Who knew that a 19 year old could be so smart?

Thirteen lucky years ago today, my sweetheart and I decided to get married. There was no hokey proposal--he knew I didn't want that. We just decided. We were at a crossroads. We'd been together (for the most part) since we met in the fall of 1990 when we were seniors in high school. We'd finished our first two years of college. He was applying to transfer to OSU, and planned to major in botany. I wanted to transfer to PSU to begin the brand new Child and Family Studies program. A long distance relationship just wasn't going to work for us. We both knew that we were meant to be together from the very beginning. We needed each other.

We committed to getting married the evening of Saturday, March 20, 1993. We were driving in my old Toyota on our way to have a late dinner at Chelsea's after work. We talked about our engagement over dinner and planned to wait a week to tell our parents--to make sure we were sure. It was scary. We were so very young. By Tuesday night, we knew we were making the right decision and couldn't wait to share the news. We drove up to Canby and told my mom & step dad first. We returned to Salem and told his parents next. My folks were thrilled…but his weren't. That was tough at first. (Thank goodness we can joke about it now!)

On Thursday, March 25--the morning after we announced our engagement, a magnitude 5.6 earthquake (dubbed the "Spring Break Quake") woke us and our respective households up bright and early. (My poor roommate Sarah Jane--I kinda freaked out. There was yelling involved.) In the end, the quake cost $30 million in damage, and remains the most destructive quake in terms of property loss in Oregon's history. Wow. We joked that it was a sign from God on our way to the beach with Adam's family. His mom took this photo of us at the Oregon Coast Aquarium that day. We consider it our 'official' engagement photo. We were so young and cool. Except for my ginormous glasses. And our dorky, semi-matching coats.

After nearly 15 ½ years together, Adam still rocks my world. I'm sure that I don't tell him often enough. We take each other for granted more often than we should. Jobs, parenthood, family, church, our home, our dog, our hobbies--there are so many things that require our attention. Our lives are full, but no matter what comes our way, we're in this together. Such a good thing.

That day in March--shortly before my 20th birthday-- I made the best and most important decision of my life. He's still my true love forever. I'm so thankful that we've grown more together over the years than apart. I'm looking forward to our lucky 13th wedding anniversary in August, and to many, many more. I love us.