It's Me, Sara Louise

Currently,  I refer to the husband as Monsieur Right on the blog. This is because I tend to like nicknames that are ridiculously corny, and a lot of people can’t stand when bloggers refer to their husbands as “The Hubby.” Personally, I think it’s kind of cute. But maybe that’s because I jump at the chance to give him nicknames in English. We only speak French at home, and there is nothing cute sounding about the words “le mari” (the husband). That French word just sounds too girly, and I don’t like calling him that.

I love reading other people’s “How we met” stories, so today I’m sharing ours with you.

When I first came to France, I didn’t know anyone. I showed up in the city all alone, 19 years old, with two suitcases and a bad accent. My French was terrible. That first week I headed over to church, hoping to meet a friendly face and that’s where I saw my husband for the first time.

I remember thinking, “God, please let him be a regular here. He’s SO beautiful!” To my delight, the next week he was there again. But he didn’t have the courage to come talk to me, so he sent his brother to invite me to their mom’s house for dinner, where we officially met for the first time. Now I know what you’re thinking, love at first sight stories are cliche and a little too sickeningly sweet. But that’s really how it happened.

That first night I met his whole family. Everyone was wonderfully kind. Or, at least I assume they were. I couldn’t understand half of what they were saying, but everyone sure was smiling a lot. In France, we do the “bises” when we greet someone. These are little kisses that you give on the cheek, and the number that you’re supposed to do changes by region. In my region it’s two. When Monsieur Right leaned over to kiss my cheek, I about died of happiness. I totally had a fan girl moment. Please remember that I was 19 at the time and pretty naive when it came to romance. Getting to kiss a hot foreign guy on the cheek seemed like a pretty exciting custom to me.

It took us about six months to figure out that we liked each other and to actually start dating. Apparently, we both have a fear of rejection and suck at taking hints. To make a long story short, after doing the long distance thing while I finished my degree back in the states, Monsieur Right and I ended up getting married.

If you’d like, you can check out the rest of our love story here. I just want to give a big thank you to Sara for letting me taking over her blog for the day!