Hey, Jason here with some things

Since Abby decided to start a wedding blog, I figured I'd use my long-winded gift of the pen (or keyboard) to post a few things from the male perspective.

As Abby said, it's very tough to plan things being separated by nearly 1,000 miles ... it's just under that, check Google Maps if you don't believe me. But then again, you should believe me, because I'm awesome.

Anyway, many of you know I'm involved in wrestling, specifically at the high school, college and Olympic levels. I started doing things in wrestling back in high school, wrestled for two years, then moved on to college. I took all the things I did with wrestling and formulated them into a career, basically turning what was a hobby into something that paid the bills ... well, sort of.

This post isn't about me and wrestling, but I have to give some background to tell the story. I worked in Pennsylvania for the National Wrestling Coaches Association and ran their national media web site called InterMat. After two and a half years, I bought a house and figured this would be where I'd be for a while. I was living in Lancaster in a quaint row house next to a minor league baseball field and walking distance from all my night spots.

Then in April of 2008, I got a call from two wrestling Hall of Famers who were starting a "SportsCenter" type of show for college wrestling called Wrestling 411. Long story short, I bucked the stability I thought I had with the NWCA, packed up eight months after buying a house and moved to Minnesota.

Things with Wrestling 411, the name of the show (which I always detested to start with) started going sour from the start. Things weren't how they were described and then I started to worry about making the right decision. I wondered what the heck was going on most of the time and come January 2009, had moved the radio show from Augsburg's campus radio station into my basement. Think Wayne's World, but with better looking hosts. (Eat it Mike Myers!).

Many of you know Abby and I connected through eHarmony, something we were hesitant to kind of explain to people, but we're so happy together, there's no point in trying to hide it.

I was on eHarmony for about 18 months. I was getting fed up. If any of you have tried the site or any other online dating services, they can be defeating. I was done, that was it. My job was rocky, it was bitter cold in Minnesota (mind you, I grew up 30 minutes from Virginia Beach) and I was single and lonely.

Kyle (my coworker) and I decided to set out on a month-long journey to cover four wrestling national tournaments in four weekends. We started in Rochester for the Junior College nationals, then down to Cedar Rapids for the Division III championships, then down to Houston (yes, Houston) for Division II before setting back in St. Louis for the Division I championships, the finale of the college wrestling season. It was during that month things were set in motion with Abby and I.

I had canceled my account with eHarmony, but had March left to go. The day before Kyle and I were to set out -- by the way, we DROVE -- I got a "match requests communication" from "Abby in St. Paul."

I'd gotten a few, even went on three dates out of eHarmony, but being cold, single and lonely will do a number on you. So I figured I'd respond and go through the process to see how far it would go. I fully expected things to probably end up with "Match Closed: Reason- Other."

Well, during the trip where Kyle and I were doing interviews and broadcasting the championships for the NCAA, Abby and I traded some of their basic communication steps. I asked things about movies, travel, etc. I remember asking her about the most random place she'd been -- and she said Ohio!? This is a woman who'd studied abroad in London and been to China for work. Seriously, Ohio!?

I'd mentioned Azerbaijan ... (Ironically, I was in Baku and this story was circulated around the office today.)

We got to the Open Communication stage (where you can send comments without structure back and forth) and traded e-mails and started communicating that way. I think she gave me her number first and we'd actually "talk" when I got back from St. Louis around March 23. We started the communication process on March 1.

I went through my wrestling life that month, curious about where this was going. Was I going to get a date out of this? By that time, my account was gone. I first called her somewhere around Hannibal, Mo., on the way back to Minnesota. She was getting off work, so we then talked the Monday ... set a date for Wednesday and the rest was history.

Now, there's still more to the story. I mentioned above about wondering if I'd made the right move when the job in Minnesota started to get rocky. I'm still owed a month's pay, didn't get tax information last year and generally left the situation disgruntled. Being out of work with no way to get paid (without filing legal action) has not left me bitter, because it was the chance I took in moving to Minnesota that brought such a gorgeous, intelligent, smart and (somewhat) funny woman into my life.

My living situation in Colorado is with two friends I've known through wrestling, one of which I work with, and his wife, I've known through wrestling as well. I was talking about the Wrestling 411 debacle today and mentioned that I was pretty much "screwed" in that deal.

"Well, you wouldn't have met Abby," he said.

And that's why the Lord works in mysterious ways. The trials and pains I went through with a risky job proposition let to a proposition of another type ... Asking Abby Kathryn Los to be my wife on Dec. 23, 2009.

That's the SHORT version. I've got a lot of good stories to tell, and have no shortage of words.

That's all for now.

JB