Guest Post - Rebecca

I've got a special post for you guys today! Rebecca from Revkah is telling us the story of how her and her long time love came to be! They were both quick to be in a relationship just like Rob and I were. I'm very happy for them and I hope you enjoy her post :)

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So before I start boring you all with chapter one of my relationship with my boyfriend, I'd like to say a very big thank you to Nicole for allowing me to guest post on her beautiful blog.

This picture was taken only a month ago, in the beautiful city of Rome. 

That gorgeous blue eyed man stood next to me is my boyfriend. After having a do-nothing-all-holiday break away last year, we decided it would be fun to have a city holiday this year. We celebrated our 27 month anniversary whilst away. 27 months, it's not a milestone, but we got to spend the happy date whilst on holiday together. Roughly 30 months prior to this day, we knew nothing of each other. An old friend of mine was acquainted with a friend of David's, so that's how I came to get to know this particular circle of friends. I spent two months hanging around with the same group of people as he, but never really met him. Properly, anyway. 

Roughly 28 months prior to this day, sometime in March (after David's birthday) we met. And of all the romantic places anyone could bump into the love of their life in, we met in a pub. And said boyfriend was relatively drunk. It wasn't a particularly nice encounter; the day we actually met was the day an individual from my past had passed away. So really, I was set out to get drunk, ignore everyone and not be hit on by any men. In rolls David. Drunk as a skunk. Sits on my knee. So you can imagine the mood I'm in, right? Upset, emotional, angry and drunk, too. So I shout at him. I cuss, I tell a mutual friend to keep him away from me. All sorts of melodramatic. We spent the remainder of the evening separated and keeping out of each others way. Well, you know how friends have that knack of reminding you about every detail from the night before?  My then friend reminded me of my callous attitude towards David on this particular evening, and I felt inclined to apologize. In steps social networking. Facebook, to be exact. And you know how you're always magically friends with someone prior to even meeting them? And you have no idea when you even accepted/requested friends? This was the case. So conveniently I didn't have to go through the whole embarrassing "request friendship" lark. "David is online". Open chat box. I apologized - and so did he for his drunken behaviour. And from that day, for about a week or two, we chatted as friends.

I spent most of the time at home as I'd nearly finished the last year of college, so I was off most days for revision, and he spent his days at university chatting to me online. There was several nights and events which we were both attending, like one night where he kindly bought me a drink and I disappeared (accidentally - friend in need and all that) for half an hour leaving him looking a little silly. So at these events we'd kindly speak, exchange words and jokes. And that was about it. It came to a point where I asked for his number from his close friend and text him after returning home after such an event. 

It's a good job he'd already asked for my number also from the same mutual friend, otherwise his response to my text asking "guess who" could have been so very wrong and so very disappointing. About another week after that, after enduring a kebab night with David and this mutual friend (who really, David and I owe everything to, because he was acting as Cupid throughout most of this), we organised a double date. David and I, and two friends. Of course, in true friend style, they both dropped out leaving David and I to go on a double date... Just the two of us. So a date really. We went for a few drinks and then to the cinema to see Shelter - and I still have the cinema ticket in my purse - how crap is the film Shelter?! I remember fiddling with his ring he was wearing, that it came off and bounced under the seats in the cinema. Of course, that caused a laughing fit. I also remember him moving in for the first kiss and then walking out of the cinema hand in hand. That was April 14th, 2010. 

 By April 21st, we'd been on our second date to Chiquitos and were in an official relationship. Quick mover, isn't he. Or perhaps I just was't willing to take what was blossoming for granted. And now our relationship is 28 months old, and every single moment has been great. Don't get me wrong - as with any relationship, there's ups and downs. But this is a happy story, about how we met. Chapter one, shall we say. I'm waiting for him to make a trip to a jewelry store for chapter two to start. And I hope you've enjoyed reading!

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Thanks Rebecca!

xo. Nicole

Guest Post - Samantha

Hey guys! Today, I'm featuring one of my sponsors, Samantha. She was my first ad swap and since then, I've become a regular reader of her blog and I'm never disappointed. I love her Instagram Style posts and her recipes! I'll let Samantha introduce herself :)

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Hey there! My name is Sam and I blog over at 

My Latest Obsession. 

I write about all of my “latest obsessions” most of which fit into the categories of crafts, clothes, and life tid bits. Today, however,  I’m going to share with you one of my hugest obsessions. His name is Brandon and he is my lover / fiancé /baby daddy. Brandon and I met yeeeeeears ago during high school in our theatre program. It was our junior year of high school during the production of My Fair Lady when we started “talking” backstage. 

