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Oregon Rain meets Minnesota Snow

By Zach   6/29/2009

Let me start at the beginning...

I met my friend James in Oregon and we became friends quickly. We had similar interests, hobbies, and senses of humor, so we got along well. We started hanging out a couple times a week and would get together and shoot the breeze, have a few beers, throw the frisbee, and just chill.

It was one of the first few times that I visited James's house that I saw her: James had a picture of his older sister on his refrigerator. She was gorgeous! The prettiest eyes and smile I had ever seen, the perfect shape and size for me, and you could just tell from the picture that she loved to laugh and was a sweetheart.

I asked James about her and found out her name was Rose and she lived back in his home state, Minnesota. She had a boyfriend at the time and was a hair stylist. She was so pretty and looked so fun, I remember looking at her picture every time I went to James's house and thinking how lucky her boyfriend was and how cool it would be to hang out with her.

Realizing that I had very little chance of ever meeting Rose and that even if I did, she had a boyfriend and lived six states away, I quickly dismissed any idea of romance, but still, I would see that picture every time I was at James's house and would always think about how amazing she seemed.

Then one day, James's sister came to visit. They came over to my house together and I met Rose for the first time. She was even more beautiful in person and was so sweet ,funny and kind, I was instantly captivated by her personality and sense of humor. She was quite simply the most attractive person I had ever met.

I tried to tag along with James and his sister Rose for as much time as I could make excuses for while she was visiting. I even managed to go with them to visit one of Oregon's beautiful forests for a short hike. Being around Rose made my heart skip. I had to be careful though, I was James's friend and I didn't want him to think I was hitting on his sister right in front of him!

I wanted to talk to her more and knew she was leaving soon, but I had to keep it casual. Luckily we added each other on MySpace while she was in town and we made a silly promise to be each other's #9 top friend for life! It was just a funny joke, but it secretly made me super happy to see myself on her top friends list...

Rose left as suddenly as she had arrived, but she was on my mind often. I became even better friends with James after her visit. We started hanging out almost daily and became best friends. Whenever we were hanging out and Rose would call, I would always try to say HI and get a couple words in. We left a few messages for each other on MySpace once in a while, but for the most part, the reality of the distance and her boyfriend kept me from pursuing anything more than friendly comments here and there.

The next year turned out to be a choppy ride for me in Oregon. I was laid off from my web development job over the summer and by the time the rainy Oregon fall rolled around, I still hadn't found work and I had to move back in with my parents while looking for a new job. I had a few interviews, including one at University, but nothing was looking promising.

Around the same time James was thinking of moving back to his home state. He wanted to be closer to his family and friends in Minnesota. He didn't have a car at the time and since I was unemployed and had nothing to do but cool my heels at my parent's house, I offered to drive him and his dog across the country if he payed for the gas.

We left two days after Christmas and headed across Oregon, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, and finally arrived in Minnesota. I found out on the drive that Rose was no longer with her boyfriend. I remember being very excited about my chance to see her again. My first day there James and I just slept off the exhaustion from the long drive, the next day was New Year's Eve and as luck would have it, James made plans for us to go out with Rose and some of her friends.

All night I thought about how I much I wanted Rose to be my New Year's kiss. I was so nervous, when midnight struck, I made sure I was right next to her, but when the time came I chickened out and asked for a kiss on the cheek! I was so embarrassed!

Luckily I had a chance to redeem myself soon after... The next day James made plans for us to go watch a movie with his family. I was really excited again because Rose was coming with us. In the theater, I somehow managed to get a seat next to Rose. I couldn't even pay attention to the movie because I was so anxious about sitting next to Rose and trying to think of some way to signal my interest without seeming creepy or pissing her brother off!

Near the end of the movie, Rose started getting sleepy and leaned her head against my shoulder. This was all the invitation I needed: I bit the bullet and reached out and took her hand. She squeezed my hand back!

From that moment on, we spent as much time together as we could... I started staying at her house instead of James's parents (which was awkward for me at first, but her family made me feel super comfortable about things) and would drop her off and pick her up from work every day. We had the most amazing time together. Her personality complemented mine so well, and I made her laugh a lot, which I loved! Our time together was incredible. I had been in love before, but this was different, it felt so right and so good. The relationship grew deep quickly and we were in love after only two or three weeks.

I was ready to stay in Minnesota to be with Rose. I didn't care about returning to Oregon to look for work and figured my parents could mail me my things if I needed them. I started looking for jobs in the area during the day while Rose worked, and was excited to be in a new place with an amazing girl and my best friend and their family.

Until I got a call from the University I had interviewed at the month before we left for Minnesota. They offered me a dream position. Great pay doing exactly what I wanted to do. It was an offer too good to refuse, especially in the bad economy at the time. People were losing their jobs everywhere and somehow I had gotten a dream job. The only problem was that it was super far away from the new love of my life.

The next two weeks were amazing but bittersweet because I knew that I had to leave Rose and go back to Oregon to start my job on February 2nd. It was hard to say goodbye, but we promised each other that we would make it work. If things went well, Rose said she would think about moving out to Oregon.

We talked on the phone everyday, usually 2 or 3 times a day, and after the first visit at the end of February, she decided that she would move when her lease was up in the middle of the summer.

Rose and I are still going strong. We have had our rough patches and have broken up once for about 10 hours, but quickly decided that the distance wasn't going to break up our dream of being together. She is the strongest person I know and has turned out to be the rock in our relationship, even when I was weak, she held on and would not let go. I am very lucky to have her.

She is moving out in about a month and a half. She is sacrificing a lot to make us work, her job, her nearby family and friends, and basically her whole life will be transplanted to the west coast in August, but we are both very excited!

I am so happy that things have worked out so far and that we are going to be together soon. She is flying out to visit next week and I can't wait to see her, she is going to be looking for a job and checking out the city she will be moving to... She is the love of my life and I will do anything and everything to make her transition as smooth as possible and make her happy! I am so excited and so in love! LDRs can work but you have to be strong and know that they are the one for you. I know Rose is the one for me and I am so thankful that I can lean on her and trust her to be there, just as she can count on me.

Zach



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