8 years ago today...

*warning--poor quality of pictures!!! and if you stick with this whole post, there's a special surprise at the bottom!

...was a monumental day....even though i didn't know it at the time :) lane and i started dating that day! even though we had been friends for years, i still didn't feel as if i "knew" him when he called me that evening, but we started "going out" nontheless. isn't that what you're supposed to do in high school?! he was super nice and respectful, a friend, loved jesus, and oh so handsome...why not!

we had fun while at school during the day, and i enjoyed getting to know him, but i had a huge secret. lane (and his family) was only one of a few that still did not know that my dad had left. after avoiding his phone calls with excuses in the evenings, it came to a hault complete with meltdown on my part the day after valentine's. i couldn't take the pressure of keeping my secret anymore. so what does a 16 year old girl do? send her mom to tell his parents about our situation! lane's version of this story is hilarious. he came home to my mom sitting in his living room in tears with his parents telling him to go upstairs and bring his phone down and then go back upstairs. he was freaking out inside, but he obeyed and didn't call me as instructed until the next day until his parents could talk to him.

after that, things continued to go well. we had lots of fun, good conversation, many letters back in forth :) we even went to "prom" together! but in june of that year, i broke up with for "god"reasons after coming back from church camp, but to be completely honest, my ex-boyfriend was back from college that summer and i hadn't completely let that go. lane was gracious and we continued our friendship. once school started back and i began seeing lane again everyday, i realized how much i really missed him.

we were taking a history class together at the local college and car pooled three times a week. i remember riding in his car one morning and him asking me to put something in of his glove box. thrown in his glove box was a picture of me that he had previously had on his dash board. it was at that moment that i knew i wanted to be with him. of course, it wasn't that easy or romantic!

it was a few weeks later (09/14/02--i'm a date person!!) that we went to tulsa with a couple of friends. we went to a movie, eat, and play putt-putt in tulsa. while dating before, if we were watching a movie that had something questionable visually, lane would hold my hand and look at it (cheesy i know, but it's still true to this day). well, this scary movie had something in it, and lane asked if he could hold my hand (nice move, lane!). what he wasn't expecting was that i never let go after that. once the movie was over, there were obviously things that needed to be talked about but we weren't able to talk at the time. there was definitely a tension there...a good one! at the end of the evening, he finally was able to call me...got grounded because he wasn't supposed to be on the phone, but it was worth it, right, lane? supposedly, i did a bunch of the talking, but i don't remember most of what was said. we've been together since that night! and now we have 2 babies! i can't believe it.

spring 2002 (juniors)

spring 2003 (seniors)

december 2004

june 2006

november 2009

and now for the surprise!!!

our very first picture together! my mamie took this picture at our awards program when i was in 2nd grade. me and my sister were looking through her pictures a couple years after lane and i had gotten together, and found this. apparently, i was pretty proud of my earrings! love the frames, lane!! i love you.