Andy & Tanja

[Andy]

Ok here goes...

We first met on the 14th of November 2007 in a little known place called Compton Bay...

In case you're not sure what Compton Bay looks like, here's an example, it's quite stunning:




Ok maybe it wasn't that Compton Bay... :P

More like this one:



(Btw take a look at the chat box )


This was me:

And this was her:


So we met on PKR. It's a 3D online poker site. The previous month I punctured my lung for the first time. It was a Tuesday, and it was only the second week of my second year at Uni. This was where the real work started as far as Uni was concerned because the marks from Year 1 didn't count towards my final degree... yet as I was driving home from just my 6th day I felt a sharp pain in my chest. I was 10 minutes from my house but somehow I made it back, breathing heavily. My Dad took me straight to hospital and I was diagnosed with a punctured lung. I was kept in overnight and told to take 2 weeks off Uni and just rest.... great :|

Ok so not the best start to "starting the real work" at Uni then...

I get through any Uni work I've got to do in the first day or 2 so I'm left completely bored now, not really allowed to move around too much, and in some discomfort when I do. So I remember my older brother showing me this cool poker site a few months back, it was a bit different as it was in 3D so I thought I'd give it a go....

I quite enjoyed it and played most days... soon enough the 2 weeks was over and I could get back to Uni. Thank God. But I left PKR installed on my PC but didn't play it for a few weeks as I tried to catch up on what I'd missed...

Then one night I decide to fire up PKR and play a couple of games (I only ever played with play money back then btw...) You were allowed $1000 play chips every time you went bust so I set myself a little challenge of trying to reach $1,000,000 chips.

Then on just my 2nd night, I joined a table called Compton Bay. It was an arbitrary choice, I could've picked any of the other tables but little did I know that this would be a decision that would dramatically change my life...

I hadn't made any "friends"on PKR yet. It's a nice community of friendly players there though, so you always get lots of banter and chat, plus the 3D element and the fact you've got your own character kinda adds to the whole experience. But that night I made a whole bunch of friends. I played for hours on end and had a really great time. Not least when a blonde girl from Finland who went by the name of "chikatozuka" joined the table (who I suspect was a little bit drunk... )

She was very flirty and bubbly whereas I'm pretty quiet and shy in general, even more so back then... but a whole group of us added each other as friends, and chikatozuka was one of them...

The following night I logged onto PKR and saw that chika was online, so I joined her and we started playing... bearing in mind that this was only the 2nd night we'd ever played with one another... check this out:

It's a text hand history from the last hand of poker that we played together that night:

Table #4916563 - Fair Ambassador 6
Starting Hand #241678264
Last Hand #241676690
Game Type: Hold'em
Limit Type: No Limit
Table Type: Ring
Money Type: PLAY MONEY
Blinds are now $50/$100
Button is at seat 3
Seat 1: akashrek - $0 (away from table)
Seat 2: stormram - $850
Seat 3: evertonian88 - $53872
Seat 4: BurnleyFC1882 - $40018.37
Seat 5: pokerdiva1 - $6950
Seat 6: paulenas - $1000
Seat 7: XxxChIrMafiAxxX - $10000
Seat 8: Pato54 - $4250
Seat 9: vakond11 - $48574
Seat 10: chikatozuka - $99114.68 (away from table)
Moving Button to seat 4
akashrek: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx chik
pokerdiva1 posts small blind ($50)
XxxChIrMafiAxxX posts big blind ($100)
Shuffling Deck
Dealing Cards
Dealing [Js Jh] to evertonian88
chikatozuka: ok good night and good luck everyone
Pato54 calls $100
evertonian88: you're a man magnet tanja
vakond11 raises to $900
Pato54: thx
chikatozuka: haha
stormram calls $850 (all-in)
evertonian88: love you
BurnleyFC1882: u going again lol
evertonian88 raises to $7300
Pato54: good night
chikatozuka: love ya too
chikatozuka: yep
evertonian88: night
BurnleyFC1882 folds
pokerdiva1 calls $6950 (all-in)
BurnleyFC1882: cya xx
chikatozuka: see you soon i hope
XxxChIrMafiAxxX raises to $10000 (all-in)
Pato54 folds
vakond11 folds
evertonian88 calls $10000
chikatozuka: but not tomorrow, cause im gonna be wasted!
stormram shows [Ad Tc]
evertonian88 shows [Js Jh]
pokerdiva1 shows [Kh Td]
XxxChIrMafiAxxX shows [2d 8d]
chikatozuka laughs out loud.
Dealing Flop [6s Qc 3s]
Dealing Turn [6c]
Dealing River [As]
XxxChIrMafiAxxX has One Pair: 6s
evertonian88 has Two Pairs: Jacks, 6s
evertonian88 wins $6100 from side pot #2 with: Two Pairs: Jacks, 6s
evertonian88 wins $18350 from side pot #1 with: Two Pairs: Jacks, 6s
chikatozuka: so bye
stormram has Two Pairs: Aces, 6s
stormram wins $4350 with: Two Pairs: Aces, 6s
Seat 1: akashrek - $0
Seat 2: stormram - $4350
Seat 3: evertonian88 - $68322
Seat 4: BurnleyFC1882 - $40018.37
Seat 5: pokerdiva1 - $0
Seat 6: paulenas - $1000
Seat 7: XxxChIrMafiAxxX - $0
Seat 8: Pato54 - $4150
Seat 9: vakond11 - $47674
Seat 10: chikatozuka - $99114.68
End Of Hand #241678264


