Welcome to Gaia! ::

Heh...I suppose today is as good of a day to post the story of how I and the founder of the Celery Chronicles met.

Took you long enough, my love- but at least it's done.

Blackhorn and I met online in the Vampire Coven about a year and a half ago. At first we simply began to RP there in the Coven, enjoying each other's abilities to actually hold a logical and well-spoken RP. Since we enjoyed each other's company as well, we began to send PMs back and forth, getting to know each other pretty well, which led to a good online friendship.

I must admit, it was fun to talk with him and RP with him- he had his own storyline, his own style, and a sense of humor that never seemed to fail. What had origonally caught my eye, however, was his signature- a picture of him in a suit, his hair (shorter at the time) spiked, and the words "Worship me as your Sex God" written on it. I found it highly amusing- and thus, became a fan.

Eventually we exchanged Yahoo Instant Messenger names, and our conversations continued on there, slowly and steadily becoming more and more...personal. Before we knew it, the words "I love you" were exchanged between us, and from there we had an online relationship, one that her parents practically forbid.

At first, I was just having fun, being goofy, and enjoying his company. Before I knew what was happening, I found myself doing anything in order to talk with him. I'd sneak online anytime I could to talk to him. It was no longer just fun, it was something more.... When we first said those words... "I love you," .... I just felt like it was right...

This all seemed to happen within 4-6 months. Then, due to personal mental problems on my part, there was a sudden stop in communications. I was checked into SAMHC (Southern Arizona Mental Health Clinic) and was being treated for depression, bi-polar, and possible schizophrenic tendencies. Our communications were cut short for about 3 months, and Blackhorn had thought that I had disappeared off of the face of the Earth. She tried to resume her life as if I hadn't been a part of it, but she still felt feelings for me and still worried about me.

It was the begining of my summer... I'd be a full time camp counselor at a Girl Scout camp in Wisconsin, and be an adult- finally. We had origonally planned for him to come up and visit me while I was there... But then he disappeared... One day... I just stopped hearing from him. I sent message after message, I called and left messages.... I was so scared that something had happened and I would never know what.

After a while, I gave up. I thought that maybe he just didn't want to talk to me anymore, that all our hopes of seeing eachother were just a lie.... I tried to convince myself that he was like that- that he was just another guy. I spent the whole summer trying to forget him... I spent every second trying not to think of him... I spent every night, trying not to cry for fear that something had happened to him...

With the end of the summer coming, I moved from Tucson to Phoenix, and I managed to get ahold of a unprotected wireless connection. From this connection I sent Blackhorn a message explaining what had happened, and asked her what we should do from that point. She said that we could try picking up from where we left off, and we would see where that took us.

I opened my PMs one day- supprised to see a name I didn't recognize in my Inbox. Confused and curious, I opened it up. After reading it a few times I simply stared at the screen- unsure of what to do, or even what was going on. It took me a long time to figure out what to think.... Then twice as long to think of what I was going to say to him. Finally, I typed with trembling fingers that we could try to pick up where we left off... Tears were running down my face as I begged the Fates to let us have a second chance...

We continued our relationship, even with what had happened, and to make a long story short, everything went very well. So well, in fact, that in November I decided to pay about $250 for a round-trip airplane ticket to see my Blackhorn for a weekend. A month after that amazing weekend Blackhorn, against her parents' wishes, packed up everything that she could and had me buy her a one-way ticket to Phoenix.

I couldn't have hoped for anything better. After a little bit of akwardness, one very teary phone call, and a lot of "I love you"s and "I miss you"s, we were back- better in fact. I couldn't stop thinking about him- and couldn't wait to see him. The weekend that he came to visit were a few of the most amazing days I've ever had. I couldn't beleive how lucky I was to have found someone like him online.... On Gaia at that.

Shortly after that weekend, I packed up my bags, and told my parents that I was flying to Arizona to be with him- the next day. They didn't take it well, but I didn't care. With the help of some friends I made it to the airport. I was sick to my stomach with nervousness for the whole flight. When I saw him waiting for me at the airport, I couldn't help but drop everything I was carrying, and jump into his arms. I felt like I was finally home...

She stayed here with me for 6 months, which were the most amazing 6 months either of us have ever experienced. Unfortunately, college back home for Blackhorn is much more affordable than college here, with her mother being a teacher in Ohio. Today, at 6 AM, I took Blackhorn to the airport (along with our dog) so that she could go back to Ohio for schooling. Next month she will be coming back to Arizona to see me, and the month after that I will be going to Ohio, and so on and so forth. After this Fall semester, I will be done with my schooling and we will do the final part of our plan: I will be moving to Ohio to be with my Blackhorn once again.

Those 6 months were amazing.... I couldn't have asked for anything else... It hurts so much to know that those 6 months are already over and we have 6 more months to wait before we can be with each other again....This time forever.

Getting on the airplane was hard. He waited while I went through security, watching me at all times. I wanted to run back through the lines and jump into his arms- begging him to let me stay- or to come with me... I didn't care- as long as we didn't have to do this... say goodbye... But I didn't... I stopped right after the security check, signed that I loved him, blew him a kiss, and walked on.

