The Caswells Meet

Today is our four year anniversary. I got a really great idea from my sister-in-law, Elizabeth, to tell the story of how we met and got engaged. Check out her blog and read their story.

I was living with a friend in Medford in 2005. We were checking out different churches in the area. One Sunday we went to Table Rock Fellowship. We were meeting some friends there, and Paul just happened to be sitting with those friends. Everyone decided to go out to lunch after church. Paul made sure that he sat by me! That night, my friend and I were invited to dinner at her brother's house. Her brother just happened to be engaged to Paul's sister, so Paul got himself an invitation too :) We had a great time that night visiting and playing games. The next day I got a call...from Paul, of course...wanting to hang out the next night. The only problem was that I was planning on moving in a couple of days, and that would be the last night I had with my friend. He ended up coming over and helping me pack up my things. That was a long packing job! We talked a bunch and both realized that we were very interested in getting to know each other better. I ended up moving back home for the summer, but Paul was persistent and made the trip to Florence to take me out for our first date. Everyone was very curious as to who had caught my attention, so this is the picture I took to show everyone. It was my first trip back to Medford to hang out with Paul after we had met:

We loved being together, but found that our ideas of "fun" were a little different. While he enjoyed being active in a multitude of outdoor activities, I was content to sit and read a book...

But we did have birthdays just two days apart...

And we even got each other to do things that we had never done before...

In December we took a trip to Florence (I had moved to Roseburg for my first teaching job by this time). Paul had always commented on wanting to go to the island in the river outside my parent's house. So this weekend he told me that he was going to bring his little boat for us to try going out there. He woke me up really early on Saturday morning and paddled me out to the island. Amidst wind and whitecaps we made it to the island. As we explored around, Paul led me to the side of the island that faced my parent's house. And there he proposed! Unbeknown to me, my family was watching from the deck of the house. It was such an exciting time! And I couldn't wait to marry Paul.

A little over seven months later we got married on a beautiful day at my uncle and aunt's house overlooking Siltcoos Lake. It was a perfect day! I couldn't have asked for more, and though we've had ups and downs just like every couple, I couldn't have asked for a better husband and partner. We completely love being married and can't wait to spend the rest of our lives together.