We've moved!

I just moved this blog over from blogspirit. I really liked the way blogspirit was set up because it had photoalbums and such...but apparently I ran outta room...and they wanted me to pay a monthly fee to use it. Totally sucks. But that's ok...cuz now both of my blogs are here. :)

You can still see our photo albums at www.jenandjon.blogspirit.com. I'll leave them there for a while. But from now on I'll be posting here.

3/16/06- The Big Day!

Finally...the news we have all been waiting to hear! After months of indecision...we have finally set the date! We finally decided today that we will be getting married on May 13, 2006. I'm so excited. It's gonna be a small ceremony with just immediate family. I'll tell ya more details as I get them!

May 13th is a special day for us. It's the day that we finally met in person. It was the first time that we got to see and touch each other. The first time we got to look into each others eyes and say...I love you. The first time we got to hold each other tight and never want to let go. It was one of the best days of my life. And now...one year later...we will be married. :)

Before we met face to face, people tried to warn us. They said to not expect the sparks to fly....that things are different in person....we might not be what the other expects....we just might not click...and we should be prepared for that. But it was the total opposite of that. We had already seen each other on webcam....exchanged pictures...and talked on the phone. Not to mention all the time that our pixelated charachters had spent together on Second Life. And we had already fallen in love with each other. I'm not gonna lie...I was scared before we met. What if he wasn't what I thought he would be. What if we didn't click. But...wow....when our eyes first met...it was magical. It was so intense. I won't make you sick with the details....but...WOW...that weekend was incredible. We knew we were meant to be together.

Sorry to go on and on. I guess the excitement of planning the wedding just got me thinking back to that moment when we first met.

May 13th is gonna be the happiest day of my life!

1/5/06- We're Engaged!

It's official! We are engaged! Jon asked me to marry him on Christmas Eve. I knew he was going to ask me...I just didn't know when. It's been so hard to keep the secret from everyone. In the beginning of November we had a wedding set custom made. It's beautiful! We were just waiting for my divorce to be final. It just seemed like the right thing to do. LOL. My divorce was final November 28, 2005.

We haven't made any official plans for a wedding yet. At first we considered running away to get married. We've both done the big wedding thing before, and this time we just want something small. Possibly just the two of us. We've been looking at cabins in the Smoky Mountains. We can have a beautiful wedding up there with just the two of us, either in our cabin, or in the park by a waterfall. It would be so romantic.

But then we started discussing a Covenant Marriage. And that would not be available in Tennessee. So far only Louisiana, Arkansas and one other state offers that type of marriage. It's a little different from a traditional marriage, because its a little bit more serious of a commitment. Click the link to learn more. :)

If we get married in Louisiana, it will just be a small...preferably church wedding, with just our closest friends and family. We're still looking at all the options.

However and whenever it happens...we can't wait! Nothing has ever felt more right in our lives.

11/10/05- Where It All Began

To help you understand how we met....I have to give you some background information. There is a wonderful online game called Second Life. (www.secondlife.com) It's a virtual world where anything is possible. The only limitations are your imagination. People from all over the world gather here to socialize, dream, create and live. Please visit the website for more information, video clips, and a free membership to join us in Second Life! (gee....i sound like a commercial) If you decide to try out Second Life...be sure to put one of us as a referral...and we'll show you around SL.

In Second Life, Jen is know as Jinger Curie....Jon is known as Gothotta Zander. And until recently...they were just lost souls...wandering aimlessly thru the metaverse. This story will be told by Jinger. Hopefully one day...we can hear Goth's side of the story!

Where it all began.....

March 6, 2005. It all started very innocently. I was just sitting in my SL (second life) back yard, at my picnic table...working on a project. I had noticed that someone had finally bought the land next to me that had been for sale. I saw the new neighbor looking around his yard, but didn't really think anything of it. Next thing I know, he is walking up to me to say Hi. My first thought was....who IS this freak walking up to me and talking to me??? I said Hi...and we chatted for a while. He seemed to be really nice. I showed him my house, and he was amazed at how nicely I had my house decorated. We talked some more.....exchanged calling cards (its how you keep track of your friends in SL).....and then we logged off for the night.

I didn't really think anything after my first encounter with the new neighbor. I was already in a SL relationship. Not a very good one.....my boyfriend was never online....but I wasn't really looking for anyone to get involved with. Not to mention my RL (real life) was about to be turned upside down. I was in the middle of leaving my RL husband. It was something that had been in the works for months now...and I was about to finally make the big move and leave. So....I wasn't looking for anything to complicate either of my lives.

The next night, I logged on to SL and noticed Gothotta was online too. After a few minutes he sent me a message asking if he could show one of his friends my house. I invited both of them over and we hung out for a while. There was just something about this stranger that made me want to get to know him better. The next few nights when I would log in....is seemed like he always had a reason to come over and see me. And eventually he started sharing his land with his friend Lyric....so we all started hanging out together. I would run home from work each day, anxious to see if he would be online when I logged into SL. The three of us started going places and exploring things in Second Life. I kinda felt bad because Lyric wound up being like a third wheel. Me and Goth would start getting flirty with each other...and wind up off on our own somewhere. I was REALLY starting to like him!