After just a few short weeks, we became absolutely inseparable. Brandon and I would spend as much time as we could together (after school of course), until about the 5^th call from Brandon’s mother telling him to come home now!  And then times we couldn’t be together, we would constantly be on our phones, texting one another.

It was 24/7 communication. Oh, to be a teenager in love. Eventually though, the school year ended and summer began which meant we could now spend ALL day, EVERY day with each other. And I don’t think it ever got old. During that summer, we got extremely spoiled with our ability to see each other. Really. When it was time to go back to school, it was… rough. But in a way, it made the time we did see each other, much more meaningful. So we got back in the groove of going to school and then before we knew it, I got pregnant! This was a huge deal… well obviously. We were both completely in shock and didn’t quite know what to do or where it would lead us. 

But we were always in it together, separating was never a thought. So, neither was giving up our baby. We made it all the way through high school and had our daughter a month after graduation. Fast forward 3 years and we are living on our own in our very own apartment, making memories and creating a life as a little family. But it wasn’t always this way. We started out living with my dad. We went to school and got jobs. Everything was going ok but then we started to get a bit restless. And then Brandon proposed!!! This kind of kick started our life and got us back on track. We started thinking of the future and got the idea that we needed to move out! Soo, despite some disapproval on my dad’s part, we found an apartment 15 minutes away. We have lived here now for almost 2 years and are thoroughly enjoying being on our own. 

We struggle a lot. Balancing school, work, and a little one is not for the week of heart.  And it’s not so easy supporting ourselves but it’s made us appreciate all the little things in life! Having a place to call our own is worth every single hour worked and bill paid. We are now, thriving as a family. And through all the fights, the stress, the let downs, Brandon and I are still a team, plowing through life, hand in hand. 

We've grown so much as individuals, it’s cool to look back and be proud of all of our accomplishments. It’s great to think about all the obstacles we faced and overcame. But the best part is, is that we did it together. Brandon and I.  I absolutely love my life and a lot of that, I owe to Brandon; it wouldn't be the same without him in it. He is my number one partner in crime… but most importantly, my partner in life.

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Thank you Sam for sharing such a wonderful story. I am so happy that things have worked out for her, Brandon, and Eliza. Eliza is such a lucky little girl to have such a loving family!

xo. Nicole

November 18, 2011...

Many people dream of the day they get proposed to. It's usually super duper romantic and something that many love telling the story, again and again. Mine, well, it wasn't exactly like that. I still loved it, Rob still asked me to marry him, I still got roses, I still got a ring...

On November 18, 2011, Rob and I went to see Breaking Dawn in theaters. I really don't know why we decided to see such a horrendous movie, but we did. After the movie, we were invited to go to George's (Rob's friend) house for some party.

Once we got there, Rob and his friends dived right for the alcohol. I don't like dealing with drunk people (I'm one to talk) and I knew I was going to have to be designated driver, meaning I couldn't join in the festivities like everyone else. Needless to say, I wasn't happy. 

At some point throughout the night, we ended up sitting beside each other on the couch, texting. A little bit later, Rob texted me "Will you marry me?" Yes, he was drunk. I stopped texting, looked at him, saw him smiling, then texted him back "Sure." And that was that. Rob shouted out to his friends "We're engaged!!" Most of his friends were quite happy for us. The others, not so much. We got a few "You're too young"'s and "You should wait"'s. I chose to ignore those, and just relished in the thought that we might actually be engaged. I wasn't entirely sure, as he was pretty drunk. Part of me was hoping he wasn't just asking me this to put me in a better mood, and it turns out he wasn't.

We went home shortly after that and Rob dragged his mom out of the computer room (we were still living in their basement at the time) and told her the news. She was pretty happy and had to endure Rob sitting her down and his drunk ramblings "Mom, no, you don't understand. Nicole is the best," "No mom, Nicole is amazing," "Mom, Nicole is just the best thing to happen to me." His mom and I told him that he better remember this in the morning or we'd both be pretty hurt.

