You're Still the One...

In honor of our 16th Wedding Anniversary today, I am doing a husband tag. But don't worry, I'm not tagging anyone unless you feel so inclined.

1.Where and when did you meet your husband? In 1987 when I moved to Hawaii. We lived two blocks apart and were in the same ward. He is actually 3 1/2 years older than me and had just graduated. I was just entering high school. I had a crush on him from the first time I saw him. While, I'd like to say it was love at first sight, it wasn't exactly like that. My first friend when I moved to Hawaii, was a girl from my ward. She was a year or two older than me and pointed him out and said pretty much "hands off, he's mine". She was nice about it but made it clear she liked him. Immediately, I started to like him. It was the whole "want what you can't have" syndrome. So even though he didn't even know I existed I still went out of my way to run into him. I used to get up super early to get all ready for Seminary (which started at 6am!) so I'd look good in case he saw me when he dropped off his younger brother. Most people rolled out of bed and came in their PJ's. Anyway, I eventually realized that he didn't ever notice and it wasn't worth all the effort but I still secretly liked him. I wrote in my journal, shortly after I started liking him, that one day I'd marry him. It would be several years later though before that would happen, but happen it did! (Grandma Gleed should get a little credit here. She told Chris he should ask out "that cute blond girl", but he was a couple of years getting there.) Finally, after he came home from his mission and I had returned from my first semester of college, he asked me out. IT WAS ABOUT TIME!! I only waited 5 years!

2.Who asked who on the first date. What did you do? Chris did. He asked me if I wanted to see the movie "Far and Away" (Tom Cruise & Nicole Kidman). I, like a dork, said I had already seen it and then quickly added I'd love to see it again. We went to dinner at Sunset Grill in Honolulu. A few of funny things about that date. First, he lied to me and said he'd never seen it when he really had. (He claims he was making sure it was a good/appropriate movie for a first date.) Second, I didn't know how blind he really was until AFTER we were married. He never wore his glasses when we were dating. It's amazing we're still alive! After we were married, he wore them 24-7. Hmmm? He tells me he thought I'd think he was a dork if he wore his glasses. Third, when he asked me out, I had pretty long hair. The day of our date, I chopped it all off to my chin. He was pretty shocked. Later, after we were married, he confessed he was a long-hair kind of guy and was pretty disappointed that I cut it short. He said it looked fine, he just preferred it long. He's still the same way. He always likes it longs and discourages me from cutting it. Even though he generally likes it after the deed is done. Lucky for him I'm on the three year plan. I only cut it about once every three years. I have to add here also, that when he asked me on that first date, I knew we'd end up married. So when I said yes to the date, I felt like I had said yes to the path that would lead me down the road to the rest of my life. No pressure, right?

3.How long did you date before you got married? Including the engagement, 6 months.

4. When did you get married? December 19, 1992 in Hawaii (Oahu).

5. Where did you go for your honeymoon? Hawaii (The Big Island)

6. How long have you been married? 16 years today!

7. What does he do that surprises you? His thoughtfulness. He is so very thoughtful about everything. When we started dating, he called my mom and asked her to come up with a list of things I liked to do so he could create dates around them. I think there were like 20-30 things on the list. He tried to do as many of them as possible. We rarely ever did the same thing twice. No boring dinner and a movie here. Once we went hiking and he had gotten a horrible sunburn the day before and never told me. He hiked all day carrying this ridiculous pack with all the essentials of a good picnic. The whole day he was dying and never said a word! Another example: February 2007. Chris decided to do the 14 days of Valentines for me. Everyday he gave me a special gift, wrote a poem, did some service and put these gigantic posters of us or just me ALL OVER THE HOUSE! It was an amazing gift and was so thought out, I was blown away.
















8. What is his best quality? Selflessness

9. Does he have a nickname for you? Yes, :0)

10. What is his favorite food? Anything SPICY!!

11. What is his favorite sport? Football (mine too!)

12. What is your favorite thing to do as a couple? Well, with him working so much, 4 kids and all of their activities, we don't have much time to do anything. But really, in all honestly, we both enjoy soooo much watching our kids in whatever they are participating in. We love being with them.

13. Where is his favorite vacation spot? What's a vacation? If we could go on one, I think it would be Hawaii, but the only place we ever go is Malad, ID; Oregon City, OR and Seattle, WA.

14. Do you have any children? Yes, the four most amazing, beautiful, smart kids in the universe (refer to the 4 cuties on the left side bar) Funny side note: I always thought his nieces & nephews were so cute when I'd see them, I always wanted to marry him just for his genes. It worked!

15. How many kids does he want? I'll have to change that to "did". When we were dating, we were out to dinner at Restaurant Row in Honolulu and I remember exactly where we were sitting outside the restaurants just hanging out talking about things. He asked me how many children I wanted. I said maybe 1, if any. I can't remember exactly how many he said he wanted but it was somewhere around 8 or more. We both come from families with 6 kids. I'm the oldest and he's the 2nd youngest. I think our perspectives on children were slightly different. I was always babysitting and knew what taking care of kids were all about. He was one of the two youngest that were spoiled. Anyway, that was almost a deal-breaker for him. But he married me anyway and quickly changed my mind. I think after the first one or two we agreed 4 or 5, maybe 6 was a good number. We've stopped at 4 purely for physical and financial reasons. My body just can't birth anymore children but I am totally up for adoption, thus the financial limitations now.

16. Does he have any hidden talents? Lots. He gives 110% to anything new he is into.

17. How old is he? 39

18. Who said 'I love you' first? He did.

19. What is his favorite music? He's very musically eclectic. He loves such a broad range of music I couldn't begin to even summarize it. His playlists are pretty diverse. Enya is one of his favorites and he currently HATES my country stations.

20. What is his favorite color? Green and Cougar Blue! Go Cougars!!!

21. What do you admire most about him? His devotion to his family. He is an amazing husband who helps me out more than any other husband I'm sure. He is always there to give me a hand even when he is dead tired. If I complain of a headache or just being tired, he'll send me off to bed and take care of everything. He is an awesome dad. He is 100% hands on. He prefers to stay at home with us over EVERYTHING. I can't even force him to go do guy things, hobbies, etc. He'd rather be with us than anywhere else. As a SAHM, this is something I can't comprehend, because I can't wait for things that give me a break and talk to other people over 4 feet tall. He is also the most selfless person I know. I don't deserve him. He serves me so much and I'm just a nasty hobbit most of the time. I can't believe after 16 years, he still puts up with me, mood swings and all. He is the perfect compliment for me. We balance each other out very nicely. I also really love that on the really important matters in life, we rarely, if every, disagree. We are almost always on the same page, same paragraph, same sentence. I only argue over the stupid, non-essential things of life and he usually gives in. That's what makes him great.

22. Will he read this? Yes. I LOVE YOU! Happy Anniversary.