8 years

Sunday was our 8 year anniversary. It was a good day. Actually, it was a good few days. Zach's parents came on Friday and picked up the boys and took them home with them while Zach and I went up north to eat at Rodizio Grill (they bring you a different kind of meat on a huge skewer every two minutes!! I was stuffed after 15 minutes. And I haven't felt the same since.... It was really fun and super yummy, but we probably won't eat there again)(oh, and the grilled pineapple was for sure my favorite). Then we walked around Ikea, got some ice cream and headed home. Sleeping in the next morning was amazing, although I couldn't sleep without turning our extra sound machine on. I'm so used to hearing the boys ocean waves all night that now I can't sleep without it. What a mom. Then we headed to Zach's parents and spent the weekend there. And gorged ourselves on more delicious food. We have little self control when it comes to food.

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When Zach and I met I was 18 and he was 21. He had been home from his mission for 7 months and had come to N.C. to sell pest control for the summer. I had just sent my "boyfriend" on his mission about a week earlier. Zach and I met in early June at the church one night where all the guys were playing basketball. I had just gone on a date with another guy (yeah, my mourning period for the boyfriend was a little short...) and we went there afterwards so he could play ball and I could visit with the other girlfriends. Zach walked in and came over to where I was and introduced himself as Zachary, and (since he already knew my name) insisted that we had met before. Which was a lie. After arguing over it a bit he told me that he had actually memorized everyone's names out on the bulletin board in the foyer. Which is also a lie - He had actually memorized the names of the girls that he thought were cute. What a guy. We chatted a few other times at church on Sundays, and at one point he told me that he loved the south because he didn't have any boogers and his elbows were super soft (he even made me feel his elbows to prove it). Now how could I not be interested?? The thing that really sealed the deal though was when I went to a dance there at the single's ward and saw him dancing. With no one in particular. All over the room. See, there are some guys that dance because they think they look good, and some that dance in order to be close to the ladies. Zach was dancing because he loves to dance. At one point during the dance I grabbed my friend Kevin and said, "You see that guy over there? Zach? The one that just did a toe touch? I'm gonna get me some of that."

Zach and I went on our first date a few days after that. It was such a fun date and he was so different from other guys I'd gone out with. He was kind to everyone that we interacted with. He talked to strangers and made them laugh. He had no inhibitions. He was silly. He wasn't trying to impress me. He was being totally himself. And I was hooked.

After two weeks we had said "I love you," and my whole family was telling me how stupid I would be if I didn't marry him. He would knock on doors all day long and then hurry to my house as soon as he could. Despite being together nearly every day I still worried that he would go back to Utah and we would never talk again and it would be summed up as a "summer fling". Thankfully that wasn't the case. He went home in August and we talked every day. Almost constantly. He bought a little earphone thing for his phone (before everyone had them) so he could talk to me and work (mix paint) at the same time. I went out to Utah at the beginning of September and met his family. The day I got there we stayed up super late talking about everything and at one point I said, "Why don't you just propose right now?" And he did. He came back out to N.C. a few weeks after that to give me the ring and really propose. We were married 5 months later.

There's never been a point in our dating and marriage that I've felt anything but lucky to have Zach. He's still everything that he was on that first date. One of the things I admire about him is his sense of perspective. It's not often that he makes decisions based on the "right now". He considers the future constantly. This is a good thing since I sometimes have the perspective of a 4 year old.

Now don't get me wrong - we're not perfect. When we first got married I thought we were totally alike. And in a lot of ways we are. But in many, many MORE ways we're completely different. That was difficult for a while. But we've figured out that we can be different and do our own things, but when we're together we choose to do the things that we both enjoy. We often don't agree about things, but have decided that in a lot of cases it's better to be united than to be right. We argue, we bug each other, we give each other the silent treatment.... but we try really hard not to say things that are hurtful and mean. It's funny because I thought that after being married for a few years we would have each other totally figured out and it would be smooth sailing from there. But that's not the case. We're both constantly changing and evolving and there's always something we have to stop and figure out. And that's ok. It's ok for things to be hard sometimes because we were made to be able to do hard things. We get through them and come out stronger on the other side.

And I love that man. Even though he brought me out here where I live with an excess of boogers and dry elbows. I've always said, It doesn't matter where we go, as long as we're together.


And... I think I've filled my quota for lovey dovey, cheesiness, and definitely for post length (for the rest of the year). Geez. And all I really wanted to do was show off that cute picture at the top.

Anyways, Happy Anniversay Zachary. Even though you won't read this unless I tell you to. ;)