I've had a LiveJournal since August of 2000, and I've very much enjoyed being a part of the LiveJournal community. I've met many interesting people and made some lasting, meaningful friendships through that site.
However, the most meaningful connection I made through LiveJournal occurred in August 2003, when I recieved a comment to a post I'd made from Jeff. I'd actually seen his journal before, and from his general style of writing, his user pictures, and interests list, he struck me as an incredibly unique, wonderful, intelligent, interesting, and extraordinarily attractive guy. I didn't message him at the time, simply because I'm horrible with both initiating and maintaining internet correspondances, but was pleasantly surprised when I heard from him! He found my journal through a mutual friend, and after that initial communication happened, we began talking regularly. At first, our conversations consisted of exchanges through LiveJournal, but it became apparent very quickly that we shared a lot in common, in terms of interests, morals, values, and philosophies, and soon our discussions escalated from simple LiveJournal comments to 30+ page e-mails and hours spent on the phone.
As Jeff lives in Washington, DC, and I in Ottawa, Ontario, it was impossible for us to simply get together casually on a whim. However, it was obvious that we were very intrigued by each other, and judging by the pictures we'd traded, extremely attracted to one another as well. We toyed around with the idea of meeting in late October, and finally decided to go spend a weekend in New York City together at the beginning of the new year.
Circumstances occurred, however, and we ended up not being able to go to NYC. This was largely due to silliness on my part with regards to not having appropriate documentation, along with heightened security in the US due to possibilities of terrorism. In the end, we changed the plans, and Jeff opted to come up to Ottawa to visit me instead.
On January 2nd, 2004, I sat in the airport, so nervous and excited that my heart was slamming against my ribcage. My mind was rife with both excitement and doubts... Would he be as amazing as he seemed online? Could he possibly live up to the expectations that my mind had formed?
His flight arrived, and barely able to breathe, I waited near the escalator for my baby to arrive. And as he turned the hallway and came down the stairs and I looked into his eyes for the first time, all my fears were dispelled - I knew that this beautiful boy, who I'd already shared an intense online mental and emotional connection with, was someone I wanted to share myself with in every way.
It was adorable at the airport, because I really didn't know how to act around him! I immediately knew that I found him wildly attractive - even moreso than I had through his pictures - but I didn't necessarily know if he felt the same way, or what he wanted from the situation, etc... Although I think both of us had gone into this visit with high hopes, we hadn't particularly discussed our expectations.
Hugs were exchanged, along with huge smiles, and we returned to my apartment. I cooked him up my favourite Thai dish, and then he took me into his embrace and we shared our first kiss. The entire visit went better than we could have anticipated, and we just basked in the essence of one another, relishing in each other mentally and physically. Being able to talk with him and hold him at the same time was more than a dream come true for me.
While both of us were wary of long distance relationships, the connection between us was too much to put on hold and it was clear to both of us that we were committed to taking whatever steps necessary to making things work between us. Several weeks after our initial meeting, on January 25th, we decided to make things official and become boyfriends.
After spending far too much time on the phone and racking up a huge number of long distance minutes (thank the non-existent god for Sprint Canada and their unlimited calling plans to the US), I went to visit him for my spring break at the end of February. As I would be visiting him for nine days instead of the original four for which he'd visited me, we were both interested, but optimistic to see how the dynamic of the situation of living together in that capacity would proceed. Although I'd been accepted to my first choice of university (the University of Toronto) in September for a Ph.D. in mathematics with a focus on commutative algebra, I had more-or-less decided that if things proceeded to go as well as they had been between us that I would do my best to defer my acceptance for a year, move down to Washington, DC, and work for a year while Jeff finished his undergraduate studies. The thought of being apart from him for that long was something that I couldn't bear, and something that I didn't think either one of us and our relationship should have to endure.
My last visit went spectacularly, and we seemed to compliment each other on a wonderful level. We just seem to have a fantastic dynamic together, and function harmoniously with one another. Although we both realize that logically speaking, such a thing may be premature, the connection between us boggles the mind, and so we've discussed the possibility of one day in the not-so-distant future getting married. Up until recently, the possibility of getting married to the guy of my dreams didn't even exist, so I hadn't really thought about it. However, now, faced with the possibility, I find myself absolutely excited about the prospect of dedicating myself on that level to Jeff, and I can't wait to take that next step when the time feels right. During the last two days of my stay in DC, we decided that we wanted to exchange rings as a symbol of our commitment to one another. After much shopping around, we finally found the perfect rings - beautiful matte white gold bands - and nearly missed my plane in the process of buying them (*growls angrily at the thought of that retartedly slow Macy's jeweler*). So now, we're promised to one another, which is something I find wonderfully exhilirating and liberating.
Jeff is coming up to visit me for his spring break in mid-March, and then, when I finish my thesis (which I'm hoping will be done by late April or mid-May), I'll be heading back down to DC to spend a significant portion of the summer and start the process of getting a social security number, looking for a job, etc... I am an American citizen, having been born in Fort Collins, Colorado, so this shouldn't be overly difficult.
Jeff, je t'adore avec chacque fibre de mon etre, mon amour, et j'attend, mon coeur plein d'excitement et douleur, pour le moment qu'on peut etre ensemble pour toujours.
*hands out the vomit buckets* Please try to keep any romantic gushy induced vomiting in the pails. kthx.
If you think you can stand even more sappiness, pictures of me and Jeff can be found in the pictures section of this webpage.