It’s been 5 years since my husband and I first saw each other.  Not met, but just saw each other.  Five years ago Derek was tailgating with his friends, and I was with mine at the Memphis vs Ole Miss game.  The thing we didn’t know is that we had the same group of friends.  Our two circles over lapped.  That’s actually how we eventually meet 2 months later.

Once we finally began dating in November of 2005 we both were discussing how we both attended the Ole Miss vs. Memphis football game.  Then we realized that we were there with the same group, and we discussed what the other person was wearing. Then we realized that we had noticed each other, and had even asked our friends about each other.  Crazy right?  I guess that means that this thing we have was meant to be.

All of my pictures of the game that day were lost on my old computer, but Derek actually has pictures of each of us that day.

Here is Derek…

Yeah, I don’t know who the girl is, or why he ever thought those sunglasses were a good idea.  Luckily, the next summer those glasses found their way to the bottom of Pickwick Lake.  Wooh…dodged a bullet there.  I did love his shorts though.  That’s actually what made me remember him.

And here I am.  The back of my head anyway.  This was a picture that Derek took while walking to the stadium.

Once we realized we were at the same game tailgating together; we quickly dove into our pictures from that game to see if we each had a picture of the other.  And we did.

It’s been four years since my sweet husband broke his leg.  Friday February 12th was four years to the day.  Derek and I had been dating only about three months when it happened.  He was playing in a church basketball league and during one of their games a player from the other team landed on his leg just right and the thing broke in two. OUCH!

I was at the game, but was in the restroom when the actual “event” occurred.  I’m so glad I didn’t see it.  I would have freaked.  Derek, on the other hand, didn’t shed a single tear.  He just grinned and bared it.  I have no idea  how he was so strong.

He was rushed to the ER and put in surgery the next morning.  The doctor decided instead of putting him in a cast they would put a titanium rod in his leg.  Not to get too gory with the details, but basically Derek now has a titanium rod IN his bone with screws holding it in place.

As luck would have it I had just quit my job at the worst place EVER, and was currently job hunting with nothing to do during the day.  I took care of Derek for the two weeks he was out of work and stuck on the couch, and also in the afternoons once he went back to work.  His parents lived near by so they were a great help and came over to visit often.

I honestly attribute the strength of our relationship to his broken leg.  If it weren’t for the two weeks we spent in SUPER DUPER close quarters I don’t know if we would have been able to learn so much about one another, so quick.  I learned how gracious and thoughtful of a man he was by the way he treated when I was his caretaker, and he learned that he could depend on me even when things were at their worst.

Cohen missed Derek so much he made him a card asking “Daddy, are you ready to come home yet?”

Many new couples may not have made it though this pressure cooker of a situation.  I think it’s real easy for one of the two people or both to become resentful in a situation like this, and resent in a relationship can sour things real quick.

I am so glad that Derek and I had this opportunity to learn so much about each other.  I hate, hate, hate that he broke his leg, but I am really thankful for the relationship that blossomed from the tragic event.

I love you, Derek.

Four years ago today, November 10th, Derek and I had our first kiss, and officially began dating…but not publicly.  That came about 10 days later.  I met Derek through my roommate, Chris (pictured below being choked by me).  Derek invited Chris and I to the birthday party of his then roommate’s fiance’s, now wife’s, birthday party…..hence the interesting pictures below.

… I was single.

One year ago today I was a Theuns.

One year ago today I had a fiancee.

One year ago today I was wearing a beautiful white gown.

One year ago today all my family was in town to see me.

One year ago today I held back the tears as I read a sweet letter from my future husband.

One year ago today I was daddy’s girl.

One year ago today…

…was P E R F E C T!

Today, I’m the luckiest girl in the world….Derek’s wife.  Today is the 1 year anniversary of the day I married my best friend.

I was looking through our home videos the other day and came across this one of Wrigley’s 1st bath….her 1st bath as our dog anyway.  She is being such a good girl.

