Hello,
We are Manly and Babe. A year and a half ago we met online. He was listed as Ian and I was listed as Cari-Jean, considering those are our legal names. But after conversing on the phone for hours at a time, a nostalgia began to creep in as I listened to this man tell me of his mountain biking, Eagle Scout, Iraqi freedom, gun-carrying, wood-chopping, fire-fighting days. He mostly wore plaid shirts, I could see from the pictures online, and he got most excited when he could talk of his many manly pursuits. And then I knew - because I had always dreamed of marrying a lumberjack - that his nick-name should be Manly. Though I knew before we met in person that he was the right Manly for me, I wasn't completely convinced for several months of how well I could love this manly man. So, he mounted his white horse and proved his manhood all the more valiantly by standing strong before the four men of my life - my three big brothers and my dad who are all taller than he - and by sheepishly smiling through all my mother's giddy exclamations of how handsome and fine he was. This man named Ian Antons took up honor with my family and continued to pursue my heart, even when I resisted out of my own fear and confusion of what the future would hold if I gave into this "man online" and his loving request to experience the adventures of life with him. Whenever I had doubts about how crazy it was to fall in love after only four months of knowing each other, I would quietly, tentatively call out, "Manly?" And he never failed to answer, "Yes, Babe." He was true to his name - a strong and steady Manly - and I realized that all my girlish desires, colorful dreams, and spontaneous ways (even jumping on a dating website for a 5-day-whim) made me the perfect Babe for him. That is the short of how we two have been coupled Manly and Babe. Soon - very soon, sometimes it doesn't seem soon enough - we will be dubbed, both online and legally, Man and Wife.

This blog is of the chronicles of our relationship from this season to the next, and the ones after those. For any who are suckers for love, these posts of flashbacks and aspirations, silly recordings and photographs, wedding and life planning, will show how delightfully innocent it is to be young lovers and dreamers of a good, long married life together.