How did you meet your partner?

[Former_Member]

This is probably going to be a soppy thread, but who cares!

My mum was telling me when she met my dad, many years ago, and I thought it was quite sweet.

My mum when she was 19, worked as a receptionist. Her surname then, was White. And my dad was a client in the organisation and used to call up my mum, saying, 'hello Miss White, this is Mr Black...' (My dads surname is Privett.) My mum hated it and him!! Until one day he had a meeting with her boss and my dad charmed my mum into a date and they got married when she was 21 and they are still together!

So I was wondering, how did you meet your partners?

[Former_Member]

Not a sappy story at all for us - our best friends were sleeping together.
The parents and other older folks are told they were dating - but there was no dating. Ha!

[Former_Member]

My hubby and I met 14 years ago on the internet in the Yahoo Local WAshignton DC chat forums. That was back in the day when you could do that. I wouldnt even think of it now. I was in college full time and working full time and just didnt have time to socialize any other way. We had a pretty tight group who used to get together once a month and meet up at a local sports bar. He tried to get my attention for 3 months before I finally gave in and went out with him (after having him vetted by another chat friend who had met him). I wasnt really interested in a 32 year old divorced father of 3. We have been together ever since and added one more to the mix. :)

[Former_Member]

awww.. I met my boyfriend on the internet. To be honest, when I met my boyfriend is was still a bit of a taboo meeting someone off the internet. Now it is the norm!

Me and my boyfriend were on a social networking site, not a dating site. He sent me a message and I ignored him. As his profile was pretty bare and I knew I wasn't going to meet someone who had an empty profile! A few weeks later he sent me another message, and I still ignored him. Then he sent me another message, to which I replied with my email address. I gave in to the persistance.

Occasionally we would talk online on 'MSN Messenger' and when we did speak, we spoke for hours about anything and everything. We didn't speak everyday. But I genuinely looked forward to seeing his name appear online. Then after about a few weeks of random chatting online, we decided one afternoon that we meet up in Central London, near Covent Garden. We met. And we been together since.

4 years now.

[Former_Member]

Awww love this thread!!! Great story Katie, that is too cute!

LOL @ Gena!! Love it!!

Haha Andi! Yay! I'm glad I can now share my story because my husband and I met online too. = D

We were a part of a social site where people all over would have a profile and post in the community forums (kind of like this team where people come and open topics and talk about anything). Well I lived in Las Vegas at the time for college and he lived in NYC. We talked online, on the phone, and through webcam for 6 months, until we planned for him to visit Las Vegas for a week in December 2005. Ever since then it's been official, lol.

We happily got married on our 6-year anniversary! December 16, 2011!

[Former_Member]

oOoOo that is so sweet! It is amazing how many people meet online these days.

[Former_Member]

haha yay! We're an online story too... and in the days where it just wasn't the done thing!

We met on DeviantART back in May 2002. Aussies on there weren't common place so ALL the Aussies knew each other, said hi and chatted heaps. Not long after I'd joined the site I was in a car accident that left me with a badly injured shoulder and Adam was one of the people I found I could chat to quite easily about all the drama I was going through. Kinda figured at that point he was at the other end of the country and it's not like we would ever meet up LOL I also lost my great-grandmother who I was very close to about 6 months after my accident and again, Adam was there to talk to.
Fast forward to the start of 2004 and after chatting on DA for those couple of years we'd become pretty good interwebz friends, this is where we joke that he started stalking me ;) We started chatting on Yahoo messenger nearly every night for hours, then the occasional phone call + yahoo all night lol
I'd been on Workers Compensation since my accident in 2002, and in June 2004 I was finally "healed" enough to come off it, so I decided that I was going to take a month off work and drive to see a friend in Melbourne for a couple of weeks (3 day drive from where I was living in Brisbane), then drive to Adelaide (only an extra 8hrs... who cares!), meet Adam and play tourist as I hadn't been to Adelaide since I was about 5. Things went pear shaped in Melbourne (friend split with bf while I was on my drive so I turned up to chaos) so I ended up seeing family then driving to Adelaide a few days early. Best decision ever ;) We hit it off soooo well!! I stayed for 10 days, then sulked that I had to leave lol He came to Brisbane for my birthday the next month and then 20 days later, I packed up my car and drove to Adelaide again... this time to stay :D Nothing was keeping me in Brisbane other than my folks and although they were sad to see me go, they totally got why I was doing it. I moved straight in with him... nearly 8 years later, we're still putting up with each other lol
Not married yet but that's coming :D

[Former_Member]

OOoo that is so sweet and incredibly brave! My mind boggled when you said you had to drive for over 3 days to get to a place. I do forget how big some countires are compared to the UK. I complain about driving for 6 hours to up north.... lol

[Former_Member]

I love all these internet stories! For the longest time I hated telling people how we met because, as others have said, it was kinda taboo.

