I was living in Chandler, AZ at the time I met Jim, who lived in Eudora, KS. (Where the heck is that?) I am originally from Nebraska and had moved out to Arizona to make a career change about 4 years prior. As much fun as it was to start over, I was in a dating rut in Arizona, and just couldn't anyone with the great midwest values I grew up with. (I had never been married and Jim was divorced.) A friend of mine recommended FarmersOnly.com. I spotted Jim's picture and thought he looked like a great guy, so I e-mailed him in October 2008. Three days later.......he FINALLY responded. (I still give him grief about that, but he said he was leary because I lived so far away!) We e-mailed and talked on the phone almost every day for a month. We decided we needed to see if the chemistry also existed in person, so I flew out to Kansas City in November. (I first "Google earth" mapped his house and gave the picture to my sister. I had no idea where "Eudora" was, so I told her if I didn't come home, then to send authorities to find me in the wood chipper!)
It was the longest flight of my life, and I was terrified and excited at the same time. I got off the plane, and he was no where in sight! I figured I'd been stood up, but luckily my phone rang and it was Jim, telling me he was trying to get to my gate. We kept talking for a few minutes until this handsome man wearing a cowboy hat, with a killer smile and caring eyes, walked around the corner on his cell phone and I knew it was him. Relief swept over me.....he was even better looking in person. He was carrying a flower, which I thought was the sweetest thing ever. We laugh now because it was a pink carnation, and I HATE carnations!
We got in his F-350 pickup and agreed to go for lunch and a beer to relax our nerves. To my surprise, I discovered he was a "redhead". In the 2 pictures he posted, I thougth he was blond. It didn't matter, he was gorgeous! He admitted I was better looking in person too, but he was relieved I looked like my pictures. I spent the whole weekend in Eudora, learning how to do chores, feed cattle, drive a combine, and just getting to know him better. It was like we'd known eachother for years and it was a comfortable, fun weekend. I flew home after 2 days, scared to death that I'd get back to Arizona and I'd never hear from him again. The first thing I told my family was, "If he's not Mr. Right, then Mr. Right's not out there!" Luckily, we continued to talk and he wanted to see me again. I flew out again in December and won his Dad over when he found out I knew how to shoot guns.
We agreed to take a trip together, so we both flew to Colorado in January and went to Estes Park, Colorado for a long weekend. To our suprise, the town was all but shut down, so we had to make the best of it and it was a test of our relationship. Two weeks later, Jim flew to Arizona so we could take his 10 year old son to the Grand Canyon. It was technically our "4th date". Jim and I had talked about my moving to Kansas, but I told him I wouldn't sell my house and quit my job to move to Eudora, KS; just to be his girlfriend. To my surprise, he proposed at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon and I got the blessing from his son too.
Six months to the day of our first e-mail, we got married! To date, we've had 3 kids together and will celebrate our 4th anniversary in April. Our oldest daughter will turn 3 in March, our middle daughter is now 18 months, and our son is 4 months. We've decided our farm family is big enough now! For years we didn't admit to the general public we met on-line, but after almost 4 years together, we're proud of how we met and are proud of the nice little family we've become. Taking a chance on this KansasPlowboy was the best thing this AzHuskerGirl ever did!