How I Met Your Blogger with Free Stylin’

So, in honor of Valentine’s Day, I thought I’d share my story with you…

This is my husband, Sam, aka The Hubs. We have two cute boys, and one on the way.

1. How long have you been together? How did you two meet?

As “crazy” as it sounds, we met at a mental hospital. (No, we weren’t patients.) I have a degree in Social Work, and I was working at the hospital when my coworker, Sam’s cousin, said she wanted to set us up on a blind date. Neither one of us was thrilled with the idea, since we’d both been on horrible blind dates before. But, we talked a little on the phone and decided to go. He took me to the Hard Rock Cafe for dinner, and then we went to see a hypnotist show. (Later we would joke that he hypnotized me to date him.)

While on our date we figured out that he already knew my mom and older sister through his work…small world! (Oddly enough, my family had considered setting Sam up with my younger sister. Yeah, that would have been weird!) Our first date ended up lasting a good 6 hours or so because neither one of us wanted it to end. We had such a good time talking, and we just seemed to get along. He asked me out for the next day, and we’ve been together ever since.

2. How did he (or you!) propose?

Well, after a lengthy courtship of TWO WEEKS, he invited me to his parents’ home. They were living about 4 hours away, so I thought it would be fun to go on a road trip with him and meet his family. (No big deal, right?) So early one morning he said he wanted to take me to his favorite hiking spot. We hiked for a little while and then ended up on this rock that barely fit the two of us. As we were talking, he got up to move to a more comfortable spot (or so I thought). Instead he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. I was completely surprised. I just stared at him for awhile because I didn’t believe he really meant it. All I could think was, “What’s your last name again?” After a minute or two I finally said, “Are you joking?” Yeah, probably not the answer he was looking for. I told him that it was really sweet of him to ask me, but I hardly knew him and had no idea how I felt yet. He said he didn’t mind. He knew I was the one and was willing to wait until I knew it, too.

And I did make him wait. We dated for awhile before I was sure, but when I was, I surprised him with my answer. I went over to see him one evening and told him we needed to talk. I said that I had been thinking about us for some time now, and that I knew what I wanted. I know this is mean, but I handed him a card and said, “I can’t say it as good as Hallmark.” Poor Sam thought I was breaking up with him, but he kept trying to keep a positive face, hoping I was joking. The outside of the card said some things about “wishing you joy and happiness in life, etc…” He now realized this was a breakup. Then he opened the inside, and it read, “Congratulations on your engagement.” He looked at me like, “Is this for real?!”, and then he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him again. This time I said yes.

3. What was your wedding like? Any funny, special, or crazy stories about your big day?

We got married in December in the Salt Lake City LDS Temple. I never dreamed of a winter wedding, but it was beautiful. We had a small ceremony with close friends and family, and then there was a large reception that night. The only problem? I was so sick. I caught something at the beginning of the week, and it only got worse. (It probably didn’t help that I had finals all week, or that I had to move out of my haunted apartment (no kidding, but that’s another story for another day!).) So, the night before our wedding, instead of having a large family dinner or hanging out with guests from out of town, I was at the Urgent Care getting antibiotics. (Later we would joke that he drugged me to marry him.) Luckily the meds kicked in for the big day, and everything went well. We just celebrated our 13th (?!?) wedding anniversary.

4. What do you love to do together?

We love joking together. If I can make him laugh out loud, then I feel like a million bucks. We talk in our own language of movie and TV lines, and yes, we love watching movies and our favorite TV shows together. Sam and I also enjoy exercising together/being active. We’ll go on bike rides, run, or take our boys hiking or on walks in the neighborhood. One of my favorite memories is when we did a muddy buddy bike ride and run race together. It was fun to train with each other, but even more fun on the day of the race. It was super muddy and dirty, but it was a blast!

5. What’s your favorite thing about him? What’s his favorite thing about you?

I love that Sam is such a hard worker. Not only does he work hard to provide for our family, but he doesn’t stop when he gets home. He’s like the freakin’ Energizer bunny. My brain stops working right around 8 or 9 at night, so he does bedtime with our boys. (What a saint!) He works around the house, too – in the yard, doing laundry and dishes, packing lunches, helping with homework. He doesn’t see work as His Job or Her Job. He sees everything as something he can do to help lessen my load, which is incredibly sweet and SO helpful.

I asked him what his favorite thing about me is, and he said, “I love your creativity and thoughtfulness. You are friendly with people – you have this thing where people gravitate to you, and you are always kind to them. You’re considerate of other people’s feelings and how they think.”

He’s super sweet, y’all. I may have him a bit fooled, but don’t tell!

So that’s our story…for now! Thanks for listening to my novel. Tomorrow is our last day of How I Met Your Blogger. I’ve really enjoyed the series – I hope you have, too!