Three Year Anniversary :)

For those of you who know our story but may not remember the finer details of it all... or for those of you who've come along for the ride mid-stream... here's the original post back in 2008 of the very first date Chad and I ever went on.  May 25, 2008  and then our SECOND date here May 26, 2008  (please excuse the crappy pictures that were taken on both these dates... we OBVIOUSLY didn't care about photography quite as much as we do now..  ;)  I also think I remember trying to be sneaky about picture taking... using our phones for some of them and such... (didn't want to seem too eager, or dorky for taking pictures I guess... ;) 

It's hard to believe it's ONLY been 3 years since that very first date.  THREE years?  It takes the average couple our age this long to barely SCRATCH the surface of a serious relationship... potentially JUST now starting to talk about marriage...and here we are, 3 years from the very first day we MET, and half that time has been spent actually MARRIED!  :)  UnREAL! 

In the first few months alone, Chad met my parents in Dallas (as they helped me settle into my new home).. we took a trip to the valley where Chad met my entire family (and many of my friends), I flew to California to meet his entire family...we started talking about our wedding (wedding date picked and all ;).. started looking at churches...and GOT ENGAGED on our six month anniversary (after another trip to the valley where Chad asked my dad for my "hand" of course)!  I'm glad my parents saw what I see in Chad, because from the outside looking in, I'm sure people thought we were NUTS for moving as fast as we were going... Full Steam Ahead!!  Whew!  Almost exactly a year to the day that we got engaged, we were standing next to eachother at Mary Immaculate Church reciting the vows that would forever bind our hearts and souls to eachother.  What a whirlwind romance it has been... and I can only say that it's getting better with every passing day.  :) 

I love you so much Chad.  I love who you are...Inside and out.  I love your heart.  Your gentle soul.  I love your smile and the twinkle in your eye that I see everytime you look at me.  I love the man that you've become...even before we met.  I'm proud of all that you've accomplished personally and professionally.. and I can't wait to see where our lives take us! 

Meeting my parents for the first time.. June 7, 2008

(Not quite TWO WEEKS after our first meeting! CRAZY!!!)

In the beginning... :)