I texted my mom that night, "Hey mom, I'm not entirely sure but I think Rob and I are engaged. I wanted to tell you before you found out over Facebook." All I got back was a "And you're telling me over text??" Whoops. We changed our Facebook statuses a couple minutes after that and got a ton of likes and comments. It was really nice :)

Laying in bed, Rob asked me for one of the rings I always wore, to get a ring the next day that would fit my finger. The next day, I had to work a good 8 hours and then go to my assistant manager's house for her birthday party. I had to wait all night plus an extra 14 hours before I could wear an engagement ring! I was texting him while I was at my ASM's, asking if he had got a ring. He kept telling me "I can't just pick one in one day. It's supposed to be special," and "We really can't afford one right now." To say I was disappointed was an understatement. 

On the way home from my ASM's house, Rob kept apologizing about not having a ring and I started to realize that I didn't need a ring right away. We were engaged and I didn't need a ring to prove it. I was more excited to show it off to everyone! About 3/4 of the way home, I realized that there was a dozen pink roses in the back seat! Rob told me he felt really bad about the ring so he got me some roses. We had just had a conversation a couple days ago about how he never gets me flowers. He told me they're only for special occasions and not just randomly, so this felt amazing :)

It's gets mushy here, guys...

When we got home, I walked in to our room and noticed a little gift bag on our bed. I asked Rob why there was a super tiny gift bag...

Rob didn't answer when I asked (mind you, I had a giant smile on my face 'cause I knew) so I turned around and he was on one knee! He had the little white box open and the biggest smile on his face.

His words were "Will you marry me?" Simple. I giggled, smiled, and said yes. He nervously slid the ring on my finger as we were both smiling. We then wrapped each other in our arms for a while, until Rob's mom opened our bedroom door and asked to see the ring.

I proudly showed her and it turned out that she took Rob out to pick out the ring. I later heard the story (most recently) that he brought home a ring and his mom told him it wasn't an engagement ring. She laughed and told him they were bringing that one back and getting a proper one. They made the right choice. I'm very happy with it :) It's white gold, too!

(Yes, I did my nails in anticipation of showing off my ring, as this was the night I received it).

After he proposed, Rob handed me the box and told me to keep it safe, as it had the wedding band in it. After we set a date a couple days later, I realized I had a whole year and a half to keep this thing safe. June 15, 2013 is the big day! I joke around with him about how it came with a wedding band so there's no turning back ;P

I'll admit that I've tried both rings on a couple - er, many times. It just feels so good to see them both on there together. Weird? I still get butterflies when I think about the day. Rob's friends who weren't very supportive have since changed their minds and have been quite excited for the wedding. It was so nice to hear everyone's well wishes and compliments!

How were you proposed to or did you propose?

xo. Nicole

Guest Post - Jen

Hey there! Jen from Sail The Ship agreed to do a guest post here on A Broke Bride. I'm so excited! I came across her blog a while ago and became an avid reader after I realized how much we have in common, even though we're thousands of miles apart. Her and her boyfriend, Ceri, were in a similar situation as Rob and I, as they decided to move in together quickly. I'll let Jen do the talking - er writing...

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Compromise. It's a word we're taught when we're young - to share and play nicely with one another, listen to the other person and come to an agreement that you're both happy with. But I don't think I really understood the meaning of the word until I lived with my partner.

Ceri and I began seeing each other in April 2011, and by August we were living together. A rational person would exclaim that this is far too quick and how could such a thing happen!?

Life. Life conspired and pushed us together. 

I was living in a shared house situation in the centre of Cardiff and Ceri had just moved into a tiny one bedroom flat in the north of the City. We were seeing each other everyday, either meeting for coffee after work or I was spending most nights at his.  I'd just transferred to a new job where I was immediately under redundancy notice, then my landlady wanted to move into her house, and there was no room - my housemates assumed that because I was hardly ever there, I should do the honourable thing and move out. Luckily, I found out I wasn't being made redundant so I would still have my income.

Ceri and I realised that, on this occasion, we weren't going to be able to make the decision about timing on our own and fate was forcing our hand to move in together. 

With all our stuff in a tiny 1 bedroom flat in a converted post office, we learned to share space and also respect each others habits. I'm clean, he's messy. I'm quiet, he's noisy. How did we survive those 6 months in such a confined habitat?!

Communication

Communication is the keystone of any relationship and when you live with your significant other, it's important to really communicate with one another to maintain clarity in your relationships and your goals.

Finances

There is no getting away from the fact that in this day & age and the global economy being what it is - sometimes, your finances are a sticky business. You may not want to let your partner in on the state of your bank balance. But in order to live in a semi-harmonious environment, you might need to be clear with your partner about the kind of standard of living you can afford. This might be the person you sleep next to, but do you want to get into bed financially with them? For instance, my credit rating is terrible. Ceri has good credit therefore it would be foolish of us to have a joint account and put that at risk - it's so terribly grown up but finances can make or break your relationship.

