H O W W E M E T
In our sophomore year of college, Andy came over to my apartment to borrow a textbook from my roommate (who he just happened to go to high school with) and when I saw him, I thought he was so cute! I tease him about this all the time because he doesn't even remember meeting me that day! My roommate (his high school friend) invited him over one night and he asked for my number. We made plans to hang out that later that night I remember it took him an entire movie to get up the guts to hold my hand but from that night on, we were together every day. We'd go for drives up the mountain, sledding, to movies, to Salt Lake or St George, just anywhere! He told me he loved me while we were slow dancing in my living room that Christmas and I said it right back.
A L M O S T 13 Y E A R S L A T E R
Here we are, almost 13 years later and we love each other more than we did then. After Lo has gone to bed, we go straight to our bedroom and chat about the day - the highs and the lows. We love to send Lo to play with grandparents and plan trips just the two of us every couple of months because it helps us focus on each other and reconnect without distractions. We have a lot of inside jokes, and laugh a lot. On top of the fun, we just try to take care of each other. We love being parents and we love God. He is at the center of our family and that has made all the difference!
Our favorite trip we've ever taken together was to Chicago and it was less than 48 hours! One Thursday night, I found tickets to a concert we'd both wanted to see in Chicago and by Friday morning we were boarding the plane and flying halfway across the country! We got off the plane and barley made it to the concert on time. It rained almost the whole way through and we ended up walking almost 2 miles in the pouring rain all over downtown Chicago trying to find our rental car. We were laughing and holding hands and our shoes and clothes were drenched. By the time we got to our hotel, it was almost 2 am. We changed into sweats, ordered a pizza and fell asleep in the happiest daze. The next day, we ate more pizza (because WHEN IN CHICAGO, right?), caught the first couple hours of a White Sox game and then flew home. We have been to 14 concerts together and have more scheduled this year. We LOVE live music! We're looking forward to many more years of spontaneous mom + dad trips and the even sweeter reunion with our kids when we walk in the front door!
P R O P O S A L + W E D D I N G
Oh man, I'll never forget the day Andy proposed to me! We had been talking about getting married so I knew it was coming. He literally got home from work in Southern Utah, bought the ring, drove to Northern Utah to ask my dad for permission and then drove back to Southern Utah, waited for me to get home from the gym and asked me right on my front porch (with me looking sweaty and tired haha!). He said he was just too excited and couldn't wait! I didn't know it then but the proposal was such a good precursor for the rest of our lives - we cannot handle surprises or waiting to give each other anything!
Our wedding was on July 29th, 2011 at noon in St George Utah. If you have ever been to St George in the middle of the summer, you know it's about 115 degrees so we were melting! Andy ended up having a heat stroke and puking on the lawn! Definitely memorable! After laughing about it and recovering from the heat stroke, the rest of the day went much smoother! I remember when we left the reception, we turned around and Andy went back in to get all of the cards and money people had given us so we had some extra cash for our honeymoon - we were soooo poor ha!
