How we met

My darling sis-in-law asked for our "how we met" story to include in a paper she is doing for school. I thought I probably should record it somewhere for our records. Right now I have PLENTY of time so I thought I would write it out. Thanks for indulging me :) Lee and I met the Spring of '04. I had gone through another lonely Christmas (come to find out later Lee went looking due to a rough Christmas too). I had great fun, went to great parties, had a great job, traveled with my best friend Mindie but after everything I went home alone. Mindie and I decided that we would try LDSSO.com (an online dating site). We didn't have a whole lot of hope since it didn't necessarily work out great the last time we did it but we thought what the heck. For some reason this time I hit the jackpot. In January I went out with 15 guys. I really liked a lot of them and went out TONS. I was having a great time. I went to Seattle to meet a guy, met up with a guy in San Fran, and in Vegas (I took girlfriends with me, don't worry). I was at my brother Garrets house in CA after I went to Seattle. I was perusing the site and I saw Lee.....actually I really just saw his HUGE muscly arms :) I cyber-winked at him. He wrote me back right away. We wrote back and forth a couple of times and he asked me for my number. I gave it to him. He called while I was on a date cuddled up with some guy watching a movie. I saw the caller i.d. and really wanted to answer but waited till after the date. My Grandpa had died that day and I was feeling a little blue so I called Lee back that night to see if he would be interesting to cheer me up. Lee was charming and asked me out for that Sat. at 3pm. I thought the time was weird, but oh well. I gave Lee my address to pick me up (I had NEVER done that before, online dating rule #1). He came and I was immediately interested in this tall strong guy. He took me to Fridays to split a dessert. At the time I really liked the Dixie Chicks and he spent most of the date making fun of them. He also told me he was from Vernal, I was horrified. I had dated a guy from Vernal before and it was a DISASTER and had sworn off those "country folks". The VERY best part of our first date though was that the ENTIRE time he kept looking at his watch. I then knew why we were meeting at 3....he double booked! Me being the smarty that I am knew the score and called him on it. Lee being the all too honest type admitted to the other date and that he had a date the night before.

Lee dropped me off and gave me a hug. I thought I would never hear from him again until he said, "I really wish I did not have that other date and I could stay here with you". THEN he proceeded to tell me how he doesn't kiss girls until he dates them for MONTHS. HAHAHA I knew then he WANTED to kiss me. I snickered as I shut the door.

Lee called the next day. I knew how to get guys going so I asked him about growing up as a farmers son and particularly about the irrigation. He went on and on for 45 minutes about irrigation. He then asked me when he could see me again. I told him I had my Grandpas funeral the next 2 nights but I could see him Thurs. night. I had tickets to the Opera and I was upset with the guy I was seeing the most over his lack of sympathy about my Grandpa so I said Lee could come with me (on a side note Lee had called everyday to see how I was doing with my Grandpas death). The Opera was magical. He put his arm around me, I put my hand on his knee, he rubbed my shoulder, I kissed his finger tips.....pure magic. On the way home I offered him a heart shaped breath mint. He took that as a "sign" with the "kiss me eyes" he said I shot him and we kissed on the second date (which makes his "speech" on our first date hilarious). We were inseparable after that. I loved everything about Lee. It was not too many dates after that when we said "I love you". It wasn't that much after that that we set a Temple date (he said October, I thrilled him by saying NO August :). We have had trials in our marriage but our relationship has not been one of them. I really met the one for me. I couldn't imagine life without Lee.

P.S. Please take the time to record your "how we met" on your Blog. I would love to read them!

Update

Just to let you know.... the contractions got much worse and we spent the day yesterday in the hospital. They were able to stop them by 2 i.v.'s to re-hydrate me. I was SO glad we didn't have to do the medication. I am trying to stay off my feet this weekend then I will go back on Monday. I am already dilated to about a 3 but we are just trying to hold off until next Thurs. Thank you for your prayers I know they helped!

I would hope all of you know I have a strong faith in the power of God. I know of the power of prayer. I am a little worried tonight. This baby has dropped and I have had a lot of contractions today. The worst pain is in my back. If we can keep her in for one more week it will make a world of difference in how she will do. I am going on a modified bed rest and see if we can get all this action to stop. Please keep us and this little sister in your prayers, I know that is what will make the difference.

Trials?

