8 years and counting

Today is our 8th anniversary! I can hardly believe it's been that long. We have had some amazing times together. Let me start at the beginning.

Jan 3rd, 2000. I walked into BYU outdoors Unlimited to get a tune-up on my bike. (see Fond Memories). We dated for about a month before we started talking about marriage. At first it was innocent enough. "If you got married, would you...." and "What do you look for in a person you want to marry?" Joe's parents had a geo metro that they wanted to give to Joe. Mark, Joe, and I loaded up in Mark's VW bus and made the big trip. There was no air conditioning, and I nearly didn't make it. Something I found out just a few years ago, was that Liz was nervous about my visit. They had just barely moved into their new house, and she wanted to make sure that everything was in tip top shape, as well as decorated all the way. (she hasn't changed much these 8 years). Anyways, apparently the first thing I asked her once we arrived was if they had any nail clippers, and I proceeded to cut my toenails on the couch in the living room. So embarrassing!! But then again I have done many things in my life to embarrass myself so... At this point Liz was no longer worried about what I would think about her house, because she could see, I'm very casual.
Around May I started convincing Joe that if he wanted to marry me, we would have to do it in the summer. I just wasn't going to wait until winter! Plus I never wanted to get married in the cold. I also had a trip planned to Holland, so we could just buy him a ticket and make a honeymoon out of it.
On June 12th we skipped school and went up into the mountains. On the way there, Joe called my dad on a cell phone, and asked him (with me there) if he would approve if he asked me to marry him. Joe has never been the formal type either :) We rode our bikes up a fairly long trail and took a break at the top. We found a little stream and sat down. Then he asked me. Would I marry him? I say yes, of course, but I needed a ring!! So he made this cute little ring out of grass. On the way done I crashed, and had to get 8 stitches in my arm.I didn't get the real ring until after much nagging, and only 10 days before the wedding. I owe the success of our wedding day entirely to Liz. She was wonderful. I feel a little bad though, because I remember that she would call and want to talk about all the details, and I just didn't care too much. The day turned out great!We spent our first 6 months of marriage in a shack/apartment. Our bed touched 2 of the 4 bedroom walls, and was only 1 foot from the other 2 walls. We were able to put our feet on the tv stand while sitting on the couch (that was on the other side of the room). We went without hot water for the first 2 weeks, because we were going to Holland anyways, and we didn't want to waste any money on keeping water hot, plus it was the middle of the summer!
After just 6 months we moved to Florida. Joe had gotten an internship with Walt Disney World in the Facilities Program. The first couple of weeks were awful for me, because I didn't have a job or any kind of transportation. Luckily though, Joe found me a job as a receptionist in the same building that he worked in. This was so great. We were able to drive to and from work together, and eat lunch together. Sometimes during lunch we would stay in his office and take a nap under the desk. haha!After we came back to Provo, I was pregnant with Winter, and we both did our last full semesters at BYU. Joe then got his first "real" job with Varsity. He's still with them, 7 years later! We moved to Boise for Varsity. And there we had Sterling and Ginger. We also bought our first house and our second house. We made lots of friends there, and still have fond memories of our time there. I am really grateful that we had that time, as a fairly new couple, in church wards with many couples in similar circumstances.
Last year we made the big move to Texas, and most of that time has been documented on this blog.I am so grateful for the wonderful husband and father that Joe is. He is hard working, funny, sincere, driven, honest, and so many other things.
I really believe that Joe helps me, to be the best person that I can be. He is a great example to me, and I love him more and more each day. We have so many things in common, and I don't know how I would ever live without him. Some days I take him for granted, and then I look back and realize how lucky I am to have him, and try to make up for my shortcomings.
I love you Joe!
FYI, Joe still wears all the clothes seen in these pictures!