How We Began...5 Plus Years Ago

It was a warm September afternoon, I had just hung my band uniform up in the bus window, stowed my clarinet on the stained floor under my feet, and turned around in my seat to talk to my friend Sara about something, nothing, anything. I was fifteen, overly confident, and in love with socializing. As I opened my mouth to blab about my days happenings, I was struck by a pair of beautiful bright blue eyes staring me in the face from two benches behind.

"He's cute!" I whispered to Sara.
"Who, Ryan?" she replied.
"Yes!" I thought out loud.

The cute boy Ryan with the bright blue eyes and spiky brown hair quickly became my obsession. I took a special interest in his doings, arranged my seating on the bus so I could be near him, and began to try to spark conversations with him. Much to my disappointment, he was often times too shy to respond and too quiet to understand what the mumbles coming out of his mouth were. Nevertheless I persevered, gained his AIM (I know I'm aging us here), and began to build a friendship which quickly turned into a relationship.

My interests soon became Ryan's interests, and Ryan's interests soon became my interests. We spent countless hours talking over the internet, going to Disneyland with our friends, writing each other notes to give the other one during passing period, and working on Volkswagons into the wee hours of the morning. We were "the couple!" The ones who were in love, the ones who never broke up, and the ones who had what all our other friends were searching for. We graduated, went to our respective colleges, started careers, and continued to grow together.















On June 29, 2007, FIVE years from this very day, I married my best friend while many of our wonderful family and friends looked on with love in their hearts! It was our perfect day where two lives became one. We shared so much of us (VW's & Elvis to name a few) with those around us, while making it clear that our union was not only the two of us coming together, but our two families and groups of friends as well. The boy with the beautiful bright blue eyes and spiky hair became my husband, my lover, my eternity. And, as my Maid of Honor Samantha told all my loved ones on my wedding day, MY ROCK!

























You see, Ryan is not the type of Rock you pick up and skip through the waves, or the one that you kick around on a gravel driveway, or even the one that many people carry around to rub when they are worried. My hubster is the type of Rock that you hold close to you, perhaps one that you put way up on a shelf to ooh and ahh over because of the gems held deep inside of it. Over the last 5 years My Rock has tirelessly supported every endeavor I have dreamed of, unconditionally loved me no matter how much kabooming I have done, joyfully with tears of happiness welcomed both our beautiful daughters into our family, selflessly given up so much of himself to give so much more to us, and admirably maintained a piece of the bright blue eyed boy I fell in love with 13 years ago on a band bus.

We've been through some pretty amazing times together, as well as some pretty difficult ones. As all relationships, we have definitely faced our fair share of ups and downs, but through it all we have grown together. Our two lives have truly become one more then I had ever imagined possible. I can't think of a Ryan without a Katie or a Katie without a Ryan, because it just wouldn't work! We are a unity, a team, a family, and a bond that can't be broken.

As the years continue to quickly breeze by and we continue to make our way down the path of life, I feel so very blessed that I get to spend it hand in hand with my best friend, my hubster, my rock.

Here's to 5...10...15...20...25...30 plus more years Baby! Let's make them count!

I love you with all my heart!