturing our wedding from start to finish. I didn't want the traditional "table" shots, I wanted the candid moments and they did exactly that!


10) Did you have a DJ or a band? We had a DJ for the ceremony and the reception. She did a great job.

11) Did your father walk you down the aisle? Of course! We did a knock knock joke at the beginning to relax our nerves. :)



12) What color were the bridesmaid dresses & groomsmen vests? Bridesmaids wore sage green tea length dresses with pearls and the groomsmen wore the traditional black tux with white shirts.



13) Who was your Maid Of Honor/ Best Man? My maid of honor was my sister Kymberly and Jon didn't have a best man, he said all 4 guys were his bestmen. :)


14) Did you have a bridal shower? Yes! I had 3 wonderful showers. 2 in Plano (one regular shower, and one lingerie shower, and 1 in Austin.



15) What type of limo did you get? We didn't need a limo. Kindred Oaks had a beautiful bed and breakfast for us. So when the reception was over we just walked to our room...very convenient!



16) Where did you go for your Bachelorette/Bachelor Party? We went shopping and then back to our new house for a slumber party. That day we all went out to get our nails done which was a blast. Jon and his guys went to Dave and Busters after the rehearsal dinner.



17) The night before your wedding, did you sleep? Actually I think I slept pretty well.

18) What type of wedding gown/tux did you two wear? My dress was a strapless A-line with bead work on the bodice. My favorite part was the slanted waist and the lace-up back. Jon wore a black tux, black vest and white shirt.


19) Did you have a veil? Yes, a very simple one. I only wore it for the ceremony.


20) What was the funniest moment from your wedding? Probably when the girls were getting ready and they all started singing "we're going to the chapel" to me. :)


21) How was the weather? Actually it rained...yes at our outdoor wedding it rained. BUT it didn't ruin a thing. It started raining after the ceremony, everyone had already gotten food and sat down under the covered pavilion. It only rained for about 10 minutes and then the rest of the night was perfect.



22) Did your bridal party deck out the get away car? yes, but we didn't find it until the next morning when we were heading home. The decorated both cars since we drove separately to the venue. We parked them outside when we left for our honeymoon and when we got back our neighbors came out and congratulated us on getting married...apparently they had seen the cars.

23) Where did you go on your Honeymoon? We went to San Fransisco. We spent 3 days in the city and 2 days in Nappa...heavenly! We want to go back!


24) What was your favorite part of your wedding day? Walking down the isle and seeing Jon smiling.

25) How long have you been married? 1 year, and 11 months today. :)

26) Rings? Beautiful. My engagement ring is a 3 stone princess cut, and my wedding band has 5 small princess cut diamond to match. Jon's ring is super light and made of titanium.

27) Did the bride change her name? For sure. I have always wanted to get address labels that say Mr. and Mrs....

28) Any anniversary traditions? We have more of a dating tradition. We go to the kite festival in March every year...which is were we first started to get to know each other (we met the night before at a concert). We are thinking about staying at a bed and breakfast in Fredericksburg this year. We went for the day last year for our anniversary so maybe that will be a tradition.



29) Anything special about the day/time of year you were married? Well we met in March 2 years before we got married so March was a good month. Other than that nothing special.

30) Words of wisdom? Above our bed it says "Always kiss me goodnight". I think those are perfect words to live by.


If your married its your turn. What's your story?

It's only Tuesday...

I am hoping the rest of this week goes by faster than yesterday and today. Not that I have too much to complain about...

On Tuesday, Thursday and Friday mornings I spend my morning shadowing a first grader in a private school. I have been working with this little girl (I'll call her S) for 3 years now. Some days are harder than others but today she was great!! It was nice to have an easy morning finally.

Jon is out of town until Friday :( And my birthday is on Saturday...I'm ready for it to be the end of the week already. My new camera is in the mail and should be delivered on Friday! My plan is to play with it around the house Friday and then Jon and I are going to head out to Mount Bonnell on Saturday to start taking pictures. We haven't been out there in awhile...we had a date there when I was still living in Dallas, its were Jon proposed and were we had our engagement pictures made. There is a saying that if a couple walks up the 100 stairs once they will fall in love (worked for us), if they go up twice they will get engaged (on the second time there Jon proposed), and if they go up a third time it is inevitable they'll get married (we had our engagement pictures made there). And look at us now...married for almost 2 years! Before we go up there we pick up lunch from Kneaded Pleasures. They have wonderful sandwiches and a cute atmosphere. I can't wait for Saturday...a cute picnic lunch with my great husband while playing with my new camera. :)

Our long conversation: part 3

Our first date...

I had come back to Austin with my family the weekend after the kite festival. I was busy with them on Friday and Saturday, which left Sunday for our date.

