Your Stories: Prince Charming - Crown + Cowboy Hat

This email made my heart smile :) Especially when I picture the cowboy as Garrett Hedlund from Country Strong. Holy beautiful.




Whitney, 
I had an overwhelming desire to e-mail you after reading your blog quite litterally from start to finish in about a week or so. I think my employers would be really impressed to know how efficiently and quickly I can get my work done when I set my mind to it. Most days I hammered out a days worth of work in about three hours and spent the remaining five hours absorbed in the story of you and Cayden. And I had to share my story with you. Its new, and I don't know where fate is going to take us, but after reading your story, I am confident that fairytales are real, that love happens in the most unexpected places, and that I am willing to give my fairytale with my prince charming a fighting chance.


I don't know why I decided to go out that night. I spent most of my early twenties closing down various bars with my girlfriends, and after a year or two of it, all the Friday (And thursday, and saturday, and sometimes even Wednesday) nights started to feel a bit, redundant. I started to think I was meeting the same men over and over again, and once I started being recognized as a regular at a few choice bars, I guess I made an unconscious decision to change venues in my search for Mr. Right. So, then I met a boy at school, so NATURALLY he had to be the one right? Wrong. So, so wrong. Then I met a boy at a bar-b-que, and he was handsome, sweet and had a good job. Soul-mates, obviously. Wrong again.  Needless to say, the night I met my cowboy was one of the first times I had been out with my girlfriends in a LONG time. It very well might have been the first night I went out with my girlfriends just for the sake of going out with my girlfriends. I had already sworn off meeting a man in a bar, and I was no where near in a position I was looking to start a new relationhship. So there I was, at a Country Western bar wearing my most comofortable and worn out boots, that just so happened to be an ex from the one that I broke up with for no other reason than my heart wasn't fluttering the way I felt it should. And I felt free, I was laughing harder than I'd ever laughed, I was dancing and saying yes to the old men who really just wanted to swing dance. And then I saw him. And I stared until my friend glanced over at what I was staring at so intently and said "He's cute. Go talk to him for me."

Okay, sure, why not? I'm high on life right now, forgot how much fun it is to just be a 24 year old girl out having fun with her friends. In hindsight, I knew going over there that there would be no talking to this cowboy for anyone else. And being the really good friend I am, I just went with it. A, if you're reading this, and I haven't told you sorry, I am really sorry for the rest of this story. Except I am not sorry, I am oh so thankful that I am getting to write the story of us, but I do feel a tiny bit bad for telling you I'd go talk to this guy for you when in reality, all I was thinking about were how blue his eyes were and how cute he looked in his cowboy hat. I can't speak for any one else, but as for me, the prince charming in my dreams has ALWAYS, always been weariing a cowboy hat and boots. And for all you really great guys I dated who were so far from cowboys its not even funny,  and eventually broke up with, I am sorry to you too. Because I was trying really hard to not be shallow, to not write someone off because they didn't wear their boots to church. But Trace Adkins isn't lying when he says that ladies (this lady) love country boys. I always knew the kind of man I would end up with would know how to ride a horse, would spend his time doing man things like hunting and fishing, and would let me decorate my house with as many horeshoes, old ladders and rustic stars as my little heart desired. Now you're probably wondering if I was so attracted to him just because he looked like a cowboy. And you'd be right, that is what caught my eye initially. But then he opened his mouth and had the cutest accent I've ever heard. And for the rest of the night, I didn't hear anything anyone else said. It was me, and this beautiful blue eyed boy. I can't really tell you what we talked about all night, but I do remember sending him on a hunt for a pen and told him to remember my phone number until he found one.  But when the lights suddenly turned on and they called last call and he walked me outside, he asked to see me again. I decided at that moment that I was glad to have finally met that fairytale cowboy prince I always was looking for, but I'd probably never see him again. I met him in a bar for crying out loud. And did I mention he traveled , and was only home about once a month? I don't DO long distance. When he asked for my number, I told him to call me the next time he was in town, and when he said he wanted to call me the next day I thought "yeah, sure, whatever. Call me. I don't date boys in bars, but you can call me."

For someone who says she wasn't planning on ever seeing this handsome stranger again, I caught myself checking my phone frequently the next day. And when a number showed up that I didn’t' recognize on my iPhone, I just sat there and stared at the screen. I knew it was him, but didn't know whether or not I should answer it. What would I say? I knew that if I spent any more time with him, I might actually like him. And I promise you that I really didn't want to like anybody on this particular day. I had just started to enjoy the freedom that came with being single, and quite honestly wasn't up for the cruel world of dating again. I was perfectly content with spending nights with my dog, Tillamook Cake Batter ice cream, and re-runs of Greys Anatomy. I decided that now wasn't a good time for me to even entertain the idea of a relationship so I let the call go to voicemail.
 
And then I tried going about my day. I was busy that day, and tried to think about anything but the tall, handsome cowboy with the bright blue eyes. And when I finally got home, I couldn't talk myself out of seeing him. So I called him back, and when he asked if he could take me to dinner, I panicked. You'd think I hadn't been on a date in all my 24 years, because I felt myself get hot as I worried about what to wear, what we'd talk about, who would pay, if he'd try to kiss me or not. Should I invite him in? But wasn't that a tad bit, suggestive? "Sure," I said. Immediately after getting off the phone I thought to myself all the reasons why I couldn't go on a date with this guy. And how maybe he'd just be a great friend. He was new to the area, and I really liked my boys that were friends. I could always use another friend of the male gender. So I told him to scratch the dinner idea, and instead we planned on ordering in. "I'll bring the wine!" I said. Wine is always a good idea.
 
I went, we drank, we talked, we laughed. And when he asked if he could kiss me goodnight like a perfect gentleman, I told him no. And when he asked to see me again the next night, he didn't ask me if he could kiss me. Instead, in the middle of cooking dinner in the kitchen he stood as close as he could to me, leaned down and took my face in his hands and kissed me softly as he reached down, picked me up and sat me on the counter kissing me less soft like and more "I can't get enough of you" like. And with that one kiss, I knew I was a goner.
 
That was 39 days ago. Since then we've exchanged over 100 emails to get us through the two week periods he spends out of town working. We've spent a total of two weeks together in person, and I've never felt more sure of anything in my life. This is its own kind of challenging. Sure, two weeks is nothing in comparison to two or three months of distance, but it’s enough to make me crazy. 
 
But now I know there's hope. And that anything worth having is worth the wait, right? That if you and your guy from the bar can make something work from two different countries, then we can make this work too. Reading your blog has been such a refreshing look at long distance relationship. Thanks for your honesty, for letting us go down this journey to happily ever after with you. I hope that my story too has as happy as an ending as yours. Although, your story is just really beginning. 


Brittany

"Small things done with great love change the world."