Haha! Seriously! We both told each other that we loved each other! LOL!!! We often joke about that

Just to explain that man magnet comment - she had LOTS of guys chasing after her on there hehe :P

Ok, back to the story... man this is long already... and we're only at the 2nd night haha!

Basically we keep playing with each other on a regular basis for a couple of weeks when we decide to swap email addresses and agree to send each other a photo of one another, well actually just a photo of me that needed sending because she had a blog and and MSN space or something so I saw her pic quite early on...

I didn't have a girlfriend when we met but it hadn't crossed my mind once thinking about her in that way, I just saw her as a fun Finnish girl I played and chatted with... and we continued to chat for a little while when she said she wanted to show me something, and she sent me a picture of a little girl and told me it was her daughter...

I was really shocked, we'd never asked each other about if we were in relationships or had kids or anything for some reason, I suppose cause we'd always just gone on there for a chat and had some childish fun, it was never anything serious with us back then.

So I asked her if she was married, she said no but she had a boyfriend who she lives with and have been together for 7 years or so, I thought fair enough, she is bloody gorgeous! :P

So a few more weeks down the line and we've been talking every day, usually for hours on end and we start to get to know each other a bit more. As it happens her relationship is not quite what she wants it to be, she wasn't sure if she still loved him etc

I tried suggested talking to him and trying to re-build things with him but it soon became clear that the spark was fading if you like. I don't think I helped her confusion as I was always complimenting her :P

Fast forward a little more to our 37th day of knowing each other (you know what's coming babe )

She told me that she was falling in love with me, she wasn't herself that evening and I knew something was up, once I sensed that she had something she wanted to say, I knew exactly what was coming. I knew she really liked me but she wasn't sure about telling me. She finally decided to come out with it after a lot of talking and even though I knew it was coming I didn't have any words ready. I didn't feel the same at that point, despite enjoying every second I spent talking with her.

Maybe a week or so later and I've not been thinking about anything else except her this whole time, I'm wondering am I falling in love with her too? I think I was... and I told her as much on New Year's day. With hindsight that feeling was nothing compared to what it would grow into, and so I doubt if I was falling in love with her then, knowing how I felt a few months down the line. I like to think of that day as when the seed of her love was planted in my heart, and it's grown every day ever since

In the weeks and months to come we start sending each other lots of emails, pictures and video clips we've made for each other, spending hours and hours every single night, staying up until the early hours regularly, we just couldn't get enough of each other's company!

Fast forward to April, I've had a few more episodes with my lung and along with my doctors, I decided that enough was enough, I'd punctured my lung 6 times in 6 months, I need to have surgery and put all this behind me. In fact, I should mention that in December, prior to her telling me she loved me, I punctured my lung for the second time while I was talking to Tanja online! I typed something along the lines of "oh god, i'm dying" (too dramatic...?) then "brb" then 5-10 minutes later "hey i gtg to the hospital..." - needless to say I could've handled that better haha!

