19 April 3rds

Nineteen facts for 19 years:

1. I was 19 years old when I met Mark. Actually I met him when I was 14 at youth conference. He drove me and 3 other girls around Palm Springs in his red Mustang. But... I was 19 when I met him again and we started dating.

2. He proposed to me in a restaurant called Bobby McGee's right off Waikaikai beach in Hawaii.

3. We talked on the phone every single day I was in Hawaii from the end of August until Mid December. Except for when he flew over in October to Propose and when he flew over for Thanksgiving. This was pre-cell phone and pre-competitive phone rates. His phone bill was more than his rent. I called him collect from a little payphone stall outside my dorm. It was one of those little plexiglass phonebooths with the yellowpages on a clip and everything!

4. Just for fun, I once recorded "Just can't get enough" by Depeche Mode on a blank tape and sent it to his condo with no return address, no note of who it was from. I figured he better know it was from me!

5. I sewed him a shirt while we were dating for his 23rd birthday. He still has it in the closet.

6. I worked at Sizzler the summer we were dating. He drove 45 minutes to my town and 45 minutes back home one night just to give me a white Rose. I was waitressing that night and it was the first day we weren't going to be able to see each other since we had started dating so he wanted to leave a Rose and note at Sizzler so when I came into work there it would be. He made a mistake in timing so I was actually there when he stopped in. Earned himself some big points that night. Big points! He also came in another night I was working with some friends. He sat in my section and left me a $20 tip.

7. Our 14th anniversary was also on a Monday, so we had a FHE family party. My friend Karen made a cake modeled after our wedding cake. I got out my dress and the girls tried it on and we took pictures and then we all went to Sizzler.

8. We got married in the Las Vegas Temple. My mom didn't want people to think we were "getting married in vegas" so in the newspaper announcement of our engagement/wedding she said we were getting married in the LDS temple in Henderson Nevada.

9. My wedding colors were soft pink and forrest green.

10. I arrived at the florist 30 minutes after they closed to pick up my bouquet. I am still mad that they didn't call my house when they closed to remind someone to come pick it up. I never did pick it up. All that $ wasted and I had nothing to hold.

11. My cake topper was a Precious Moments Bride and Groom.

12. My centerpieces were BIG brandy snifters with little pink and green pebbles in the bottom, water and a goldfish. I still think they were cool. One of our Groomsmen drank a gold fish in a toast to us. Ugghh. Poor fish.

13. I wanted a headband style veil after seeing the one Kimberly Williams Paisley wore in "Father of the bride" My friend Elly made it for me. I sewed the pearls around the bottom of my veil. A lady in my ward made my dress as a wedding gift. The fabric cost $200.

14. We danced to Bryan Adams "everything I do, i do it for you". We had no official song. Mark is not an "our song" kind of guy. I'm a little embarrassed. It's kind of a cheesy song. I wish I'd picked a better song. We had all the dances; Mother son, father daughter. We even had a money dance. That was fun. I hope my girls have dancing at their receptions. Forget the line! let's have a party.

15. I was the first kid in my family to get married. It was really stressful. My dad offered us $$ to elope and forget the reception. I wasn't ever sure if he was kidding or not. Mark was all for it. I wanted my reception.

16 Besides the bouquet debacle, the photographer didn't show. A miscommunication. My mom was scrambling to get someone there to take pictures.

17. Because of pictures.... Mark and I left our reception in a big fight. He didnt' WANT to TAKE ANY MORE STINKING PICTURES! Poor guy. Married since 8am and still not alone with the bride.

18. We had an hour drive to his condo where we spent our wedding night. Happily... we made up before we arrived.

19. We flew to San Francisco the next day for our honeymoon. Alcatraz. Lombado Street. Pier 49. Fisherman's wharf. Museums. Restaurants. Street performers. Ghiradelli chocolate factory. China town. It was perfect.

This anniversary is a little hard to celebrate with Rachel's play last night, priesthood session tonight, Conference tomorrow and 4H parent showcase Monday night. We're sandwiched by family obligations. The family we started. The family we love. It's all good. But Next year. The big 2-0. We better do something big. Just sayin......

love is.....

Mason got a love note from a friend yesterday.

It was covered in hearts and said "Mason, I love you"

He was trying to act cool and nonchalant about it as we passed it around and read it but when I made eye contact with him, he couldn't help his little face breaking into a proud grin . He said "I told her I will try and marry her when we get big"

As I was cleaning out my documents folder today I came across some reflections on "LOVE" I'd jotted down 2 years ago near Valentines day. I'd asked the kids some questions, those are underlined, and typed up their responses. (My unsolicited observations are in parentheses)

Love is......

to be nice and share when we have preschool. we can share toys and cars and the legos and the colorbooks and the books.

will you ever have a girlfriend?

nah... dat’s silly. what about when you get big? um maybe when I get big... her name will be Carly. She will look like the Carly we have right now who babysits me and be’s my mommy. She will say “Hi” I will say “I wuv her”

Someone who loves me, will be nice to me and tuck me into bed.

will you get married someday? yeah. where will you get married? in the temple. why? because I want to. what do you think they will say to you when you’re getting married? be quiet and listen...

