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!
after we spent a few days up on the island, we went back into in seattle for the remainder of the trip. joel had never been up there before, so we did some of the "touristy" things like pike place market and a trip up to the top of the space needle. i'll add some pictures of those later. overall, we had a really good time and didn't want to come back to work! 
