Barry and Karin

So far we have done the four girls so I thought I'd take a break from the kids and put on a few of Barry and I. Barry and I started Dating in June of 2006. It was and is amazing to me how natural our relationship seemed to be. Right from the start it just seemed like we were meant to be together. For those of you who don't know, Barry and I went to high school, actually from elementary school on, together. We were friends at school but never really did anything outside of classes. Despite what he says about his autograph in my yearbook, writing "Call me sometime", does not constitute asking me out on a date! Especially when he didn't even leave his phone number! Anyway after we had both married, had kids, and divorced, we met through an LDS online dating website. I was already a member of a different site but a friend of mine suggested that I "check out" the one that she was using. I couldn't really afford the one I was already using so I wasn't about to pay for another but I figured that it wouldn't hurt to "check it out". For all of you who have never had to bother with these types of site you are not allowed to look at profiles unless you have one of your own and it doesn't cost to create one. Since I didn't really want to use this site I put the bare essentials on my profile (my age, that I had kids, and where I was from) and just looked around. This was on a Thursday. My kids happened to be with their Dad for the weekend so on Friday I spent the evening with my friend who was going through a pretty hairy divorce herself. I ended up staying until about 2 AM. When I got home I decided to check my email before I went to bed. To my surprise I had a message from the new website. Now here is where these websites suck you in for the money. You are allowed to see WHO sent you the message but not WHAT the message says. Of course I looked to see who sent me a message and I couldn't believe that his guy looked so much like this guy I had been to high school with. You don't use your real name of course but I also recognized his parents in his other pictures. Of course I had to see what he had written when I was convinced it truly was Barry Holman that I was looking at. It cost about $10 to sign up for a month of service, sadly this pushed my checking account over the limit and it ended up costing me about $100! I have to admit it was worth every penny! Barry's note was short and sweet, (since I had not put a picture of myself on the website, he didn't know who I was) he simply said that we seemed to have alot in common: our age, having kids, and where we were from, and that he would like to get to know me better. Without even thinking about it I sent a letter right back telling him who I was and giving him my phone number. I really didn't think he would remember me and I figured there was even less of a chance that he would call me if he did, so I figured that would be the end of that. The next morning (Saturday) at about 9AM he called! We talked for about 10 minutes about our kids and how weird it was that we were both divorced and that we hadn't seen or talked to each other since we had both graduated. Barry then asked me what I was doing for the rest of the day and I told him I was going to the Zoo, I left out of course that I was going on a blind date and let him assume that I was taking my kids there. We talked for a few more minutes and said good bye. I really thought I would never hear from him again. (once again I was wrong) My date lasted from about 10 untill just after 4 and although I had a good time I knew that I wasn't interested. I told the guy that I had been up late the night before and that I needed to get home and get some sleep. Imagine my surprise when I got home and there was a message on my answering machine from Barry telling me to call him when I got home. Of course I did call him and he invited me over to his house to watch a movie with him and his kids. I got lost trying to find his house and almost gave up but found it in the end and had a wonderful evening. We sat on the couch and talked and talked and talked. When I finally went home after midnight I couldn't believe what a good time I had. I was hoping he would call me again at some point but wasn't really counting on it. When I got home I knelt down and told Heavenly Father that I had a really good time and that I hoped he would call. Once again I was amazed when the next afternoon (Sunday) Barry called again and asked if he could stop by after he took his kids back to their moms house. I was nervous about him meeting my kids but it really smoothly and just before he ran off (literally he ran) to his car he gave me the quickest little peck on the lips I've ever had. The next day he met me up on campus for lunch and I think we saw each other every day after that. I don't think I ever knew until we were married and I experienced him working nights that I knew how much sleep he lost during those days! After over two years I still can't believe this has happened. It never ceases to amaze me how much my Father in Heaven has blessed me the last few years. We feel so blessed to be together and we have a great family. I hope we never forget the reasons we fell in love.