School in Ohio will cost me next to nothing since my mother works at the college I'll be going to. I know in the long run it will be best for us to avoid major debt. We can save up money over the next 6 months... So that when he moves up here in December we can have a place to live together... I don't like the idea of living in Ohio, but schools cheaper here... I suppose that makes life easier in the long run... I just want to be with Jacob.

I love this woman with all of my heart. She means the world to me, and she knows that. She also knows that I will do anything to be with her for the rest of our lives, even if that means not having her live with me for the next 6 months. Today has been one of the hardest days I can remember, and I've surprised myself by not breaking down into tears. I have faith that, in the end, our trust and love in each other will overcome this distance that has been put between us again, and we will find ourselves in each others' arms, just like last year, right before Christmas.

I can't claim to have been strong like he is... I cried on the plane, I cried myself to sleep last night, I cried when I woke up this morning, and I cried when I read this post and his new journal entries... I can garentee that when I call him in an hour to wake him up, I'll cry again...

I love him so much, and I can't wait to spend my life with him. He means everything to me. We're both willing to do anything to be together for the rest of our lives- even be apart for 6 months first...After all, we survived for a year not even having felt the others arms or lips... What's 6 months of remembering (with the monthly visit in between)?

I know we'll make it...
To quote his journal: "Now, we have to wait for December again."

After Blackhorn moved back up to Ohio, I was devastated, but I also knew that in the end it would be for the best. After she moved I continued my schooling for my Audio Production Technology degree, and in the end I got it. While going to school I was also working, trying to get enough money to get myself back up to Ohio with my love.

After I moved back to Ohio, I started back at college, no closer to knowing what I was going to do with my life than before. I tried to keep busy, hang out with friends- anything to keep my mind off the distance between Diasnis and I.

While Blackhorn was living in Arizona with me, she became pregnant. Not too long after moving back up to Ohio, I came to visit her in person, trying to figure out what we were going to do about our future child. A few months after, Blackhorn gave birth to our son, whom we named Traye. Now he's a year old, and the most adorable and impish child that we could ever have hoped for. Things have been tough since she gave birth and now, but we've been going with everything, keeping our minds on the future, making sure to do things the best we can in order to insure a good future.

My pregnancy was... difficult, to say the least. Having Diasnis there with me during the birth was more than helpful- it was what I needed- if only to keep my mother's fluttering to a minimum. Our son now is everything we could have wanted- smarter than his age, devilish (like his father), very strong willed (like me) and eager to learn everything. He asks what something is every few seconds, and repeats the word until he gets it right. It's adorable.

When I finally convinced my parents that I was ready and able to move to Ohio to support my fiance and son, I called my best friend Nick and had him take a few days off of work to help me make the drive from Tucson, AZ to Dayton, OH. The trek was full of jokes, good music, and a flat tire in Oklahoma. In the end we made our way to Blackhorn's parents' house, and from there we went to a Studio 6 to stay in while we found an apartment. During that time I found myself a job at a musician store, selling guitars and such for commission, which didn't work out. I also had a job as a cook at a pub, but the company screwed me over and shut down their location only a month after hiring me, without any indication of what was going to happen.

From the day that Diasnis said he was on his way, to the day he got there, I was pacing constantly, worrying and generally being a nuisance to anyone in earshot. When he finally got here, I couldn't wait to spend every waking hour with him and renew our relationship. Finding him a job was tough, and finding an apartment was even harder. We were stuck in Studio 6 for a couple months while we searched. I didn't care though, I had him- that was all that mattered.

Blackhorn and I finally found ourselves a 1-bedroom apartment for a low price and moved in together, ready to start our lives together again, in our own place, our names on the papers, our first foothold on the steps to our future. While we've been here, we've seen our neighbors come and go, we've obtained two stray cats, one Pixie Bob and the other a Bengal, and I now have a job as a valet parking attendant at the Veteran's Affairs here in Dayton. Things are starting to look up for us, and hopefully the major bumps in our road are beginning to smooth out.

Sure, the apartment isn't grand. We don't have a couch (and that's proved a bigger problem than we thought it would), we don't have a real table (yay folding tables), hell- we don't even have our bed frame put together. What we do have is one lazy gecko, a psychotic (but loving) rat, a couple of fish with serious mental issues, and two adorably annoying stray kittens. We have each other. We have a home- even if we have to share it with a few fuzzy friends. I had a job at a local restaurant for a while- until business got to rough for it to be worth me working. Diasnis seems to enjoy his valet job, and it gives us enough money to support ourselves and our son. Finally, things seem to be working out- if only for a little while.

Just yesterday Blackhorn and I celebrated our 2nd anniversary of her moving to Phoenix with me, and it feels like it was just yesterday that I had flown out here to Ohio the first time to see her in person, not knowing what the future would hold for us. We've had our ups and downs through everything, but we're confident that the future will hold our dreams and happiness.

We're not the perfect couple- we've had our fair share of fights, hours of crying, a full day of ignoring each other from time to time- but nothing more than a healthy couple should have. We can never stay mad at each other- not that we ever have reason to. Our son is the perfect little imp for us, It's hard to believe that we've been together for 2 years now. Threw it all, though, we've managed to stay together. We're still in love- for the rest of our lives.

I'm not that great of a writer, love, but I'll work on it, for you.

Horray?