Our Story

So... how did y'all meet?
                   Told from his and her perspective

NOTHING BUT THE FACTS

When: January 9, 2010

Where: The Pub, which is now called Park Lane located in Hampton, Virginia.  Yes...we met at a bar.





How:
(Her Perspective) It was the weekend after New Years Eve and the idea of going out two weekends in a row was not my idea of a good time.  After rolling around in bed for a few hours debating on whether or not I should go out, and having my girlfriends convince me this was the right thing to do, I reluctantly decided to go.  The girls wanted to go to the Pub and unfortunately the only seats available were at the bar with two cornballs that strategically offered us seats so that we were wedged between them.  While my girlfriends were being mildly entertained by  their stories of seeing the world and talking about their fast cars, this gave me an opportunity to take a potty break. 

I made a bee line to the ladies room and I could feel someone staring at me.  You know that feeling you get when someone is watching you? You feel that burning sensation on the back of your head or the hair on your neck rises. Right before I turned the corner, I saw him.  He was staring straight at me.  The only way I could describe him was mysterious.  Haha - yeah go ahead and laugh!  He had dark features with his 5 o'clock shadow and big chops.  Yeah, chops!  It was probably only a second but it felt like everything was going in slow motion.  Ladies - do you remember the movie Romeo & Juliet?  My favorite scene is when Romeo (Leonardo DiCaprio) locks eyes with Juliet (Claire Dane) through the fish tank.  He is completely captivated by her and she is enchanted by him.  That was EXACTLY how I felt when I first saw Mark.

 

Self portrait of Mark and myself
displayed on Mark's fridge for 3 years now.
Artist - Haidee Lockhart

Walking out of the restroom, I made my way across the bar as fast as I could without making eye contact with him.  Sitting back down with my comrades, I realized we were sitting right across each other at the bar.  I asked one of my girlfriends if the mysterious guy with dark features was looking in this direction and she said yes.  Not having enough courage to approach him myself, I asked my sister to do some recon work for me and told her to give him my number.  Cheesy, I know!  Before he could make any decisions, I convinced my friends that it was time to go.  
  We made our next stop at Saddle Ridge to do some boot-scoot'n-boogy :)  Not being able to shake the image of this handsome man out of my head, I didn't realize he was standing right in front of me.  I did not know what to say but luckily one of my girlfriends knew one of the mystery man's friends.  We ended up talking for the rest of the night and the rest is history!    

(His Perspective)So…..its true that Haidee and I met at a bar.  Not the type of thing that you read in love novels but that’s where the magic happened.  My friend Shane was suppose to be getting home from being out of town and we figured we would go out for some drinks.  At that time, “The Pub” which is now known as “Park Lane” was new and it was a nice place to hang out.  Shane and I did not get there till late due to the fact that he was arriving from overseas.   We had been there for  about an hour and were discussing going to a different place to see if it was more lively.  About that time 4 ladies walked in and sat across from us at bar.  I know this was done completely intentional, so that they could try and get Shane and I’s attention…hahahaha.  With the arrival of our new celebrity status from these ladies we decided to order another drink and see where the evening would go.  

Photo of what Mark would look like if he
did jump on the bar and asked me to marry him.

After about another hour of hanging out and putting out the vibe, Haidees sister, Crystal approached me and inquired into if I was interested in anyone at the bar.  I replied to this by jumping up onto the bar and asking if the girl in the red sweater (Haidee) would marry me, and the rest is history.  Ok, well I made the last part up.  Crystal actually gave me Haidees number and said that if I was interested I should give her a call.  

 Over the next couple weeks Haidee and I got to know each other slowly.  Eventually we were spending more time on the phone then I knew was possible.  Haidee and I met at a very busy time in my life.  I was traveling a whole lot with my job, and Haidee seemed to take it in stride.  We definitely spent more time apart then we did together.  Even with all the time apart we still managed to make it work.  There was a lot of stepping off the plane from being overseas just to hop into a car to drive somewhere on vacation to hang out with her.  Since  we have been together we have put multiple miles on our vehicles and multiple stamps in our passports. Traveling and going non-stop is something that we both enjoy and it is even better when we get to do it together.  This was the start of our first chapter  and as it is coming to a close and we start our next we look forward to beginning it with you at our wedding.