Our Story

Jenny's version:

In January of 2007 I began the last quarter of my senior year at Ohio State and was preparing to graduate in March. By February I still wasn't really sure what was ahead of me in the "real world." I wasn't dating anyone and my job as a student employee at Ohio State would soon be coming to an end. So I did what any single, nearly jobless girl my age would do...I went shopping!

It was Friday, February 16, 2007 and I had just gotten done with class and work for the day and I decided I needed new shoes. My close friend and roommate, Kate, was working at The Limited at Tuttle Mall so I figured I'd go visit her and then scout out some new shoes. The day began looking up because I actually found shoes that I liked, that fit me, in the first store I went to! Anyone who has ever been shopping with me knows that rarely ever happens. So on my way out I swung by The Limited to see Kate. She mentioned to me that some of our friends were getting together later in the evening at Brazenhead, an Irish pub and our favorite local hangout. They were hosting something called the Great Guinness Toast. It was cold and snowy out and I wasn't sure if I wanted to go, but I told her I might see her there. I went home and shortly after decided that I needed a place to wear my new shoes, so I would in fact be going to Brazenhead.

I got there around 9:00 and somehow managed to walk through the snowy, icy parking lot, in my brand new heels, without falling. (Note: This was the day after Ohio State cancelled classes for the first time in about 10 years because of a snow/ice storm, so it was pretty bad.) I went inside and headed down to the basement, our usual spot. Almost all of our group was there, including a few new faces, and I was really glad that I decided to come after all. I took a spot at the head of the table next to Mike and Julie, who were engaged at the time and are now married.

I noticed there were 2 guys at the table who I did not know and I asked Julie for the scoop. She told me one was Matt and one was Gabe and they had been in the Army together, so immediately I was intrigued (one thing I missed most about Virginia was the military life...ok fine, and the military men!). I thought I had seen Matt before at a party, but no one really knew much about Gabe. I thought he was attractive, but we were sitting a few seats away from each other, so there wasn't much chance for one on one conversation. He was sitting across from Kate and her boyfriend (now husband) Tim so he talked to them for most of the night.

We all decided to call it a night and head home around 11. I didn't really want to leave and I was hoping that some people might be hanging out afterward so I could talk to Gabe. I kind of lingered around the table to see if anyone was making plans, but it seemed like everyone was just going home. I figured I would see him again when all of our friends hung out, but I was still bummed. So I headed out to the parking lot, this time with Kate and Tim, and again without any slipping or falling. Though I did look over and notice Kate in her warm snow boots and was jealous that I didn't have mine on. She told me I should have worn mine and I said, well I'm the single one, so I always have to go out in my heels!

So I went on with my weekend and then with school and work the following week. That Tuesday, the 20th, I was getting ready to head out for a dentist appointment when I got an email saying that someone had sent me a message on Facebook. (For those not familiar with Facebook, it's a social networking web site people use to keep up with friends, share pictures, etc.). So I quickly logged on and went straight to my inbox to find a message from a Gabriel Watt, with the simple subject of 'Hi.' I looked at the picture attached to his profile and realized it was the Gabe I had met at Brazenhead. He sent me very sweet message reintroducing himself and saying that he wished we had gotten to talk more at Brazenhead that night and that he would love to hang out sometime.

I had to rush off to my dentist appointment and didn't have time to respond right away. So after consulting with Kate and another friend, Sarah, I decided that I would send him a reply telling him that I thought the same thing and hoped to hang out sometime and also gave him my phone number. With my busy schedule and a trip home to Virginia planned for the long weekend, I wasn't sure when we would be able to see each other. We ended up planning a lunch "date" for that Friday at the Panera on campus at OSU since I would be heading to work right after and then I would be leaving for VA.

I was really nervous but glad that we were doing something informal so I didn't feel too much pressure. And as luck would have it I, the person who hates to be late and would much rather be 15 minutes early to everything, ended up running late for lunch. So I texted Gabe and told him that I'd be late and he asked what I wanted for lunch and said he'd order for me. By the time I got there, the food had arrived and we had a great lunch and he had me laughing the whole time and by the end of it I knew I really liked him and hoped there would be more. So we went our separate ways and for the rest of the day I proceeded to tell everyone I knew about this great guy I had lunch with.