Around 3pm I met Jon at Mozart's (a wonderful coffee shop on the river). We enjoyed some tea and talked by the water. From there we headed over to St Edward's campus. They have an amazing view of downtown and it was a great place for us to walk and talk. Since neither of us was hungry for dinner yet, we decided to go walking down South Congress Ave. There are a bunch of cute shops along the way and the whole time you can see a picture perfect view of the capitol. After lots of walking we decided to get dinner at Frank and Angie's, were I showed off my amazing pizza eating skills (can you hear the sarcasm?). The slices were HUGE and I of course made a mess of mine...so embarrassing! Once dinner was over we took a quick drive to the capitol and enjoyed more walking and talking. To end the night we had ice cream at Amy's Ice Cream. The guys that work there will toss ice cream across the street and if you catch it in the bowl you get it for free...very fun to watch.

By the time we said good night it was 10pm. We had been together for 7 hours and it didnt seem like enough time. The next morning I heading back to Plano and when I got home I had a sweet email from Jon waiting for me. It said that he had fun as well and looked forward to our next date :)

Stay tuned for Our long conversation: part 4 (the first kiss)

How well do you know your spouse?

My mom is throwing a bridal shower in a couple of weeks and we were talking about games to play. This got me thinking about my bridal showers and the games we played. One in particular involved questions answered by Jon and lots of bubble gum. My mom asked me to find the questions so that we can play the same game at the bridal shower she is throwing. So after much searching...ladders...attic...boxes...I finally found the bag of questions. I was reading through them and thought this would make an entertaining post.

The rules...Jon was given the list of questions and had to come up with answers. Then at the shower everyone took turns asking me the questions, if I didn't know the answer or got it wrong I had to put a piece of bubble gum in my mouth. I think I did pretty good, but I ended up with a huge amount of gum in my mouth.

The questions...

What was the name of your best friend in elementary school?
Jon: Keith Powell
Me: I don't know :(

What is your favorite color?
Got this right...blue, black, and gray. When I got shopping for clothes for Jon I can only get shirts that are blue, black, gray, or white.

What is the last movie you saw?
Jon gave two movies (at home the Departed, and in the theater Breach). I said the Departed.

What did you do on your first date with Lauren?
Jon: We went to Mozart's for tea, then Frank and Angie's for pizza. We wen for dessert at Amy's Ice Cream, checked out the views from St. Edward's, and then I am not sure if we also walked down South Congress and around the capitol or id that was a subsequent date.

Me: (the correct order of things) "we meet at Mozart's, then went to check out the view of downtown from St Edward's. From there we walked down South Congress and had dinner at Frank and Angie's and dessert at Amy's Ice Cream. We ended the night walking around the capitol.

What is Lauren's favorite flower?
Jon: she doesn't have one, but I normally buy her something in the tulip or lily family.
Me: I don't have one, but Jon always picks out good ones.

What is the name of the last book you read?
Jon: The Winter King by Bernard Cornwell
Me: something by Bernard Cornwell...the Winter King?

What color do you like Lauren to wear?
Jon: She looks stunning in any color.
Me: Um...I don't know if he cares what color I wear.

What is your favorite vacation spot?
Jon: I don't have a favorite...I would like to go to England, and I really like DC and San Francisco
Me: DC or San Francisco

What is your favorite meal?
Jon: Tacos al Pastor or Chuys' Vegetable Enchiladas
Me: Spinach/Veggie enchiladas at Chuys

What is your favorite childhood memory?
Jon: No idea
Me: I don't know

Which friend have you stayed in touch with the longest?
Jon: Josh Towers
Me: Josh...I think that's right.

What is Lauren's favorite meal?
Jon: chicken crispers from Chili's or anything with creamy jalapeno from Chuys
Me: anything that Jon cooks or chicken crispers at Chilis

Where were you when you first kissed Lauren?
Jon: You mean when she first kissed me? At my house.
Me: at his house. (this is when I had to explain that I kissed him first with a bunch of gum in my mouth...thanks Jon!!)

Where in the world do you most wish to go?
Jon: England, and then maybe Australia/New Zealand
Me: England

Who is your favorite actor?
Jon: I don't really have one...but I think Mel Gibson is talented.
Me: Not sure.

What do you see yourself doing in 5 years?
Jon: I will probably be working for the man.
Me: working for the man.

What name would you give your first son?
Jon: Jon Michael Dechiro the Second!! (he is totally being sarcastic)
Me: Um...William.

What is your favorite Bible verse?
Jon: I don't have one.
Me: I don't think he has one.

