With this ring, I thee wed

13 years ago today, Mike & I were married. Several people have asked me how we met so I figure today is a great day to give our history.

We actually met when I was 16 and Mike was 18. He was a freshman at BYU and started dating a cute girl named Erin Farley. Yep - my older sister. They dated for a semester and then Mike went on his mission to Spain. In the meantime, I finished high school and one year at BYU. Erin met Brett and they were married a few months before Mike got home. Mike returned to the Y and we saw each other a few times on campus. He went out a few times with my roommate, Amy, but that was about it. We joke that he kept taking out the wrong girls. Maybe our kids were in heaven shouting, "No dad! Not that one. Her little sister! (or) Her roommate!" But timing is everything and I'm convinced it wouldn't have worked at that point.

After I came home from my mission, I decided to take an Institute class at the UofU .... and who should walk in but Mike. He was now 25 and was finishing up his undergrad before heading to law school that fall. He recognized me as Erin's sister but couldn't remember my first name, so he said, "You gotta love the Farleys!" After class, he asked me how Erin and Amy were -- my two best friends and two of his ex-girlfriends. Tiniest bit awkward. :} We went to Hires Big H and talked and caught up. I remember being very impressed with him this time around :) and loved hearing about what he was doing .... graduating, heading to law school, leaving soon for India with a humanitarian group. We both felt an interest in the other but we each wondered if our shared history was too weird for us to date.

Once Mike asked me out (here's that story again), we had such a great time. I remember being amazed at how comfortable everything felt and what great chemistry we had. We saw each other almost every day after that. He was heading back east to law school, though, so that was always looming. That deadline of him leaving sped up our courtship and we ended up getting engaged 6 months after we "met".We were married in the Salt Lake temple by Harman Rector, Jr. and we both remember it being a fun/humorous ceremony. Kind of fit our personalities, I guess. We had a luncheon and ring ceremony at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building and a reception at The Old Meeting House. We went on our honeymoon to San Francisco and returned just in time for Mike to start law school the next day. We lived downtown for a couple of years while we both finished school and then started having kids, etc., etc..... And here we are, four great kids and 13 years later!

Marrying you was the best decision I ever made, Mike. I love you and love our life together. You make my life fun and I can't wait for many more years together. Happy Anniversary!