Celebrating 18 Years...and a Little Sentimental With It

May 21, 1993

We just celebrated our 18th Wedding Anniversary.  Wow! Time goes so fast, I can't believe all the changes and events we have been through together.  I can't believe how young we looked when we got married-I didn't feel that young!  I was sure we would conquer the world.  I knew we would be great together, after all-we'd been best friends for 3 years already, how could marriage be so different?

Oh, the things I had to learn, and the ways we quickly grew up!  A marriage, at least a good marriage, takes a  lot of hard work, communication, and all those little things we learn along the way.

I'm thankful to be married to my best friend.  We met when we were young teenagers, going to the same Church youth activities, even though we lived 40 miles apart, and he was two years older.  I thought he was cute and funny.  He didn't know I existed.  When I was 16 I was asked to be a part of the group that planned those youth activities, and he was already a member of the committee.  Then he thought I was cute and funny.  He asked me out, I said yes!

That was the end of my Junior year of High School.  I have a son that age, I can't imagine him dating someone and falling in love, he's so young!  Anyhow, we went on lots of group dates and double dates that summer.  We also dated other people.  I was very practical and didn't see the point in dating only one person-who needs a boyfriend when you're only 16? Or even 17?  So, we dated, became great friends, and had so much fun getting to know one another.

He planned the best dates, we went golfing, mini golfing, hiking, fishing, and one time he and a friend set up a picnic on a sand bar in the river.  They caught crawdads and cooked them right there for our dinner!  (they had back up KFC in case we didn't like them, or they didn't catch anything.)  He sent me funny letters when I was away at Girl's Camp.  I sent him goofy letters when he went on a 2 week mini mission for our church.

In the middle of my Senior year he left to go on a two year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  I was so happy and excited for him, and sad for me.  I realized as the time grew closer how much I had come to enjoy our friendship and  how much I would miss talking with him.  And truly, he was my best friend.  We'd never even kissed at this point, he was focused on being ready to go on a mission.  And I thought boyfriends were incredibly lame.

We had our last date before he left, he walked me to the back door of my house.  I was so sad to say goodbye.  We hugged, and as we looked at each other something just clicked, I don't know how else to describe it.  We had our first kiss.  He swears to this day I'm the one who kissed him.  I just smile and point out he's a good 8 inches taller than me-how could that be possible?  (But just between you and I-it might have happened that way.)  And, after we were married I found the calendar page he saved from that night.  It said "Just had the best kiss of my life! Waahooo!"  I think he liked it, no matter who started it.

My family left to go to Lake Tahoe for the Christmas holidays, he surprised me and showed up with a couple of our friends for one last activity.  I was in love.  It was that simple.  It was that easy.

In front of the Oakland, California Temple, where we were married for time and eternity.

He left for two years to serve a mission in Mexico.  I finished High School and went to BYU.  I dated.  I had fun, lots of fun.  We wrote letters every week.  We learned so much about each other and we talked about the gospel, things I was learning in school, and what was happening on his mission.

Our friendship deepened, and I compared every guy I dated or even kind of wanted to date to him.  I kept looking for something more, or something to match that feeling on our last official date.  No one could compare.  He came home to California in January, I was in Utah going to school.  He came out to visit a few weeks later, I wondered if it would be weird and awkward.

He walked in to the apartment, came right to me, picked me up and swung me around in the biggest hug I've ever had.  My heart sighed.  We hadn't even said a word and I knew nothing would be awkward or weird.  It was just right.

Six weeks later we were engaged, and three months after that we were married. Fast forward 18 years, 22 moves, 7 states, and 5 kids.  Today he's still my best friend.  He still makes me laugh harder than anyone else, and I love him more than I would have imagined possible.  I'm so thankful to have my best friend by my side through good times and hard times. I'm so thankful he knows how to make me laugh when it's the last thing in the world I feel like doing.  I'm so thankful he gets how my crazy brain works, and talks me down when I need it, and soothes my worries and troubles.  I'm just so thankful.