Kelly I am so jealous of my Aussie friends. I was slated to do a semester abroad in Perth and had to cancel. It was all paid for and I was ready to go. :( Still going to make it someday though I think I would rather spend more time in Sydney and Melbourne at this point. I dont know. Trying to talk my husband into take a few months to just bum around the country. I dont think he will go for it. Workaholic, ya know. But I cant complain as it pays the bills, LOL.

Katie, you my friend, are the other one I am way jealous of. The other country I have always wanted to visit in the UK though admittedly more for Scotland than England. My cousin lived in London for a few years and was actually working there on 9/11 and was on the phone with his bf when the second plane hit killing him. I was envious of his living abroad until then and realized how awful it would be to live so far from my loved ones in the case of an emergency like that. He loved London though he said the food was...not his favorite. :)

[Former_Member]

LOL Katie, admittedly I love driving too... cross country trips are my favourite :D The round trip for my holiday was 4545km's (2824miles)... a very long way to go on your own but I loved every minute of it! We can't wait to visit the UK, my bestie moved to Saltash a few years ago to be with her partner.. they've since had a civil union. Keep telling her I have to come check this wife of hers out lol

Oh Andi, that sucks! I had been planning on going to the US at the time of my accident, to meet up with ppl I'd met online and have a big adventure, that all came crashing down around me when though as I had to start using all my savings to be able to live here. One day... it's on the bucket list!

[Former_Member]

Kelly, anywhere in particular you plan on going in the US?

[Untwistedsister]

Ok..... I was coming back from the beach with a friend one summer Sunday late afternoon and we stopped at the local 'saloon' to shoot a game of pool. I put my quarter in the table and this cute guy says 'let's play partners' - I really didnt' want to but he convinced me. I gave him my phone number which he didn't even write down so i figured I'd never hear from him again. He called and we went out. Our first date was to an amusement park. Do you remember the fortune telling machine in the Tom Hanks movie "Big"? Well that machine was at this amusement park. I put my coin in and the fortune said "the one you're with you will be with always". That was in 1972. You do the math.

[Former_Member]

Terri, I think you win. Hands down. Best story yet!

[PlainJBodyandHome]

This is a fun thread...:) So many great stories!

I don't know if ours is terribly interesting, but I met my husband while we were in design school back in Michigan. He was a friend of a friend and I sort of had a crush on him, but was a total chicken shit. So...I was dressed up as Pippy Longstocking at a halloween party and had a few too many and before I even realized what was happening, we were hanging out. Been together 12 years now and married for almost 5...:)

It's a bit strange, but one of my sisters and I both met our husbands at parties while intoxicated....that doesn't usually end so well...:)

[Former_Member]

LOL! Yay Jessica! Glad your drunk meeting turned into something good and has lasted! Like you said, it usually doesn't end so well! = D

Surprised at a good amount of internet stories too, I hated telling people how we met. Because even though it was 2005, I still felt like "ew, who meets online?" LOL!

[Former_Member]

lol Jacque, 2002-4 was even more fun ;) especially here in very behind the times (at the time anyways) Australia! Thankfully these days no one is surprised by it!

Andi... I was going to do a big 6-12 month trip... I had a friend offer me a job so I could stay, play and keep myself supported... mainly the Eastern side of the country but I wanted to do the big tourist stuff.. drive Route 66 and and go to Vegas, California etc all that stuff.

[Former_Member]

If you are going to do the US I recommend hitting NYC, DC and Savannah, maybe Chicago (I live three hours from there now but used to live about 30 mins. Not my favorite city but I was born in DC and am partial to it). Las Vagas would be cool but hte Grand Canyon would be amazing for someone with your skills.

What do you reckon for someone visiting Oz?

[Former_Member]

Yes definitely NYC, Las Vegas, and California (LA, San Diego, and San Francisco) if you can. I have lived in NYC, Las Vegas, and Southern California LOL!

Love Grand Canyon! So peaceful there and you feel like an ant.

[Former_Member]

The whole freaking country! Seriously!

