So in just a few weeks Chris and I will mark our F*I*V*E year anniversary and I thought it would be fun to share the “Story of Us” with all of you devoted blog readers! For some of you, this is old news, for some, it is new! So, read along if you want to hear how “we” came to be!! Or, if you just want to see some “funny” pics and get a glimpse of how much we have both changed in the last few years…scroll down!!
It all started during the summer of 2001. I was home from college for the summer between my junior and senior years. Working, saving money, that sort of thing. Chris was home too…helping out on his family farm and spending time with his dad who was bedridden and not in the greatest health. A nurse that worked with my mom and who also provided Chris’ dad with in home care told each of us about each other and was convinced that we needed to meet. I was all for it, I mean, really, what did I have to lose? If it was totally NOT going to work, then after one date, we would realize that and each go on with our separate lives…
So I made the first move…Janell, the nurse, had provided us each with the others’ e-mail and I sent that first message to him! Bold, I know!! Anyway, it was short and simple…and totally intercepted by his dad who then forwarded it on to Chris! From that point on, I had the correct e-mail and sent all my notes directly to Chris!!!
Anyway, he obviously wrote back and we continued e-mailing back and forth for awhile before the first phone call took place! And yes, HE made the first move then! I remember it SO clearly! Once again, not the actual “date” but where I was, what I was doing and everything! I was actually babysitting for this family of three little girls when he called, so our conversation was short! Chris was on his way to Oklahoma to meet up with his cousin and then drive to Texas to Six Flags. I can’t remember what was said or any of those details, but I do remember that he in fact called first and where I was!
We continued with the phone calls and e-mails for the next few weeks…it couldn’t have been too long because our first date was July 26, 2001, so from the time of that first e-mail until our first date, not too much time could have passed…(We actually have ALL of our e-mails back and forth to each other saved, but I can’t seem to find them on the computer and my dear husband is at work right now!!)
So…July 26, 2001. Our first meeting! And poor Chris! He had never met me before and here he was showing up at my mom and dad’s to pick me up AND meet the whole family…YIKES! For those of you who know him, you know he is pretty quiet and not exactly the “loud” and “outgoing” type…I am sure he must have been so nervous! I am more the “outgoing” type and and I would have been a nervous wreck!!! Thank goodness he didn’t bail…otherwise I wouldn’t be sitting here as our kids rest typing out our story! My oh my how much can happen in just a few years!! 
Anyway…back to my story! This poor guy…meeting me and my family all at the same time…WHEW! The really funny thing is, the night before our date, he ran into a corner of a doorway and had to go to the hospital and have stitches in his forehead! Now, I am about as NON-graceful and clumsy as they come, but he had no idea of that, so I am sure he was totally mortified! I personally think it is funny and it is a wonderful memory…something we will never forget and will be able to tell our kids one day!! Right sweetie??? It IS funny, isn’t it?!!
Anyway, our first date took place in my hometown. Oh…I forgot to mention…we are both from small towns (Chris’ WAY smaller than mine!) about 35 minutes apart. We went to dinner where we talked about our plans for life after college and then to play mini-golf and back to my mom and dad’s for a movie. Hmmm…DID we play mini-golf? Now that I am thinking back and remembering all of this, I think we drove by the mini-golf place, but for some reason we didn’t play…It wasn’t opened?? Hmm… Anyway, back to dinner! Chris had all of these plans to move to Chicago or Denver or some big city and lead the “professional life.” As in work like crazy and then when he had reached some goals as far as savings, etc… then he would think about getting married and having kids. But NOT until then! Well, I am a small town Kansas girl who had every intention of moving back to my hometown after graduating college and settling there. How would the small town girl and the boy with big dreams ever make it work if they had such dramatically different ideas about their futures?!!
I even remember thinking that there is NO way I am living in a big city. NO WAY. Look at me now…what we do in the name of love!! More on that in a bit!!
