#Mr.andMrs.Hodge

MCAS Cherry Point, 2015 - It all started with an anonymous social media post. This post described a girl with strange interests that are indeed different from other girls, describing an affinity for video games, movies, books and things that are not particularly girly. A comment on this post led to a relationship that I thought wasn't possible. "You sound like my perfect girl," it read. I was intrigued of course. Attention on social media is all the rage these days and I was young, so it made sense. I replied back. For about 3 days we started to play video games together, talking over a voice chat and getting to know little bits and pieces about each other, and we learned that we lived about a mile away from each other. We weren't particularly comfortable meeting right away, because you have "actual friends" and you have "gamer friends", and we were just gamer friends. We made a really good team, doing mission after mission together. I think it was a sign of things to come. One day, Kyle was assigned to barracks duty, which is basically pacing the floors and sitting at a desk for 24 hours until the next duty comes to relieve you. I happened to have a day off from my busy hotel front desk job and offered to buy him lunch and meet him for the first time. I remember buying him a burger from Five Guys on base and driving to his barracks parking lot. I texted him to tell him that I arrived and watched as this tall, handsomely dressed Marine (I'm a sucker for Marine desert uniforms) came walking out of the building. I got out of my car to give him his food. As he approached I couldn't help but stare at my feet. I didn't want him to think I was staring. He had the brightest blue eyes I had ever seen and they shone in the sunlight. He thanked me politely and we made small talk, but it was obvious there was tension between us and I knew he was trying not to stare at me either. Our conversation was brief, but by the end of our conversation... I knew I was in love.

October 15th, 2015... it was a cold morning, but it was a day off. I texted Kyle to see if he would like to go to breakfast with me at IHOP in Morehead City, North Carolina. He picked me up shortly afterward and we ate a wonderful breakfast and participated in a really engaging conversation about each other. By the time we were finished with our meal, we both knew we didn't want the day to end. We didn't intend for the day to be a date, but we felt an irresistible pull to keep going. As we left the restaurant, a cold breeze picked up from the ocean, and since I worked on the beach, I had an idea. I suggested that we check out the beach shops because I knew they were doing their end-of-season sales and they sold jackets. So, we went to the beach and looked around for a couple of nice souvenir jackets for us to wear. Both fortunately and unfortunately, it did not take us very long. Once again, we didn't want the day to end because we were enjoying each other's company so greatly. Kyle suggested we go to the local aquarium, since I had never been there before. I agreed, and together we walked through the aquarium, marveling at the otters and the tiny frogs they kept behind the glass. Outside the aquarium there were nature trails that were open to the public, and since the day had gotten a little warmer we decided to go walk them. We stopped in a small wooded area overlooking a marsh and a children's playground and he reached for my hand, which I welcomed warmly. I felt butterflies in my stomach in the moment when his fingers touched mine and I couldn't help but feel on top of the world. We walked a little further on the trails towards a floating wooden bridge that would take us back to the aquarium, and we stopped once more. He gave me our first kiss there, and I felt like I could soar. It couldn't have been a better way to end the day, or a better date. I will never forget the best and most significant date of my entire life: the beginning of our love.

Around this time in my life I was really into House M.D. on Netflix. Kyle was an asshole (still is) and a lot of the things he would say were things I imagined House would say too. So naturally, I nicknamed him House. His nickname for me became Cuddy, because who else could be House's favorite person to mess with and love interest? This went on for several months, and it was actually part of our weird ways of expressing affection for each other. Kyle and I had been friends at this point for about 6 or 7 months. It was a day we were both coming to regret, although perhaps more for me than for him. He was getting out of the Marine Corps and was using whatever leave time he had left to go home early. 4 years is a long time to be away from family, and I couldn't blame him for being excited to go home. He and his dad stayed the night at my place since he was already signed out of the barracks. The next morning I remember waking up and talking with Jim for the first time. Kyle is so very much like his dad in looks, mannerisms, voice, and even laughter. It was so fun to see. But it was still hard knowing that this might be the last time I ever saw Kyle. When the moment finally came, probably about an hour and a half after getting up for the morning, Jim walked out to the truck and waited while Kyle finished loading up the last of his things and checking the room he stayed in to make sure he didn't leave anything behind. We both knew we weren't ready to say goodbye. When he determined he didn't leave anything, we stood in the doorway stretching out the last moments as long as we could. It took everything I had to stop myself from tearing up right then, but I wanted Kyle to remember a good face and not an ugly crying one. Finally, he took a deep breath and opened the storm door and said the last words I ever thought I'd hear him say, and the words that broke my heart again for the first time in years. "Goodbye, Cuddy." And he closed the door without looking back.

