Alison and William

I’ve known my husband, Will, for 13 years and we’ve been married for six. We met through our mutual love of the outdoors and rock climbing at the outdoor program at UNO. Because of all our common interests we end up doing everything together outside of work, including volunteering on the Mt. Crescent ski patrol and still making it out for the occasional rock climbing trip. Last July, Will was called to active duty with the Nebraska National Guard and he started a year-long deployment which has taken him to Afghanistan. As a holiday gift, I wanted to get him something to remind him of me and my love for him, so I had pin-up photos taken at S.W.A.K. studios. Not only were they a special reminder of me, but they also represented our mutual love of pin-up art and all things retro. I’ve continued to have photos taken through the holidays to continue sending him fun little surprises throughout our year apart. It’s been my own way of “keeping the home fires burning”. This picture of us was taken in Biloxi, Mississippi during a four day pass Will had during training in October, just a week before they headed overseas. It’s a pretty typical shot of us, since we love to do goofy self portraits on all our adventures.

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Anna and Lorrie

Anna and Lorrie’s relationship is so full of love, respect and adoration for each other that they continually replenish hope in those of us around them that true love is real. They are so giving to everyone else that they don’t really do much for themselves. This is why I’d like to nominate them for this contest. ~D.A.B.

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Audrey and Matt

In the summer of 2004, I made an appointment for my first tattoo. I was sitting nervously in the tattoo chair waiting for my artist to finish his lunch and Matt came back from the front desk to talk to me. We started small talk about first tattoos and Matt nonchalantly dropped his pants to show me his first tattoo he gave himself with a bic pen when he was a teenager. I knew from that moment that I liked him. We didn’t date until a year later but it was that first impression, his confidence and gruff charm that won me over. I remember later sitting on my back porch calling my Mom to tell her that I had met the man I wanted to marry. This year will mark our 4th wedding anniversary. We have not had a professional couples photo taken since our wedding. The photo dug up to attach was taken in Florida in 2005-6(?) at his parents house.

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Laura and Perri

The Story of Perri and Laura (As Told By the Mister)

“Whatev.” That is my first impression of the facial expression I saw in a photo album on a Match.com profile. Bluish green eyes stared up at an off-camera ceiling, and brown bangs sprouted forward as though to accent the carefree facade. I had seen lots of expressions, and this one wasn’t here nor there, but it was enough to get me looking further.

I was a transplant, and I had already spent most of my years in Omaha away. Not knowing anyone, I became one of those who signed up and put myself out there in the internet, letting other women scan my profile like they shopped for books on Amazon. Several times I met women from the site I used, and there was just never the right chemistry. Surely there were some very kind and beautiful people I met, but there is a lot to be said about comfort and ease. There has to be the feeling that you’ve known the person forever the moment you meet them, and the sensation that you could open up to them in ways you could never open up to someone else. If that is forced, then it isn’t true.

That feeling hadn’t happened yet, though. Instead I saw someone with a devil-may-care outlook who looked about as blase’ with this net dating thing as I was, and reflected many of the same interests I had. I “winked” at her. She winked back. I emailed. She replied. We talked about 80s movies and found mutual appreciation for the underrated works of Jim Henson and Ridley Scott. Later we talked on the phone, and in my own, laconic way ended up calling her, “dude,” in our first conversation. This has resulted in many barbs thrown my way since then. Our first date was supposed to be a coffee shop, one of the few I knew of since then my knowledge of the local terrain consisted of ways to work, the Old Market, and home. I got there very early. I underestimated the drive time into town again. Thus I stopped at O’Connors.

It was September, a thunderstorm was moving in, lightning was in the sky, and a baseball game was on TV. I had a Guinness and waited. When it was time, I walked to the coffee shop, and there I met her. She was in a table towards the back, facing the door. It was clear she was not the type to avoid meeting something new head on. She had a clear view of the entrance and the entire place from where she was. I told her I’d already had a pint, so why not go where I could have some more? She was down for this. Girls are supposed to dig spontaneity, right? Or maybe she was just amused? I’ve come to learn that more often than not she thinks I’m funny instead of clever.

We adjourned to the Irish pub where I had another beer and she had club soda and lime. We talked more about 80s movies and music – we were both born in 1980 actually – and I put money into the jukebox. Then I checked out her tattoos and she glanced at my rear when I went to the john. The overarching element was the absolute comfort in all this. There was no forced emotion. Hormones weren’t charging every little glance and gesture. There was actual chemistry and a desire from both of us to know more. We both emailed each other at the same time to express our pleasure with the date and mutual desire to see each other again.

That date changed the entire course of my life. I assure you it was whole heartedly for the better. We met September 18, 2007 and married June 26, 2010. Of course there are many stories and dates in between those two, and there have been many since (There will continue to be also). She asked me to write this, hence why it’s from my perspective, but I think she agrees that the peace, the lack of struggle, and our willingness to open our hearts to each other was a move neither of us regretted. I love you, doll face.

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