Day 2 ~My First Love~

You might as well prepare yourself now for a mushy, gushy, "aww" post today.  

I am extremely proud to say that I am married to my first love.  Not a lot of people can say that, and I'm glad to be able to count myself among them.  So let me take you back to when I first met and fell in love with my husband.  
My family and I have always taken (and by always I mean EVERY YEAR, without fail) a vacation/trip to Winfield, Kansas for the Walnut Valley Festival bluegrass festival.  My mom was there when she was pregnant with me, I was there at 6 months old, and I have continued to go every year since, and I plan to continue going every year.  Get the idea?  I love this place!  However, it's not so much the place as the people.  You will find people from every walk of life all gathered (like sardines in tents and campers) into a small county fairground, looking to relax, unwind, enjoy music, and have a good time.  

We have family friends (Dan & Krista) that create beautiful tie dyes for a living (check them out here at Vivid Earth) who we only see at Winfield.  They are the type of friend that time passing doesn't matter, you're close no matter how often you speak.  In 2000 I was working for Krista in their tie dye booth helping to set up and sell. I recall it being the Thursday of the festival and we were just putting the finishing touches on the booth, when Krista brings this red-headed guy over to introduce to me.  Turns out, another one of Krista's friends (and also a family friend of Mr. H's) had briefly introduced us the morning before, when I was half asleep.  We said hello again, chatted for a moment, and I went back to work.  

Winfield is a festival that happens the third weekend in September, from Thursday to Sunday.  Later on Thursday evening I crossed paths with Mr. H again, and we talked.  And talked.  And talked.  We became inseparable.  The more time I spent with this guy, the more I liked him.  I didn't want to spend time with anyone but him.  We had conversations about the most random things, but we constantly challenged each other and had more than one "lively" conversation.  

When Sunday came around all too quickly, I was terrified to say goodbye.  You see, Mr. H lived in Colorado and I lived in Iowa.  730 miles apart.  We knew our next chance to see each other would be the next year at Winfield.  We exchanged addresses and phone numbers, talked more, stalled our parents from leaving for as long as possible, and then finally hugged and said goodbye.  That was the best hug I had ever received.  I didn't understand the emotions I was going through, not wanting to leave him.  I was 13 years old and Mr. H was 16.    

We wrote more letters back and forth than I thought was possible.  Mail was the highlight of my day, every day.  We had a few marathon long distance phone calls (and stern talking to's from our parents for running up the phone bill) that had me walking on air for days.  I remember the first letter I got from Mr. H telling me that he didn't want to be with anyone but me, and that he loved me.  

We were still together come 2001, and had a great time at Winfield.  Those 5 days were some of the best, sleep deprivation and all.  We would stay up until sunrise walking around and talking.  We couldn't get enough of each other's company.  Sunday came around again, and it was time to leave.  At 14, with Mr. H being 17, I received my first kiss from my first love.  

We manged the long distance relationship for one month shy of 2 years.  He was a senior and I was a freshman, and the distance was too much for us to handle with everything else going on in our lives.  We broke up, but were determined to stay friends.  

We had one rocky year (more like 8 months) where he did or said something that made me mad.  I refused to talk to him until he apologized, and he never did.  Eventually one of us sent a card in the mail, and we started talking again.  That's when I realized he really was my best friend, and I missed having him to confide in.  

Mr. H called me in December of 2005 to tell me he would be leaving soon for Navy boot camp.  I was very proud of him for joining, but sad that I wouldn't be able to talk to him for some time.  In April of 2006, he called me from his A School training.  I was the 4th person he called, I was so happy.  We talked for well over an hour, and began speaking again on a weekly basis or so.  We were both in relationships, and mine wasn't going so well.  Even with all my friends around me giving me advice about how to fix things (or not fix things), the only person I wanted to hear anything from was Mr. H.  Somehow when we talked, things made sense.  

Winfield 2006 came around, and we did our usual walking and talking the entire week.  We both gave into the fact that we really missed each other, and to make a long story short, started our relationship again after the festival.  Long distance and all, we were determined to be together.  He visited me for Christmas, I went to Colorado for spring break.  

Christmas 2006

I left the college I was at in Sioux City and moved to Colorado in June of 2007.  We lived together for the first time, and let me tell you, that's no honeymoon stage.  We fought more in those first 3 or 4 months than we have in our entire relationship.  But it was good for us, we learned how to work together.  

Mr. H proposed to me on September 7th, 2007.  We went for a walk in the mountains and on our way home, he stopped.  There was this lone bolder next to a lone tree off the side of Old Gold Camp road overlooking Colorado Springs.  I climbed up on the rock with my camera to take some pictures.  Mr. H climbed up behind me, made me put my camera down, and pulled a box out of his pocket.  I remember getting a huge grin on my face and he just laughed at me.  "Will you marry me?"  "Yes!" We kissed, laughed, and talked some about our future together.  The sun was setting and it was absolutely stunning.  

We're Engaged!

In June of 2008, we had a beautiful wedding full of family, friends, love and good times.  We were honored by Krista (the one who introduced us, remember?) to have custom dyed clothes for our wedding party and family for the wedding.  We did things our way (I wore a red dress, hehe!) and I wouldn't change any of it.  Nearly every moment was perfect.  

The whole wedding party in their attire the day before the wedding

Stunning sunset after our beautiful wedding day

Since the wedding, we have welcomed our beautiful little girl into our lives in July 2009.  You'll hear plenty more about her later.  Mr. H and I have grown closer with each month that has passed in the over 10 years that we have known each other.  He is my soul mate and my best friend.  I am so blessed to have found him, and so thankful for giving fate a push and getting him back into my life.  ("Fate can't do everything boy, sometimes we must give her a hand!" Name that movie!) We have grown even closer during this deployment.  We had an advantage of the experience from a long distance relationship going into it though.  I am counting the days until I can again wrap my arms around my first, and one, true love.