june 19, 2010

you know how people tell you love comes the moment you least expect it? well, "they" are all 100% correct. it literally came when i thought...'surely, not today.' you want to know why? because i had just broken up with someone else THAT MORNING. i know, i know, it sounded terrible to me too. but now that i married the guy, i can say it with confidence :) 

here's our story: mason and i went to brentwood academy in nashville, tn for high school. he played sports, i was a cheerleader, so we should have gotten to know each other. but we were in separate grades (yes, as my dad says, i am a 'cradle robber'), and he was more focused on basketball while i was a football cheerleader...and even at that, i was more interested in dance (which was outside of school). we knew who the other was, but it never escalated any further. 

fast forward to 2010: mason finished his four years at the university  of louisville working as a student assistant coach (go cards) and got a job at indiana university as a graduate assistant. he packed his bags and moved to bloomington. i was on tour with honor society in the winter/spring and jordin sparks was scheduled for the summer. around memorial day, i get a message from mason asking how i liked being away from everything, everyone. (he knew my situation and how even though both of us were working hard towards a dream, it could get lonely sometimes). it was exactly what i needed at the time. i was in los angeles for another week, and i really had nothing to for a couple days (and was effectively by myself). so i needed someone to talk to that could identify with how i was feeling. mason and i talked back and forth, and then he told me he was thinking of leaving indiana and going back to nashville. i told him i was going back in week or so, and agreed to hang out. 

for the record, i wanted to hang out with him....just as friends though. and that was because i was technically still dating someone else. before you go and freak out, know this: it wasn't a relationship. it was something i had needed to get out of for two years, and it was dragging along without much of anything holding it together. the guy wasn't a bad person, but he wasn't for me. we didn't fit. and we both knew it. but since i was gone all the time, we hadn't ended it once and for all. so technically, i was still with him. and that was enough for me not to go forward with mase. 

the last thing i wanted to do was to start a relationship off on the wrong foot. you never want that. 

so, what do i do when i get back home? i try to avoid the situation at all costs...if you know me, you know i am not one for confrontation. :)

and a couple weeks go by, and i'm still in my bad, dying relationship...until june 19, 2010 rolls around. that morning, the then-technically-my-boyfriend called and said "this isn't going to work is it?" i said "no" and then we decided to break it off--final...no more. (another tid-bit of information is that during my time with this boyfriend, i had broken up with him a couple times and never stayed away for long. i would call that time in my life my weakest. it wasn't good) so when he called me and said it wasn't going to work, i made a decision to actually make this the last time. be strong, ashlyne. don't go back, you don't want to start this all over again. 

so i didn't. and i go downstairs (living at my parents' house in between tours) to make some coffee. my sister asks me if i want to go to the pool. yes, please. and then i get a text from mason to go to a pool party with his brother and friends. i thought to myself "it's too soon, there's no way, i want to be single for a long time." so i declined and told him that i was going to the pool with my sister...which i was, and i did. at the pool, i discussed at length with maddie how i was going to be single and really take some time for myself for once. (you know the ending, so you know how funny that is)

a random sunburn later, i was back home at my parents' house. i got another text from mason. "if you don't want to go out with me, just tell me." bold. to the point. :) i thought there was no way i would like him now if i hadn't ever before. we had seen each other enough times right? but he didn't deserve to be blown off again. no one deserves that. and i had no technicalities holding me back. 

so we went to starbucks in brentwood, tennessee. it was late. i wore no makeup. my hair was half wet, and i wore a romper that mason eventually told me he did not like (many months later). haha. 

i parked, got out of my prius, and headed towards the door. and i saw him. mason revelette, the boy i'd seen enough times before i thought. but no, it was different this time. i know it sounds silly, but it was totally different. it was like he was glowing. he had always been attractive, but something set him even further that night. we went inside and talked until the place closed. and because we weren't done yet, we went for a walk in my parents' neighborhood (we got our engagement pictures done in that same neighborhood for a reason :) ) 

i told him i had five days until i left for my tour with jordin sparks. i hoped it wouldn't scare him or make him want to run for the hills. but instead, we spent as much time as possible with each other until then. and while i was on tour, we skyped every day and texted and talked for the entire month. it was a true test. if he didn't quit with my schedule being as demanding as it was, he was in. i already knew i was by the second hour of being together at starbucks. 

august 2010: a month after jordin sparks' tour, we moved to los angeles together. it was crazy, but it was the best decision we could have made. together, 2000+ miles away from our families, we had to learn how to coexist without a herd of friends or family to run away to. 

october 25, 2011: we moved back home to tennessee.

november 28, 2011: we got engaged. we were watching basketball. it was a timeout.

september, 2012: we got married. 

now that you know why today is as much of an anniversary as sept 28th is,  do you see what i mean by unexpected? it's amazing what God does to prepare your heart for the one.