It is times like these that I wish I kept a regular journal. Now, it seems like Kelly and I have always been together and we have always have had two little boys. It is difficult to remember life without her. I frequently recall time of my life when Kelly is just added into the story, even though I had no idea who she when when those experiences happened to me. It just seems like all good things happen with her, and during the sad times of my life, she was the one that helped me. I don't know if this happens for everyone, but it has become that way for me.
I do recall figuring out pretty past that Kelly and I were going to be together forever. From the moment of our first meeting we were inseparable. While it took a few weeks to actually be able to get on a date with her without her sisters in tow, it took about that same time period for both of us to know that we'd be getting married.
I don't recall any specific incident that sticks out in my mind as the moment that I knew I'd be marrying Kelly. As I've mentioned in some other posts, it took me a lot of learning from other dating experiences to get to the level where I was ready for Kelly. I apparently had a lot to learn. In all of those other experiences I always had some reservations or red flag come up. Don't get me wrong, I dated quite a few really neat people. Fortunately for me I was directed away from them for one reason or another. Some reasons never quite made sense until I met Kelly.
Kelly was everything I had ever wanted in a spouse and more. In my previous dating experiences I had quite a few people tell me that I was crazy breaking up with someone for one reason or another. I was told numerous times that I shouldn't be holding out for a miracle or that nobody was perfect and I shouldn't expect that in anyone I was dating. I didn't feel like I was ever expecting perfection. I realized that myself being quite imperfect I couldn't expect that. I also realized that I had done quite a few things in my life to get to a certain level and I shouldn't have to settle for someone who hadn't done the same.
When Kelly came along there were no red flags - ever. No hesitations - ever. No wondering what if this happens - ever. I know that Kelly experienced some anxiety over our relationship, but it never caused one bit of hesitation in my mind. From the get go everything was right and it stayed that way. Every experience we had together increased my love for her and desire to be with her more. Things got pretty ridiculous with the hours we spent together. Kelly was working crazy hours at Primary Children's Medical Center and I was working normal hours at AlphaGraphics in Layton. Kelly would get of a crazy 12-hour night shift and crash for a few hours, then we'd get together for a few hours after I got off work before she'd have to go back. After a few night shifts in a row, Kelly would have to crash for a while to recover and we just made things work.
We both knew we'd be getting married after dating for only a few weeks. We both were pretty established so it ended up being fairly easy. We had a conversation one night that was very simple. We both knew we wanted to be together forever, so we decided to just make it happen. Two months after we met we were formally engaged. I proposed to Kelly on the top of the hill at Temple Square in Salt Lake City on the north-east side of the Conference Center near the gates to the gardens on the top of the Conference Center. We had found a ring that she liked and I had ordered it in from a shop that I had done some design work for. I don't recall why we were at temple square that night. We had probably gone out to dinner like we did quite often back then. We loved to try new restaurants - we still do, but our finances are directed to other places now. We probably were just going for a walk. Even though Kelly knew we were going to get married and I wasn't really popping the question, I was super nervous. I wanted to make it a special occasion and it never really felt like it was going to be, so after walking around for a while and sweating on the box with her ring in it quite profusely, we just stopped and I knelt down and asked her. Right there on Main Street with cars rolling by and other people all around. I'm glad she still said yes, because I probably embarrassed her a bit.
Two months later we were married in the Salt Lake City Temple. I'll stop here, because if I recall, the next blog post asks me to tell more of the story.
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