This week I have been thinking a lot about trials in our lives. When I was young my family went through a very serious financial disaster that ended up in us losing everything. As I look around at friends and family that are without work and worry about their future, I KNOW that stress. I know the worries, I know the reality.
As I got older and marriage didn't come at the classic Mormon marriage age of 20 and I waited another decade before I found "the one". Lee and I had both had some really low days as a "single saint". I don't think you can know the aching for a family of your own unless you have to wait for yours to come. A few weeks ago a lady in our ward gave a talk about her struggles with dating and I felt a bond to her. I KNEW her pain. I could still feel the hurt like it was yesterday.
Lee and I have had a wonderful life. We adore each other and our family. We have been extremely blessed to be Keaton's parents. Having said that we struggled for 2 years to get this little girl. They say 1 in 10 couples struggle with infertility. I don't think you can understand the pain that entails unless you have tasted it if only for a bit. To ache to have your arms filled with that righteous desire is rough.
The last couple of months I have really struggled with my health. I think this is the first time in my life I have even worried really about health. With all the trouble with this pregnancy they hoped to get me to 32 weeks. I passed that this last week (now we are shooting for 35 weeks although after next week they won't stop me if she comes). Many days I feel really rough. I don't feel like I can function. With Keaton I worked 45 hours a week up to the day I delivered. Keaton and I have spent the last 3 years running around this valley checking things out. We are not ones to sit still. I never really knew what it meant to "not feel well" as a constant state. My Father-in-law and Aunt have diabetes, I didn't know what a horrible disease that was. I was callous.
SO.... what is all this whining about? I am THANKFUL for my trials. Can you believe it? I am thankful for the compassion. I am thankful that when I hear about these pains in others lives I know how rough they have it. I can cry with them, and rejoice with them when they get through them. I am thankful to know that I have a Saviour that suffered all my pains. I can now understand that HE knows. HE has been there. Even when I think no one has ever known my pain, I am wrong. I am thankful that he makes "weak things strong" through our trials. I now know how to live on nothing from watching my Mother. I know how lucky I am to have Lee and how hard we work to make our marriage great because we value each other. I know how important health is and how hard I need to work to maintain it (as a side blessing....I have only gained 4 pounds with this little girl (est. at almost 5 pounds yesterday), I will walk out of that hospital smaller then I started!). I know when this little girl comes I need to value her just as much as we value Keaton, she is a miracle and gift from God. I am thankful for all these blessings born of trials. How about you?

Embrace the Bowl

Lee and I met in March. We were married that August. One of my most shocking moments came at his Mom's shortly after our wedding. I remember it clear as day. His Mom and I were standing in the kitchen. Somehow we got onto football. I mentioned how pleased I was to find someone who didn't really care about football. She nearly chocked on her water. I heard chuckling coming from his brothers at Lee's naive new bride.
How could I have been so dumb? How come we discussed everything....money, kids, religion, but I failed to ask his feelings on football?
We met "off-season" and that first year I prayed for him to change :)
I grew up in a home where watching football was the same as shopping on Sunday. You were causing other people to break the Sabbath and it kept you from doing more Sabbath type things. The "Bowl" never played on our little 13" TV we had at home. We never watched any football. I think it was a good thing there were 3 girls first in our family to help pave the way. Lee grew up farming with 3 older brothers (and 2 great sisters)..
Over the years Lee has come a long way. That first year EVERY game was on our TV. He watched from the kickoff to the bitter end. I did not. Over the years he has changed his thinking a bit. He has tried to watch with moderation only those games that are really important to him. Over the years I have changed in that I let him have his little vice and thank God he is not out chasing women or booze :) I have even become a fan of the Super Bowl. While my brother Garret lived near us and even last year when he came to watch it with Lee we would have a nice little party. I loved to sit and visit with his wife and have horrible fattening food, all in the name of marriage harmony. This year Garret didn't come, we were a bit sad (when the Chargers fell out football became dead to Garret :). We also have all been sick. Lee watched the game anyway. I even made a dip for some chips for him and we had sugar free root beer floats. I din't feel any anger, in fact I am THRILLED to see the bowl here. It symbolizes the official end of football season :) It symbolizes extra time we can use to do stuff together and visit with family. It reminds me how Lee is so good to put up with all my vices 365 days a year. It reminds me how much I love his company. It reminds me as Lee and Keaton shout "DEFENSE" together how close they are. I guess it is all not too bad.