10 - 4 - 3

Ten years ago tonight, Greg and I decided to get married, after knowing each other for four months, and we picked a wedding date three months into the future. What kind of crazy people profess eternity to each other after four months!?! I guess it's our equality in craziness that makes our marriage work. 

At the time, Greg was working the graveyard shift and had to be to work at midnight. We were together before that and I guess we just started talking about marriage. We had talked about it for a couple of weeks, although we never actually said the word "marriage." Instead we spoke in hypotheticals: "If you and I 'end up together' how many kids do you think you want?" "If you and I 'end up together,' where do you want to live?" That night, I guess we decided that we would "end up together." We were very excited, and Greg called as soon as he got to work so we could talk even more.

I was so nervous to tell my parents, and I had never actually met Greg's parents (they lived in California at the time). We called the temple and got a date and time and we set up appointments with several reception centers. We had an appointment with the Joseph Smith Memorial Building a few days later, so I figured we should tell my parents the night before (just in case my mom wanted to participate). It was about 10:30 at night and my dad had fallen asleep watching TV. We woke him up. We gathered everyone around the table and Greg made the announcement. My sister immediately stood up and said, "I'll let the dog out." My mom stood up, walked toward her calendar and said, "Let me see if I have that day free." Was she not going to attend if she had a dentist appointment? When it was apparent that her day was void of pressing engagements, she sat down and said, "Well...I guess I'll pencil it in." I told her she could write it in pen if she wanted because it was most likely going to happen. Then, my dad started grilling Greg on the "How are you going to take care of my daughter" questions. I guess he passed because here we are - ten years later.

The entire situation was quite comical. But nothing was funnier than the following morning. I walked upstairs and my mom shouted, "What are we going to do about Christmas?" I was a little confused considering it was the beginning of May!!! I asked her what in the world she was talking about. "Well," she said, "Are you going to stay here or go to California?" (Keep in mind that I had yet to meet Greg's parents...oh, and did I mention that it was MAY!?!) She was kind of freaking out.

Despite the great Christmas Dilemma of May 1999 (I'm sure you recall all the alarming stories in the newspaper - similar to Y2K), we somehow managed to enjoy our engagement, get married, and "end up with" (nearly) five kids. Someone tell those young, unassuming, optimistic, love-struck, naive (or just plain stupid) kids what they are in for. Better yet, let them figure it out themselves. Ten years ago, giggling on the telephone until two in the morning, I never could have imagined how much we have learned, grown, and been through together. I never could have imagined how much that young girl with chubby cheeks misunderstood about love. Sitting here today (enormous with two babies getting ready to burst out of my body), I love him more deeply than I ever thought possible.

Just to prove to you how strong, binding, and passionate our love is today, my knight in shining armor just walked past me and said, "Oh, I know you've been wanting me to unclog the bathroom sink for a while now. I'll do it tomorrow morning. How does that sound?"

Perfect.