But she stayed up until 3am that night waiting for a message from me, but we hadn't exchanged phone numbers and I was the only person who knew about Tanja, she was a secret if you like. So she had no way of knowing that the hospital were keeping me in overnight.... poor thing

The reason I'm telling that story is that I think she realised how much she liked me that night. She was worried sick... :s

[Andy]

Anyway where was I? Oh yeah, surgery. By this time we'd exchanged phone numbers but she was still a secret, so as soon as I woke up from surgery I promised I'd text her, which somehow I did despite being pretty much out of it on morphine haha! I don't remember sending that text at all! XD

Onto May, I was told it would take 2-3 months to recover from my surgery so I was resting and resting some more. I remember being outside on a sun lounger and I checked my emails on my phone and there was one from Tanja! Great!

It had an attachment too so I downloaded it and unzipped the .rar file and there were 3 short clips inside... they were naughty clips :P

We'd never sent each other anything like this at all and it came completely out of the blue, I was pretty surprised haha! They weren't x-rated or anything but she was wearing a see-through top in one and just her pants in another

Tanja was still living with her boyfriend up until around May too, but then one day she text me simply saying "i've left him"

It was quite a shock and it made me feel a few things. I felt guilty for a long time (a long time before this too) because it felt like I'd broken up a family and that really upset me. I'd turned the lives of 3 people I've never met upside down. It took a lot of talking and a lot of time for me to get past that feeling of guilt.

Alongside that was a certain feeling of panic I guess. This was real now, it wasn't just some avatar on an online poker site, this was turning into a real relationship, and it was happening so fast. It was quite frightening really.

That summer they broke up and he moved out. They're both still friends today, it wasn't a messy break-up but no break-ups are nice so I helped her through it. I often also felt guilty for how I must've been making Tanja feel through all this. She said she felt like she was cheating on her boyfriend, and that made me felt terrible too. Our first few months together were certainly quite dramatic!

So the summer comes and goes and on September 1st 2008 we decided to become exclusive to one another and be official. So our thoughts turned to meeting up. I didn't want either of us to go to one another's home for our first meeting, I wanted it to be away from both our homes. Our first thought was London, although Tanja is terrified of flying, and I was hoping to meet her without telling my parents, but I soon came to realise that wans't going to be possible...

So sometime in June I finally plucked up the courage to tell my Mum about her. I told her everything and about how we were planning to meet. I asked for her advice and I made her promise not to tel my Dad yet. It took me another 2 months before finding the right moment to tell him!

I was still off from Uni until the new year - I punctured my lung on the morning of one of my exams so the rest of them got deferred and I was allowed to do the 2nd half of 2nd year again free of charge because of all the issues I'd had...

So I wanted to meet Tanja before the year was out. We decided that I'd fly to Helsinki - even though I was advised not to fly for 3-5 years! That was super depressing news when I heard that! But my lung had been fine and I sought plenty of assurances before suggesting I flew there...

So ok that was decided, just a date now, which we had to fit around her work. We found one week but then I got called up for jury duty! Argh! Luckily I was excused and we settled on December 12th. She would meet me at the airport and we'd spend the weekend together

So the time comes and I have never ever been so nervous. One minute I'm on the plane the next I'm walking into her arms! We didn't say anything, just hugged for a while - she said later that she thought I was gonna faint! :P

It was quite a strange sensation being able to touch someone I'd spent over a year getting to know. It felt even more real than I thought it would, I don't know if anyone can relate to that felling... She was taller than I imagined too :P

So we practically spent the whole weekend in the hotel room doing things we couldn't do online

Saying that though, we did manage to get lost in Helsinki :P

She still says our first kiss was the most perfect kiss she's ever had, and I feel exactly the same way :red:

We haven't got many pics from that weekend, and the ones we have got are either from when we weren't both wearing too much clothes, or just as we were waiting for the taxi to the airport and those are awful pictures haha!

Here's the best one:




Unsurprisingly the weekend flew by and we both went home in floods of tears having had out thoughts confirmed that we were in love with each other and we did want to be together. At that point we didn't know when we'd get the chance to see each other again, which made the goodbye a thousand times harder.

As it happened we would get the chance to spend a week together as soon as February! I went to stay in her little wooden hut (as my Dad called it after seeing a picture :P) meeting her daughter and her parents (only her Mum speaks any sort of English so that was a bit awkward haha!

