A story of love

In the spirit of Valentine's Day I thought I'd share my and David's love story, as it is pretty cute and mushy.  David and I were in the same first grade class, though we do not remember each other that far back.  If you remember this ornament I posted in December...

... those are from our the first grade teacher that we shared.  Both of our moms kept them for us.  We have others that are the same too, but these are the earliest. 

David and I became friends in sixth grade, and that is where our story really starts.  We used to hang out together, get snow cones at the local shaved ice place together, and we even played a clarinet duet together (we got third place :)).  We hung out a lot and always felt different around each other, like we had a future together that we did not know or understand.  I thought the idea of ever kissing him was yucky, though, because, you know, boys have cooties.  I remember that David really wanted to kiss a girl, so my friend Becca and I used to tell each other to kiss him.  I remember saying that was really gross and that I just could not do it.  In junior high our school did a fundraiser where you took a compatibility test and it told you who you were most compatible with.  Yes, David was at the top of my list.  We are over 80% compatible.  I recall getting the results and having a good laugh.  Boy, that computer had NO idea what it was talking about, none at all!  I had actually forgotten all about this until I was packing up my room right before our wedding.  I found it and thought it was pretty amazing.  I have always wanted to write the company and tell them just how right they were!  I'll have to try to find it and scan it in for you.  I put it out at our wedding because it was just too ironic.

 David and I became very close friends our sophomore year in high school.  We hung out with all the same friends and saw each other all the time, but were both seeing other people.  The summer before our Senior year we were up late talking on the phone, which is something we did quite often (I hate to tell you this mom, but I'd hide in the closet with the lights out so you did not know.  I was quite tricky.).  I was leaving for Australia the next morning with People to People Student Ambassadors and would be gone 2 1/2 weeks.  He asked me if there was anyone I liked and I kind of giggled and asked if there was anyone he liked, and he kind of giggled.  Eventually someone admitted that they liked the other person, and that was that.  We met for an early breakfast at McDonalds, talked by the lake, and kissed each other.  I thought it was the weirdest kiss in the world because we were such good friends, but never really saw ourselves becoming more.  I went home and boarded a plane for Australia.  David and I talked a few times while I was gone and wrote each other cards.  Things were sticky, though, since I had just broken up with his best friend (not a good guy for me!) and that was still new.  I don't remember when we officially started dating, but it was shortly after I returned. 

We had our ups and downs, and had a lot of growing up to do, but we stayed together through it all.  After high school we started college and decided we wanted to finish before we got married.  We dated 4 years and then started talking about getting engaged.  He kind of talked about it like it was still very far in the future, but changed his mind after I left for Costa Rica to study Spanish for 2 1/2 weeks.  While I was gone he talked to my parents (who had him over for dinner and talked to him for 2 1/2 hours, which I think is funny because they both really loved David, so I know they were just doing their job) and asked me to marry him about a week after I returned.  We had a year engagement as we finished up school.  I was insanely busy student teaching, going to school, writing my honor's thesis for the honor's program, working double shifts waitressing on the weekends, and planning the wedding, but we made it work.  We got married two weeks after we graduated from college on May 31, 2003.

It has been an amazing 7 years, and God has blessed us tremendously!  I am so thankful that God brought me such an amazing man and look forward to what the future has in store for us.

1 Corinthians 13:4-8a

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.