So I guess I'll start

I have no idea what I'm doing. I opened this blog account months ago. Before Craig even left the country and only now am I even starting to write anything.

When this all started I thought it would be fun. I didn't think anything would come of it. Now I'm knee-deep in a cranberry bog of crazy and I wonder how anyone makes a real go of it. I guess I'll should start at the beginning.

I met "The Sgt." on Oct. 3, 2009, his 31 birthday. It was a strange confluence of events that

even made it possible and I get some pleasure out of sharing so here goes.

I was finishing a shift at The Daily Grill, an important shift actually. It was exactly 3 years since I started working a that self-same establishment and wondering, as one often does, why I was still there after so long. It goes without saying but I'll say it anyway. I was in need of a drink. I took my apron off, clocked out and sent a text:

"Need beer. Who's in?"

I sent this message to 10 people and vowed that whatever the response I was going to go out and not succumb to the call of my sweat-pants. On the drive home from work I got 3 bites. Two were something similar to: "I wish I could but have to work in the morning." and "Want to but I'm ironing my hanky's." The third was from Miss Kara Wall. A girl that in hind-sight has changed the course of my current life.

"Where?" She says.

"Snake Pit?" Says I.

And with that, it was off to the Snake Pit we rolled. On my way to this hole in the wall situated in a semi-cozy part of Melrose I received a call from Kara to let me know she's bringing her roommate Bethany.

"The more the merrier." Says I. Then she said something that changed everything;

"See you at The Cat and the Fiddle."

"Um, wha...Okay. See you soon." I replied hanging up my phone.

Did you see it? It was a change of venue. At the time I believed it to be purposefully but sometime later I was to be told that it was merely a slip of the tongue. So I pass Snake Pit in favor of the classier digs at the Cat and the Fiddle. Parking, walking and showing my ID to the nice man at the front I gave no thought to the fact that Kara changed bars without so much as a "hope you don't mind." I got my beer and waited in the courtyard for my friends. I got a call apx 5 minutes later letting me know that they were almost at The Snake Pit and that is where the confusion was hashed out. She had said the wrong name and went to the right bar. Confusion cleared, plans changed and Kara quickly turned around to meet me at the bar on Sunset that I'd ended up in because of her slippery tongue. Kara and Bethany arrived and we began drinking our casual beers in the style to which ladies such as ourselves have become accustomed. After one beer we decided to have another and we removed ourselves to the bar indoors. This is

when I met him, the man I now refer to as "The Sgt."

Ordering a beer I bumped him with my purse. Forcing him to spill part of the birthday beer bought for him by Lyda. A friend of his that I would not meet on this night but would come to appreciate later in a relationship fraught with hurdles. "Sorry. My gigantic purse keeps hitting you." I said. "That's okay." Craig replied. Then I notice how handsome he was. Tall, 6'1" as it would turn out, and Ginger which I had a thing for ever since J.Go at Utah State. He turned and spoke to us with all the hypnotic power a strong square jaw can weald over single women and we all made polite conversation. After, I'm guessing 2 minutes, came the words the would turn my ears deaf and prompt me to walk away.

"What do you do?" Asked Kara.

"I'm in the Army."

"How interesting. I'm gonna...go...sit down." I said in reply.

To Kara's credit she continued to make conversation and didn't instantly lay judgements on him like I did. I was confused by the revelation and I, I'm sad to say, assumed Craig was a Republican and tried to make my exit. As I retreated Kara and Bethany followed like good friend and we returned to our perch by the fountain to continue our girls evening.

Luckily for me Craig took a shine to me and made a point to find us later at the fountain. Though I didn't notice it on the night, Craig was enthralled with me. Kara noticed and pointed it out to me later.

After about 20 minutes he approached us. While I was turned off by his assumed republicanism I was won-over by the sheer wattage of his charm. He was well read, well educated and most importantly, funny. After talking to him my assumptions about him didn't seem to matter anymore. We talked and talked and while he gave polite nods to my friends he always returned to me as soon as possible. I was the thing he couldn't stop looking at and listening to. We talked long after my friends had to get home and sleep and when they closed the bar we were still talking. We were still talked while he walked me to my car. And when my friends called to make sure I got him safe, we were still talking. It was amazing. We sat in my car and talked and talked and talked until 3 in the morning. He had that gift that some people have of making the person they are with feel like the most important person in the world. It was strange to feel so acknowledged.

I wasn't in the market for anything serious or anything anything really. I was three months out of a really shit and destructive three year relationship. But Craig was and is a man who knows what he wants. No embarrassment, no fear. He just goes for things all pistons firing and I happened to be that thing he wanted.

After some less-than G-rated making out I drove him to his car and we parted ways. He asked for my number and I gave it to him. No expectations, just a pleasant end to a good night. He called me the next day and the day after that and the day after that. We've been together ever since.

It's been difficult but not in a way I've ever experienced before. In past relationships it's always felt like in a storm there was something wrong with the ship. The relationship has a leak and even small storms were too much to navigate. With Craig the relationship feels strong but the storm is massive. I don't know how it's going to turn out. I don't know if we'll make it through. But I'm in it and hoping for the best.