Eight Great Years

Today is Brian and my's 8th wedding anniversary. We met in the summer of '98 when I moved from Spokane, WA to Murray, KY to be the Head Women's Rowing Coach at Murray State University. Brian was the Throws Coach for the Track and Field team, but was also the Strength and Conditioning Coach for the womens' sports, so that's how we met. He ran my athletes' workouts in the weight room, and a few months later we began dating. Our first date was supposed to be mountain biking out at Land Between the Lakes recreation area, one of our favorite places to go hiking. However, Brian found out the day before that they were hosting a motorcross race that day, so we couldn't go. Instead, he got the keys to his roommate's gymnastics business and we went in and played all afternoon! Not your typical first date, eh? But somewhere between the trampoline and the rings, I just knew I liked this guy! Fast forward two years and we were hosting a lot of family (most of mine had never been to Kentucky!) for our wedding. The day before the wedding we had a big party out at the lake with swimming, kayaking, canoeing, a pontoon boat, and a big picnic! This picture above was taken while we were out on the pontoon boat. It sure was a fun day! That night we took our bridesmaids and groomsmen back to Chris' gymnastics building and had another big play-fest, in honor of our first date! It was so much fun! We got married outside my team's boathouse, on a cliff overlooking Kentucky Lake at 7:00 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 3, 2000. My brother Kevin, his wife Brenda and their daughter Shawna did our music. My sister Kathy was my matron of honor, my brother Dan and Brian's sister Dena did readings. Brian's Dad was his best man and my brother Mike was one of Brian's groomsmen. Brian's neice Hailey was our flower girl and my nephew Connor was our ring bearer. My brother Tim walked me down the aisle, since my Dad had passed away 5 years earlier. Our three dogs were wandering around the ceremony and one of them even plopped himself down right next to me during our vows! After the wedding we lit a bunch of tiki torches on the patio, had a buffet of hors d'oeuvres and danced the rest of the evening. It was so "us" and just perfect!

We left town the next day to move to Tuscaloosa, AL, for Brian to earn his PhD. We had decided to get out of coaching because the hectic schedule, mega-traveling and long work hours were not what we wanted for the family we wanted to raise. Brian had begun his PhD program two weeks before the wedding, and we had to get back to T-town the next day for him to get back to class! We took our honeymoon in December. My brother, Tim, had given us a week of his time share and we chose Whistler, British Columbia, Canada. We went skiing, snowshoeing, snowmobiling and dogsledding. It was awesome!

Anyway, it's been a great 8 years, and we love each other very much! A lot has happened to us in that time span including two moves, four children, and our life-changing car accident. Thankfully we can rest in the assurance that God is guiding the path of our life together, and as long as Brian and I both love Him more than each other or ourselves, then we'll be in good shape! Happy Anniversary, babe!