Wednesday, August 27, 2008

2 Years!!!... and the Shoes that Started it ALL!

It is INCREDIBLE to think that Eric and I have been married for 2 years now! We celebrated our anniversary yesterday... and it doesn't seem that it has been a whole year since the last time we reminisced and walked down marriage memory lane! Wow, we've had some good times!
Since I did a 'top 10 things I love about Eric' post on his birthday, I think I'll just share a tiny tidbit of our story for those of you who may not already know it. I'd like to talk about the shoes that started it all.
Eric and I were "just friends" and REALLY that's all we were from August 2001 til April 2006! We were in the same ward, went on friendly dates, wrote each other consistently as we each served missions, came home and took an awesome class together, and continued to go on dates just to keep up with each other and have a good time together. But it was always clear in both of our minds that it was only friendship we were cultivating here. We dated other people, crushed on other people, and shared those details openly. Until I had a dilemma.
I had my first big crush since my mission. He was handsome, witty, and popular (apparently), and he was giving me mixed signals. Finally I came to the conclusion that he was struggling to make up his mind because we worked together (at the MTC)... and he only saw me in missionary attire... and couldn't disassociate me from Sister Missionaries who are definitely not "pursuable". So when he invited me to a party, I determined that I was going to look HOT so that he would get over his mental speed bump and decide I would make an awesome love interest in addition to friend and coworker. My roommate and I went to the mall and found the perfect outfit... complete with 4 inch black heels. These heels had a black strap that wrapped around the ankle and a slender band that went across the top of my foot. They were AWESOME and I felt GORGEOUS in them! Well, I'll leave out the details, but this guy made it clear that night that he wasn't interested. I was pretty frustrated. Afterall, I'd hoped that when he finally made up his mind, he would be deciding to date me, not discard me.
The next weekend was General Conference. (There's more story there about how Eric and I ended up going together, but I'll leave it for another post.) Suffice it to say, I talked his ear off on the way up to Salt Lake about this 'dufus' and how could he decide he wasn't interested when I looked THAT good? I think I planned to wear the shoes that day JUST so I could look really good walking around at General Conference just to spite him. Eric is a very good listener. So by the time we got to conference, I was already feeling very validated and supported. Since I was driving, I wore other shoes on the way up (4 inch strappy heels are tough) and stopped to change when we arrived. Of course I pointed out to Eric that these very strappy sandals were the ones I was wearing and asked "aren't they hot?" to which he could only reply "yeah, they are!"...
So the story goes from here that he looked at the shoes at my request... and then had to look again... and then couldn't stop looking the entire time we were out at Salt Lake. Somehow these sassy black sandals helped Eric to see me in a different light. I felt the change too... somehow indescribable, but flirtatious in a way we had never been before. The day was wonderful, and I knew something had changed. (I would only find out later the important role the shoes played in it all. :) He later told his roommates and described the shoes as "bikinis for feet" and determined he had to ask me out again when I WASN'T wearing the shoes just to see if the connection we had both felt was legit or whether it was just the shoes. Thus began our new adventure as our friendship was forever altered into something more! Turns out the shoes didn't work their magic on the person I originally wanted them to...but even better! They worked on the person I love more than anything in the world!

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

On Being Pregnant...


Well, it is interesting that I wanted to show SOOOOO badly, and now that I finally am, I have to stop myself from being too self-conscious. I LOVE being pregnant and LOVE knowing that this lil growing belly is home for our lil gal... but I can't say I love feeling heavy, slow, cumbersome, and fat. The back aches alone are not that big of a deal, but combine that with the on-your-feet type of work I do right now... and you get the picture. I'm already tired. And I'm not even technically in the 3rd trimester yet!

However, I am thrilled to report the athletic activities of our lil girl! She is so cute when she wakes up. She kicks and squirms for a good hour, delighting me with her budding soccer skills (during the day), and keeping me awake (at night or early morning)! Then she'll be quiet and peaceful for a good 3-4 hours before deciding it is time for communicating with Mommy or "playtime with Daddy" as Eric likes to call it. Last week he was trying to talk to her through my belly (he delights in waking her up) so he pressed his ear down to try and hear her squirm or a response of any kind... and she full on KICKED HIM IN THE FACE! Our lil gal doesn't take kindly to being woken up, I guess!