Love Story: Anna & Matt

How They Met

"Two and a half years ago...I was so busy post-college with developing my career and fixing up my newly purchased condo, I was convinced that I did not need a man in my life. My friends accused me of being a serial dater, and I never considered more than a date or two with someone before getting bored.

Little did I know, around this time in Colorado, Matt was considering a big change in his life. He graduated from CU and wanted to get a job teaching somewhere new. He felt like he needed to explore and applied for jobs all over the country. Out of all those applications, Matt was hired to teach in Lincoln City, OR. He had never even been there! When he was ready to move, he contacted the school district and asked if there were any other teachers that needed a roommate. They put him in touch with Neil (who happened to be a good friend of mine from college and was dating one of my best friends, Ragan) and shortly afterward, Matt and Neil moved in together.

The next weekend, my friend Ragan went to the beach to visit Neil. She invited me to go, but I couldn't go for some reason...She then met Matt. On her way home she called me to tell me all about the weekend. Ragan told me all about this guy, Matt, and how hilarious he was. She talked about how perfect he would be for me and said that he was like my "puzzle piece." She tried to convince me to meet him, and told me all about his personality and handsome blue eyes. Ragan was convinced he was "the one" for me...I just laughed and said that I was "not interested."

Fast forward a few weeks: I was headed to an OSU football game with Ragan, where Neil was meeting us. Ragan had finally convinced me to meet Matt, and he was going to be there. Unbeknownst to me, Ragan and Neil had told Matt to give me a big hug when we met...They thought this would be hilarious because I am not a big fan of hugs with people I barely know. So, when we got to Corvallis, Matt came towards me with a huge grin on his face and arms outstretched. He greeted me with a big hug, and I pulled my arms away and uncomfortably mumbled something. It was so awful that he felt the need to explain how our friends told him to do it and he was just trying to be funny. I did not think it was very funny...and the day was off to a very awkward beginning.

Well, as the day and the football game went on, Matt won me over. It wasn't long before he was cracking jokes and we were laughing back and forth at each other. Eventually I forgave the awkward first hug. He also had cookies and beer for tailgaiting, which helped too. :) There was something about Matt, and my heart was drawn to him. Every weekend after that we took turns driving back and forth from Lincoln City to Portland until he moved here a year later. We still laugh about our "how we met" story...and it turns out my friend was right, he is my "puzzle piece."

Photos by Honeysuckle Photography