12 years

Picture it: JCPenney, May, 1994, Break room
I took my break with Elizabeth and walked upstairs to the break room. There was this guy sitting there; he was wearing a pair of khaki pants, dress shirt and tie, and a navy blazer. I thought he was cute. There were about 5 or 6 of us in the break room and we all talked about nothing. But I thought he was cute.
That summer, we kept bumping into each other at work and sometimes at parties thrown by people from work. I still thought he was cute.

Then, November, 1994 happened. He finished student teaching so he was working full time. We knew more about each other by this point. We started eating lunch together with a group of friends. Then one day, Wednesday, November 16, 1994, it was just the two of us. We had a very nice lunch. The next day was my day off, but I made an excuse to come to the store, conveniently at the same time he was leaving for the day. We chatted; I got him to come shopping with me for the pillow I came in to buy. And eventually (seriously, it took him like an hour to get around to this) he asked me if I was free for the rest of the evening. I said yeah, and inside I was all like *****SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEE*****!

We went to his apartment and I waited for him to change into casual clothes. Then we went to eat at Appleby's. Next, we went to my apartment to just hang out. We decided to go to a movie and saw "The Santa Clause." (which is very ironic now, since we don't do santa with the kids) It was a very nice evening and when it ended, he asked if he could take me to the party a friend was having Saturday night.

And that was it. From then on, we were a couple. It took us about a month to have our first kiss and consider ourselves "officially" a couple, but that was all it took. From the beginning, I knew I would marry him. There was never any question in my mind. He says he thought the same, but he sure didn't share that with me. Men!

Fast forward a few years, November 8, 1997. A nice fall evening, the mountains were beautifully arrayed with jewel toned leaves, and even the highest mountaintops were dotted with snow. It was perfect. I married my best friend at 7:30 in the evening. It was a candlelit service. There were two songs sung. One was "The Wedding Song (There is Love)" ; the other was "The Lord's Prayer." The reception was small; hors d'oeuvres and a cake. And lots of fun fellowship. A day I will never forget.

I love you honey. Always. Thank you for 12 wonderful years and three beautiful boys.

This picture is from that first Saturday night, our second date.

And from our wedding: