"Gimme that girl with her hair in a mess
Sneaky little smile with her head on my chest"
joe nichols - that girl
Sneaky little smile with her head on my chest"
joe nichols - that girl
It was an ordinary youth group night and Mike (big macho friendly athlete Mike) walked into the church doors. An adorable smile inside a happy face welcomed him. "She is cuuuuUuute" Mike thought as he walked in. Duh she was cute. Little Miss Sophomore Athlete Darling Merissa was very cute :D
Though their highschools were arch rivals, Mike and Merissa became acquaintance-friends and somehow through the rest of highschool and the first two years of college they kept in touch. Ah, hold. Remember the "athlete" part of them? Both talented lacrosse players, they went to Division 1 colleges to play - Vanderbilt for her, Villanova for him. So they kept in touch long distance... ah! Well done, wellllll done.
Sophomore year of college ended and all the students were headed home for the summer. Guys being guys were asking each other about any girls they wanted to see blah blah blah. Mike announced that yes, yes there was a girl he wanted to see. She was a cute one and he wanted to see her.
He was looking forward to seeing if the solid friendship he and Merissa had developed could become a crushship. Cause he was kind of crushin ;)
Merissa, on the other hand, was not looking for a boy. She was determined to stay single until she graduated. No boys. No drama. No hurt. Way to go girl! She wanted to focus and enjoy college. And she was ESPecially determined not to have a little summer fling while on break. Uh uh, nooo way.
*Cue cute bubbly piano music*
Summertime hang-outs in Columbia, Maryland were exactly what summertime hang-outs should be. Everyone was enjoying seeing each other and catching up. Mike got his brave on and asked Merissa to ice cream. Crush ice cream for him, friend ice cream for her. During the ice cream date slash friend-catch-up (whatever the heck it was), Mike suggested to Merissa they should get dinner sometime.
Ah! Finally. That is clearly a date. And what did Merissa say...?
Ouch.
Guess who isn't crushin'!
But never fear, after hanging out in groups and kind of hinting more and more at the "I like you and don't treat other girls like this" angle, Mike asked Merissa to a movie! For whatever reason this girl was in denial. He doesn't like me. I don't like him. I don't want a boyfriend. We don't like each other. Yadda yadda yadda ;)
Merissa thought she was going out with a friend, and Mike thought he was going out on a date. The dear guy.
Everyone else seemed to think it was perfect! Everyone else was a fan! They were perfect together. Great personalities, love for the Lord, awesome athletes. Just lovely.
So they get their snacks, find their seats, settle into the movie and Mike's nerves are finally settling down. The last thing he was focusing on was the movie and he eventually got the guts to put his hand on his date's knee...
... where she promptly wiped it off and laughed "What are you doing?! Haha we aren't dating!"
Re-telling this story Mike clenched his fists and put his head down and looked so rejected just remembering it. Merissa really made him work :D
But finally all the peices fell into place, and she finally "got" it. She also finally admitted that maybe she did want a boy - if it was this one. Maybe she could like someone over the summer - if that someone was Mike. He finally knew she liked him one night at a friends. He tried to put his hand on her knee again - and she let him. He did it!
Now these two little loveheads are planning a wedding. I love them. The only picture Merissa specifically asked for was one of them hugging in sweatshirts.
"That's my favorite," she expained. "It's so snuggly. I just love hugging him." So they hugged snuggly for a bit and I snapped away. I love them hugging.
I think it's too cute how Mike just wants to kiss and wrap around Merissa.
I think it's so sweet how they act like 10th grade kids during summer together.
It's cute how perfect they fit together.
And it's cute how when I tell Mike to "look at her!" he has to bend all the way around and look right into her eyes.
There was even one point in their story-telling when they both looked straight at each other, totally stopped talking, smiled, muttered some lines about a friend of a friend, and just gave each other a quick squeeze.
They distract each other and it's very sweet.
I am exciting for their big day! It's coming in just a few months - and Mike will officially be the husband of the cute, knee-swatting, lacrosse-playing Merissa! Yay!
Enjoy the slideshow :D