About a year ago ...

I've referenced how Abby and I started exchanging communication via e-mail in previous posts, but as we were talking today, I went back through my e-mail and realized a few things.

I'm writing this after midnight as we just left the Ides of March -- for you Shakespeare peoples, that's the Et tu Brute dealio. Anyway, we're now nine days away from the one year anniversary of our first date. I'm doing the same thing right now that I was a year ago at this time, looking at things on the computer prepping for the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships. This is the REAL March Madness.

So around mid-March was when my eHarmony account was closed. Abby and I had exchanged e-mails before it ended so we could continue talking outside of the eH framework.

The first e-mail she ever sent me was with the subject "Azerbaijan" ... which as you should know by now, is the dirtiest place I've ever been. The last exchange on eH had to do with the most random place we'd been. Of course, you know by reading past blogs, she said "Ohio."

She closed her e-mail with Abby (from eHarmony in case you need some context for this email)!

Punctuation outside of the parenthetical statement aside, I didn't know what I was getting into. We traded a few more e-mails before I got busy with the big show, the finale of the college wrestling season. This is a big deal.

I didn't give it too much thought before I got on with the tournament, then as I was driving back, checked my e-mail from my then-crappy phone and noticed she'd sent me her number. The first call was on March 22, then on March 23 when I was back in Minnesota. First Date: March 25.

A lot has happened in a year, but here's the funny thing. She'd talked about South Africa and had the trip planned. After two dates, my trip to Virginia and then a proposal for her to "be my girlfriend," she sent me an e-mail about going to South Africa ... this was on April 7. Seriously. This was about two and a half weeks after we'd met.

I think it was safe to say we "knew" then.

But I find it somewhat fitting, that a year ago, I was in my element with this wrestling thing, and now today, I'm in my element with this wrestling thing, but planning a wedding in the process.

Well, she's doing the lion's share of the planning. I just stand back, smile and nod.

What DIDN'T happen last year was any trip to Bed Bath & Beyond. Can't say the same for Monday night. I went through BB&B and went ape using the scanner to complete the gift registry.

If you didn't know already, I'm the cook. I am the master of the kitchen and took care of the cookware, cutlery and all things cooking related. I almost added that stupid "Filet-O-Fish" singing fish to the registry just to annoy her. That could have been the deal breaker.

One year since our first real e-mail, not some eHarmony discussion. I wondered what "Abby Los" actually meant. Los was her last name, go figure.

Of course, during this time, she'd Facebook stalked me, read my wrestling blog (derived from my e-mail address) and learned a bit about me before we even had the 8-hour first date.

I think back to five years ago ... it was this weekend five years ago I was approached about taking a job with the National Wrestling Coaches Association. It was at this tournament, only it was in St. Louis and not Omaha. (By the way, don't stay at the Carol Hotel ... it's a dump).

Five years ago this weekend, my life was set toward a different path. About two weeks later, I went up to Lancaster, Pa., and interviewed for the job at the NWCA. At the end of the week, I'd accepted and planned to move. From there, wrestling took me away from my home in Virginia to a new land in Pennsylvania. Three years later, I was moving to Minnesota. Eight months later, I met Abby.

And the rest ... is the future.