five (long) years

Five years ago today (actually at the time this post is going up), Alann and I were at the Nauvoo IL Temple, getting sealed for time and all eternity. Wow. What a ride it's been, huh honey? We don't have much planned for our anniversary. We wanted to do a cruise for 5 years, but that didn't really work out. Maybe for 10. We were thinking of doing a night away, but that hasn't really worked out either. We did do something special, to me anyway. When we were in Phoenix for Thanksgiving, we left Claire with her aunts and were able to go to the Mesa Temple. 5 years ago, I took out my own endowments there, so it is special to me. Since Claire always knows the worst possible times to take a long nap, we didn't have as much time at the Temple as I wanted, so we ended up doing sealings instead of an endowment session. But it was still great. I meant to take a picture, but by the time we left, I was shaky with hunger (poor planning on my part) and that was the only thing on my mind. We should have done it on the way in. Oh well. We have a date planned this weekend, kind of, but I don't know where we are going or what we are doing, or who will be watching Claire. I guess I should get those things figured out.

In case you've never heard our story, I'll give you the short version. Or you can skip this whole post.
I moved to MO to go to college. I had a boyfriend at the time, but we broke up because I felt impressed that I would meet someone out there and didn't need to be tied down to Phoenix. I went to the Single's ward out there, but not having a car, I wasn't very active. I started getting random phone messages from some guy in the ward, inviting me to activities. I figured he was the activation specialist or maybe my home teacher. I had no idea who he was. His sister and her best friend happened to be my visiting teachers. I knew them. They invited me to a break the fast meal at their house. I got a ride and went. There, I met mystery phone guy. He was pretty good looking, and so we talked a little bit. A few days later, he and a friend of his that I knew a little bit, came into my dorm. I worked the front desk, so I greeted visitors. I thought they were there to visit the (only) other LDS girl that lived there. No, they were there to visit me. He brought me cookies. They were awful, but I smiled and ate them and we chatted for a few hours. He called me a few days later and asked if I could help him on an art project. (I was a theater major, so it wasn't that weird of a question.) He picked me up and took me to his school (a different college than mine) and we worked on his project. A few days later, he called me again and this time we went on a date- to McDonald's for ice cream cones. We sat in a parking lot and chatted for a while. We talked on the phone a lot and he would visit me while I worked the front desk. My friends started calling him "the hot guy at the desk" because he was there so much. Over Thanksgiving, I went home to AZ. He didn't call until Friday. (I had a whole week off.) I was very upset. We didn't have anything official going on, but we did talk a lot. When I came back from AZ, he came over on Sunday night, about 2 minutes after I got into my dorm room. We talked and I unpacked and tried to get ready for the week ahead. Later that week, he was back at my dorm room. I finally got up the nerve to ask what we were- friends, dating, what. That was Dec 2. He said we were dating. We still hadn't done more than hug. (What good LDS kids we were.) After Christmas break, I asked him if he was planning on marrying me. He said he didn't know. (I knew.) A while later, I finally teased him into admitting he loved me. (I knew.) For summer, I had to go to Iowa. We were still dating and talking about marriage possibly. I had a Resident Assistant position come up. It was a year long commitment. If I took it, we couldn't get married for another year. I asked him what he thought. He and his parents came up to visit me for the 4th of July, and he unofficially asked me to marry him. Basically, he told me not to take the RA position. So I didn't. For Labor Day weekend, we went on our third official date. He took me to a spa, and a nice dinner, and a play. Oh, and he gave me the ring and asked me to marry him. I said yes. (Obviously.) We planned on getting married a few short months later, on Dec 2. We had a pretty low-key, low budget wedding, but it was fun. We got married in Nauvoo, IL on Thurs Dec 2 at 6pm. We took pictures before the wedding, but it was FREEZING! The next year was rough, with him working a lot and me in school all the time. But we made it, and I couldn't be happier. Every day I am grateful to have him in my life. I can't believe that we have one beautiful daughter and a second on the way. Looking back, I hate the rough patch. It's the year "we don't speak of". But like the scriptures say, you have to know bitter to know the sweet. And my life is so sweet. I wouldn't have it any other way.