Love is in the air

Twelve years ago today (February 2, 1997), Andy and I went on our first date. It was a very casual, get-to-know-ya-again kinda date. We went to a local Italian restaurant and after dinner he asked if I would mind running into Wal-mart (so romantic) so he could pick up a birthday gift for his sister. Now Wal-mart would not have been the first place to get a gift for your sister, except he was buying her 2 new Disney VHS tapes. (she was collecting them all) I thought it was just totally sweet that he was buying his sister a gift, I didn't realize till later that he was a week late in getting and giving his gift. But hey, I guess it was the thought, right?!

We had a great time on that date, I felt really comfortable and relaxed around him. We had several more casual dates in the weeks to follow. Then we started spending pretty much every weekend together along with several times during the week. This continued for 4 years.

On May 4, 2001, we purchased our very first home. We knew we were going to get married, but he hadn't actually proposed yet. On the day of the closing, we were both so excited. Neither of us could sleep the night before. We were closing at 9:00 in the morning and the plan was for us both to take the day off work, close on the house and get movin' in. I got a little bent out of shape when Andy informed me the night before closing that he had a meeting with his boss in the morning BEFORE the closing. Hello....who schedules a meeting before 9:00 a.m.??? Now this might not have been that big of a deal except for the fact that my man isn't the most "on time" person. He could have walked in 5 minutes late to the closing and not been phased one bit...if that was me, I would have been devastated! I'm just not a late person...I like to be on time if not a tad bit early. Anyway...it turned out fine and he was there on time. We did all the paperwork and signed our life away.

We both had our own cars loaded up with all the goods we were taking to the new house and headed straight there after the closing. I was so excited! When we got there all the blinds/window coverings were closed, so it was dark....I walked into the living room and headed right for the kitchen to plug in the phone to make sure we had service. (calling someone from my new house was obviously my priority!) Andy hollered for me to come into the living room. As I walked in the room, he flipped on the light above the fireplace. When I finally looked over there, up on the mantle were several long stem roses laying down with a white ring box in the center sparkling like I've never seen sparkle before. HE GOT ME! It had been a running joke for quite some time that he wouldn't be able to surprise me. That I would totally know when he was going to propose. I totally walked right by his set-up the first time. He totally surprised me! It was awesome! Oh, and he didn't have a meeting with his boss that morning before closing. He had made arrangements with our realtor to have her let him in the house to get everything set up. He had it all planned out. Perfectly!


So not only did we have a new house, now we were planning a wedding. Looking ahead at the calendar we figured out that February 2 was going to fall on a Saturday! Perfect. So we got married on the 5-year anniversary of our very first date and to top it off, the date was 02-02-02! How cool is that!

We decided on a small, intimate ceremony. We wanted an evening ceremony at a local botanical garden conservatory. Being that it was February, the conservatory was warm and we had the entire event lit by candlelight. The ceremony was beautiful. Andy asked his brother and dad to be his best men and I had Andy's sister, Jodi and my cousin, Tina stand up with me. Simple, yet elegant with all our family there to witness our union. The ceremony was followed by a huge party with a sit-down dinner for all our friends and family. It was honestly the perfect day!



Andy,
Today, seven years later, we are celebrating our anniversary. So much has changed in those seven years and I wouldn't want to share those times with anyone else. Looking back, I wouldn't change a thing. What is even more exciting to me is that I can't wait for all the adventures we still have waiting for us. We have been blessed with two beautiful kids and everyday we are learning and growing together. Thank you for being the person you are and for sharing your life with me!
I Love You!
T

The songs you are hearing are the two songs that we danced our first dance to....Etta James, At Last....you know cause it only took us five years and Grow Old with me...just cause all the words are perfect....Enjoy!