Happy Anniversary to Mark!!!

Eight years ago today, Mark and I went to the courthouse in Des Moines and eloped. I know a lot of my friends might not know this story so I will share...

We met in May on an online Christian dating site. We talked on the phone and emailed a lot, and then went on our first date in June. We went to eat at Cracker Barrel and then we went and saw Pearl Harbor. I cried during it so Mark was sure that I had a horrible time. I thought he was the one having the horrible time and wouldn't want to go out ever again! So I had kind of resigned myself to the fact that he "wasn't into me". Well, we continued hanging out and I decided when he kissed me on a date in July that he did kinda like me. :) That summer we spent a ton of time together and in October, Mark proposed. I was so anxious to get married and so was he!!! We went to Bonanza after church one Sunday and he said, "Why don't we just get married?" So that Tuesday we went and got hitched at the city hall, got married after work, went to Machine Shed, and went and spent the night at a hotel--before going back to work the next day. We decided to still do the "big wedding" to placate our families, which was on March 2, 2002...the day of one of the biggest snowstorms I have ever seen. But today is the day I consider our wedding day. I am so blessed by having Mark in my life, I would have never believed God would give me such an awesome gift as this man!!! THANK YOU LORD JESUS!!!!!