A Bit of Background

Let me begin by rewinding the clock a bit. I was born and raised in Boulder, CO. Yes, I know. It's funny the stigma that comes along with being from a particular place. I never realized it until I moved away. It is often referred to as "The People's Republic of Boulder". Enough said. So then there's my family, a middle-class, stay-at-home mom, conservative Christian household. Thank you Mom and Dad! I lived in the same home for 20 years and only recently have my parents picked up and moved out of Boulder. I can't believe how incredibly sad that was. Moving out of that house was like ripping a part of my childhood from me. The last time I was in that house, I sat in the middle of my empty room soaking in every square inch of that space and crying on the phone to my brother. There will always be the memories I guess.

So after graduating from high school in '98, I packed up my things and moved into McCowen Hall at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley. Good times, but I don't want to go into detail. It was there that I met my future husband, Adam. We don't have this amazing story of how we met, but if you would have told me on the night that I met him that I would be spending the rest of my life with him, I would have told you you were crazy. My friend Erin had met a group of guys from the Fort Carson Army base the week before, so she invited them to come up and hang out with us. So, late one Friday evening in January, 1999, my roomie and I were waiting on the couch in the common area of our dorms when a group of about 5 handsome young men came wandering in through the doors. We immediately knew who they were. I have to say, I got butterflies when I saw them. They were definitely different from all the other guys we were used to, looking like Abercrombie threw up on them. From the beginning of that night, I had singled Adam out. He was 6' 3" and had the bluest eyes I had ever seen with just a touch of a Southern accent. Right off the bat I thought they were all just a bit too cocky for me. They didn't care if we liked them or not. They certainly weren't trying to impress us. Over the next couple of months though, Adam and I continued to get to know eachother while dating other people and finally became "official" that spring. That was the beginning of a 5 year long courtship. More on that later though, it's my bedtime.