The little things add up for Josh and Steff

Few people would admit to putting a price on love, but Stefanie Correll is unruffled by the notion. However, her thoughts on the proposition aren’t the materialistic daydreams of designer clothes or extravagant jewels that one might expect. For Steff, true love comes with a price tag of about $28.

That’s 2,800 pennies. Five-hundred-sixty nickels. Heck, a twenty, a five and three ones — a small price to pay for happiness by almost anyone’s standard. Nevertheless, it was a price Steff teetered on doling out.

What could make her so reluctant? The $28 was the price to renew her membership to an online dating service. Without it, she couldn’t further respond to Joshua Noffsinger once he had reciprocated her I’m-interested “wink” through the service. Had she not put up the cash, her life certainly would have been different. Fortunately for Josh, Steff was penny wise and not pound foolish. She paid the fee.

Puppy Love

It wasn’t as though Steff was hard up for cash. When Josh’s reply appeared in her email inbox in November 2008, she was settling in at her new job as a field engineer for Cherne Contracting, troubleshooting construction and fabrication issues at a Southwestern Illinois oil refinery. She worked hard and was accordingly compensated. 

With a demanding job and long hours, Steff’s social life wasn’t exactly blooming. Being a woman in a male-dominated field didn’t help either. Many of her coworkers were working away from home and away from their wives. Steff said she knew the stigma that could be associated with even fraternizing with her male counterparts.

She looked to the internet as a way to break free from the constraints of becoming friendly with anyone at work.

“All the guys I worked with were married,” Steff said. “I needed to find someone else to hang out with.”

Josh, then completing his inactive reserve for the U.S. Air Force, had been globe-trotting for the past seven years, first, as a crew chief working on F-15s, and then as a tech controller for long-haul telecommunications. His ever-changing home provided by the military — including, England, Korea, Iraq and various bases around the United States — had, in the past, left him few opportunities to meet new people, especially women. His new job doing the same type of work, but as civilian contractor to the Department of Defense, was equally restrictive.

“The options were to go to a bar, or go to my church, but my schedule didn’t really allow for me to build a relationship,” Josh said. “I was looking for someone new to hang out with.”

Both Josh and Steff decided Yahoo! Personals was the perfect remedy for their dating woes. Users of the service could find other singles nearby and even research the range of income made by their prospective mates before they even started up a conversation. Josh was an apt fit for Steff.

“My grandmother always told me you should be matched financially and spiritually,” Steff said.

Josh was also candid with his personal profile, having no qualms boasting his affection for his Black Labrador Retriever, Carter. Steff was smitten with Josh’s puppy love.

“Josh’s picture is obviously the first thing you see [on the dating service profile],” Steff said. “He sparked my interest. But then his entire profile was basically about his dog.

“I grew up around black labs my entire life ... so I was definitely interested.”

At the time, both Josh and Steff were interacting with other singles online, but Steff was quickly loosing interest and had let her membership expire before Josh responded to her initial “wink.” Josh admits he may have even sent out a canned message in response due to the high volume of empty inquires created through online dating. But Steff wasn’t deterred.

“There must have been something in his email that made me want to respond,” she said. “[But] the only way to respond to him was to pay.”

Meat and Potatoes

With Steff’s dues paid in full, she and Josh were free to communicate to their heart’s desires. They shared many of the same interests and similar views on the big and little things in life, and found themselves having many engrossing conversations online, and eventually, over the phone.

Josh said he wasn’t put off by Steff’s vigorous career surrounded by testosterone. Instead, he was roused by the requisite drive and intelligence for Steff to be in her position.

“She’s one smart cookie,” Josh said.

As achievers, Josh and Steff discovered they both were also realists, and were each looking for an equal who would magnify who they were as individuals rather than either taking a more supportive role.

“I was pretty set up in life,” Josh said. “I had a good job. I had a house. I wanted to find someone who would be a good match for myself, someone who had the same goals in life as I did.”

Within weeks, Josh said he knew he found that parity with Steff and a first date was set.

Initially, Steff wanted to meet up at Golden Corral, a down-home eatery for those with sensible tastes, but Josh coaxed her into a more refined rendezvous.

