What's Our Story?

• How did you meet your spouse? I didn't know Jesse but met him in high school when he was dating my friends little sister. He moved to "the big city" and I didn't see him our junior and senior years. He went on a mission. I became best friends with that friends little sister - Brittany. She would tell me about Jesse every once in a while. I thought nothing of it other than how sweet he sounded. We ran past his parents house one day and I said, "why don't we stop in and say hi?" Jesse's mom let us in and showed us a huge picture album with all these pictures of him and I still didn't think anything of it. I thought he was an untouchable since Britt liked him. Britt married off and moved away before Jesse's return. Jesse showed up to Young Single Adult FHE and volleyball one night. I mentioned I knew who he was through Britt. He invited me to Village Inn. The rest is history!


• How long have you been together? We started dating in 1998. That makes it 10 years....


• How long have you been married ? 8 years in August.


• Who said I love you first? I am sure I told Jesse I love you first since he is not a big mushy talker. (Still working on that one ;0))


• Who is taller? Jesse is 5'11'' while I am 5'1.5" Jesse looms over me all the time like a big ape! Ha - had to razz him since he is always picking on my vertical challenges...


• Who sings better? I enjoy the church choir...Jesse sings if he has to..


• Who is smarter? I think Jesse and I are smart in different ways.


• Who does the laundry? I do unless I want to cringe when I open the dryer!


• Who does the dishes? Now it is me and every once in a great while Jesse, when we didn't have a dishwasher - Jesse was the dishwasher! Now I feel bad if he feels he needs to dredge the trenches.


• Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? From our angle or yours - I sleep on the left side from your angle.


• Who mows the lawn? What lawn?!


• Who cooks dinner? Jesse and I share this one but if Jesse is home I let him do the cooking most of the time- poor guy!


• Who drives when you are together? My poor husband has to listen to me gripe about putting both hands on the wheel when he drives so I would say I usually drive so he doesn't have to listen to my passenger seat driving.


• Who is the first to admit when they're wrong? I am never wrong! :0)


• Whose parents do you see the most? Mine. Jesse's parents are extremely busy people.


• Who kissed who first? I am sure it was mutual. I know it was at Bear Paw.


• Who proposed? I hounded Jesse a long while before he proposed to me in his bedroom at his parents house while I helped him pack for his trip to San Diego. I waited for a week or so to see him after he proposed to me! Stinker!


• Who is more sensitive? What? I am not sensitive! Whaaaa!


• Who has more siblings? Jesse has a brother and I have a sister. No wonder we have a hard time understanding the opposite gender!
  

I tag everyone else! Let me know how you & your sweetie are connected!

Do you reduce, reuse, recycle?

I am increasingly aware of the impact I make in this world when I do/don't conserve. I recently read an article which stated if you want to help with conserving energy: Don't eat meat, ride a bicycle and be a frugal shopper.

Apparently packaging and transporting that big slab of meat from one place to another wastes quite a bit of energy. Sometimes I look at a slab of meat and am unamused. My taste buds do not call out, "yipee!" I am not hungry for meat usually. I just feel like I need to eat it. I think it is a habit. Many times I stare at my plate and imagine the meat as the animal it came from. This is VERY unappetizing indeed.

Riding a bike sounds great to me. How do I do it with three little ones, though? Especially while Jesse is at school and we live in a not-so-nice area of town...I will try harder. I will see if I can figure something out. This one may not happen so soon - esp. while living in this cold place which does not allow for bike riding many months out of the year.

Frugal shopping - well I would like to think I am already living under that label. I mean c'mon - we lived in a 1 and 1/2 bedroom house with no dishwasher nor tub while raising little ones for four and 1/2 years and I think that at least labels me frugal for the next 20 years of my life! What do you think? What are you doing in your life to preserve energy and reduce, reuse, recycle?

20, 10, 5, 3, 1, now, soon....

**Thanks Taryn for the great idea (taken from your cousin)! ;0) **

• 20 years ago:
  I was 11. I was in the fifth grade and I was boy crazy. My good friends were Brandy and Catrina. I played the flute in band and discovered I really liked listening to my own music (not that I played but from the radio).
  
• 10 years ago:
  I was 21. I just broke up with a scrub of a boyfriend and swore off dating to go on a mission (eventually). I started hanging out with a good friend from high school alot. He was not LDS but was a good person to go hiking, etc. with. Then in June of that year, Jesse and I found each other and the rest is great history.
  
• 5 years ago:
  I was no longer working outside the home. Jesse just graduated from college with an AS. Brandon was a year old and we just moved to a tiny 1 and 1/2 bedroom duplex to save money so we could pay off bills and buy our own home (little did we know I was pregnant with Lexi already mmmm happy SURPRISE).
  
• 3 years ago:
  We were still living in the tiny duplex. I went to Minnesota to visit my good friend Brittany in the fall. I stopped training for the marathon so I could get through my classes and graduate from college which I did that May. We bought the Subaru. My dad was not feeling well and went through many health trials.
  
• 1 year ago:
  Tyler was born (that summer). My hands, mind, and soul got much busier with three little ones under one tiny little roof. I was worried I would go insane....or did I?
  
• So far this year:
  We spread out into a three bedroom in "the big city" while Jesse started school to get his BS. Although, he is good at that on his own....;0) I was recently called to be the Stake Primary Secretary. I found I like frozen meal groups and book clubs. I decided I needed to do more things for myself again and get healthier. I love decorating our 'huge' apartment. The 2 older ones are about to outgrow me! I love having Brandon in school yet I miss him yet I know this summer may be tough for us all.
  
• In the near future:
  I would like to volunteer with the community more, start training with TNT to run a marathon, get the house completely organized (almost there) and get most of our debt paid off (again almost there).

Jesse appreciates me more now!

I spent a few days half comatose with some kind of mysterious illness (the doctor thinks it might be pneumonia) that left every inch of my body aching and then my lungs gurgled for a few more days. I am OK now. Jesse stayed home to tend to the children while I was seriously out. The house was thrashed. Everything was a mess. I am still cleaning it up a week later! I called Jesse up at work the day he went back and asked him if he understands now how much I pick up after everyone and how hard it can be to tend to the children and balance that with all other responsibilities and wants... he says he appreciates me and sees how organized I truly am - or something to that nature. The next day he came in the house and said it is amazing to him how I can take a horrible mess of a house that he couldn't seem to make tidy for three days and 30 minutes later I can make it look fabulous. I don't think he understood how long it truly took me to get to that point but it was a very sweet comment indeed! Now if only I can get to those other projects....