Friday, August 21, 2009

it's been 5 years and 2 days...

...since I started dating the only man I'll date for the rest of forever. Thanks to you, Jon these years have been better than I could have ever imagined.
(we can thank blogger and its uploading problems for the 2 days)

In honor of the occasion, I wanted to remind you of some of my favorite moments dating you.

Here are memories I love.

August 19, 2004, after you finally had the courage to ask me on a date, even if it was a note that said, "we should do something sometime, but not skydiving." I can't hold the note against you since you wrote it during institute. So, Shelley helped me out and insisted that you come to a birthday party at her house that night. After the party, little did we know we would spend the entire night really getting to know each other, talking in your dad's A6 under the yellow light in the church parking lot. I loved that night.
That time we took pictures together for the first time outside Julie Vance's house, probably on a Thursday night before institute and I think that night a group of us went out to Applebee's after the class. I'm certain that after Applebee's we stayed up for hours talking and talking after the food... we seemed to start a trend that first night that continues even still. (I love that we still find ourselves talking into the wee hours of the morning until we're both silly sleepy). I suppose it's fitting that Julie was behind the camera since it is thanks to her that we ever started dating.

We were so happy you would be closer to me when we moved you into your blue room in Brett's house. I remember how sad it was when we moved you out too, since we had grown attached to the place, cold as it was, and it was hard to leave behind all the memories we created there.


Remember when we went to the institute boat dance and we almost missed the boat looking for parking in Seattle so we ran and you fell and injured your hands and knees pretty bad and had to wear your undershirt for the rest of the night? Oh, and the camera broke during the fall. Somehow we still had fun though, just being together.
Sometimes we dressed too alike for church. Others really couldn't mistake us for being together or not that way.
One time, we got tickets to conference and drove to Utah with Sheena through the night. I'm pretty sure the drive included stealing a tiny pumpkin and finding random clothing articles on the side of the road that we then hung from the antenna of the Sable. I think we were pretty tired.
Then we missed the Sunday morning session by 5 minutes because we didn't know about Music and the Spoken Word and having to be there early, so we watched the broadcast in the Tabernacle and met some random man who gave us relationship advice. Then you took me to Steve Harris Imports for the first time.
Then, since we were locked out of Brendan's apartment, we learned more about my hunger crashes and took cheesy pictures in the hallway with the self-timer. (A Jon and Meghan classic).