While all of this was going on...my second life boyfriend was no where to be found. He had gotten busy with his real life. I didn't really miss him because I was having so much fun with this new neighbor!

One night, a couple of weeks after we first me, me and Goth were sitting at a park talking...and for some strange reason I asked him if he was happily married. (At this point...all that we knew about our real lives was where we lived...and that we were each married. I had never mentioned that I was leaving my husband.) I'm not sure why I asked him that question. Something just made me do it. That was when he told me that he was very unhappy, and that he had been trying to leave her for a while now. He just wasnt sure how...or when to do it. I started telling him all that I was going thru. It was wierd how it was all sooo similar.

It wasn't long after this that we decided to be together in Second Life. I felt really bad about breaking up with my boyfriend and leaving him for the neighbor...but he understood. I didn't really have an emotional attachement to him. And in real life we were only friends. So....I left my boyrfriend for the neighbor. Eventually he allowed me to buy all of the land he owned in that area so that me and Goth could combine all of our land into one. We love where we live in SL. It's a very special place for us. For months it was the only way that we could be together.

Not long after we got together officially in Second Life....we decided to talk on the phone in real life. I was sooo nervous the first time I talked to Jon on the phone. It wasn't a long phone call, but he seemed so easy to talk to. Almost like I had known him forever. Before we hung up the phone....we agreed to talk again the next day. There was just something about him that made me smile inside. And apparently on the outside too...because everyone noticed that something was different. I guess it had been sooo long since I had smiled....people wondered what was wrong with me...lol.

I hadn't intended for our relationship to go beyond Second Life. I had way too much going on in my real life. But apparently someone else had other plans for us!

We started exchanging pictures.....calling each other daily.....sending each other text messages....and webcamming when we could. Life was getting pretty complicated. My real life husband already knew that I was leaving him...and that it was over....but he didn't know about this new chapter of my life already beginning. Finally around the middle of April, I was out on my own. And free to talk to Jon whenever I wanted to. He left his wife also....right before I finally moved out of my husbands house. I'm very thankful that I had him to help me through everything. I don't know what I would have done without him.

On May 13, 2005, we finally met in real life. Jon flew down to see me and spend the weekend with me. It was great. It felt so good to finally be able to see him and touch him in real life. He was REAL! And he was just as awesome in person as he was on the phone...on camera....and in Second Life.

We had a wonderful weekend together...and the following weekend he came down to see me again. We couldn't bare to be apart. It's like we were meant to be together. We didn't have any choice. This was how it was supposed to be.

He continued to visit me on a monthly basis. We hated to be apart. All we had was our Second Life. We eventually started to plan our Second Life wedding.....and our real life move. We decided that in October, Jon would move down to Louisiana to live with me. We weren't sure how our families would take this news...but we didn't care....we had to be together. If only we could get our divorces out of the way!

On August 20, 2005....we were married in Second Life. It was a beautiful wedding. Be sure to check out our wedding album in this blog. There are pictures and descriptions of everything.

Little did we know...someone else REALLY wanted us to be together too. On August 29th, Hurricane Katrina blew into town. The day before the storm, Jon flew into New Orleans to be with me. When he left Ohio, the plan was to come down here and ride out the storm with me. By the time his plane landed....I had the car packed...and we were getting out of here. Katrina was coming, and it didn't look like anything in her path was going to survive. I packed up all my important and unreplaceable belongings...and of course the kitties. I left enough room in the car for him...and his suitcase. I picked him up at the airport...and we started our 28 hour long journey to Jacksonville, Florida. (usually an 8 hour drive) We didn't know it at this time....but from this moment...we would never be apart again.

We made it to Florida in time to see all the destruction from the storm on TV. It was horrible. And I just knew...that there would be nothing left for me to go back to in Louisiana. After a few days, we left to drive back to Ohio. He needed to get back to work, and I was just going to hang around until we figured out what I was gonna do....or until I heard from someone letting me know that I could come back. By the time we got to Ohio, we decided that we would never be apart again. If I was going back to Louisiana...he was coming with me. And if I wasn't....we would find a place to live in Ohio.

Luckily once people started going back to Louisiana, we learned that my house was fine. We could go home. He quit his job....we packed the car....and headed home.

This area has been kinda of wierd since the storm, but things are slowly getting back to normal. Jon had found a job....I quit my job to look for another one...and we are living happily. On November 4, 2005, Jon's divorce was final. And anyday now....mine should be too.

We thank God everyday for bringing us together. Me and him were meant to be. We both have the same plans for the future....the same desires....the same dreams. Jon has made me happier than I have ever been in my whole life. Our love was definately heaven sent.

We have started making plans for our future....but we aren't gonna share those just yet. Keep reading for updates on where we are and what we are up to!