Respect each other's space

As much as you might love to be around that person, sometimes you need a break from one another. A little YOU time. Ceri has a little "man cave" a room in the house all to himself where he can play and record music - that isn't to say he isn't free to do that in the rest of the house but he appreciates that sometimes I want to read a book on my own and we embrace our own time, in our own corners, to spend time doing things we enjoy.

Get to know your routines

I'm an early riser, he likes to lie in. I get up and go, he likes to lounge around and take life at a leisurely pace. You couldn't get two people with more different attitudes to life. The benefits are getting to know your routines is being able to orbit around one another, like planets. You know what times you can get to the bathroom, your programmes and your own interests!

Chores

Urgh, chores. I'm a tidy person but man alive, I hate doing dishes. This is a game of strengths and weaknesses. A good defence is a good offence. I do most of the cooking so I can get out of doing the dishes. Other than that, I'm really clean and Ceri has had to learn that I don't like and will not tolerate crumbs on work surfaces. Poor dude.

Break the fart barrier

This is a big one and I hate to be the one to say it, incorporates all bathroom activity. Farting is hilarious  and the sooner you embrace the fact that you both trump, the sooner you can laugh about it. You're sharing such a confined space that you can't be precious about bottom burps. It's a completely natural function and holding them in is bad for your health, so get over it! 

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Thanks Jen! I really couldn't have said it better myself. I love hers and Ceri's approach at their relationship and life in general here. Breaking the fart barrier is definitely something hard to overcome; it wasn't easy for me, haha!

xo. Nicole

Guest Post - Megan

My friend from high school, Megan, recently started her own blog, Mind Wide Open. She is an aspiring writer and would love nothing more than to make a steady living off of writing and blogging. Megan is also engaged and recently moved in with her fiance! Many of her blog posts seem controversial and really get you thinking, but so far I've had the same opinions as Megan. Her blog is definitely worth a read and if you like it, then it's worth a follow!

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I stare forward but see nothing

The world feels as though its closing in around me and Im completely alone 

My body tenses as fear washes over me, Im paralyzed

The future is so uncertain, I am afraid to take a step in any direction

Then suddenly, your hand reaches out and touches mine.

I'm brought back to reality

The fear is still there but its not nearly as crippling

My eyes come back into focus and stare into yours

In that moment nothing else matters but that connection.

I see my feelings reflected in your eyes, Its a feeling I cannot describe but it calms me

You bring me close to you and we sit in silence, comfortable.

Then again I stare forward but this time Im not alone. 

The future is still uncertain and scary but it is something we can tackle together. 

When we look forward together I see hope, promise

A smile creeps over my face as I realize Ive found love, a life partner

- Megan

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That piece is exactly what I need to read when I'm feeling down about something. I already feel uplifted and a little energized even though I'm burnt to a crisp right now from being at White Rock all day! There's little things throughout the day that remind me of Rob and he was on my mind the entire time I was reading Megan's piece. I hope it gave you the same good feelings :)

xo. Nicole

Our Story

Rob and I met in July 2010. He was doing his practicum at Zajac Ranch for Children for 3 weeks and I happened to volunteer during Autism Week #1, which was his last week. There was definitely no way of communicating while we were there as you're busy the whole time. To be honest, I hardly remember even talking to him during that week, but I DO remember seeing him take off his shirt down by the waterfront.

When camp was done, a lot of the counselors (staff and volunteers) added each other on Facebook. The only counselor who didn't friend request me on Facebook was Rob. I decided to go ahead and add him, even though we didn't really talk at camp. He accepted my friend request and I shyly messaged him asking how everything was going. From there, we talked every other day. He also invited me to a few of his parties, but I just didn't have the time because of work and packing for my move to Alberta.

After Zajac, I moved to Alberta because I thought I needed change. I thought I needed to explore myself and try new things. A lot of family and friends thought it was to get a good degree at a university there, but it was mostly to just escape from everything. (Sorry Mom!) It turned out to be one of my best ideas! Rob lived in British Columbia while I was in Alberta, but we continued to message each other. It eventually led to texting, and a week after that, Rob mentioned that his dad was flying him to Alberta in October for his birthday. He invited me to the bar with him and his friend for one of his birthday parties, and I excitedly accepted.

