Happy 13th Anniversary to my Sweetie

Jeremy and I had our 13th anniversary on Monday. Wow! Has it been 13 years? Who knew the years would pass so fast? It seems like yesterday we were living in a tiny studio apartment in Logan that only cost $180 per month :) All we cared about is that we were in love. It was great. I've never actually written about our love story, other than in my journal. So here it is...

We met at the USU Bookstore in 1991. We both worked in the Textbook Department. He had just returned from serving a mission in South Africa. My first impression of Jeremy was that he was very enthusiastic and driven. I thought he was cute, but that was all. We ended up in the same Math 101 class and that is where our friendship started. We would sit next to each other every day and started getting together in the afternoons to do homework together. The next quarter, we signed up for the same Math 105 class because it was so fun. Our friendship continued over the next year and a half. We really did not have romantic feelings for each other. We were "buds." Everyone thought we were perfect, but it just wasn't the right time. I felt strongly about serving a mission. It was funny because as soon as my call to South Carolina came, the romantic feelings started sneaking in. We spent much of the summer together and became very close, while we waited for my departure date to come. It was SOOO hard to say goodbye. But we both knew this was the right thing to do. I didn't want him to waste a year and a half waiting around for me, so I let him know that I was fine with him dating other girls while I was away. He actually had a wonderful 18 months while I was gone, serving on the Institute Council at school and as an EFY counselor in the summer. He dated lots, but nothing developed. As it came closer to the time for my return, he realized that I just might be the one. For the last 6 months, everyone knew that Jeremy had a missionary out, and would be coming home soon. Even when he went out with girls, they knew this about him. His letters became a little more mushy...and much more regular. I returned on Dec. 23, 1994. I was so excited to see him again. By the way, my mission was the best experience of my life and I was so glad that I had gone.

It was actually a little awkward for a week or so after I returned. I was still in the "missionary mode" where it's all wrong to flirt and date and it took a while to transform back into "normal-person mode." But when it happened, there were fireworks galore! We were inseparable. Everything felt so right and so perfect. We were married on April 21, 1995.



Our wedding was right in the middle of spring quarter at USU. Right during midterms when all the big projects were due. We got married on a Thursday, went to Midway to our friend's parents cabin for a free honeymoon for 2 nights, then came back and hit the books again. We both got SO sick! Gee, I wonder why? A week after our wedding, I had huge cold sores all over my mouth (my plague in life.) Soon after that, we were hired as Resident Assistants in USU family student housing. We got to move into a cinder block-wall, 2-BEDROOM apartment on campus. The 800 square feet of space felt like a mansion after living in a hole for 4 months. We had free rent for two years in exchange for planning activities once per quarter for the 36 apartments that we were over. We made some of our closest friends there. Jeremy worked as a CNA at a Nursing Home, then did home health care for a while. We always joked that his best friends were 80 and up. When we had Landon, he loved changing his tiny diaper because it was such a cinch compared to all the old man butts he had to change :) He was the only CNA who wasn't planning to go to medical school.

So much has changed in the past 13 years. The wrinkles are starting to sneak up on us and the knees and backs just aren't what they used to be. There's a whole lot more going on with 4 kids, a business to keep up, a house, busy church jobs, etc. etc. There are weeks where we hardly have two minutes to talk to each other and it's like we're just existing in the same house, trying to keep up with it all. There are times when we get on each other's nerves with little petty things. But what has not changed is the perfect way that we fit together. We are like cake and ice cream, fries and ketchup, egg rolls and soy sauce (got any more to add?) ...one just isn't right without the other. We still miss each other after one day of absence. I am SO lucky to have the best guy on earth. He's truly the best.