How I Met The Love of My Life....

Fitting title, don't you think, for Valentine's Day? This is actually the title of the contest that a local jewelry store put on and I debated whether to write our 'how we met' love story. The 1st place prize was a diamond necklace, dinner and a dozen roses.... hey! Some girls have gotta take Valentine's Day gifts into her own hands I guess! ;) I decided this morning, "What the heck!" And proceded to write a quick summary of "how we met" and then had Kailee run it to town and drop it off. She made it 10 minutes before the deadline! While she was doing this, Thayne and I, with 5 of the little kids were at the laundromat yet again catching up the laundry (and YES! It is finally caught up for the moment.... literally... just the moment! Cuz you know kids are going to get undressed in a matter of minutes!). Just as we were finishing, Chip (okay, seriously the guys real and true name is Chip Stone... is there any other profession he could be in except the owner of a Jewelry Store???) called my cell phone and asked if we were out and about. I told him we were. He told me to get over to the store... quickly! He didn't tell me anything else, just to please come over! When we got there, he asked where the other 10 kids were! They then asked if it would be okay if they went on the air (the local radio station was there also!) and he announced that one of the winners was here to claim her prizes. And then he told me that I was the FIRST place winner... winner of Dinner, A dozen roses AND, not the $500 diamond necklace but a $1000 diamond necklace!!! What a great way to celebrate being married to my best friend! The kids were thrilled too!

So... the winning entry is as follows:

How I met the Love of My Life

I had just turned 18 and graduated from high school 6 months early while living in Canada where my dad had been working for the past year and a half. I couldn't work there and decided to move back to our home town in Utah. I was engaged when I left home but was having second thoughts about the situation.

I got to Utah and was living with my grandma. We decided to go to the grocery store to buy birthday cards and for me to get an application to work there. They told me that the manager was in the office by the cards and that they would have him meet me there to get the application. He walked out of the office and I looked up and met his eyes and in tha tmoment I knew that I had met the love of my life. I quickly turned over my ring and asked him if they were hiring. He smiled and said that he definately thought they should hire me. We stood talking like we had known each other forever. It flustered my grandma so badly that we ended up walking out with a handful of cards that we had to go back in and pay for! I told her, "Grandma, I'm going to marry him!" She tried to tell me that I didn't even know him but I laughed and said I would know him and I would marry him! He didn't know my name, but it's a small town and he knew my grandma so he called her house and asked if I could come in for an interview that night since the other manager had come in. We talked like we had known each other forever. The other manager kept asking if we were sure we didn't know each other. He hired me that night. For the next two weeks I worked he made sure that I always had breaks the same time he did. One night as I was counting out he finally told me he was mad that I was engaged. I told him, "Let's just say that he wants the ring on my finger but he isn't sure about the actual commitment!" He then asked if that meant I would go out with him. As I left the office I said, "Yep, I sure would!" He asked if he could pick me up after work the next night. We drove around and talked for hours and finally he told me that he didn't want to scare me off but that he had fallen in love with me. I laughed and tolde him that was good because I had fallen in love with him too! He asked me if I would marry him and I told him YES! 2 months later we were married. I thought I loved him then, but now, after going through the ups and downs of life, after almost 23 years of marriage and 15 children, I know that I am just learning what love is... I fall more in love every day... And I am grateful that I get to spend forever with the love of my life!