When you worked for Rodland Toyota and we were really poor, we spent many a night freezing in the downstairs of Brett's house, huddled together on that rickety chair.
But despite our poverty, you treated me with style and took me to the Nutcracker right before Christmas as my birthday present.
Then we got to spend our first Christmas together. We drove to Eastern Washington in the "Jet" on Christmas Eve
and stopped to take pictures in the snow. The next day when we drove back, you were so anxious to give me my gift!
A couple days later we went with your family on the San Juan Island ferry. It was sunny and cold and beautiful.
And even though we spent the next several months without a digital camera since yours broke with your fall, we managed to get a few disposable camera shots of dates together. Some of my favorites are the night we went to dinner in Stanwood and then drove the TT up to Deception Pass to hide a candy bar for Jon Pearce,
Driving up Chuckanut with Shelley and Neal to eat our favorite smoked salmon penne pasta at Mambo Italiano, and taking our day trip to Vancouver where we had the best gelato in a quaint shop off the beach. (Things like the cherry blossoms blowing in the doorway as we listened to Italian men talk over the newspaper in Italian only happen to people who are in love).
We spent more time at Deception Pass, enjoyed the view and sunset, and visited Shaune.
And to celebrate on year together, we took a day trip over to the coast where we wrote in the sand and enjoyed the beach.
About a week later, I went back to school and miraculously, along with many, many hours on the phone, we saw each other about every 2-3 weeks. (Though we weren't so photogenic during that time). We went to India Fest, to dinner and mini-golfing with Jenn and Jeremy, we had a phone date with Wendys and a movie, you flew me home for a magical birthday complete with breakfast at Pike Place and a dance lesson that night, we spent more time together when you came with my family in November, we shared Thanksgiving in Washington, and when the semester ended, you convinced your parents to drive down to Utah to help me move.
Taking photos to leave our families for Christmas 2005 felt so bittersweet because we knew we would be leaving each other for 2 years just a few days after the holiday.
We both left on missions. But you wrote me, (you even left me a package under some bushes at the MTC)
we emailed,
and I wrote you,
until we celebrated 3 years together after I got home, even if it was in the form of taking pictures of ourselves enjoying our gifts to each other. (I love that book you made me).
Then one day, you shocked me and pulled into my driveway a couple weeks before you were supposed to be home. We resumed life as usual, taking pictures of ourselves
and sharing affection by the water.
Just a month later we were engaged, though it took you until we flew home in February to plan our wedding for you to formally propose. Thank goodness Stephen was ready with the camera during our engagement photoshoot!
After the bulk of the planning was complete, we enjoyed nice temperatures
and spending time with Olivia.
I introduced you to an Irish tradition on St. Patrick's Day.
We dressed in Easter colors
and dyed eggs for the holiday.
Though we didn't always have time to go out on real dates thanks to homework for me, I loved watching you teach yourself how to play the guitar with youtube on your ipod.
Then we flew home to get married, and we loved showing Hayley why we love western Washington so much.
The day I married you was one of the most enjoyable days of my life. Don't we still say we wish we could do it all over again, just to have fun like we did that day? Plus, as a bonus, you looked so handsome.
We loved the Oregon Coast for our honeymoon, and we went on a date to Florence to play in the sand dunes
and enjoyed a bike ride along the Columbia in Astoria until I broke my elbow, anyway.
Then, our first night in our apartment without any furniture, we had a frozen Indian food picnic on the floor.
We experienced the American le Mans series for the first time together at Miller Motosports Park.
Gawking at the ferraris!
We continued our trend of loving to cook together... this was your requested dinner for Father's Day: filet mignon with garlic mashed potatoes and brussels sprouts.
We went on many-a-date to Park City to detail cars. But it really did pay off last summer, and we got to spend so much time together, even if I fell asleep from time to time.
Then one day, you came to pick me up from work in Provo and told me we were going on a date. You started driving south and we drove for about 6 hours until we got to Las Vegas!
It was hot.
But then we got to cool off in pleasant southern California with a visit to Nunu and California Adventure. I still love this spontaneous trip so much... that we could just leave town and enjoy each other for a few days, on our own adventure.
One night we went on a moonlit ride at Sundance... though this picture makes it look like we were alone on this date, there were 2 other people on the lift with us. That doesn't mean we weren't able to steal a kiss or two though.
We dressed up for wedding receptions and more wedding receptions.
And eventually visited our families since we missed them and Washington. I think we're meant to ride ferries forever.
To soften the blow of the drive back to Utah, we revived an old tradition with chocolixrs from godiva.
When we got back, school started and life started, and we spent more dates at home, creating food we love,
and cleaning up after our creations, sans dishwasher.
We got to go to India Fest again, this time married, and me with puffy, post-wisdom teeth extraction cheeks.
We started a continuing tradition of picnics up the canyon to escape the city,
went to the temple,
and enjoyed the year's first snowfall.
For my birthday, you got us both passes to flow yoga for a month... we went together and bonded through some relaxing and some challenging sessions.
I loved carving our Halloween pumpkins togetherand dressing as Lois and Clark, as previously planned.
We went on Sunday drives almost every Sunday... I'm pretty sure you begged me almost every Sunday until I got too nauseated with pregnancy to enjoy them.
One of them tuned into quite an adventure when we stumbled on a blizzard in the canyon.
We prepared a Thanksgiving feast together for our families,
and came back to Utah to trim our first tree
and enjoy all Temple Square has to offer during the holidays.
But one of my favorite Christmas memories will always be going to cut down the tree with Olivia, who happened to love the 2 feet of snow!
One day early in pregnancy I felt good enough to go on a drive, so we drove west, spent some time at the Great Salt Lake (or stinky lake) and ended up in Wendover.
Then, to give into a little indulgence, we went to New York. I loved that it was with you that I got to navigate the city, spend Valentine's Day at Rockefeller Center, and eat ethnic food to the point of explosion.
When we got back, life hit again, and nights that could have been dates turned into moving/ unpacking in our new place.
But we took time out for your intramural tennis match, after which we gave into a pregnancy craving for Mexican food.
We got Paisley, who has been the best preparation for an actual kid (as she proved again today with her bag freak out accident incident), and at first, we never wanted to leave her alone.

So, we've embraced her and spent time watching her growing pains

and pleasures. Remember when she was still tiny and she would run off with Mouse's string between her legs, all triumphant to hide him under the bed?
We went on a looong trip home earlier this summer, and there are too many good memories from that almost-month-long vacation to discuss here, but I especially loved all the time we spent with the water.
Then we came home to heat and good food and too much lazing around to mention
and we even shared pool dates on the back patio. Let's clean it again so we can keep doing this!

And it's amazing to think that these are only some of our memories from the past 5 years together! Thank you for choosing me, Jon. I love that we have so much fun together. And I love you!

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