Four years and counting...

It was exactly four years ago today that I was driving down Poly Drive in Billings, MT, sticking my head out the window of Alex's Toyota Tacoma and yelling at the top of my lungs, "I'm getting married today!!!"

Today marks our four-year wedding anniversary, which I believe is a great accomplishment because during those four years I've seen couples get married and divorced, but to be honest it feels like we've been married for so much longer, and not for the reasons you're probably thinking. :) I never really thought it was possible to pack so much of life into four short years but apparently anything is possible. If we were still on the plan we set for ourselves when we first got married, we would JUST now be thinking about starting a family. Ha, now we're starting to think if two kids is enough or if maybe we want to try for a third. What is that saying, "we plan and God laughs"?

Alex and I definitely set out on the fast track. I first met Alex when I was a senior in high school. I was dating a guy who was a freshman at the University of Montana and Alex just so happened to be his roommate. I was always intrigued with him but nothing ever went beyond friendship. Things got complicated once I moved to Missoula to attend the U. I moved off campus the second semester of my freshman year as I could no longer stand living in the dorms. I moved into an apartment with some girlfriends, one of which was Alex's girlfriend. A stone's throw away in another apartment lived my boyfriend who had continued being roommates with Alex. We saw a lot of each other, Alex and I, but still nothing ever went beyond friendship. I remember him teasing me a lot and pulling pranks on me so I guess one could say there was always a bit of affection there. After a year and a half at the U and breaking up with my boyfriend, I decided to move back to Billings and attend college there. Roughly two years after I had moved back, I got a surprising phone call from Alex saying that he was in town on business and wanted to know if I was available to have dinner. I accepted and after spending the evening with him, realized that perhaps there was more to our relationship than simply friendship. We met each other again the very next day for lunch and as he was walking me back to work, he asked if he could start calling me more and maybe explore the possibility of there being something more between us. I sheepishly agreed and I remember skipping back into work, not breaking my smile for the rest of the day. I was giddy. This all happened in March of 2005.

Our first date, you could say, was in Big Sky, MT. Since he lived in Missoula and I in Billings, we decided to meet halfway and spend the weekend skiing. It was the first weekend in April and the conditions could not have been more perfect. The sun was bright, the sky was big, and the snow was phenomenal. I think he may have put his arm around me on the chairlift but I think I was too nervous and so I can't fully remember. I do remember him kissing me on the forehead before we parted ways back to our respective towns. Driving home from that trip I knew something special was starting.

For the next two or three months we e-mailed, spent hours on the phone each night, and tried to spend a weekend together here or there as our schedules allowed. My parents adored him and encouraged our relationship from the start.

June 25, 2005. I boarded a Big Sky Airlines flight from Billings to Missoula to spend the week with Alex. The plan was to spend a few days in Missoula and then to drive to Seattle so that I could meet his mom for the first time. (For those of you who know me well, the simple act of getting on that plane screams true love since I am petrified of flying!) I got off the plane, spotted Alex leaning against a wall, reading a newspaper, and ran over to him, ecstatic for our week ahead. We drove back to his apartment to drop off my bags but once we got there he said he had a surprise for me. He locked me in a room while I could hear him wresting with something out in the living room. When he gave me permission to come out, I was surprised to see a picnic set out for us on his living room floor. (I later learned he had planned for an outdoor picnic but the weather did not cooperate.) He had all the essential picnic goodies - fruit, cheese and crackers, chocolate, a bottle of champagne??? Once I saw the champagne I thought maybe something was up but I honestly don't even recall us ever discussing marriage or the possibility of getting engaged anytime soon. After all, we had only been dating for three months so there was no way he was going to propose, right? We snacked on the food, laughed, and after a bit of time had gone by he told me he had a present for me. Completely oblivious, I started to unwrap his gift and even after I noticed it was a ring box I still had no clue what was coming. I opened up the box, saw the ring, and immediately closed it and gasped! A million random thoughts ran through my head in just a few seconds and I couldn't even start to comprehend what was happening. I think Alex got nervous since I closed the box so quickly, but once I started to calm down and he started into his speech about how much he loved me, it finally started to sink in that he was indeed proposing! I have no idea what he said but I do remember opening up the box again, making sure that it was still an engagement ring, and then getting teary-eyed and saying "YES!". Holy crap, I just got engaged! We finished our picnic and not really knowing what to do next, we decided to hike the M. Random.

He had planned an engagement party in advance, which to me says he was pretty confident that I would accept his proposal, and so later that evening we met up at his parent's house where his parents and all of our friends waited for us to announce the great news. It was a great evening and an absolutely perfect day.

So, we started dating in April of 2005, got engaged in June of that year, and then married in October. Hey, when you know who you're meant to spend the rest of your life with, why wait? :) Seven months after we were married we learned we were expecting our first child and then before his first birthday, we found out we were expecting a second one. Wow, just putting that in writing makes me tired.

In summary, we've done a lot during our first four years together. I couldn't imagine my life without him and he truly is my better half. We are so completely opposite that we fit together perfectly. I can't wait to see what happens next!