Seven years and two months ago, I first remember meeting Jacqueline Elise. Let’s recall some of my favorite memories of her, shall we?
2. On Saturday, February 4th, I was supposed to be at a Coldplay concert in Las Vegas with my good friend Drew. But a commitment to BYU Men’s Chorus kept me from attending. That “glitch” provided me and Elise with a perfect lazy Saturday afternoon. Went to an art exhibit on campus, had Jamba Juice, and danced together in the Student Center. That evening, at sunset, I kissed her overlooking Utah Valley at sunset.
3. I knew pretty soon that I wanted to spend my life with this woman.
4. Monday, May 1, 2006. I proposed to her at sunset on a bridge that spans the Provo River. And then dropped the ring as I put it on her on her finger. It almost fell off the bridge into the river. Almost embarrassing enough to lose my “awesome” points for the aforementioned first kiss. But only almost.
5. We were apart for a few weeks during the summer 2006, she at home in Boise planning the wedding and me working in Provo. Without her knowing, I drive up to visit her and surprise her in Fred Meyer. (NOTE: I had my hair cut right after this video was shot. I look like a Full House extra).
6. We were married on Saturday, August 5, 2006.
7. As newlyweds, we lived in an awesome basement apartment. In the middle of winter, we learned that the windows were not up to city code and they have to dig a whole in our bedroom wall. We had to move all of the essentials out of our bedroom, and sleep in the front room as our bedroom was LITERALLY not useful for a few weeks. In hindsight, I should have made the terrible landlord put us in a hotel so we didn’t feel like vagabonds. But at least we had ½ of our monthly rent knocked off, right?
8. Fall 2006 – We watched the film version of ‘Rent’ late on a Friday evening. Not tired yet, went for a walk for an hour in the warm rain, talking about the movie, sitting on the swings at the nearby elementary school, etc. A small memory, this. But it has always been special to me.
9. That first semester after we were married, I decided to play a practical joke on Elise. When all was quiet in our apartment, I hid behind the door to the kitchen and waited. She walked in, and I let out the most blood-curdling scream I could muster. Almost scared her to death. The look on her face made me feel terrible. Last time I ever tried something like that. Isn’t it amazing how an idea that seems AWESOME in your mind can turn out so terrible in action?
10. I won a competition at a business conference shortly after we were married. Rather than take their lame vacation prize that would require us to buy $800 airfare, we took the cash value and went on a 5-day cruise out of Long Beach. Sailed to Catalina Island on our way to Ensenada, Mexico, and then home again. Not too shabby for two poor newlywed undergrads!
11. I had an internship in Sandpoint, Idaho after our first year married. We fell in love with that beautifully small town and its gorgeous surroundings. Because of that perfect summer, I want us to live in Coeur d’Alene as soon as we can after I graduate from BYU.
12. During our summer in North Idaho, we planned a weekend in Glacier National Park and Calgary, Alberta, Canada. We drove up to Canada on a Friday evening, and arrived at the border to discover it was closed. In the middle of nowhere. Nothing in sight. We pulled the homeless card and slept in our car.
13. Back in Provo for our final year of school and 2nd year of marriage, I come home one evening and found Elise absolutely terrified. She thought there was a mouse in our apartment. I set the traps and sure enough, we catch a mouse the following day. Is it bad if I consider her utter fear of mice adorable? I don’t think so, either.
14. For my 2nd birthday as her husband, she made me a Lightning McQueen-themed cake (Cars was my favorite movie at the time). And since blue is my favorite color, she made blue frosting. We only realized it looked like toothpaste when my sister pointed it out to us. She was embarrassed, but I loved it. I love the effort she puts into everything she does – not just for me, but everybody that knows her.
15. I convinced her to take a dance class with me at BYU. I had always dreamed of being an awesome ballroom dancer with my wife, and she was willing to give it a shot. Six years later… mmm… we’re at about the same beginning skill level that we enjoyed back then. And we’re cool with that.
16. For one of her school projects during our engagement, Elise created a scrapbook chronicling when we met each other, all of our dates, the letters we wrote during our courtship, and titled it “The Luckiest” after our song (by Ben Folds). Because I’m a sucker for keeping my personal journal, I loved this project. I love that our kids will be able to see how awesomely naïve we were as undergraduates. ::)
17. In March 2008 we were applying to jobs for after we graduate. I woke up one Sunday morning after dreaming about New York City. I had never been back east, but felt this incredible feeling of homesickness. As Elise woke up, I turned to her and asked, “Wouldn’t it be fun to just get away from everything and go somewhere new like the east cost?” After a few seconds, she said, “Yeah. I could do that.” Her answer surprised me. Both Elise and I love our immediate family. Up to this point we had been looking for a job in the western US so we would always be within driving distance of our siblings and parents. But that short conversation in bed on a Sunday morning led to us accepting a job in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania. A beautiful area, fantastic people that would become our dearest friends, and equidistant between New York City and Washington DC.
18. Speaking of Washington DC – Elise had us go to DC for our first 4th of July on the east coast. She loves history and government, and was so excited to spend Independence Day in our nation’s capital. I felt like I was taking her to Disneyland!
19. The following year, she made sure we celebrated the 4th of July in downtown Philadelphia since that is where the historic events actually occurred. Again, I love the excitement she brings to these activities.
20. Elise loves quality theater. We saw Phantom of the Opera in Vegas shortly after we were married. Wicked in Los Angeles. West Side Story and Mary Poppins on Broadway. Les Miserables in Baltimore. I love that I can enjoy those with my wife.
21. Here’s a doozy. Let's raise the "naive husband" flag. September 2009. We had tickets to see U2 at Giants Stadium in New Jersey for my birthday. And tickets for West Side Story earlier in the day. This was all planned before the morning sickness arrived as she was pregnant. She hadn’t been feeling very well leading up to this trip, but said she would be fine. I believed her. And during this trip, she was fine. She did great walking around Manhattan, and standing for the entire U2 concert. Only after we returned home did she confess how horrible she felt the entire time. I felt terrible. But she told me that she wanted to enjoy that day with me, because she knew how important it was for me to have that trip for my birthday (I’m normally not much of a birthday guy). Three years later and I still feel bad. But I admire her for this type of dedication that I see her give to other people so very often.
22. Beautiful mother to Tanner.
23. Beautiful mother to Spencer.
24. The first semester of the BYU MBA program is a doozy. With only a few days left, I took a final and felt like it went terribly. I had never been so frustrated by a test I my entire life, and here I was a master’s student and I am supposed to be mastering the material – but it just wouldn’t stick for this class. I sat against the wall on our kitchen floor, an absolute wreck. She sat with me on the floor, encouraged me, helped me see things in a bigger perspective, and supported me through the rest of that challenging week.
25. I love the sound of her reading to our boys upstairs and singing them songs as they go to bed.
26. I love the fun dances she makes up to make our boys laugh.
27. Let's have Jack Nicholson summarize so much of why I love her:
Happy 27th Birthday, Elise!
3 comments:
Happy Birthday Elise.
And Lowell....that was lovely. Truly lovely.
That is so very sweet! Happy birthday, cousin!
Okay, that was super cute Lowell!!! I still remember some of those very first occasions...haha! Good times.
Happy birthday sunshine girl!
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