The convivial, ranch-like atmosphere of the Longhorn Steakhouse in Fairview Heights, Ill. was the perfect backdrop for Josh’s and Steff’s first face-to-face meeting. Both say they love the outdoors, aren’t big  on frills and enjoy a perfectly seared steak.

However, the two weren’t at all focused on the warm stonework or the richly stained beams in the architecture surrounding them, or even the menu for that matter. That’s because the two instantly connected after setting eyes on each other.

The half hour spent at the bar waiting for their table passed in what seemed like a minute or two, Steff said. And by the time their waitress came to take their order another 20 minutes later, Steff had scarcely a notion on choosing between an Outlaw Ribeye or Flo’s Fillet mignon.

“I’ll have whatever he’s having,” she told the waitress. “… he was cute and he had a good personality. I never even had a chance to look at the menu.”

Later that evening, Steff joined Josh at his home to watch “88 Minutes,” a thriller starring Al Pacino. And of course, to meet Carter, Josh’s famed black lab, who was largely responsible for the two coming together.

Josh drove Steff back to her car at the restaurant and thought she might have been luring him in for a goodbye kiss under the false pretenses of needing assistance with her car window, but only received a hug.

For their next date, Josh made lasagna for Steff at his home, and the two then went out to an Amy Grant and Vince Gill Christmas concert. Steff said she remembers feeling a closeness developing for Josh during a point in the performance when Grant told the audience that if you were reluctant to hold hands with the person beside you, now was the perfect time to do so.

After the mild reception Josh received at the conclusion of their fist date, he was beginning to wonder what Steff’s intentions were. Wasting no time, he called her after the concert and put her on the spot.

“Do you just want to be friends with me, or do you want to date me?” Josh asked.

Steff wasn’t put off by Josh’s bluntness.

“I thought it was super cute, and I think that’s why I kept dating him,” she said.

Within a month, Steff canceled her Yahoo! Personals account. She had found her perfect match, and wasn’t concerned about the 11 more months of online flirting her $28 would have afforded.

A Delightful Recipe

Spending time outdoors, listening to music, travel and sharing one another’s company turned out to be the perfect recipe for Josh’s and Steff’s happiness. Their time dating was spent hiking, biking and sharing in new experiences.

To this day, a Valentine’s Day trip to Branson, Missouri, to take in a few live shows and stoke the fire in a rented log cabin remains one of the couple’s favorite dates. Josh and Steff had only been together for a little more than a month, but Josh had already bought a fake engagement ring from a dimestore on the trip and the couple joked about telling everyone they were getting married once they returned. But like many jokes, this one stemmed from the truth. Josh said he already knew then that he wanted to marry Steff.

“We’re just a good fit,” Josh said. “We make each other happy.”

It would be nearly a year, however, before he legitimately proposed.

In December that year, Josh’s mother asked him what he and Steff had planned for the Christmas holiday.

“I’m thinking about buying a ring,” Josh said.

His mother countered with a stern nudge for him to drive down to Droste’s Jewelry Shoppe (owned by a family friend) and pick out a ring that afternoon. Josh heeded his mom’s advice, but held on to the ring for a few weeks before attempting to propose.

Two of his efforts were thwarted, once when Steff failed to see the ring attached to Carter’s collar, and another when Steff knew the ring was coming but didn’t want to remember the proposal coming on the heels of an otherwise terrible day.

Josh knew wooing Steff with a romantic dinner, replete with the candle holder he fashioned from a McDonald’s glass fitted with a pipe sleeve and aluminum foil, was a foolproof solution to his previous proposal missteps. The house was spotless and Josh made his signature lasagna for the occasion.

“I knew something was up, because the house was clean,” Steff said.

After dinner, Josh got down on one knee and revealed the ring.

“Do you love me?” Josh said. 

“Yes,” Steff responded.

“Will you?” he asked.

“Yes!” she said.

Like all things associated with their relationship, it was a simple gesture that made all the difference. The couple knows the little things — even a modest $28 subscription — can really add up.

“If I didn’t pay that membership fee, I wouldn’t have met Josh, and I’d probably still be single.” Steff said.

Josh and Steff will be married May 14, 2011, near Steff’s hometown of Jordan, Minn.