I also used the seven hour drive home that day to call more people and tell them about Gabe and our lunch date. I even dragged my mom out for a manicure and pedicure so I could tell her all about him. The three nights I was home I barely got any sleep because Gabe and I talked for hours each night online and on the phone. We talked about anything and everything and by the time I left Stafford on Monday I couldn't wait to get back to Columbus and spend time with him.

And to be cliche about it...the rest is history. From that point on we've been inseparable and I am so lucky to have found true love.

Gabe's version:

I had been living in Ohio for about 2 weeks when my roommate Matt told me that some of his friends where going out to Brazenhead for "The Great Guinness Toast." Brazenhead is an Irish pub that I had been to once before, so I thought I should go to meet some new people and I would most likely have a good time too. Right after I moved to Ohio it got incredibly cold and snowed a whole lot. I guess it was mother nature's way of welcoming me. So Matt, Angel (his then girlfriend, now wife), a few other friends, and I piled into the car and headed out for the night.

We got to the pub and went to the basement where I sat at the middle of a very large table, thinking that if I was centrally located I would have the best chance of talking to all these new people, and maybe making some new friends. Well after being there for a little bit I noticed some new people walking in and I looked down at the head of the table and noticed this short girl with cute short curly brown hair and glasses. I was done for. I knew right then and there that girl was going to change my life. I asked the guy sitting next to me, Mike, who the short girl at the head of the table was. He said her name was Jenny, and I forgot her name almost immediately. I tried to make my conversation go to that end of the table, in hopes of catching Jenny's interest. I didn't think it worked because after a while Jenny and the few people I thought she came with were leaving. I asked Matt if it was cool to invite people back to our place, he said it was ok. And I was going to invite people over, but I remembered we had just bought a dog, and he was still getting adjusted to the house, and having a bunch of new strange people over might make our little puppy too excited. So I decided not to ask any one to come over.

And just like that, I let this beautiful woman walk right out of my life. I "tried" to talk to her, to say a few jokes down to her end of the table, and hoped she had noticed me. But I went home wondering if she even knew who I was. The next day I was beating myself up for not talking to this girl, or introducing myself to her, and I could not believe I was still so caught up in this girl. It was so cold and snowy that on Saturday, I didn't really do much but go to the gym and just hangout around the house, and think about this girl, whose name I couldn't even remember, but face I couldn't forget. Sunday rolls around and I tried out a new church, but I ended up not liking it too much. But I did have 2 free tickets to go see G Love and Special Sauce, a reggae/funk/slow down hip-hop band that I really liked. Since the tickets were free I was more than happy to go, but I had no date to go with me. I once again was wishing I had talked to that girl, especially since I ended up going with Matt, and while at the show a woman who was old enough to be my mom decided to grab my hand and make me dance with her. I was freaked out, and I knew that I needed to talk to the girl I saw at the pub.

But I didn't really know what to do. I was thinking that I would just run into her again at some point when everyone hung out, but Matt said he had never seen her before and he hung out with all the people I met at the pub all the time. So being the ever nerdy guy that I am, I decided that I could probably find her on Facebook by looking to see if she was friends with anyone that I was friends with. After searching through almost every friend that Matt Yoho had I was about to give up. Until, low and behold there she was, Jenny Villacres...right at the end of his friend list. I finally had a name for that face I couldn't stop thinking about. So on Tuesday morning, after some encouragement (thanks Matt and Tommy) I wrote out what I thought was pretty good little "hello how's it going, my name is.." note. I hit send, and I waited, and I waited... and waited... I was almost sure she had seen the note, wrote me off as a freak, and decided to not reply and that the next time I saw her she was going to avoid me at all costs. I felt like a fool. So Matt and I went to the gym and when we got back, I had a new message in my inbox, and it was from her! I couldn't open that message fast enough, I must have read it 30 times in that first minute. I was so excited to see a reply from her. And it wasn't a "eww you're gross go away" response like I expected, it was really nice and she said she would love to hangout sometime and that I should call her.

Well I didn't want to seem to eager, so rather than call her I got her screen name off of her Facebook, because now we were friends so I could see her profile, and I sent her an Instant Message saying "Hi this is Gabe the guy who messaged you randomly on facebook." She didn't respond right away, but when she did I was right there and we talked online for pretty much the rest of the night. And every night after that until Thursday night when I finally asked her if maybe she would like to get some lunch on Friday, and she said yes. I remember doing a fist pump into the air when she said yes - I was pretty excited. So we decided that we would meet at Panera Bread on 11th and High, right on OSU's campus.

