8 year anniversary

8 years... wow. I say this every year, but the time really has gone quickly. It has been a big year of change and challenges for our family, but I see now that even through the hard parts, having a partner by your side that loves you and wants the best for you is the best way to get through anything. Happy anniversary Pete! Here are my 8 favorite memories with him (in no particular order):

1. Applying for law school was a fun process. He worked so hard to be competitive for several great schools, and with no kids in tow, the world was our oyster. I really loved traveling to a few different schools and thinking about the next chapter for us. But my favorite moment was when we had just arrived back from Christmas vacation in San Diego to our little apartment in Utah, and we had a large envelope waiting for us... from the University of Michigan (his dream school). It was so special. We then went for a late night dinner at Macaroni Grill to celebrate (I told the waiter our news, but he probably thought I was lame for being so excited).

2. While we were good friends in high school and we never actually dated in high school. Being a grade older, I came back from college to watch his spring choir concert his senior year. It was Disney themed which was super lame to a bunch of high school kids, but I think they all had some fun with it (excluding the Mickey Mouse club shirts with their name on it). Anyway, I was in the third row in the huge concert hall, and he could easily see me from the stage. Interestingly enough, his girlfriend's parents were sitting right in front of me. During a Newsies medley involving some impressive dance moves, he kept eyeing me and winked at me. I think he got a little flack for that from the gf's family. Don't worry, they were planning on breaking up after graduation anyway:)

3. After he returned home from serving in Spain, we decided to make homemade tortillas together. His brother was also there and he gave us such a hard time about how impractical it was to make them, when we could spend less time and money just going to the store. We would not give in! Too bad they tasted terrible in the end.

4. This is not an isolated memory, but a prolonged one. After he left for his freshman year of college at BYU and I returned to Point Loma for my second year, he decided to email each other every day. Cell phone plans being what they were at that point, the minutes were limited and this was the most economical way to communicate. We wrote each other EVERY SINGLE day! I even printed off all of the emails he wrote me. We came across them the other day and they are hysterical. He thought he was such a hot shot. Hilarious.

5. Our wedding day is one of my most favorite days ever. And one thing that stands out is when he sang to me. Not only did I love hearing his sweet voice singing me a love song, but I pictured a lifetime of singing together and with our future children. It's what I always dreamed of.

6. I'm going to lump together the births of our two boys. As much as he does not enjoy the childbirth process (who does????), I loved having him by my side (err... head) and welcoming our boys into the world. I love that Parker looks just like him and Aussie looks like me. And as the boys get older, I have seen Pete come alive as a dad and enjoy seeing the fun bond he has with them.

7. Binge watching shows. Mostly in our pre-children days, we would find a TV series to watch and go nuts watching episode after episode. In those days, we would track down dvd's at a Blockbuster and have a marathon. We watched 24, Jailbreak, Lost, etc... So fun!

8. And last but not least, we met when he was only a freshman and I was a sophomore. We were both up for the "kids roles" in the Musicman and were paired up for the dance audition. After meeting at that point, we reconnected in choir when he was a Jr and I was Sr. I was auditioning for "Joseph" and I knew we were desperate for good boy voices, so I recruited Pete Dahlquist, that cute choir boy who had a great voice. I told him there would be an easy, short dance audition, but it was no big deal. I was surprised how easy it was to get him to agree to participate (apparently he loved me even then), and when he told me he couldn't dance, I didn't quite understand the level to which he was talking about not being able to follow choreography. It was a disaster and he basically free-styled the whole thing, but I loved that he never gave up. He had such a good attitude and those months of driving together to rehearsals was one of the most special times of my life. I didn't know him very well, but I could tell very early on that he was a true friend. I loved being around him and we would just laugh and talk. That was the beginning of our love story.

A story that will continue on forever...