eight

eight years

that's a long time...

as long as the amount of time you are in high school AND college

and now, as of today, June 20, 2011...

that's how long Mark and I have been married!

pretty incredible!

I could not have asked for a better partner to do life with! I am so blessed!

So in honor of our 8th wedding anniversary today, here's a stroll down memory lane for ya!

enjoy!

Here's a picture of me and my dear Kati on the day I met Mark...

We were 2 HOT and very much NOT single girls ready to head out on floor date with the ever so handsome young men of 1st Bolt! It was harmless right? And since Kati and I pretty much made the most of every fun dorm activity Calvin had to offer we were ready to go! But little did I know that going out on the BHT lawn that day to mix and mingle and make some new FRIENDS, would result in me meeting my HUSBAND!

Mark had other plans that day. He had seen me walking by his first floor corner window and had told Ernie, his best friend and floor activities coordinator, that he would attend every floor date until he found ME!

It just took a little work on this particular floor date to actually get to talk to me! You see, all the girls had to put 1 shoe in the middle of the circle of college kids. The guys had to each pull out a shoe and that was their "date" for the afternoon! There were way too many girls there that day, which meant lots of extra shoes...so Mark grabbed 3 or 4 hoping that one of them would be mine. Nope! Not so much luck!

So later in the "date", after he had made a really great impression introducing himself to everyone as, "Mark, majoring in baseball and girls", he ditched all of his dates and came to interrupt my "date"! We chatted briefly, I thought he was nice and cute, but a little too cocky for my liking! But I have to admit, that despite a boyfriend at home, and his questionably smooth moves, I had butterflies in my stomach as he walked with me and my whole floor back to the dorm!

After this initial meeting, the boy really put in his time! He waited out my inevitable break up. Continued to attend every single dorm function, even though these had never really been his thing before meeting me. Came to dinner every night with me and a table full of girls. Stayed up until all hours of the night chatting with me in the dorm basement when we were supposed to be studying. And even waited MONTHS for our first kiss!

And in the mean time he concentrated on looking sexy and settling for holding my hand! Here we are at our dorm's 80's roller skating party- this was the first time we held hands- while skating around the rink! How romantic!

And this is our first "official" photo of just the 2 of us! The date in the corner is wrong, but I know it was in early October of 1999. We had gone on our first date the night before. He took me to Outback with a gift card from his mom! Some things never change! Tonight we are going out to dinner with a gift card too! Ha! And then this picture was taken at our dorm Fall Retreat. He took me out on a canoe in the moonlight and paddled the whole way! He learned quickly how I roll!

3 years of dating and fun later, led to this...

Getting engaged in Grosse Point! What a great surprise!

Then we were on to almost a year of planning leading up to our big day...

June 20, 2003

It was a perfect day, surrounded by all of our family and friends, and celebrating this amazing love God has given us!

After our honeymoon in Maui, we were ready to start our new lives together in "Colorful Colorado"!

Here I was, so young and carefree, with no idea of what my life would look like eight years later! I was just ready to start a new adventure with Mark by my side!

I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you, not to harm you, plans to give you a future with hope! Jeremiah 29:11

This was our wedding verse and a verse we have memorized and quoted and meditated on often! It is God's promise to us!

eight years

eight years of laughter

eight years of joy

eight years with great jobs and a nice home

eight years that have brought us 2 beautiful and healthy boys

eight years of getting to know each other better every day

eight years of arguing and tears

eight years of learning how to best serve and support each other

Thank you Mark for the best eight years of my life! I love you to pieces and pieces! I love you to the moon and back! You make my heart SO happy!

xoxo wifey