our anniversary

Happy Anniversary dear! This has been the longest and quickest three years of my life :)

To reverse a bit, Corey and I got reconnected in September of 2007. Little did we know that a year later we would be madly in love, married, and living together in Kansas! When you know, you know... we had known OF each other for about 14 years before that moment. However, our encounters were limited to him being around while Kamie and I were hanging out doing teenage girl stuff at their house. I would always wish so deeply that Corey would be at home, but when given the opportunity a little squeaky 'hi' was all I could muster. And not only did Corey want nothing to do with the teenage girl stuff I mentioned, but I was also the "city" girl. Pratt does have a population of ~6,000. Needless to say, our lives took different paths as he moved to Iowa and I moved to Colorado. He moved back to Kansas and I swore I would never leave Colorado.

And then there was that one evening in September when I was back visiting his sister. And ironically, I didn't even hardly get to talk to his sister that night. But I'm pretty sure she didn't mind. Corey and I learned a lot about each other that night. Most importantly the fact that although I grew up "city" I was actually very outdoorsy! He loved that I enjoyed camping, hiking, backpacking, skiing. And most of all he was impressed that I drove a Jeep 6 speed! That Jeep was the best investment I ever made! And I was just impressed that he was talking to me. So by the end of the night, my pit stains were reaching my waistband, and we went our seperate ways. I remember saying to myself as I drove home 'well Lord, it's in your hands now'. I wanted so badly to send an encouraging message through sister or even my digits. But I vowed that I wouldn't intervene and the Lord would work it out if necessary.

As encouraged as I was that night, there was a lot in our way. The timing was all wrong on several fronts. Our homes were 500 miles apart. This was my friends' brother and I felt pretty hopeless towards relationships, so I really didn't want to screw up my friendship too. I wasn't leaving Colorado. I had plans to live in Colorado. No really, I loved Colorado.

Within a few days, Corey had taken the initiative to get my phone number and call me. I still remember trying to have a conversation with him and my heart was beating so fast that I was feeling winded but also trying to hide it at the same time which only made me think I was going to hyperventalate. But I got myself together I think. We talked on the phone for 4 months before he came to visit me in January of 2008. Luckily his cousin was going out to CO to go skiing, so Corey had a good "excuse" to tag along! After that 4 day weekend in Breckenridge we started riding the friendly skies. Almost every two weeks one of us was going here or there. He would fly to Colorado and we would work hard skiing, snow shoeing, hiking, camping. Then I would fly to Kansas and we would rest.

On May 24, 2008 he proposed on top of Pikes Peak!

Yep, that's me engaged to an amazing man!

And then the pending decision of where to build our life... We talked about it at various times thoughout dating. And I felt like I became more and more at peace with moving back to Kansas. That was not easy for me to admit. But I have always been a rational person, and it just made sense. We would be closer to our families, and knowing that we wanted a family of our own, that was really important. The cost of living is much more reasonable. Corey already had a job that he loved and that would support us and you can't take that for granted. There are fewer people and more space. So that was that!

We were married on August 30, 2008 in the foothills of Colorado! After our dream wedding we flew out of Denver to Costa Rica. Our honeymoon was an adventure in itself. Then we flew into Wichita after our honeymoon and have been here ever since!

The move wasn't an easy transition for me. I remember after several months of marriage Corey mentioned upgrading my vehicle in case the Jeep wasn't worth it in the Kansas wind. He was just trying to make me happy and take care of me. And I was brought to tears just at the mention of my Jeep going away. That was the one familiar 'thing' that I still had to hold on to. He felt pretty bad for even bringing it up. Gotta love the differences between men and women!

It's hard to believe that that was just three short years ago. Since then we have spent our timing sitting in rocking chairs sipping lemonade. Yeah right! Our wedding was the beginning of an exciting and enriching and busy marriage! Easily the best decision I ever made!

(I did make a bad decision by not buying the CD of wedding pictures. These are all scanned. Boo.)