Now, she R U N S past the bathroom door with her ears pressed flat, and her head ducked down between her shoulders as if to say….IF I SCURRY BUY THE BATHROOM DOOR ALL CROUCHED DOWN MAYBE I’LL BE INVISIBLE, AND THROW ME IN THE TUB.

Look how tiny she is in this video.  She’s a healthy 70-something lbs today.  When we adopted her she had just weaned a litter of puppies.  This caused her to have a case of the droopy boobies.  (that ‘s the best thing I could think to call them)  If you look closely you can see them dangling in the video.  You will be glad to know that today you would never have guessed that she ever nursed puppies….7 puppies to be exact.

.:: My Memphis ::.

This shot is of some of my favorite flowers, Cone Flowers.  I love how trippy they are! It’s as if God said, LET THERE BE PSYCHEDELIC DAISIES…and there was.   You know how it goes. I’m sure it in the bible somewhere.

I shot these awesome “Crazy Daisies” at the Botanic Gardens back in 2007.  I wish they didn’t attract bees, cuz I would totally have some in my yard.  Being that I was stung by wasps on both cheeks (the face people…the cheeks on my face) when I was about 6, and having my cheeks each swell up to the size of regulation size softballs, I have lived my life in deathly fear of any of those buzzing, flying, stinging things.  P.S. – my skin is crawling just writing about this.  Ahhhhh!

Being 6 and having your face look like an inflated Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade balloon is enough to send any person running for the hill for all of eternity when they see one of those things.  And the pain, the pain!  Anyway, the point I was trying to make is that I have a rule about plants in my yard, “If it attracts bees, dig it up please.”

Derek and I are planning, well hoping and planning, to go skiing with our friends Rachel and Jeremy next December.  Rachel, Jeremy, and I are experienced skiers and Derek has gone once, and fell in love with the sport.  Ever since Derek’s only trip, he has been dying to hit the slopes again.

We were having dinner with Rachel and Jeremy one night when we approached the subject of our vacation idea.  Rachel did all but jump out of her seat and run around the restaurant, kissing every man, woman, and child in her path; hopping from table to table, exclaiming her overwhelming joy about getting to cut through some fresh powder on those snowy, snowy peaks.

Once Rachel gained her composure, took a sip of her water, and began to breathe again she turned to Jeremy and with the point of her finger and the squint of her eyes, she said in a hushed voice…I AM SO GONNA KICK YOUR BUTT ON THAT MOUNTAIN!  Jeremy replied with a simple YOU WISH.  In the meantime, Derek and I just sat back and watched the action unfold all the while mentally patting ourselves on the back for successfully bringing out the competitiveness in a newly married couple.

We immediately began discussing our favorite places to ski (well Jeremy, Rachel, and I), you know cuz Derek has only been the one time…WHAT A NEWB.  Then, and I don’t quite remember how, we started discussing Whistler, Canada.  Rachel and Jeremy honeymooned in Canada and said it was gorgeous.  Whistler is also the top rated ski resort in North America.  Each day we fall more in love with the idea of a ski vacation in Whistler.

You can go dog sledding in Whistler!  How sweet is that?  Just imagine…adorable little puppies pulling me in a sled all bundled up in a big ‘ole parka, squealing with glee the entire length of the ride.  I’ve heard that sled dogs L O V E pulling sleds, so it makes me happy to be making those sweet little doggies happy.

Not to mention those adorable little shoes they wear.  I mean really…how can a dog be any more precious?  I’ll tell you how, put little shoes on their teeny tiny tootsies.  They have tubing too.  I’m so going tubing!

I have a feeling that I’m gonna want to do so many of the extra winter activities, while we are there, that I’m not going to leave any time for skiing.  Nah…I’ll make time to ski.  I mean, come on…I’ve been skiing since the age of 3.

That reminds me of a picture my dad emailed me.  It’s of him and me on the slopes back in 1986.  Look how fancy I am, and how cool he looks in his tight-ish ski pants.  Gotta love the 80′s!