Photobooth from our first "date"

I thought we were going to a bar with his family and a bunch of his "Alberta friends," but it turned out to be Rob, his friend Dayne, and I. We went to an old bar in downtown Edmonton and saw The Dreadnoughts on October 9. I remember Rob and I left the bar at one point and just went for a walk. He picked a flower for me and told me to keep it, even though it was only a dandelion. Rob tells me now that he wanted to kiss me then, but decided to see where things went instead.

That night, Rob told me "You should come to my Dad's for Thanksgiving tomorrow." Talk about moving fast! Me meeting his WHOLE family on our second date? Well, it happened. I played with his nephews and lost a bunch of times at ladder golf to one of them, who was 5 at the time.

We ended up spending the whole 5 days together that he was in Alberta. I remember having to leave his dad's house at 5:00am to get to work for 7:00am a few of those days. The Monday he left, was very hard. We both didn't want to part and we both weren't sure how it was going to work, being in different provinces. Two days later, on October 14, after a LOT of texting about how we missed each other, we decided that one of us needed to move for us to be together. He wanted to make it official, and asked me to be his girlfriend. From there, our texting turned in to phone calls. He worked the night shift and I usually worked at 6:00am, so he would phone me on his way home as I was leaving for work.

Eventually, we decided on getting our own place in Alberta. After letting our parents know about our plans, my dad's girlfriend's mom (step grandma?) invited us to live in her basement in Red Deer! We graciously accepted and planned our move-in date for January 9th, 2011. That meant we had a whole 2 and a half months before we were moving in together. We couldn't afford to fly back and forth to get to know each other more before the move, so we decided that I would come back to BC to visit my friends for New Year's eve, and spend some time together.

Rob's father offered to drive his truck to BC, pick us up with all of Rob's stuff, and drive us to Red Deer. So on January 8, 2011, we departed. That was a LONG drive because it was still winter and the Coquihalla Highway is horrendous during the winter season.

 It was so cramped

Duck face?

From there, we were inseparable. I worked at Starbucks while Rob looked for jobs. It was hard finding a job for him, so I made most of the money for a while. 

We tried learning everything we could about each other, and met each other's families. His family approved, and so did mine. Rob didn't get to meet my mom until I was in BC for New Years, and she approved after he set up her surround sound system. ;)

The first time Rob told me that he loved me, I was quite drunk. He didn't think at the time that I would remember it, but I totally do and I still bug him about it. Ha! I'm a woman, I remember everything.

What is with Rob and this face?

Living in Alberta, we eventually started missing our friends and other parts of our families in BC. Since we were both thinking about working at Zajac Ranch during the summer of 2011 we figured it would be good to move to BC together after camp. I wasn't sure how we would afford anything or where we would stay, but Rob assured me he would figure everything out, and he did! During camp, we didn't get to hug, say hi, hang out, or do anything together! That was a whole 2 and a half months of passing by each other with a group of kids trailing behind us. It was very difficult, and I think it really tested our relationship. We did get days off between camps though, and we went to his mom's house to sleep and rest up for the next camp. After camp in September, we drove to Alberta to say our good-bye-for-now's to some family and new friends, and to pick up our stuff. We drove back to BC in mid-September and moved in to his mom's house in Delta.

October 2011 was our one-year anniversary, and on November 18, 2011, Rob proposed. That's a whole other post but long story short, it was through text while we sat beside each other at his friend's house, and I said yes. Not very romantic, huh? Well, the day after makes up for the lack of romance in the proposal.

Showin' off my new bling

February 2012, we moved in to our own apartment! It's now June and we just got a room mate because our other one screwed us over. We got a room mate to make rent a bit cheaper, which will help us save money for the wedding.

Rob's friend sitting in our living room

On April 18, 2012 we got our own kitten! We originally named her Chicken, but Rob eventually said that the humor in the name got old, fast, so we renamed her Koshka! He didn't really want a cat, but between class, work, and Rob's job, I was getting kind of lonely. He really only wants what makes me happy, so we got a cat.

2 months old here

So that's our story! We basically knew each other for 5 days and then decided to move in together. From there, we didn't see one another for two and a half months before the move-in date! Part of me was worried it wouldn't work out, but Rob told me that it was about perspective. If we wanted it to work, it could. I'm now 20 and engaged!

We're both excited for the next chapters in our story! We know that there's a lot in store for us and we are both looking forward to going through it together.

What's your story? How long did you and your spouse/partner know each other before making big decisions together?

xo. Nicole