I had only been on campus a few times before, and I had been living in Ohio, and Columbus for about 3 weeks at the most. It was cold, and I was scared. I was there about 20 minutes early, and I sat in a booth, by myself, with no food, books, or a computer like everyone else there. I felt very out of place but I knew that Jenny was going to be there any minute. The 20 minutes went by and she still wasn't there, and I thought about texting her but I didn't want to seem like a jerk bugging her about being late. The line was really long and I decided that she would be there any minute and that when she got there she could cut in line with me and she wouldn't have to wait. I was wrong. I got to the front pretty quickly and ordered my food, and about a minute later Jenny texted me and said that she was running late, I texted her back asking what she wanted, and told her I would get it (I should have saved this text because I have never seen Jenny order anything else but what she got that day). So I got right back into line, ordered her food, and as I was sitting back down, in walked this amazing girl. So short and cute with bouncy curly brown hair, and I was once again, in awe. She offered to pay me back for her meal almost right away and that kinda told me that in her mind, this wasn't a date, and I was super bummed. But I kept a good face on and I told her no it was ok it was my treat. So we sat and had a great lunch and I remember keeping her laughing the whole time. When it was finally time to go we went outside to say goodbye and she said she would let me know when she was back from VA. We hugged and Jenny did the second thing telling me that she didn't think this was a date, when she hugged me she patted me on the back 3 times. The dreaded; We're, Just, Friends. Pat, pat, pat. We went our separate ways, I went to my car thinking that I had just wasted a couple bucks on lunch, and that this girl wasn't into me at all. I was so sad.

I went home, talked with the roommates for a bit, and went to the gym. Later that night I was hanging out in the basement with Matt and Tommy, most likely playing video games. When we got done and decided to call it a night I went to my room and saw that I had an IM from Jenny. She was letting me know that she got home safely and to say thanks for lunch and that she had a great time at lunch. I read this and was trilled! We talked all night, every night, while Jenny was in VA and I couldn't wait for her to get back to Ohio. She came back on Monday night, in record time I might add, and came over to hangout for a bit. And pretty much since then we have been inseparable, and yes, the rest is history.

His Story

I was born and raised in beautiful sunny southern California. I was born in Long Beach, and my family of 6 lived there until I was about 5 years old. Right before I started kindergarten we packed up and moved to a small rural town called Jurupa, and I did the first part of my growing up there. Having three brothers, Nathaniel, age 33, Adriel, age 30, and Joel, age 24, there was always something to do, and someone to play with. I still remember the day I learned to ride my bike there, and how it was to be the only kid whose parents had pigs and chickens in the backyard. It was a time in my life I will always remember. The summer before 8th grade my family moved out to a small town called Corona. This is where I did the second half of my growing up. While living in Corona I went to high school, met my best friends, and did everything that goes with growing up in southern California - skateboarding, surfing, snowboarding, and everything in between. I loved living in southern California and I thought I was going to stay there forever. But when I was 19 I realized my life wasn't really going anywhere and I needed a change, so I enlisted in the U.S. Army on August 1st, 2001.

I enlisted to be an Airborne Infantryman. I had heard about what it was going to be like, and I was looking forward to all the the Army had to offer me. While I was in the Army I went to basic training, infantry training, and airborne school in Georgia, and every peach I ate had a sticker on it saying it came from CA. Those stickers helped me not miss home as much. While in basic training America was attacked on September 11th, 2001. This event pretty much shaped the rest of my military career. I completed my training and went on to my unit at Fort Bragg, NC in March of 2002. I was with the 82nd Airborne Division. The 82nd is one of the best and most proud units in the Army, and I felt honored to be there. My unit trained for 5 months before heading to Afghanistan in July of 2002 to help lead the hunt for Osama Bin Laden. While in Afghanistan my platoon traveled a lot, and went on every mission we could. We stayed in remote regions far from any civilization, on large coalition force bases, and everywhere in between.