I flew to Chicago for the first time in early May 2017 to attend ACEN with Kyle and some of his friends. (For those who don't know, ACEN is like Comic Con but for anime). We had a great time, and afterwards we went to his dad's house in Wisconsin, packed up some of his things, and made the long trip down to Utah where we were planning to spend the summer together. Along the way, we stopped in Davenport, Iowa and met up with one of our long-time gaming friends who has been playing with us almost since we met each other, Mike Shaw. Mike had also recently had a baby, Ari, who is now our beautiful little flower girl. She was so adorable and it was so fun talking with Mike that admittedly it was really hard for Kyle to pull me away. Once he did however, we were on our way through the Great Plains of America. By the time we were almost out of Iowa, I asked if there was anything Kyle wanted to see since we had an extra couple of days before I had to be back to work. He said sure and I began searching for major landmarks to see along the way. Mt. Rushmore happened to be somewhat on the way, but about a 3 hour detour. Sure enough, we headed that way and drove through South Dakota almost completely through the night. We stopped at a hotel just outside the monument itself, and the next day got to scratch Mt. Rushmore off our bucket list. We took hundreds of pictures of everything, but to me the most special and memorable moment was when we were in the gift shop afterwards and Kyle bought me a small white gold ring that is, to this day, one of my most prized possessions. From then until we got engaged, it was the only piece of jewelry you would ever see me wear on any kind of regular basis. Now of course, I have something even more meaningful.

As the summer of 2017 was coming to a close, we were at an impasse as to what we wanted to do. I had a fantastic job working for AAA and was close to my family, and Kyle had a pretty decent job working as a security guard at a Chevron refinery facility. However, we were far away from his family and he wanted to continue his schooling at LTC for his Wind Energy degree. What we both knew was that we didn't want to be separated again, and it was up to us to decide how we were going to accomplish that. In the end, I decided I would give up what I had and try something new. It was scary, but I new I wanted a change of scenery, despite the closeness to my family, and I knew that no matter what I wasn't going to let Kyle go again. It didn't take much to get all my things packed up into a U-Haul trailer because I lived in a small apartment and not much had been unpacked since I moved in. We loaded up our pets: Luna my husky, Stormy my cat, and Cayde, Kyle's new puppy, and made the long drive back to Wisconsin. This time we didn't take any detours, although one night in Nashville we made a long drive around town to get a famous pizza. For the record, it was delicious. We stopped again to meet up with Mike and Ari, and this time we also met Mike's wife, Nancy. It was a short visit, but they are amazing people and it was so great to meet them in person! Once we arrived in Wisconsin, it was quite the adjustment for me. No job, bills to pay, and not much around in Campbellsport, WI was scary, but I knew we would make it work. I got a job at The American Club in Kohler as a front desk agent and Kyle began working at Menards while he was going to school. In January 2018, we bought our house in Sheboygan and really kicked off our lives together in a way that I never would have had if I had stayed in Utah. I'm really glad I made that decision because it changed my life -- our lives -- for the better.

I had been bugging Kyle nonstop about asking me to marry him almost since we moved into the new house in Sheboygan. It honestly kinda sucked to see a lot of my friends getting engaged and married to people that were their soulmates, and I felt as though I couldn't have that kind of happiness. It was all in my head, of course, but seeing everybody look so happy with such a big step in their lives was just so enticing, I couldn't help it. Kyle bought the ring in May. I knew he hid it from me because I was the one who brought the package inside and it magically disappeared after I got home from work later that night. But I was satisfied by the fact that he had at least bought the ring and was planning a good way to propose. I kept a close eye out for when he was going to pop the question. I was trying really hard not to spoil the surprise for myself, but I'm too good at ruining surprises. I visited Utah briefly to attend my best friend's wedding in Ogden, UT. I flew out of Salt Lake City and landed in Milwaukee around 7pm and Kyle was gracious enough to pick me up. I was kind of tired from the trip and was anxious to get home and go to bed, but Kyle and I have some of our best conversations in the car. I've often told him we could start a YouTube channel of our car conversations. In any case, we got home and I was still chatting away walking to the porch when Kyle reached out and took my bags from me and had me open the door. As the door swung open to the dark dining room, I noticed a faint glow coming from 4 pumpkins that were situated on 2 tables, all carved out to read: "Will You Be Mine" I turned around and Kyle wasn't quite on his knee yet, but he had the ring in his hand and was finally asking the question. I squealed in delight and said yes immediately. Whatever his plans for proposing before, this was much better because it was just after our 3-year anniversary of our first date. Now, I cannot wait to marry the love of my life.