What is your favorite sport to watch?
Jon: Football, but not the American variety
Me: Soccer

If you could choose any city to live in, which would it be?
Jon: DC or San Francisco
Me: San Francisco

What is your favorite sport to play?
Jon: football...again not the kind with helmets or pads
Me: soccer

What is the most romantic thing you have ever done for Lauren?
Jon: picnic at Mount Bonnell where she got a shiny ring to wear?
Me: picnic at Mount Bonnell where he proposed

What is your pet peeve?
Jon: Related to Lauren...she interrupts me when I am talking. Unrelated to Lauren...drivers who refuse to wait in line and try to cut in front of everyone else in traffic.
Me: probably that I interrupt him all the time or bad drivers.

What do you see yourself doing in 10 years?
Jon: probably still working for the man.
Me: working for the man with a couple of kiddos?

If you could have any type of vehicle, what would you choose?
Jon: Subaru Outback XT 2.5
Me: he likes Subarus a lot.

Who is your favorite musical artist?
Jon: of all time...Pink Floyd, at the moment...Muse.
Me: of all time...Pink Floyd, and right now...Muse.

What is the most embarrassing thing that's happened to you in Lauren's presence?
Jon: It would probably be the time I knocked over and shattered a wine bottle in an Albertsons while visiting her in Dallas early in our relationship.
Me: Once he knocked over a wine bottle in the grocery store.

What is Lauren's pet peeve?
Jon: I'm pretty sure she has more than one. Hearing people eat...or maybe that is just with me.
Me: hearing other people eat!

What 3 people would you choose to be stuck in an elevator with?
Jon: I would rather not be stuck in an elevator.
Me: he wouldn't want to be stuck in an elevator at all.

What is your favorite girls name?
Jon: Lauren! :) I have always liked the name Olivia.
Me: Olivia

How did I do? 24 out of 30...not to0 bad. :) How would you do with your spouse?

Our Long Conversation: part 2

The last day Amanda and I were in Austin, we went to the Kite Festival. It was a perfect day and there was just enough wind to keep the kites in the air. It was amazing! We hung out on all afternoon. I was having a great time, but little did I know, Jon was feeling horrible. Apparently his allergies were acting up :(

I remember hoping that Jon would ask for my number sometime during the afternoon. I thought maybe it would happen when we went walking, but no. Jon waited until we were all leaving, then he asked if he could give me his number. Of course I said yes. We exchanged numbers and email addresses. Only later did I realize that I didn't press save when I entered his number into my phone. Luckily I had his email address, and as it turns out it didn't matter anyway. Jon sent me an email the next day, saying he had fun and he hoped we could talk soon. Yay!

We exchanged emails throughout the week, as well as a phone call. My family happened to be going to Austin the very next weekend, so Jon and I planned to get together that Sunday for our official first date.

Stay tuned for Our Long Conversation:Part 3: Our First Date

Our long conversation: part 1

Jon and I have been married for a year and a half now. We have had so much fun in the last 18 months, but our story obviously began before the wedding. It was once said, "a happy marriage is a long conversation that always seems too short." (Andre Maurois). So I am going to share our long conversation.

Let me set the stage...
My best friend, Amanda, and I wanted to go somewhere for our spring break. Unfortunately our spring breaks were a week off so we only had a weekend to get away. On top of that we were not exactly rolling in money, so something affordable was a must. We decided to make our way from Dallas to Austin for the weekend and stay with my Aunt.

So we arrived in Austin early on a Friday afternoon. We stopped by Round Rock Donuts to pick up a dozen of the best donuts in the world!! If you are ever in the Austin area this is a must try! After picking up some healthy breakfast treats, wink, wink. We drove into town to meet up with my Aunt. She took us out to dinner...I don't remember where we went, but it was good. After dinner Amanda and I went to a coffee shop on the river called Mozart's (also a must see attraction). We ordered some yummy drinks and settled out by the water for some girl talk. To this day, every time Amanda comes to visit we always go to Mozart's at least once.

On Saturday the three of us (my Aunt and Amanda and I) when to Shady Grove for a great lunch. Then Amanda and I headed to Barton Springs to get some sun. It was a perfect day, the sun was out but it wasn't too hot and there was a nice breeze. We had a relaxing afternoon of people watching, and swimming in the 68 degree water.

That night my Aunt took us to a concert at Antones. My Aunt had invited some of her friends and we were talking to a group of them when "cute boy" walked up. When he stopped next to us, I was a bit surprised. Well, it turns out that "cute boy" had come along with one of my Aunt's good friends. I am horrible with names so for the rest of the night I would refer to him as "cute boy" (only to Amanda of course). We were in a pretty big group so "cute boy" and I didn't really share many words throughout the concert or at the coffee house afterward. My Aunt wanted to take us on a walk down 6th street, and that was when we started talking. However, at the end of the night we went our separate ways with just a simple "it was nice to meet you".

When my Aunt asked us if we had fun, Amanda mentioned that I thought Jon was cute. So my Aunt decided to call her friend and ask them if they wanted to come with us the next day to the Kite Festival.

Coming soon, part 2: kites and crushes.