And somewhere in the middle of that phase of life, I saw my husband across a bar one night. And by “saw,” I mean I was fully out of contacts, legally blind, and squinting at this poor man from across the room trying to decide if he was attractive or just a blurry silhouette with confidence. I looked absolutely insane!
Somehow, despite me staring at him like a feral little creep, we hit it off immediately.
We danced, we kissed, and as a romantic parting gift, he gave me his cold.
(Nothing says true love like getting sick after day one.)

The next day we realized we lived only five minutes apart, so our meet up spot was at the ONLY place between the both of us… Jack in the Box!
Yep, our first date happened in the back of his truck eating 2/99 cent tacos like two broke kids in love. We sat there talking for hours like we’d known each other forever, and after that, life moved fast. We moved in together, became parents, got married, and basically grew up side by side while trying to figure life out as we went.

And if we’re being totally honest here, our story hasn’t always been easy. We’ve been through loss, hard seasons, growing pains, stress, and moments that would’ve broke the best of them. There were seasons where life was amazing and we were LIVING, but then there was always a season that felt heavy in every possible way, where we were exhausted, overwhelmed, or barely recognizing each other. But, through every version of life, we kept choosing each other anyway. Not because everything was perfect, but because even in the worst moments, he was still the person I wanted beside me through all of it. The person I wanted to vent to in the kitchen at midnight. The person I wanted to share all of my good and bad news with, and standing next to me while we tried to figure life out one messy season at a time.

There’s something really beautiful about being loved by someone who has seen every version of you. The struggling version. The exhausted version. The grieving version. The postpartum version. The angry, overwhelmed, barely hanging on version. And instead of running, they stay. They learn you deeper. They soften with you. They grow with you.

That’s us.

After all these years, he’s still my first phone call, my safe place, my best friend, and the person I get to geek out with over video games. Still the one who can make me laugh when I’m being dramatic. Still the one I want next to me during the big moments and the mediocre ones too. Because somewhere along the way, between all the chaos and survival and growing up together, he became home to me.

Right now, we’re just living, like we’ve always done! One day at a time, together! These days we have two kids, Paislee is basically my copy/paste with just enough of her dad’s smart ass attitude thrown in to keep me humble. Cade is our sweet, goofy little old soul who somehow manages to be the chillest person in the house.
Then there’s Maeve and Nova adding noise, pet hair, and complete nonsense into the mix.


It’s loud, messy, sarcastic, emotional, chaotic, and so full of love. And honestly, this little life we built together turned out way better than anything younger me thought she was out there searching for.