Love is good because.... why? just because......

opinions of Mason, age 4

Love is.....

....you care about other people. You help people. and that’s what love means.

What do you do with a boyfriend/girlfriend?

.... you kiss him. you love him. you smooch him. you think he’s hot. And that’s what boyfriend means. I’ll have my first boyfriend in high school. His name will be Octovius I think. He’ll be hot... what does hot look like? It looks like a really cute boy. his hair will be combed and sometimes he’ll lick his hand to put his hair back. He’ll say to me “will you marry me?” and “can I take you on a date?” and “can I take you out with dinner?”

what will you say to him? “I want to kiss you” and “I don’t love you, I wanna break up and I won’t marry you” (she is a bit of a player I think....)

How does someone show you they love you?

... they do an act of kindness like make my bed, feed me, help me with some troubles.

opinions of Samantha Grace, age 6

Love is.....

....(silly face).... okay. actually ... part of life. you care for someone. you respect them. You do services for them... like? ummm... like offer them something... Like? .. like a ride home from their work or something or give them something they have wanted for a long time... like? like a type of book or movie or a board game.

what do you say to someone you love? “i love you” “do you really love me?”

what would she say to you? “yes” “I love you”

When do you think you’ll have a girlfriend? When I am 22. What will she be like? long hair, always happy, black hair, blue eyes, a good laugh.

what will you do on dates? just spend time together and talk, go out to a restaurant sometimes like chuck o rama or Mimi’s cafe.

How would you know someone cared for you? if they were kind, generous, always trying to find ways to help me, especially if I’m down in the dumps, help me with stuff i’m confused about.

Opinions on love by Jacob, age 8

Love is......

when you love someone really dearly and it’s usually someone in your family and you love them so much you want to be able to give service to them. Also, when you love someone you love them so much you would be willing to do anything for that person.

like? like your parents, if you love them the least you can do is obey them and do what they say.

when do you feel most loved by someone? when I’m sick my parents are willing to sit by me and actually like hold the bowl when I throw up which I think is pretty disgusting because I can’t stand seeing Carly or Jacob throw up or even myself, the look of it, the sound of it, the smell of it, all of it is just sickening. At school I can tell when a guy likes me because they try to impress me and follow me around and try to sit by me when we sit in circle time and try to talk to me. what do they do to impress you? for example, the other day, when student council was making a big poster we were cutting out hearts for a project and had lots of scrap paper in a recycling bin and it was heavy and he put it on his head and balanced it for a good amount of time right in front of me and said “hey Rachel look at this” and I just kind of say to myself .... “yeah... whatever” and one boy acts normal around other people but acts like a perfect gentleman around me. For three years he always wants to sit by me and be my partner and talk to me, I’m kind of getting tired of it. gimme a break. (she’s gonna regret that someday, this kid is A-DOOR-A-BLE!!! and he IS so sweet around her)

A perfect boyfriend would be.....

hot and adorable. describe hot and adorable... blond, curly hair....a member of the church, not that touchy( not getting mad easy). He would listen to me and understand and care a lot about me. He would play the guitar, be a good singer. we would be in the same band. He would pay for all the dates that we had. and I would pay maybe a little bit. We would both go to BYU. We would go to every BYU football game.

If he acted like he was tired of me I would know he didnt’ really care.

When I love someone I usually keep it a secret if it’s out of my family.....

If it’s in my family I show them how much I love them by giving them notes, doing whatever they ask me to do.

opinions on love... Rachel Patricia, age 11

Love is....

seeing the inner beauty in someone like loving them for their personality, their inner self, not their popularity and looks and being able to tell them that. Love is caring for someone...

when do you feel most loved by someone? When i can talk to them and tell them how I feel and they understand me and help me and maybe just hugs out of the blue. When they tell me what a wonderful person I am. When they encourage me to do stuff or whatever.

The perfect guy is....

physically....hmmm.. taller than me, dark brown/black hair, blue eyes, not buff but they got muscles. (what was that she said about the inner self?????) strong enough where I feel like he can protect me. ADorable, hot, cute.....etc, etc... don’t need drop-dead gorgeous, don’t really want drop dead gorgeous. why? #1 haven’t ever met one #2 want to focus more on other stuff. I think a drop dead gorgeous guy might be focused on the fact that he’s drop dead gorgeous. I want someone Pleasing to look at basically.. make sense?

nonphysically: He honors his parents, respects them basically. He loves the gospel, he wants to live it, he wants to do the best he can. He’s been on a mission. Righteous. He loves me for me. He wants to have a large family. Kind of patient.... not totally patient cuz I think I’d go insane cuz i’m not that patient. He wants to get married in the temple. He would do things like special stuff on holidays for me.

How do you show love right now w/ family, friends? I tell them I love them. give them advice when they need it. I try to listen to them when they have problems and need to get it out. Hugs, kisses. RE: parents, try to listen to them. When they give me stuff I tell them I’m grateful.

opinions on love..... Carly Dawn, age 13