In lieu of the big LOVE day on Tuesday, I thought I'd give a summary of Mike and I. So this is a brief summary of our story...
We met on April 3, 1998... in a campground at the end of Canyonlands National Park near Moab UT. Looking back, I've decided that camping is a great way to meet someone! You are stinky, dirty, wearing clothes for comfort, sporting the 'natural' look and at your most vulnerable state. It only gets better from camping!
It sounds like a joke, but I saved Mike's life. Literally, he almost fell off a cliff and would have been seriously injured or died. We were hiking and he grabbed my foot and climbed to safety. I've always said that after that he was obligated to marry me!
I came back to work that next Monday and announced that I had "met the man I was going to marry"! I was laughed at, but I knew that the spark we had was seriously strong.
Our first date was two weeks later, and that was that! I did my best to play it cool... I didn't want him to think I liked him that much. He said "I love you" and I said it back. He met my family and I met his. We were engaged May 21st.
We have been married now for 13 years... 14 this August. So YES! We met on April 3rd and were married on Aug 11th. It was a super fast whirlwind of love. I laugh about the fact that he could have been a serial killer... but thankfully he isn't. (or at least I don't think he is) It was that instant feeling of being soul mates. I felt like in some ways we had always known each other!
We struggled through 3 years of Mike's schooling. I was working to put him through school until 2000 when we welcomed our first addition. We had become our own little family.
Mike worked so hard... taking 12-16 credit hours and working 35 hours a week. We hardly saw each other. I have a notebook of almost 2 years of notes... I would write down what we did that day, tell him what I made for dinner and instructions on heating it up. He would flip the page and write back to me.(It didn't matter what I made... he would always say that dinner was delicious. Looking back at some of the things I made, I think he deserves and 'great husband' award for never complaining about anything.) He would come home after we were asleep and he'd be gone before we woke up in the morning. That notebook is now one of my most valued items. It's an entire notebook of love notes and expressions of the emotions we had at that stage in life.
We had a sweet surprise addition to our family in June 2001. I was ready for some help with the little ones... and he was ready to make up for the three years of not sleeping.
For Mike's graduation we celebrated with a week alone, a trip to the Eastern Caribbean. Two weeks after he graduated I started Cosmetology School. It was two years of night school... again we were living parallel lives, only crossing paths a day or two a week. I would drop the kids off at my Mom's house an hour before he got off work and picked them up.
The travel bug had bit us, and we started taking a trip together every 8 to 10 months. It was important for us to have that alone time together. With all the stress that came with our busy life... a week alone helped to remind us how much we love each other, and how important it is to make our marriage the top priority in our life.
I finished school and had two more little ones right in a row. Somehow I turned around and we were a family of six! And although life didn't really slow down... we were able to eat dinner together, see more of each other, and enjoy life.
When it comes to Valentine's... we are both very practical about spending time and money. I would rather travel somewhere or spend time together than have jewelry or nice gift items. In my opinion... flowers are beautiful, but they never last as long as I wish they would. Spending time together is my favorite part of Valentine's Day... or any holiday.
When we spend time away, it seems to take about one full day to get past our day-to-day routine. I get out all the info and struggles about the kids, the house and my work... and he gets out all his stuff about work. Then with all that out of the way, we remember why we like each other... and why we fell in love.
I feel like I love Mike more every year. That's not to say we haven't had our fair share of struggles... especially in the early years, just trying to make it through week-to-week.
I think that we often look at our life and make investments for our financial future and for our children's future. What we can forget is that investing the time, energy, and even money in our relationship is the best way to secure our life. Because, I know that with Mike, we can take on whatever lies in our future. With a strong friendship, trust, and love... we will get through the hard times and make the most of the good times.
Happy Valentine's!
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