Our First Date...The Memories!!

Here are some pics I took of the 63 diner on our 5th Anniversary. This was one place from our first date. Our first date was August 16th (or 17th...can't remember which...whatever that Saturday was that year) of 2002. We doubled with Steven Richardson and Anne Jacobs. It was a tribute to Elvis Presley as his birthday was around that day or something I think. So we went to dinner at the 63 diner, which had tons of memorabilia of him and others from his time. Then we went to watch an outside play at the Maple Wood Barn Theater (which would later be the official place Nick proposed to me.) The play was Bye Bye Birdie. Being an outside theater we took camping chairs to sit on. One thing that impressed Nick like crazy was that when he popped his trunk, I grabbed for my chair and offered to carry my own chair. I'm not sure why that impressed him so much, but it did. What impressed me about him was that he was so chivalrous to me that night. Opening doors, pulling out chairs, offering to get me water or anything I wanted during the play.

Oh...and another cute memory from this night was the flowers...err...the phone book. I was house-sitting for the Loves that weekend and he came to pick me up there. One thing that I did in Columbia that I learned from my sister, Katie was to always carry a phone book in my car in case you got lost or needed a number or something...this was before all the I-phones and GPS's. Well, I only had a big phone book and didn’t even know that a smaller version existed. Well, when Nick came to pick me up for our date, instead of bringing flowers, he brought me a small phone book that would fit better in my car. He said as he was walking up the sidewalk to get me, he thought he should have folded the pages to make it look like a big flower; well he didn’t have time at that point, so instead he told me. I thought it was very cute and sweet. I still have that phone book today and ironically, it’s still in my car even though we don’t live in Columbia anymore…I just don’t have the heart to take it out yet! But, that's my Nick, always being sweet, but practical at the same time!

Another thing that I thought was sweet and cute was at the end of our date. I knew Nick really liked me as our sisters, Katie and Michelle were really good friends and would talk and in turn tell us some information here and there. I was worried about the whole, walk you to the door thing…do you kiss, shake hands, hug…what? Well, as I soon learned throughout the rest of our courtship, Nick is pretty forward but polite. So, he asked me if he could give me a hug at the end. Of course I said yes as I liked him a lot too and he proceeded to give me a hug only to step on my foot! It was funny and cute! Well, a year later we got married and here we are! But we were sad to see that the 63 diner was closed where we first went out…oh well…I guess we’ll have to make a new memory of something first together!

5 Years of Happiness!

On the 8th of August, we had a special day...not only was it 08/08/08, but it was also our 5th year wedding anniversary! We had a fun day! We were lucky to celebrate throughout the whole day.

First we headed to Columbia to go to the 63 diner where we had our very first date only to find that it was closed...evidentally it got foreclosed on? So, instead we went to McDonald's...I know how romantic...but we had coupons for free chicken sandwiches and for those of you who know us real well, this is our way to celebrate...Cheap!! :) Then we went to the Stake Center to help set up for Nick's brother, Quentin's reception, who was getting married the next day. The set up went really quick evidentally since when we got there, it was finished...sorry about that! So, we then we visited some dear friends in Columbia and then headed to St. Louis to the Temple. Since Quentin and Natalie were getting married the next day, we were able to go through the Temple that night and see Natalie receive her Endowment. It was a great session and it was great to see everyone there. Then we headed to the La Quinta for a hotel stay for the night…another way to celebrate! J I get excited to stay in hotels. Then the next day we went to the Temple again for Quentin and Natalie’s wedding, which was very lovely and hot…but we endured!! After that it was onto Columbia again for the reception that night. It’s so fun to get together and see friends and have a reason to celebrate! Then, after the reception, we headed to Branson, Mo for our vacation pulling in at a mere 1:55 am when the cut-off to check in was 2 am! Then we stayed in Branson for a week and had a great time…more to blog about that later!

But we had a great 5th wedding anniversary and it is hard to believe that we have been married this long! It’s been a good 5 years. As I mentioned earlier, it was great to go to the Temple for our anniversary as it brought back memories from when we got married. One distinct memory that I hope to never forget was the day of the wedding. I had stayed the night in St. Louis with my Mom, my sister, Mary and Sarah (my best friend at the time, but now my sister-in-law!) I hadn’t seen Nick for a few days before we got married. I don’t remember being too nervous, just excited as it was a big day and a big event. However, when that morning came, the nerves came on a little. I remember when I arrived at the Temple, the first person I saw was Nick and I ran to give him a hug and the most calm, peaceful feeling came over me in an instant. I knew as I had known before that we were doing the right thing. I’m so blessed to be married to him. He really does complete me (I know that sounds cheesy, but it’s true.) We are so compatible with each other. We rarely argue and when we do, it’s over shortly as we both hate to be mad at each other. We can read each other like books now. I can only imagine how much better it will be 5, 10, 50 years from now! I love him very much and am so grateful to have him in my life!