Anyway, we obviously hit it off on our first date and although I can’t remember each and every date or all the details of that summer…it was perfect!! August came and we each headed back to school. We were going to two different schools, about an hour and a half apart. From August until December we spent HOURS on the highway over the weekends commuting back and forth to see each other. We spent holidays with each other’s families as well. It was such a fun time in our lives and our relationship! It was all still so new…I forget how different it was then as opposed to now! I am glad I am writing this…it is bringing back a lot of great memories!!
So, Chris graduated in December of 2001 and moved to KC to start a new job. He was still an hour and a half away, just in a different direction! So, from December to when I graduated in May, we spent HOURS on a different highway driving back and forth to spend time with each other. By this point, I had decided that no, I was not in fact moving back home, I was heading to KC. Yes, I was head over heels in love with this blue eyed, blonde haired boy! So much so that I was moving to a “big city” just to be with him!! So as the time got closer, I interviewed in the area and secured my first job in foster care upon graduation.
Jumping around to the whole “big city” thing…I am from a little town…a cute little town where you can go to Wal-Mart and see someone you know, you pass friends driving down the main drag…that sort of thing. There are no highways in town and you can get to the grocery store in about 5 minutes. That is leaving your house, driving to the store, parking and getting in the store…all within FIVE minutes. I couldn’t imagine leaving that type of atmosphere!!
Here we are at my college graduation…May 2002
Anyway, we never really talk about it, but somewhere in there I guess Chris lost his desire to head off to Denver to live the fast paced city life!! I guess we both kind of “gave” a little! I mean, I thought KC was this huge city, but compared to Denver or Chicago or Phoenix, it is SO not! Of course, he had all of these “plans” as for when he would get married and have kids and all of that…I think I kinda changed all that! But, I like to think that he wouldn’t change a thing! I mean, really, if we had waited a year longer to have kids, we wouldn’t have our beautiful, sweet munchkins…our lives would be so different!
So I move to KC and get an apartment and a job…we are both working but spend all our free time together. In case you are getting confused by my babble, this is all still 2002. In November of 2002 we got engaged and in May of 2003, we got married. (you can read a mini-version of our engagement story on Six On Saturday a couple of weeks ago if you missed it…I don’t know how to link it???)
This was such a bittersweet time in our lives (the engagement to the wedding), but especially for Chris. Just days after we got engaged, his dad passed away. Chris and his mom know that he was hanging on…waiting for the engagement and to know what an incredible life his son was going to lead. That we would be married and be happy. I rarely think about all of this, but as I do, tears are streaming down my face.
I am so fortunate that I had the chance to meet and spend time with his dad while he was still in better health. He has an amazing, amazing son and I am so, so blessed to call him mine. It seems a bit ironic when you think about the fact that it was his dad’s sickness that ultimately brought us together. The one bright spot in a terrible situation. I like to think that if he were here now he would be so proud of who his son has become and of the beautiful, sweet kids he has. Of the character and compassion he has. The sincerity and the passion. ALL of the things, and so much more, that I fell in love with and cherish about my beloved husband.
May 17, 2003
My little green Escort…WOW that seems like a lifetime ago!! Right after this picture was taken, we literally ZOOMED off…I swear Chris had the car on two wheels as we rounded the corner after leaving the church!! The tires squealed and everything…
Kauai…We LOVE this island! Our honeymoon was awesome…We went on a helicopter ride over the island (which we would NEVER do now – lots of accidents), scuba diving…lots of fun stuff!
August 2003
December 2003
January 2004…Cruise to Cozumel
Baby makes three!! DC in June of 2005
All dressed up for a Presidential Dinner in DC…I LOVE that dress!
Here we are at an aquarium in Maui…Huntler turned one on this trip!!
Another baby makes four! February 2007
February 2007
July 2007
One thing I was noticing (other than the fact that we are “all grown up” and the quality of some of these pictures is REALLY bad!!) is that my hair style has changed so much! I have had every style under the sun! I don’t even remember my hair being that long!! I’ll try to have Chris get some pics of it now…I am sure everyone would like to see a current picture of the face behind the words!! I am BEHIND the lens 99.9% of the time, so I am rarely in a shot!! I’ll work on that! I want my kids to look back and laugh one day at the styles and such of 2000′s!!!
BUMMER!
