Q&A Vol. 3 – My Husband – How We Met, Our Wedding Story & More

My husband’s birthday is this month, so I thought it would be the perfect time to answer some of the most frequently asked questions about my husband and our relationship! If you have any other questions you’d like to know about us, please ask below, and I will answer them.

Above: Robin in Birmingham, MI

Q: How did you two meet?
A: We met at Comic-Con, through a mutual friend. I was trying to introduce one of my friends from high school to a friend from college because I thought they’d really get along really well, and I was hoping they might start dating, as they were both single and ready to mingle, so to speak haha. My friend from high school went to the same private university as Robin and had brought Robin along as moral support because he was so nervous about meeting my friend, and Robin also loved comic books and anime. While my college friend and high school friend never did end up getting together, Robin and I quickly became friends once we realized we had so much in common, and the rest is history. We were both cosplaying at the time too, so it’s a very geeky story, haha.

Above: Robin in Detroit, MI                             Nikko, Japan                                London, England

Q: How long have you been married? 
A: We will have been married for seven wonderful years next July!

Q: Did you get married young? 
A: I suppose that depends on your definition of “young.” I already had two college degrees when we were married, even though I was barely in the legal drinking age at the time. I never thought I’d ever want to get married, but after having met Robin, my only regret is that we didn’t get married sooner.

Since we were young when we got married, we renewed our vows last year with a better understanding of what it meant to be married and more intricate vows on the Isle of Skye in Scotland. Please read about our vow renewal here and here.

Above: Glengarry Castle Hotel near the Isle of Skye in Scotland

Q: How did Robin ask you out?
A: I’ve always been really shy, so even though I really liked hanging out with him and I really liked him, I was content just to be friends because I didn’t think I could ever tell him how I felt. Thankfully, he took the initiative and told me how much he cared about me, and I was so happy when he did because I don’t know that I could’ve ever confessed my feelings for him. He knows that I love watching butterflies float around, so a few days after he told me how much he liked me, he took me to a butterfly house that had quite literally thousands of newly hatched butterflies flitting about. He led me to a little bench inside that was surrounded by beautifully blooming flowers in vases and planters.

While we sat and watched the gorgeous butterflies floating through the air, he began telling me all of the reasons he liked spending time with me, and we reminisced about all the fun we’d had canoeing, playing tennis together, hiking, visiting art museums, and going on other adventures together. During this, he asked me to go out with him, officially. I was shocked when he told me that all of the flowers around the stone bench we had sat on were organized by him as a gift to me since he knew how much I loved flowers and houseplants. He had even arranged to have a couple of his friends meet us there after our time together, so they could help load up my car with plants and flowers. He’s one of the most romantic people I’ve ever heard of, and I’m so thankful that he felt the same way about me that I did about him. That day is definitely one of my happiest memories.

Above: The Roman Colosseum in Rome, Italy

Q: How did Robin propose to you?
A: He actually proposed to me twice, and I said yes both times! Robin started talking about us getting married before he’d even told me he loved me, although I could already tell how much he cared about me at that time. He told me he loved me shortly after we started dating, after he had organized a picnic on the beach, at sunset, with more flowers. I couldn’t even make this up if I tried; he truly is the most wonderful person. At that point, we had known each other for about 4 and a half months.

We had begun talking about what we might like our wedding to look like, and we had even looked at a venue that was both a botanical garden and an art museum (two of our favorite things and one of the places we first went together), and while we were there, the venue director asked how he had proposed, and we were like “oops, he hasn’t yet!”. He had apparently already made plans to propose to me at that point, however, and then first proposed while we were on a trip with his family.

He proposed to me a second time a few weeks later, after taking me around to a bunch of our favorite spots, including where we first met, where he asked me out, where he first told me he loved me, our home towns, and more, with a second ring he had custom-designed with ethically sourced diamonds. I had told him I didn’t want any diamonds in a potential ring because they are usually mined with slave labor. Still, he found Brilliant Earth, one of the most ethical jewelers in the world, and found the most beautiful ring with leaf-shaped diamonds that symbolize our shared love for nature and the outdoors. He wanted to propose the first time after I met all of his family on our trip, so we could officially begin planning our wedding.

Above: Mackinac Island, MI                      Eben Ice Caves                                Blair Castle

Q: What was your wedding like, and have you ever written about it?
A: We were married on the shore of the lake we both grew up on at our yacht club. Our wedding date was the day Robin was born, combined with my birthday. The morning of our wedding, it hailed golf ball-sized hail on and off for an hour before thunder storming, and just before our ceremony was supposed to begin, the sky cleared and turned the most incredible pink and purple color. One of our friend’s windshields was cracked during the storm by the crazy hail, and one of our older guests had to turn back because they couldn’t see in the heavy rains. Thankfully, everything turned out beautifully, despite the wild weather.

Our reception was at our yacht club too. We filled the space with native plants and greenery we had picked from around my parent’s houses and our cabin, as well as dahlias, the first flower Robin ever gave me, along with other seasonal flowers we picked the day before from a U-Pick flower farm with our siblings the day before. We served locally sourced, organic, vegetarian fare. Since neither of us drinks and three of our best friends were going through Alcoholics Anonymous at the time, plus there were many kids there, we had mocktails served alongside dinner. Afterward, we had a more intimate reception with our parents and siblings, and we lit off biodegradable lanterns upon which our guests had written wishes for our marriage. We were married before I began my blog, so I have never written about it until now.

Above: Baden-Baden, Schwarzwald (Black Forest Region), Germany

Q: Where did you honeymoon?
A: Since we were both still in school, and I was still working as an orientation leader at U of M, we postponed our honeymoon and instead went on a road trip down south for two weeks after we were wed. We now take a long trip each year on our anniversary to celebrate another year together. In our first year of traveling, we went to Europe for six weeks and traveled from Iceland to Poland, Germany, and Belgium to France through Austria, Switzerland, and Italy. The following year we went island hopping in the Caribbean. The year after that, we explored nine cities in Mexico, and then last year, we went to the United Kingdom to explore England and Scotland for a month. This year, we planned to be in Scandinavia to visit some of Robin’s family and chase the Northern Lights. Since no one could travel, we spent two beautiful weeks on Mackinac Island and at Grand Hotel biking, hiking, picnicking, and relaxing. Next year we hope to go to Singapore, Taiwan & China. For our 10th wedding anniversary, we plan to visit a few countries in Africa and safari (ethically) in Kenya!

Q: When do you plan to have kids?
A: Neither of us has ever wanted children, so we don’t ever plan to have any. We absolutely love being child-free, as it gives us so much freedom and allows us to do things like travel and help our loved ones as they get older. We do, however, have lots of nieces of nephews we love to spend time with, and we help our friends out by babysitting for them when they need help. Although I absolutely love children, I’ve spent lots of time volunteering with children, and I love spending time with other people’s kids; I don’t want to have my own, and neither does Robin. I’ve always been more of a fun aunt anyway!

Check out my other Q&A posts here.