An update....FINALLY

Long recap of the best years of my life....

Well tomorrow (June 1st) will be our six year anniversary!! My wonderful husband sent me a yellow rose plant and chocolate covered strawberries. We don't celebrate our anniversary but this is different and we both broke the rules :) His gift will be posted here on our blog when he calls and says he is going to check it (I want him to be the first to see it). Yellow roses and chocolate covered strawberries take me back to our dating and wedding...he put time and though into it and that made it EXTRA special!!

We have been through so much and come such a long way! People always told us to just wait until the "honeymoon phase" was over and "real life" began......happy to say we are still in the "honeymoon phase" (if there is such a thing). God has brought us through life's difficulties with strength and a deeper understanding of Him and eachother....marriage is the best ever (with being a mommy a close second :) Just to recap....Here's the last six plus years in a nutshell.

August 2000: Josh gets back from Oakland and I start stalking him (yes, REALLY stalking him!)

October 13, 2000: first official date at six flags. He bought me a lemon chill (aww, he really likes me!). We went by the carousel and started talking. We got into a DEEP conversation about God, life and family.....he started running through a mental checklist in his head and FINALLY realized I was girlfriend material (after I had stalked him for several months :)

Shortly after we went to his sisters wedding together where his Papaw told me to "run while I still could"....yea, too late! This boy had me sucked in and I wasn't going anywhere.

Now it gets fun. Josh went on a trip to a friends wedding. He had been emailing and calling off and on while he was gone. We had just finished praying for him and his safety at bible study when he walked in. He came home early to surprise me....this is when everyone at church realized Josh Brooks was in love :) We had several Sunday morning breakfasts before church. He brought me a yellow rose to church one Sunday....I still have it in my car :)

I would go to his apt and work on homework (I was still in college) and we would watch the Stars play...we watched them win the Stanley Cup miles apart (I was in Cali) but we were on the phone together. This is when I started to enjoy hockey.

We loved to go out! We went to the club a bit, saw a MILLION movies, went to several concerts and spent countless nights sitting outside and talking.

Trying times make strong relationships...

Josh and I had just started dating and shortly after I became very depressed. I lost my Aunt Tetti when I was 10 and she was 20...so the months leading up to and just after my 20th birthday were HORRIBLE and I don't know if I would have made it without Josh. It really hit me that I was experiencing things that she would never get to and that wasn't fair! Plus, I wanted her here for me while I was living life.....It was just a horrible and dificult time in my life. I kept this from everyone except Josh and my grandma. I would call Josh just hysterical (usually late at night when I had sat and let my mind wonder). He would come over, sit on my parents front porch and just hold me. I don't think I had ever really dealt with my aunts death until this point. He and I would talk a bunch about it. I started a memorial book and got my yellow rose tattoo. This was a crazy and horrible time in my life....I'm SO SURPRISED he didn't run away! and so grateful to God that Josh was there for me and strong enough to help me through it. He kinda got a picture of who I was (good and bad) and didn't go anywhere....it gave me a great picture of the man he was and the husband he would become.

Josh proposed Christmas Eve which was super special because I LOVE Christmas! My grandparents were in town which was awesome! He came to pick me up at my apt and I was not ready for church yet (big surprise). I gave him a big hug....not knowing my ring was right there in his pocket :) We went to the candle light service with my family. It was awesome having my grandma there with me because Christmas Eve is always a time that my aunts death is heavy on my heart. I used to spend that night at their house and always got to sleep with her....special memories that always flood back and make me sad. Anyways....We enjoy the service together and then go to a HUGE family dinner at the Olive Garden. Little did I know that off and on during the church service Josh had been going to the restroom and showing my ring off....THAT'S MY RING! So pretty much everyone at church knew it was coming and I had NO IDEA!

We FINALLY finish dinner at the Olive Garden and go to look at Christmas lights (one of my FAVORITE things to do). We drove to SEVERAL awesome locations....but they were all closed because dinner had taken so long and it had gotten super late. We finally ended up at Parker Square. He was like, let's get out and go to the gazebo.....and I said, no! It's cold! He said please so I went (still no idea, am I dumb or what!) We get up there and he starts talking about how wonderful I am and how great our relationship has been....at this point I see it coming. He gets down on one knee, says something amazingly romantic (and I can't remember a word of it ;) and give me my ring. I say yes and start hugging him.....he pulls away because I still don't have the ring on. It was super cute! I called Val on the way back to my parents house. Then I get the number to where Michelle (my cousin) is and give her a call. It was the best Christmas Eve ever! and the proposal was perfect!

So since then we have lived in a million apartments, Josh has worked telecommunications, donations warehouse, Home Depot warehouse, gas station and is now FINALLY in a career where he is happy and stable. He loves being in the Air Force and it allows him to go on some pretty awesome trips! Plus, it gives me one weekend a month to go hang out with mom and clean the house without worrying about our family time or waking him up. He helped me finish college......that was HUGE!

Our lives have not been easy, but not really hard either. So many people are surprised by how I handle things, but really.....I just lean on God and know I'll make it through. My aunt taught me that life is to short to worry about things. Enjoy what it throws at you and allow it to make you stronger.

1 Cor. 10:13 is the verse I try and live by....it has really helped me keep perspective.

The more we go through the more I lean on these words....

I am so blessed to be the wife of such a wonderful man of God. He leads our little family with wisdom and love. He is my soul mate and my one true match. Thank you God for letting him FINALLY realize that this little YOUTH GROUP KID stalking him was really the woman of his dreams....he just needed to give me a chance :) So now the youth group kid and the intern are married and have a kid of their own.....who would have imagined it (surely not him and he hates it when I remind him of that :)

The Man of my Dreams.....

Love you so very much and can't wait for us to be a family of three!!

You are my hero.