In honor of my husband and my anniversary coming up in a couple weeks, I thought I would share our love story with you guys! It’s so special and dear to my heart because it is so evident that the Lord worked out every detail to bring us together, and I’m looking forward to recapping it all for you.
It all started over twenty years ago…that’s right, my husband and I actually grew up together. We went to the same church, and our parents were good friends. Both our families were homeschooling, so we had a lot in common! My husband is five years older than me, so I don’t have a lot of memories with him because he was always running around with my older siblings. But I do remember thinking how cute he was! His family ended up moving about 45 minutes away when I was pretty young. Our families kept up as much as they could, but life gets busy and a lot of years passed before we reconnected.
In my teenage years I dated a few guys, but I knew every time they were not the person God had picked for me. I had a pretty heart wrenching break up with a guy I thought I was going to marry. But little did I know that through it all God had something even greater planned for me. I finally broke down after that breakup and I remember calling out to the Lord saying these words: “Lord I’m done trying to plan my own future and chasing after things I think is best for me. I’m putting this in your hands now!”
A few short weeks after that surrender, I stumbled across my now husband’s name on Facebook. I was excited to reconnect with him and his siblings so I requested to be their friends all the same day. When Bryan (my husband) accepted my request, he immediately messaged me. We did a little small talk and he told me how he had just moved back to the area after being a police officer in Alaska! Talk about a dream boat! Our conversation was very simple, and I didn’t really think about it much after that. A couple weeks later he messaged me saying we should get together to catch up. I agreed and gave him my phone number. He texted right away and asked if I wanted to go hiking and out to dinner. I was unsure if this was a date, or just catching up as old friends. Maybe a little of both I thought? When I told my family I was going hiking they all laughed! If you know me, you know I’m not big into exercising, and after stalking Bryan a little on Facebook, I saw he was VERY into exercise. Like triathlon and Ironman style exercise! That terrified me to say the least. Well the day came and I made it through the hiking, barely but I made it. Trying to hide my huffing and puffing and still carry on a conversation with him was rough. We then headed to dinner at this cute little restaurant on the lake (which is still our favorite date spot). We chatted a lot…well Bryan chatted a lot and I mostly listened. He was quite the talkative fella, and I remember thinking that night “Is he going to let me talk?” I thought it was cute! A lot of his stories were about his experiences in Alaska and how he was training for an Ironman race. (For those of you that don’t know what an Ironman is, you should look it up. It’s a super long and intense triathlon race.) Towards the end of our date, I remember asking him what he was up to the rest of the weekend. He replied “hanging out with you!” That put a huge smile on my face! Bryan had this confidence about him that was so attractive to me. Not like the cocky confidence that I was used to seeing in guys. It was more that he knew who he was and was confident in that. I could tell right away that he didn’t let things rattle him, and I loved that!
Well we did hang out that weekend, and actually every single day after that for about a month straight. Even if it was just meeting for a quick 30 minute lunch break, we didn’t miss a day for that first month. We wanted to be with each other every chance we got! It was so different than anything I had ever felt before. Bryan made me feel so safe, loved and adored! He put me first in everything and was so thoughtful with sweet surprises for me throughout our dating. It was so evident that God was working out our love story for us, and all we had to do was trust his plan. Three months into our dating on Thanksgiving day, Bryan took me on a walk. I was complaining about going for a walk because it was so cold out, but he got me to go anyway. He had a way of getting me to do things (like hiking) that I never would have done before. Shortly into our walk he stopped me and asked me a question I had been dreaming of hearing since I was a little girl! WILL YOU MARRY ME?! My first response according to him (I don’t remember this part) was “shut up!” I was so excited and surprised, and to be honest I don’t even remember what I said other than “put the ring on me!” My dreams were coming true right before my eyes, and my heart was filled with so much love for this man! Our families were both thrilled, and we were so ready to get our life together started. We had a short engagement…only 4 months. Like I said, we were so ready to get our lives started!
The wedding planning started, and I don’t even remember a lot of it. It’s such a blur for me! I was just so excited to marry my man that I didn’t even care about a lot of the little details of wedding planning. Thank goodness for my Mom and sister’s who did most of my wedding planning. From making invitations and decorations, to my Mom preparing the entire meal for our wedding reception! They took care of it all, and I couldn’t have done it without them!
April 2nd came and it couldn’t have been more perfect! It was a simple wedding, and just how both of us wanted it. No big reception and dance. Just dinner with our close friends and family. I was finally married to the man who stole my heart, and I couldn’t have been happier that day!
It’s been seven years since our wedding day, and honestly it doesn’t feel like it’s been that long. The years have flown by, and we have accomplished so many things in that time! One Ironman, three half Ironman races, many sprint triathlons, paying off all our debt, buying our first home, welcoming our first child, learning how to be parents, welcoming our second child, still learning how to be parents, encouraging me to pursue my dreams with this blog, and now anxiously awaiting the arrival of baby #3 to name a few highlights. We have seen God work and grow us in many different ways over these seven years, and we still are growing. Each day I learn to love my husband more and more, and I’m continually overwhelmed by God’s goodness and for Him blessing me with Bryan. It’s been so amazing to see how his personality perfectly balances out who I am, and vice versa. We know God created us specifically for each other, and that in itself is such a tremendous gift!
Happy anniversary Bryan! I love you more than I could ever express. Here is to many, many more years!