Here's a couple of our fave pics from that week:






We then got to spend 2 months together that summer, Tanja was laid off work too so we had every single second together, it was magical ♥






We then got to spend some 4 weeks together over Xmas and New Year, another week in March then 5.5 weeks this summer just gone


I'm sure that's quite enough for you to read through! I think it's quite a story! :P

I can't wait to marry her and have our happy ever after together, she makes me happier than anyone else ever could and I love her to bits ♥

I love you so much Tanja

[Tanja]

Awwww you couldn't have worded it better babe. I love you so much too Andy ♥

[elina]

I've been waiting to hear your story, thanks for sharing It's a lovely story and the pictures are cute

[Tanja]

Glad you like it!

Funny how I can re-live all those feelins from years back just by reading this...

And isn't this just the sweetest thing ever

I like to think of that day as the seed of her love was planted in my heart, and it's grown every day ever since

♥

[Andy]

I've been waiting to hear your story, thanks for sharing It's a lovely story and the pictures are cute

Thanks Elina

Funny how I can re-live all those feelins from years back just by reading this...

Yeah I know, I felt exactly the same writing it

And isn't this just the sweetest thing ever

I like to think of that day as the seed of her love was planted in my heart, and it's grown every day ever since

♥

Would've been better if I'd have got it right...

Should be:

I like to think of that day as when the seed of her love was planted in my heart, and it's grown every day ever since

[sam]

How are we so alike :| Not just me and you but.. but of us as couples

I remeber feeling exactly the same as some of those feelings you mentioned about Tanja and her ex and like.. you know, kinda guilty..
Elina was in a relationship too and wasnt happy/didnt love him and I felt the same as you by the looks of it. I also felt pretty pleased with myself haha Probably horrible but yeah.. I got her to myself in the end haha

Anyway, nice story Was nice to hear it after all this time

May you both live happily ever after together


EDIT: ^ Haha, being a grammar nazi to yourself! Nice

[leonina]

You both are ADORABLE. I can't wait to see your success story one day too

[paulawriteslove]

Omg!!! This is so ADORABLE!

[Andy]

How are we so alike :| Not just me and you but.. but of us as couples

I remeber feeling exactly the same as some of those feelings you mentioned about Tanja and her ex and like.. you know, kinda guilty..
Elina was in a relationship too and wasnt happy/didnt love him and I felt the same as you by the looks of it. I also felt pretty pleased with myself haha Probably horrible but yeah.. I got her to myself in the end haha

Anyway, nice story Was nice to hear it after all this time

May you both live happily ever after together

Haha thanks

And I know!! We're so alike as a couple too! It's gone past being creepy now...

EDIT: ^ Haha, being a grammar nazi to yourself! Nice

I've actually gone back and edited the original post now hehe

You both are ADORABLE. I can't wait to see your success story one day too

Omg!!! This is so ADORABLE!

Thanks you 2

Tanja will absolutely love these ADORABLE comments hehe XD

[Tanja]

Thanks everyone! I think we're ADORABLE too!

And Sam: We 4 should just all marry each other.

[elina]

I got her to myself in the end haha

Yeah you did Kinda glad about that My saviour ♥

Yeah.. it is getting beyond creepy as to how similiar we all are.. If only Sam started to like Facebook.....

[Karringtyn]

Andy my friend I have to admit I teared up with this one.

And as an English teacher...I want to take out my big blue pen and write "Marvelous" at the top!

Thank you so much for sharing.

[Tanja]

Yeah.. it is getting beyond creepy as to how similiar we all are.. If only Sam started to like Facebook.....

Elina it is our duty to turn Sam and we shall succeed!

Andy my friend I have to admit I teared up with this one.

And as an English teacher...I want to take out my big blue pen and write "Marvelous" at the top!

Thank you so much for sharing.

Awwwwww

He's good with word's isn't he (that's why I made HIM write all this!)

[elina]

Elina it is our duty to turn Sam and we shall succeed!

Weeeeeelllllllllll we can always try The situation does seem a bit hopeless at the moment But together we can do it!!

Maybe he'll be following Andy's footsteps, being his little brother and all, and start liking it eventually