15 years

I meant to do this post closer to the actual date...but life happens..so it didn't happen! Rob and I.....the story..... We met in a Young Single Adult Ward in Northern California after he had returned home from serving a mission in the Houston, Texas area in July of 1994. I noticed him right away, thought he was cute, but all the other girls seemed to be after him, and I wasn't interested in the 'stake a claim' competition that happened every time a RM came home.....ANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNND...I was dating someone else. We continued running into one another at various ward activities, then the stars finally aligned in late January/early February of 1995, and we actually started dating. It lasted an impressive 2.5 months, and we (I) broke up. A few months later, we tried again before he went out to Utah for school, and we broke up again right before he left. He came home for Thanksgiving break, we got together.....only to have me break his heart AGAIN before he returned to school...(heartless, aren't I?) Same thing at Christmas, AND when he came home for President's Day weekend, only that one didn't end so tragically! We actually kept the relationship going when he returned to school, and a rather large phone bill to boot! When he returned in late March, and we were still together, our bishop called us into his office and told us how happy he was to see us together, but then told us that we had better make this attempt stick, because if it didn't work out, and we broke up, he was going to get restraining orders for us that would not allow us within 500 yards of one another. We continued dating through that summer, and on September 7, 1996, he took me down into the coldest, most treacherous pool of water I have ever been in and asked me what I would be doing for the next 50 or so years, asked me if he could take me to the Lord's Holy House and make me his wife. I, of course, said yes, when I could finally unclench my chattering jaw long enough to operate it! We were married December 27, 1996 in the Oakland, California temple. The above picture is us on that eventful day, 15 YEARS AGO..... And on the same day, different temple (Sacramento, California). Our friend, Beth Caudle, tried to recreate the picture taken all those years ago.

 

Happy Anniversary Rob! Fifteen years and five kids later...the adventure continues...