You met at a Flash Mob?
Falling in love is like winning Publisher's Clearing House, but it's not as simple as Ed McMahon just showing up at your doorstep.
The first time Steve and Carmen met was at Flash Mob Austin's Ikea Live-In
in November 2008. (A flash mob is a large group of people who assemble suddenly in a public place, perform an unusual action for a brief time, and then quickly disperse. You may have heard of the Grand Central Station Freeze in NYC.)
Anyhow, Flash Mob Austin was staging a "live-in" at Ikea in which the 30-40 flash mobbers would all bring household items and pretend to be "living" in the Ikea displays. Carmen brought knitting needles and sat on a couch with her feet up making a scarf, while Steve brought an algebra book and sat in a desk on an elevated display, pretending to do homework. The shoppers thought Ikea had hired actors to pretend to be living in the store, and they couldn't help but stare and smile. Steve and Carmen's initial meeting was fleeting--nothing more than a handshake and introduction. Carmen didn't think Steve was a day older than 18 (he was 23), and Steve spent the day trying to avoid a girl he had gone on an awkward date with.
A few months later, their mutual friends from the Flash Mob, Indiana and Melissa, invited them both the a Dance-a-thon. They danced for over 4 hours without stopping and tied for 11th place. Sometime during all the twisting, shaking, and loud music, there was a spark.
Still, it wasn't until a couple of months later that they were in the same place at the same time again at a Flash Mob Austin planning meeting. This time, Steve asked Carmen for her number, called her three hours later, and invited himself up to Carmen's parents' house for the weekend. Talk about forward! They barely knew each other, but it turns out that spending the weekend with someone you're interested in, as well as with all of their closest family and friends, is a good way to get to know them. The weekend went off without a hitch, and it wasn't too long before they started dating.
Since then they've had all sorts of crazy adventures. They've begged an old woman to let them into her inn in the middle of the English countryside at midnight, they've dressed up as octogenarians for a friend's 30th birthday party, and they've made a lot of pancakes. One thing they haven't done yet...is get married.
