Countdown to Thankfulness

I have several facebook friends who do this thing during the month of November where each day they share something they’re thankful for. It is, afterall, the month of Thanksgiving. So, I am going to attempt a “countdown to thankfulness,” where I will post one thing I’m thankful for every day. It should be easy, right?

So today is pretty obvious. Today I’m thankful for Joe.

I met Joe on a blind date. My friend, Sara, had met a man who worked with her then boyfriend, Rob, and she and Rob decided that this guy and I would be a perfect match. When she was telling me about him she said, “You’ll like him. He goes to church…and not just on Christmas and Easter…he goes every Sunday!” I figured that was a good start, so I agreed to meet him.

A few weeks later we were both invited to a dinner party at her house. My friend, Mariah, met me outside and she and I walked in together. She is the one who officially introduced me to Joe. My first impression was that he was really cute and had the biggest smile. Mariah says that she saw the sparks flying the moment our eyes met. Oddly enough, Sara needed everyone else to help her in the kitchen, but when I went in to help it was too crowded and she told me and Joe to just wait in the living room. We had a great conversation throughout the night.

After dinner Sara and Rob decided it would be a great idea to play “Trivial Pursuit Pop Culture Edition.” I was nervous because I’m not very good at Trivial Pursuit and I’m not very in touch with pop culture. If it were the 80’s edition I would be all over it, but not so much for “pop culture.” Joe and I were paired up as a team and as the game progressed it became very clear that he knew as much about pop culture as I did, thus we paid very little attention to the game and actually got yelled at by the other people for talking too much.

Needless to say, things went well that night and when Joe walked me out to my car he asked me if I’d like to go out again sometime. This was where it all fell apart. You see, I’m a dork…a BIG dork. I could have said something savvy and cool like, “Sure, why don’t you give me a call sometime” then slipped him my business card. Nope. Instead I went into dork mode and blurted out, “I’m free on Friday!” I might as well have put an “I like you” neon sign on my forehead! Little did I know that Joe had ANOTHER DATE on Friday! He beat around the bush and I tried to eat my words, and I think I just gave him my card with my email and cell number and told him just to call or email me when he had time.

It wasn't really love at first sight for me. It was definitely interest at first sight and I definitely thought he was cute, but I wouldn't say "love." However, when I got in my car to go home that night I knew I had just met the man I was going to marry. It sounds weird, I know, but it’s true. It wasn’t all romantic like in the movies. It was very matter of fact. Like God was saying, “Hey Katie…FYI, that’s him.”

Luckily Joe was ok with my dorkiness (and as I have come to learn, he’s a rather big dork himself), and he was willing to take me out again…and again…and again. We dated for 7 months and were engaged for 5 months. We had our blind date on August 3, 2004 and on August 6, 2005 we got married.

Joe is the best husband I could have asked for and the best father a little girl could ever want. He loves Ella and I more than anything, and we know it! He is an incredible provider and makes sure that we are well taken care of. He’s happy to do the jobs around the house that I don’t want to do, and thanks me endlessly for the jobs I do that he doesn’t want to.

My love for Joe deepened when Ella was born and every day he would go to the hospital with his bible in hand and he would read to her over and over John 10:10 “I have come that you may have life, and have it to the full.” One day when the doctors were making rounds, one of them looked at Joe’s t-shirt that said “Rookie Dad” and he said, “Not anymore…you’re not a rookie anymore.” Joe was holding us all together, and the doctor knew it.

I could go on and on about all that I’m thankful for when it comes to Joe. He’s just an all around great guy and I’m so lucky that he chose to spend his life with me.