A Decade

I'll never forget what I was doing 10 years ago today -- anxiously awaiting the very last first date I'd ever go on. The Saturday before, an incredibly handsome, Godly guy with whom I'd just spent a week serving on a mission trip in Acuna, Mexico, had asked me to go out to dinner and to see Footloose with him. I came home that night, called my mom, and told her that I'd met the man I was going to marry. It felt crazy to say it out loud, but I just knew. However, what I didn't know was that man had come home from our trip and told his best friend the exact same thing about me. :)

I remember the skirt and top I was wearing. I remember him pulling up to my apartment in his Pontiac Trans Am. I remember how easy it was to talk to him over dinner at Bellini's, how little attention I really paid to the show, and how I pretended not to know what a Starbucks White Chocolate Mocha was so that he'd take me to Barnes & Noble afterward to get one. I remember knowing that I'd already fallen head over heels for him.

Keepsake.

I was surprised to hear from him so soon the next morning. Unfortunately, his text message wasn't to tell me what a wonderful time he'd had; rather, it was to check on me to make sure I hadn't gotten the same food poisoning he had. :( Thankfully, the 24 hours of horrible sickness that followed our first date didn't keep him from asking me out on a second...and then a third...and, well, you know what they say about the rest.

We'd only just begun.

On one hand, it is so crazy to me that it's been a decade since our love story began. On the other hand, I struggle to remember who I was and what life was like before this man showed up and changed it all. If you would have told me 10 years ago what all the Lord would have in store for us -- most importantly the blessing of three perfect, beautiful children -- I'm not sure I would have believed it. And yet, here we are. 

Thanks for working up the courage to ask me, Brett Braly.

I sure am glad you did.

(And I'm still really, really sorry about that food poisoning.)

XXOO