about us

The Story of The S Family and how it came to be...*from Melissa's perspective*

In the summer of 2005, my family had some friends move out to Missouri, and my dad helped them move. We saw how beautiful and inexpensive it was, so my parents decided to buy a house out here. In Beaumont, where we were living, the housing market had somewhat slowed down. God, however, had other plans. My parents sold their house in about 1.5 months, and in September 2005 moved to Missouri. They lived in a motel for a couple months, while they found a wonderful house to buy. They finally found one, and started the purchase process.

In the mean time, I had to stay in California to have another liver surgery. YAY for me! But, I planned to move out here in November 2005, so that wasn't too far away. I figured it would be a much better place to raise my monkey, and maybe could even afford to live on my own. So, I found a lady who let me rent a room from her for the 2 months. In October 2005, I brought my monkey out here to Missouri, and left her with my parents for 2.5 weeks. I flew back to California, and had surgery, which went well. On November 2, my friend from Texas flew out to California, and our journey to Missouri began.

While in California for the last few weeks, I had a couple different people tell me that God had a man for me in Missouri. I was like "ok, thanks" while thinking YAH RIGHT.

So, Brandie and I leave California on November 2, and get to Missouri on November 4. What an adventure we had - barely stopping and all. I missed my monkey! I hadn't seen the house finished when I was out in October, but my parents were all moved in when I got there, and it was NICE.

I was here in Missouri for a whole whopping weekend before I started looking for a job. I worked a couple temp jobs in the mean time, and after about 1.5 months, I got a job offer, which I accepted. I started working there on December 12, 2005, and am still currently employed there.

In January 2006, some lady at work told me "you need a man". I said "no I don't, I'm happy being single" and honestly thought I was. She said "what you have to do is pray to God, tell him exactly what you want in a man, every little detail. If you want brown hair and brown eyes, then tell him that - tell him everything". I was thinking "yah right!", but said "thanks" anyway. About a month later, in the shower I just couldn't get what she had said out of my mind, so I said "why not" and I prayed (not with much faith either, I might add).

In February 2006, I decided to look at prices of local apartments. I couldn't believe how affordable they were, so I got one. I moved into my current place in March 2006. It's a cute place, 2 bed, 2 bath, upstairs, with the playground right outside. I picked upstairs because it was my first place all by myself, and figured I would feel safer.

A few weeks go by and it's now April 2006. My monkey and I were coming home from work one day and there's this guy outside with his dog. The guy looked kinda mean, but his dog seemed nice, and the neighbor lady with a kid said the dog was really nice, so I let the monkey pet him. I talked to the neighbor lady for a few, and said "HI" to the mean looking guy. I then let my monkey play on the playground and sat on the steps.

The neighbor lady came out, and so did the mean lookin guy, and they sat near me, and we talked. We must have been out there a few hours talking. The mean looking guy was actually nice, and WAY HOT! I just knew he wasn't single, and even if he was, he had no interest in me, but he was fun to look at and talk to. He lived in the apartment directly below me, and his name was Jack.

The next days and weeks after that, we would always "run into" each other. Whether it be he was outside walking his dog and I would go outside to smoke, or he would hear me go out, so he would take his dog out. Whatever the case, each night for the next few weeks, he would come up after my monkey went to bed, and we would watch a movie, or sit and talk, or hang out, and even sometimes we'd wrestle. I didn't know until later that "platonic friends don't wrestle". WHO KNEW? haha.

Ok, so, Memorial day rolls around, and he's a vet (so is my dad), and I didn't want him being alone on that day, so I invited him to go with my monkey and I to my parents house for bbq. He agrees, and we go. It was a fun day. That night, we come home, I put monkey to bed, and he and I sit and talk. It was incredible. The more we talked, the more feelings were exposed, and finally he says "I find myself wanting you as more than just a friend". I HONESTLY had NO CLUE! Why would this HOT guy want me?

So, we decide to wait on a relationship, for various reasons. It was a mutual agreement, and who knows how long until it happens. A couple days go by, and Jack says he just can't stop thinking about me, and he doesn't want to wait. I was a-ok with that, and from then on, we were "a couple".

Months go by, and everything is going great. I don't remember how it came up, but we decide we just love each other so much, we should get married. It's currently about September, so we pick May 26, 2007. We decide nothing fancy, etc, and things are going along fine. He has knee surgery in October, and I have knee surgery exactly 1 month later in November. We talk after the surgeries, and decide it's been a long time since anything intimate, maybe this was God's way of keeping us from messing up further. So, we decide to wait for anything intimate until we're married. About a month goes by, and it's now around mid December. We were hanging out one night, and hormones were flared up, but we decided to fight the urges. This was no easy feat - we were living together. The next morning, I wake up, still frustrated from the night before, and we talk. I said "this is causing a problem between us, and that is no good. We need to do something about this". So, together, we decide to move the date up to December 30, 2006.

We decide we still want to have the ceremony in church, and do the counseling, and do everything we can the right way. So, we talk to the pastor, he shoves us into his schedule, and we do the counseling, and set up the wedding.

So then, the 30th rolls around - FINALLY! Woo hoo - it's our wedding day! It was an INCREDIBLE day. I barely slept, and Jack slept even less. I got up about 530 'cause of the excitement, and started getting ready. Oh, the fun! My monkey woke up a little later - around 730, and I was in the living room. the first words I hear are "mommy, mommy" so I go in there, and she says "is Jack my dad today?" Awwww. I had told her when we got married that Jack was gonna be her dad, and she was SO excited she couldn't handle it. I told her yes, and she got this giant excited face and says "YAY, I always wanted a dad, and never had one, and now I have one. I'm so happy". It was awesome.

So, we all were getting ready and such, and my friend Summer came over to do my monkey's hair while I get ready. It was raining outside, so I borrowed a big umbrella from my parents. We go to leave the house to go to the church, and what do you know - God stopped the rain long enough for us to get into the truck without my fro getting messed up.

We get to the church, and get our clothes on, etc. The ceremony was at 11am, so that was cool. there were only about 10 people who came, and it was nice and small.

I finish my clothes and stuff, and am standing in the hallway waiting for the music. Everything else was so non-traditional, why make the music traditional, right? I clipped 1 minute, 37 seconds from the song "Everything" by Lifehouse. It's an awesome song, and means so much to Jack and I, I just felt it appropriate.

So, it starts playing, I walk down the aisle, and Jack starts shaking. He said it was 'cause "you looked so beautiful". He's so wonderful. We do the ceremony, it's short, and sweet. We exchange rings - his is titanium with red gold inlay, and mine is a white gold band. I'm so hard on my hands with my job, I didn't want anything I would worry about messing up. When the ceremony is almost over - instead of the pastor saying "you may kiss the bride" he comes out with "Jack, would you plant a big one on her, please?" Our pastor ROCKS!

That's the story of the S Family, and how it came to be.

The moral of the story is - let God lead you, and you really can have "happily ever after".