It's Our 20th Anniversary!

20 years ago today, Nathan and I began our journey together as husband and wife. Here we are, on that same road 20 years later. What a ride it has been!

I met Nathan when I was 16. He saw me walk into a dance place in Salt Lake City with my brother and some friends and was completely smitten by my hotness. He watched me for a while. After whiping the drool off of his chin, he got up the courage to ask me if I wanted to dance. I had no first impressions of Nathan. He was just a guy who asked me to dance. I said "Yes". That was the beginning of the ride.

Nathan was a lot of fun to be with. He made me laugh. He was looking at his future with me in it. I was looking at the test I needed to take the next day. I was just a kid.

He was always there for me and he wanted me to know it. He was determined that I was going to notice him.

He went on his mission 6 months after we met. His mission allowed me to experience what it was like to be without him....it stunk.

Then he came home. He was even more devoted to me than before. I was 19. I was very confused and didn't know what I wanted. I complained and whined to everyone about how I did NOT want to marry him. Nathan was a great friend. I loved him, but didn't want anything serious. But he wanted me. It was as simple as that.

He was a determined guy. When he wanted something, he worked hard to get it. And he always got what he wanted. He was very persistant! I was the one he wanted. He had a lot of faith that I would come around.

After a couple of years and about a dozen proposals later, I just couldn't take it anymore. Enough was enough. So we made a deal: we would leave each other alone and not speak to each other for one week. I would fast and pray to see what the Lord's will was for me. If I didn't want to marry him after the week, then we would walk away from each other's lives forever.

I was at work a few days later and deep in my thoughts. I was a wreck. I needed some answers right then and there. I knelt down at a chair in one of the offices and plead for answers. Almost immediately I was overcome by a feeling of love for Nathan. The deepest love I have ever felt for anyone in my life. I was a changed woman. I was exstatic.

I loved him! I wanted to spend the rest of eternity with him. I wanted to get up on the highest mountain and shout out, "I LOVE YOU NATHAN AND I DO WANT TO MARRY YOU". When I did shout out, everyone thought I had lost my mind. They would say things like, "I thought you didn't like him." or "Are you serious? Are you sure he didn't just wear you down?"

I was sure! I was now unstoppable! Nothing was going to get in my way of marrying that man!

We were sealed in the Salt Lake Temple! It was March 10, 1990. I remember there were a lot of 10s that day....It was the 10th; We were the 10th couple to be married that day; and we were married at 10:10 a.m. 10 became sort of our lucky number. Nathan had the number 10 put on his license plate and the house number we bought just before we got married was 1036. That was about the end of our luck with the number 10.

Here we are at our wedding reception...don't ya just love the mullet? Nathan's mom made that wedding cake. It was the most beautiful wedding cake and 4 tiers!!!




Here is the house we bought. I should tell you about our wedding night in that house. I'll save it for another post. I will keep it rated G.



There was three concerns we had when we got married. 1. I worked full time and went to school full time, so we never saw each other. We missed each other terribly. 2. We gutted the house we bought. Yes, we gutted it! Tore down the walls and the ceiling and tore out the bathroom. We brushed our teeth in the kitchen sink and used a toilet in the basement...just a toilet. There was no door or walls for privacy. We jumped into this marriage with both feet. I don't remember what we did for a shower. What can I say, we were young and dumb. 3. We didn't have the money to put it back together as fast as we wanted. We actually didn't finish it completely until after we moved to the house we are living at now. Fourteen years later!

Here was the house when we were finally done!



Our lives are completely different than it was 20 years ago. We spend a lot of time together and we have no remodeling going on whatsoever. But one thing has never changed and that is our devotion to each other. We are completely mad for each other. We occasionally embarrass the children...and the neighbors! Occassionally we don't like what is on the road. Sometimes there is a lot of rain, or even a tornado. But no matter where we are, we are there together!

The Best of Times, And The Not So Best Of Times

I love this picture! It was taken at a time when life was practically perfect. My kids not only talked nice to each other, but they would often hug each other just because they were there (it's true). They happily did things that were asked of them and they didn't make big messes. They were so good, that I never hesitated to take all four of them out in public at the same time. Everything that came out of their mouths was something that should be quoted and maybe even formed into a song or sometimes a comic strip.

I loved cleaning my house back then. A few times a week I would clean and mop the wood floors. It was a time for reflection as I ran the buffer across the wood floor to make it shine. Inspiration seemed to flow freely from doing this mundane task.

I was in good shape. I got up almost every morning at 5:45 and traveled only 3 blocks to the 24 hour fitness gym. I was home in time to get the kids up for school and get ready for the day.

My husband and I were going to the temple quite a bit back then. We had a sitter who would baby sit for free, but because we didn't want to take advantage of her generosity, she switched off with her sister.

How horrible would it be if life didn't throw in a lemon or two or three!!



We have made a lot of lemonade over the years and today, quite frankly, we are bored with it, so we are taking those lemons and trying to make cakes and pies as well.

Today we are learning to take patience and kindness up a notch when a son drives into a school bus or falls asleep at the wheel on the freeway! Thankfully no one was hurt.

Today we are learning to be more frugal because teenagers clothes and shoes are more expensive. Believe it or not, they outgrow them faster as well.

I would have to get up much earlier these days to go to the gym, so I am out of shape. I don't enjoy cleaning my house any more. There is too much of it!

Nathan and I still go to the temple, but we haven't been together in quite some time. Our evenings are full, so I can only go in the afternoons, and Nathan goes when he can.

The kids have changed too. At times we have to send the children into another room or outside, because their words are loaded with sharp tones and would cut out the spirit that our home should instead welcome in.

It is hard to have teenagers! Their messes are bigger, their expenses are bigger, and their attitudes are bigger. Fortunately, so are the lessons we can learn from having them.

I have aged about 5 years in the last 3 months, but with age comes wisdom. With trials come blessings, and with faith comes understanding. I wasn't growing when my life was practically perfect, I am growing now...but I think I am done growing for the time being.

Remembering Christmas