After being in Afghanistan for 4 months my company was offered a mission to help find and destroy some rockets the Soviet Union left behind from when they invaded Afghanistan. Naturally, we said yes. On November 9th, 2002 while providing security for the demolition team destroying the rockets I suffered a career ending injury. The demo team set off some charges to destroy the rockets in the cave they were in, and in doing this sent a mountainside flying our way. Rocks, fire, and debris filled the air and the earth shook under us like nothing I had ever felt (and growing up in southern California, I felt a lot of earthquakes). I looked all around me and saw rocks landing all around my friends; everything was so loud it was quiet. I looked directly above me and saw nothing. I had one thought at that moment, "God sure did bless me today." And as soon as a period was put on that thought a boulder about the size of a 27 inch TV landed on my left foot and shattered every bone in my foot except my toes. A helicopter came and got me as quick as it could, but not before one of the best medics around did all that he could to save my foot, and my life. I stayed in the hospital in Afghanistan for 3 days before heading back to the states. I was able to see my friends one last time before then and it was bitter sweet...I got to leave, but they had to stay. And I wasn't leaving the way any good soldier wants to leave.

A few surgeries, two years, and countless hours of physical therapy later, I was given a medical discharge from the Army, and I went back home to CA. I was enlisted for three years and four months, and it was also a time in my life I will never forget, and I made friends I will never forget. When I first went back home to CA I realized a lot had changed in my "little" town of Corona. In fact, Corona more than doubled in size and population in the years I was gone. I was trying to figure out what to do with my life, so I decided to "retire" and live off of my VA disability payments and work with my church's youth group. At first I did this because a friend asked me to help out for a while, but I immediately fell in love with working with teenagers. I did this while being retired for a few years and I truly did love the work I did, but at the same time I was feeling more and more like CA was no longer where I wanted to live. I traveled a bit here and there, to South Carolina and Montana a few times each. And every time I was gone I realized that I liked the places I went to more than I liked CA.

So in February of 2007 I packed everything I could in my little Toyota Corolla and moved out to Ohio. I had been to OH countless times and I knew the state fairly well so I was excited and confident with making the move/change in my life. Shortly after moving here I met a short girl with curly brown hair and knew I was in trouble, but I'll get into that later. I found a church and continued working with teenagers, and after being here for 6 months I decided to go back to school and pursue a degree in recreation. After I was done with my first year of school I was on the hunt for a job to help me gain experience in my chosen career path, and luckily enough I landed a really great job that I really love. After running a teen recreation center for the City of Dublin for a summer I was promoted and I am currently overseeing a teen after school program. I have been in Ohio for just over a year and a half, and I couldn't be happier with my decision to move to the Buckeye state.

Her Story

As a proud Army brat, I spent the first 5 years of my life becoming an expert traveler! I was born at Fort Bragg, North Carolina and from there we moved to Aniston, Alabama; Monterey, California; and finally Stafford, Virginia. Since I lived in Stafford from age 5 to age 18, that is the place I call home. Along the way I gained a few younger siblings...Heather, age 21, Nicholas, age 13, and Andrew, age 9. Being the oldest of 4 children is interesting at times, but makes for a lot of fun adventures!

The best adventures were always our family vacations. My parents made family vacation a must at least once a year and that is something that Gabe and I hope to pass on to our children. Some of my fondest memories include all you can eat buffets at Virginia Beach, wearing character hats through Disney World, and standing outside at the crack of dawn in the freezing cold just to see the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade in NYC.

After a fond 13 years in Stafford, I knew I wanted a change and decided to attend college at The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. People are often surprised at my leap to unknown territory, but my dad grew up in Newark, Ohio and he and most of his siblings attended OSU as well. So I've been a Buckeye since birth and still have some family in the Columbus area.

While at Ohio State I met some of the best friends anyone could ask for and truly gained a love for college football (Go Bucks!). And I was so excited when my younger sister made the decision to be a Buckeye as well; she is starting her senior year this fall. I graduated in March of 2007 with a degree in journalism.

In October of 07 I was offered a job at a public relations firm in Washington, D.C. and knew I couldn't pass up the opportunity. I moved back home to Stafford and while it was great to be home and surrounded by family again, it made me realize that I am now an Ohio girl at heart. I made the tough decision to leave my job and move back to Columbus in May of this year. I am now working in downtown Columbus at a large real estate firm and could not be happier.

And to top it all off, I'm engaged to the love of my life! I am so excited to get into all the details of planning a wedding and starting our life together.