How We Met

How We Met

Yes, those photos are from the first weekend we met.

But first, let me give you some background.

I moved to Canyon Lake, CA when I was 12 and it was a few months later that I met Shanny and her family. I spent a lot of time with the Hommels, going on trips to the beach & mountains. We were always hanging around with Shanny’s big brothers and their friends.

I don’t know what age Josh and Shanny’s oldest brother Bob met, but they were great friends and ended up being roommates together in Canyon Lake.

Now, back to the weekend we met. I was 22 years old and Shanny had invited me to come to a country music festival in Arizona called Country Thunder. I showed up to the Hommel’s early Wednesday morning, with a bag full of shorts, bikinis and boots, to drive out to Arizona where we would camp till Monday morning.

Here is where the story differs depending on if you ask Josh or myself.

Josh remembers us meeting in that driveway, early in the morning before making the drive. I remember meeting him when we were already at Country Thunder. I remember Bob’s friend having his own rental trailer and I remember him not being in camp till later when he arrived with his dad who had flown in to Arizona for the concert.

Either way, we really got to know each other for the first time while at Country Thunder. We spent the weekend playing drinking games together, singing together, dancing together and staying up till the sun rose. I have to admit, he impressed me with the fact that he could actually dance. We found late night dance parties in the campgrounds and he twirled me around, dipping me and not dropping me (that came years later at a wedding). It was such a fun weekend with an incredible guy, making memories with our friends.

We’ve been back to Country Thunder a few times since we met and it will always carry a special place in our hearts. But nothing like the first time in April 2014.