the beginning

according to em:
well, it all started about a year ago. or rather, "we" started about a year ago. we met last may through a mutual friend named amber. i went over to her house one night to show her my new car and joel was there hanging out. i took them on a test drive around the block and when he got out, he thanked me for the ride. i told him that maybe he could have another sometime. little did we know...

a few weeks later, at the end of june, we were both over at amber's for a pool party and that is when things really took off and we realized our mutual attraction for each other. the unfortunate part was that the next day, joel was leaving for a trip to idaho for about a week and while he was gone, i was leaving for a trip to seattle. our mutual trips overlapped, resulting in us not seeing each other for about 2 weeks. during that time though, we talked on the phone for hours every day and night, much to the annoyance of our traveling companions. it was amazing how much we learned about each other during that time. This included how i learned that about a month prior, amber wanted to set joel up with my sister bev in seattle and had him write to her on myspace! fortunately for me, bev never wrote him back and weeks later joel and i met in salt lake. joel was a bit perplexed as to why she wanted to set him up with someone thousands of miles away while i was waiting, just down the street., but more than that, we were just happy to have found each other.

while we were both on vacations, we both discovered the magnitude of our feelings and joel casually told his friends that he was going to marry me. meanwhile, i wrote in my journal about how wonderful he was and how this could really be something! joel picked me up from the airport after my trip and we went on our first date to oasis cafe in slc. we had a great ,time and really haven't been apart since!

by august, we were unofficially engaged and even toyed with the idea of eloping to vegas, ala britney spears. of course, once we realized how tacky that was, the idea was aborted and we decided on january 2007. now, this was all before i had been officially proposed to, a fact i was sure to be made known, over and over. finally, in september, the night before i was to leave on a trip to mexico with my mom and sister, joel took me out on a surprise date. we arrived at oasis cafe and i knew what was coming. i mean, he'd be crazy to send me out of the country without some hardware on my finger, right? i was free to roam down in mexico, if it wasn't official, right? well, whatever the reason, the question came and after dinner i agreed to become his wife!

some after i came home from the trip, we began the planning. we both soon became overwhelmed by the process and decided to bump the wedding up from january to november. and so it was, we were married on november 3, 2007. it was a very small affair, with only immediate family in attendance, much to the chagrin of some friends and extended family. i apologize to all of you that were offended by our decision, but the occasion was for us and that was the way we wanted to do it. looking back, i'm still happy about our choice!

after we married, joel moved into my apartment in downtown slc, a small one-bedroom in a beautiful old building. my hall closet became his closet, and space was tight, but we were happy to be living in the heart of the city. however, in january, we were able to move into a two-bedroom house on lovely sunnyside ave, on the east side of slc on the way up emigration canyon. it shortened my commute to park city, and allowed for a whole bedroom to be devoted to my clothes, shoes and bags, and i couldn't be happier!

this move also meant we have a backyard, and just last week joel surprised me by bringing home a puppy! i was shocked because this is something i've wanted for awhile, but haven't been able to have since i've been in an apartment or rental since leaving home, but joel was always opposed to the idea. someone at his work was selling her and after taking one look, knew that he wanted to bring her home. she's a tiny little thing, half chihuahua/half dachshund and we named her roxy. we decided that if we can handle caring for a puppy with our chaotic schedule, maybe we'll be able to have a baby! she's a naughty little thing, but we sure do love her! so that is our family, and i couldn't imagine having a better husband, or loving and being loved so much!

so there it is, our story (well, my version anyway!) . i'm sure joel will have a slightly different account of things, but as we all know, the wife is always right!