This is Morgan in December, 2009,
at the start of a trip to Joshua Tree National Park.
She was really excited to be backpacking!
Yay for nature!
She was really excited to be backpacking!
Yay for nature!
Morgan is 27 years old and often mistaken for a pubescent. This may have something to do with her child-like outlook on life (bouncy houses are a go basically all the time), or the fact that she spends a lot of time at schools working with at-risk youth in the community. She is the youngest of her mother's five daughters, but has a younger brother and sister, too. (Confusion is the appropriate response to that information.) Don't worry! This makes her good in awkward situations, which is sometimes something that Corey needs help with.
And speaking of Corey? She loves the absolute sh*t out of him, and tells him so all the time. She thinks she's basically the luckiest girl in the whole world every morning when she stumbles, practically comatose, into the kitchen to realize that Corey has, once again, set the coffee to be ready as soon as she's awake. YAY FOR GETTING MARRIED!
Groom-to-be of Brilliance and Uninterrupted Virility:
This is Corey doing math in the Summer of 2010.
He always said that he would lecture to an empty classroom
if nobody came to class!!!
Corey believes that he is 32, but he often loses count. He also insists that this doesn't effect his career as a math professor at Cal State, San Bernardino, in that being good at CALENDAR math is not a requirement for success there. He has an older brother, younger sister, step-brother and step-father (in addition to a real father. And real mother.)
And Morgan? Yeah, he loves that girl. TONS. It's not just her fantastic smile, their fantastic adventures, or the fact that she willingly watches college football with him every Saturday (Go DUCKS!) He also loves her for what else she brings to his life: the warm love she offers freely, and the strength and stability that comes with lifelong friendship and love.
The story of Magic Saturday (How We Met):
Morgan's Version:
Sometime in late 2008, Morgan started frequenting a cute little coffee shop near her downtown Redlands apartment called Fox in the mornings before work. It wasn't long before Morgan spotted Corey one morning, in all his bearded, sweater vested, studious goodness, and decided that he was exactly what she was looking for. (Okay, she admits it: he was just really cute.)
Morgan visually stalked Corey for a while, until she realized that Corey didn't seem to notice her at all. (He maintains that he was just in weird, spacey math zone.) Morgan moved on, figuring he was obviously gay or blind. But Morgan remembers vividly the morning she registered in Corey's line of sight, and it gave her the warm fuzzies as she left the coffee shop that day, smiling shyly at him.
Fast forward a few months to lucky March 17th, 2009, when Morgan wandered in to Fox looking for an outlet for her POS computer. Corey jumped up and kindly offered her his table, but because Morgan was awkward and didn't want him to leave, Morgan instead chose a table next to his. Morgan remembers Corey telling her that he was a math professor and feeling all fatalistic-y about how they weren't going to have anything in common. But, the two of them struck up a great conversation about gender roles and synesthesia (two very clearly first-conversation topics).
Morgan also remembers that her eye was watering uncontrollably, and that Corey seemed very intent on letting her know he was "big into communication" (trying to sell himself as a suitable mate, obviously). After a lovely hour of conversation, Corey stood, introduced himself, and reported, "I'm sure I'll see you around; I see you here all the time." Morgan practically peed herself with excitement. Morgan promptly went to work and announced to her friends, "Coffee Shop Guy has a name!"
But Corey didn't come back to the coffee shop for a MONTH, leaving Morgan to wonder if he was dead, or had taken up residence with a single mother in Amsterdam, never to be seen or heard from again.
On April 11th, 2009 (a date we now refer to as Magic Saturday), Morgan returned to Fox coffee shop to meet her good friend Andrea for coffee and gossip. But as Morgan was walking in, THERE WAS COREY! Morgan may or may not have thrown up her hands in exasperated shock at seeing Corey so unexpectedly on that fine, misty Saturday morning.
Corey spent the rest of the afternoon following Morgan and Andrea around. Morgan was super giddy and could not believe how awesome and funny and weird Corey was. Morgan wondered if Corey liked her, or if he was just being friendly and polite because of all his previous spacing out.
Corey casually invited Morgan and Andrea to The Farm (his house) to make s'mores, and Morgan will always be thankful to Andrea for making up an excuse to not come along. Corey tricked Morgan into staying for dinner, and the rest, as they say, is history.
LOVE!
Corey's Version:
Corey's version of how they met is very similar to Morgan's. He recalls frequenting the same coffee shop and doing a lot of math there. In the Winter months of 2009, Corey would come in to Fox Coffee every now and then to do a lot of math and other work. In late February and early March, he noticed Morgan every now and then but never had the opportunity to talk to her. But then one day, March 17th 2009, as he was gathering up his things he saw Morgan walk into the coffee shop and sheepishly wander towards his table, sitting down at the one next to his.
They exchanged a smile when she approached, and Corey could see that she was desperate for an electrical outlet for her laptop. So, he nervously searched for one near his table. When she sat down and they shared a great first conversation, he saw for the first time just how stunning she really was, both on the inside and out. He didn't want to seem too forward, so he simply said that he'd see her again at Fox. At this point, it was pretty clear to Corey that THIS was the girl he was going to marry, but he'd be damned if he was going to jinx it, and didn't want to suggest too much too fast. After all, she could have not even LIKED him!
A few days later, Corey briefly came to Fox to deliver a bag to a friend. He saw Morgan at a table across the coffee shop with a friend, but he couldn't stay to talk! So, he waved hi and knew he'd be back.
As it turns out, Corey didn't make it back to Fox until after his trip to the east coast: 3 weeks later! One Saturday, April 11th, he made it back to Fox to get a little grading done. He kind of thought he'd run into Morgan, but after 2 and a half hours, it was pretty clear she wasn't going to show up -- after all, he'd never seen her there on a Saturday. So, Corey packed up his things and walked towards the door. When he reached to open it, he saw Morgan looking up at him. The thing is, it was pretty clear she was about 50% excited to see him, and 50% "Where the hell have you been?" He ignored the latter, and suggested that they grab a table and catch up.
When Morgan's friend arrived, the three of them had coffee for a little while until Corey naturally suggested they go for a beer and some pizza. Sometime during our pizza/beer mid-afternoon lunch, Corey suggested s'mores at the farm. It seemed quite natural to get fixin's for dinner whilst getting marshmallows and graham crackers at the store. They had a wonderful evening sitting out on the sanctuary-like patio at the farm, gazing out at the city lights. It isn't clear to Morgan or Corey whether we ever did end up eating those s'mores! But by that time, after spending such a wonderful day together, it really didn't matter!
This is Morgan and Corey standing in front of
Fox coffee shop about a month after Magic Saturday.
See? MAGIC!
