6 Years

On August 10 we celebrated our 6 year anniversary. Well I wouldn't really call it celebrated, our whole household was sick so we were unable to do anything but take care of each other.

A lot of people don't know that David and I were high school sweethearts having met at the Skate Station roller skating rink in Anaheim, CA. We broke up shortly after I began my senior year, but it sure wasn't for lack of trying to stay together on David's part. He was persistent but it just wasn't meant to be our time.

Thirteen years later I got a strange email from an address I didn't recognize. I opened it up and to my surprise it was from David. We emailed back and forth for awhile but I found he was married with kids and being respectful I didn't want to be the cause of any family problems so I told him to stay in touch. Six months or so later I got another email saying they had split and he moved out. We stayed in touch until one day he sent another email and said something to the effect that he gets bord and wanted to know if I wanted to do something.

A few more emails and we decided to go eat and to a movie. We went to the Cheesecake factory in Irvine(CA) and the check came and we kept talking. Well David reached for his card and paid for dinner and then we went dutch for the movie. I wasn't expecting him to pay for dinner as I had money to pay for my half. After the movie we went to our old favorite place Laguna Beach to walk around. I was so nervous as I didn't know if this was a date we were on our just a couple of old friends out for a night. We went out the next day also and it was history from then on.

I found out a few months later that actually he was expecting me to pay for dinner since I was the one who suggested dinner. We laugh about it now but I guess it made a big mess for David's finances for a few weeks. After a little time I finally got to meed David's girls. I first met Kayla, she was 4 at the time, we met at Santiago Park at the zoo. She was so cute wearing her little sun dress and sandals holding David's hand. We walked the zoo and Kayla sat on David's shoulders. A few days later I met Becca, she was only about 5 or 6 months old. I was already attached to them, they were so cute.

We dated for almost 3 years, talking about one day getting married. We were going to dinner for my birthday and I was not really having a good day and David had it all planned out to propose at dinner but instead David dropped to one knee in the front yard and asked me to marry him. We had a quick engagement as we had decided to move to Illinois to be closer to the kids and I felt it would be best to be married before we moved. We had a beautiful wedding in Las Vegas with about 40 friends and family around us. On a side note that would be one of the last couple of times I got to see my dad. He died almost 3 months later. But I am very happy that he was there an walked me down the isle.

I look back and If I had to do it all over again, I wouldn't change a thing. David has been my soul mate and my best friend. Things have never been easy for us but we have always made it through any obstacle that has come our way. We have a beautiful daughter together and two other beautiful girls that we share. I don't think I could ask for anything else, well, except to maybe win the lottery.

I love you David with all of my heart and soul. I am looking forward to many more years together. Picture below is me about 8 1/2 months pregnant.

September 11th

Not only is September 11th a memorial date for all Americans but it also is for David and I. You see that is the day we rolled into Illinois to make it our new home 6 years ago. It was very hard leaving all of our friends and family but we knew we would be closer to Kayla and Becca and be able to be a part of their life more then when we lived in California.

Our trip out started with a comical camping trip in Malibu Beach where we had our first un-escorted by my parents camping trip with the "Shaggin Wagon" (having trouble posting a picture of it so it will follow later). What is the "Shaggin Wagon" you ask, well it's a 1979 camping trailer that has all the 70's colors, orange and browns. We got it from my parents when they got a new trailer, hey can't beat free. It was a very heavy trailer and of course not many update amenities. The fridge quit working about a week before we were leaving, it had no airconditionining and was very hard to tow.

When we got to Leo Carrilo State beach we had trouble backing it in and you know how people always want to tell you what to do, well there were several friends trying to assist us in parking the beast. After awhile it got to be pretty funny but got it parked finally and enjoyed our weekend with everybody.

We got a late start on the road, stopped off in Corona for gas and some snacks then off we went. We stopped for the night at the KOA campground in Needles, CA with a pull thru spot as all of our other spots were to avoid backing up. Next day we planned to see my step mom in New Mexico so we stopped off and had dinner with her and her mom. After we left we needed more dry ice for the fridge so we stopped, man o man what a mistake that was. The lock on the trailer door decided to break, luckily we got an auto club membership before we left so we called AAA and they sent a locksmith but only after waiting over an hour and a half if I remember right. You are probably asking yourself why is she telling me all of this???? Well to tell you about the locksmith, hahaha, he was a funny guy. He walked up he was pretty fat, wearing loafers with what looked like white socks that got washed with something red, now picture this, woman's maternity pants, yes you read it right. David and I looked at each other and tried not to laugh along with his thick glasses and REALLY greasy hair. After another hour and a half the lock was finally replaced after messing up the door pretty good. We didn't get to far before it was dark so we stopped for the night in New Mexico.

We planned on taking our time and stopping and several well known tourist spots, we got to see the Cadillac cars in the ground, the T-Pee hotel off route 66 and we wanted to see several other places as well as my grandparents in Oklahoma but then the movers called and said they would be there ahead of schedule so we had to cut our trip short and just drive. Our trip was a little rough with no air in the trailer and it seemed every place we stopped for the night was near the highway or railroad tracks so we got little to no sleep most of our trip except the last night. We ended up in another KOA campground in Springfield IL in middle of a corn field way off the road. We joke about it, calling it the KKK campground because it was pitch black when we got there and it was really far off the road. We finally got a little sleep there as it was quiet and it finally cooled off.

We were excited to see our house we would be renting, you see we rented it sight unseen. David's mom and step dad checked out the house for us so we trusted them and rented the house. We had no clue how to get to the house so Joe met us at Gurnee Mills mall parking lot for an escorted drive to the house. It seemed like we drove forever until we pulled up in front of the house. We finally pulled up and with Joe's assistance backed up the trailer (backing up the trailer was an issue for us) into the driveway. We got out and David and I looked at each other in disbelief when we saw the house. It was perfect! We were so glad to be there and finally off the road. We checked out the house and unloaded the trailer and went right to bed I think as the movers would be there bright and early the next day and stayed in that rental house for almost a year when we found a house for sale in the same neighborhood. We listed the California house and put an offer to the seller on the house and bought it as soon as the CA house sold and it's been history ever since.

We were very happy to be closer to the girls and we knew we made the right choice to move to Illinois.