Queensland is a must, the Whitsunday Islands up north are divine.. tropical, white sands, clear water... get that whole tropical experience. Queensland's capital Brisbane is where I grew up from my early teens through til when I moved here.. it's a great city with plenty to do, but I'm biased so I always tell people to go there.
New South Wales is amazing when you get into the country, visit the Blue Mountains which is about 90 mins from Sydney. Obviously Sydney for the Harbour Bridge, Opera House etc
Nestled in NSW is the ACT... a small territory where the nations capital Canberra is. There they have all the big galleries and museums and the biggest War Memorial in the country.
Victoria's got a lovely wine region, the Yarra Valley, which is only a few hours from Melbourne.. good stuff down there. Melbourne itself is the home of great coffee and great food. Very artsy too... street art is massive throughout the city.
South Australia is where I am now... I live 30 minutes from the best (and most well known) wine region.. the Barossa Valley. Amazing place, fantastic wine and food. All the big labels are here wine wise, but I've found the boutique wineries are a thousand times better! We're one of the smaller capital cities here in Adelaide... but we have awesome chocolate!! We've also got 2 other wine regions in the state, both of which are very well known :D
Western Australia.. well you'd know about Perth having got ready to go there, but the state itself is massive! Another wine growing region south of Perth called Margaret River, beautiful stuff from there. North of Perth (and there's a lot of north) you can go to places to mine for opals, swim with dolphins and ride camels on the beach!
Tasmania is the little island state off the bottom of Victoria, beautiful place, fresh produce aplenty! Spectacular scenery... we have a place there called Cradle Mountain/Lake St Clair.. it's just amazing! (google for pics, it really is divine) You can drive the whole island in about a week... we're planning on doing 3 weeks though as our honeymoon when we get around to getting married lol
Northern Territory is true outback Australia... you can see Uluru (Ayers Rock), and lots and lots and lots of red dirt lol

--

That's a lot of typing LOL I've been nearly everywhere here in Aus.. I've always thought exploring your own "backyard" first is paramount in life... and we have a crazy diversity of people, nationalities and religions all mixed into one!

[Former_Member]

It's so much fun to talk about one's own country!

[Former_Member]

I want to travel everywhere!!! One day!! I can dream right! I want to go to Aussie so badly, and Japan and china and new zealand. I have been to America a fews time already. Of course I have been all over the UK. And I love London. London is HUGE. And the food.. I don't really know what you would call british food. We have so many different cultures and ethnics in London, we all merge together and share! Being along the river Thames is amazing and London can boost being the greenest city in europe, we have soo many wide open spaces and parks, a lot of greenery.

I sound like a travel agent!

And English tea is so much nicer than American tea!! lol!! I Love the southern coast of England, blue oceans and golden beaches, medieval churches, towns and vilages... and Wales is a must to visit too.

The UK has so much history, it is so fascinating. I do get a bit anoyed when English people don't appreciate the beauty and history of our country. We are not as patriotic as America, unfortunately.

@Terri!!! That is amazing! I remember the film Big used to freak me out as a child.

It is crazy how taboos change in time. I remember meeting anyone off the internet was so hush hush and frowned upon, to the point people would lie about how they met them. I am so glad it is now normal.

[Former_Member]

@ Kelly, I actually read your post in my aussle accent. LMAO

[Former_Member]

lol, we met on the internet too. Married 5 years, been together for 7, we met on Match.com if you can believe it.

It was strange, he lived here in Maryland and I was in Virginia. I had it set up to where I only wanted to see results within 50 miles, so he would have normally been excluded from my search because he lived just beyond that. But one morning, I think I hit the 'who's online' search, which I didn't realize defaulted up to 100 miles away. He happened to be online, I stumbled across his profile and thought he was hilarious (he's a stand up comedian) and contacted him. I didn't normally do so, it was quite bold of me to just send a message, normally I 'poked' or flirted, I can't remember what it was called at the time. (wink?)

And then we went out. Our first encounter was just a meet and greet. I had just met another guy on there that turned out to be way less attractive than his picture, so I limited meeting new guys to just a few minutes over coffee. Once we went out on a real date, we hit it off. By the second official date, I knew he was the one. I felt it in my gut. It was like I knew him, even though we just met, I knew him somehow. It was very strange.

A year later, we were engaged. And a year after that, we got married. And we are still happily married with no plan on changing that any time soon. It's funny how one little thing can change your life. I didn't mean to find him in my search, but he popped up anyway. :-)

[Former_Member]

awwww.. this thread is so soppy... I love it!!

[Former_Member]

I am loveloveloving this thread. This team and this thread in particular is what makes the internet great. I love meeting new people and the experiences it opens up.

kelly: my favorite wine (I dont drink a lot of reds because of migraines) is Shiraz but only Australian. I worked at a winery in VA for a while and thought their "Syrrah" was subpar and, well, snotty. Tell me some of your favorites so I can find some goodies. And chocolate...oh i love some good high quality chocolate. I need recommendations!

I am planning my Aussie vacation instead of working. Its Friday so thats ok, right?

Katie: I completely agree with your about tea. I am a total tea snob as my grandmother was as well and have been drinking it since I was a baby. In fact, my hub and I sold tea for a while before I had my youngest and could barely manage ordering coffee at Starbucks. My favorite, by far here in the US is Harney & Sons Earl Grey Supreme. Its my go to after a long day or when I want to remember my beloved grandmother. Sugar and milk of course.

My kiddo is here with me in the lab today. Maybe I'll get her to help with the soap but mostly we have been talking about travelling. Hawaii is actually the next scheduled vacation but Hub and I are heading to Vegas in Nov for some work thing of his. Oz is next on my list though. Definitely.