Today is the last day for How I Met Your Blogger. I have really enjoyed this series. I love hearing peoples’ love stories, especially those who I admire and look up to. Today’s blogger is no different. Traci, from Beneath My Heart, is beautiful inside and out. We met in Kentucky at a GE Appliances event, and she was so kind and friendly to me. Since then I’ve gotten to know her a little better, and I love how much she loves her family! She has such sweet and respectful sons, and I hope to raise my boys just like hers. Traci has some ridiculously cool DIY projects, too. Her kitchen is to die for…you must take a look! And, one more reason why I love her? We share the same maiden name! I’m pretty sure we are long lost cousins. At least I hope we are!

Here is her story:

Hello! My name is Traci from Beneath My Heart!

I am so happy to be here to share my love story with you. First of all, you need to know that I am in love with 5 men.

Yep. It’s true.

But look at them…. do you blame me?

Those four little cute men are the result of falling in love with the tallest one.

My love…Cy.

First of all, I want to say that I waited {for what felt like} a long time for Cy. I was 25 when we met, and 26 when we married. Most of my friends had already been married and were having babies. But I was praying for that special man that God had in store for me, and I knew he would be worth the wait. I was NOT going to settle for less than God’s BEST for me, and I am so glad I didn’t! {All of you singles ladies, don’t settle. The man God has chosen for you is sooooo worth the wait!} If you want to read Part One of our love story on my blog, click HERE.

So, now to the questions Beth asked me!

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

Cy and I have been married for 15 years. We met at Asbury University where I had just graduated from, and he was still attending. I was working out in the weight room where he worked, and he said it was love at first sight. Whatever.

You can read the full encounter and the details of our first date on my blog, HERE.

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

We dated only 4 months before we got engaged. I know! Crazy! I had had only long term relationships with guys that I had been friends with for a long time before we dated, so this was totally out of character for me. We were married 6 months after we were engaged. Just long enough to plan a wedding.

Cy proposed to me in his car after eating at our favorite restaurant. Nothing special or fancy, but so perfectly Cy. He was so stinkin’ nervous, and I knew he was getting ready to ask me. He read a letter to me that he had written, and his sweet little hands were shaking as he read it.

But my favorite part of our story is how I let him know that I was ready to be engaged. It’s a cute little story about purple pennies…you’ve got to go read it HERE.
 

3. What was your wedding like?

Any funny, special, or crazy stories about your big

day?

Our wedding was very traditional and my brother in law married us.

It was a beautiful day with all of our favorite people in the world in attendance. Our main focus that day was on God and all that He had done for us. We were so grateful.

No crazy stories to tell other than we forgot to get bread for us to take communion with, so my BIL ran down to the closest gas station and all they had was cinnamon raisin bread. So that is what we took communion with. It was delicious!

4. What do you love to do together?

Cy and I love to DIY together. We have renovated 5 different homes since we’ve been married. We love to go to Lowe’s together. We love to watch movies together. We absolutely love hanging out with our kids. Family time is our favorite time. I can truly say that we just love being together, even when we are fighting.

5. What’s your favorite thing about him?

What’s his favorite thing about you?

My favorite thing about Cy is his integrity and character. He is exactly the kind of man I want my boys to grow up to be like. I know I can always trust my heart to him. He is my safe place in this crazy world.

I texted Cy while he was a work and asked him what his favorite thing about me was. He said, “your love for our family.”

Disclaimer: Our marriage is not perfect, and it is definitely not easy. We have had our share of fights and ups and downs. Cy brings out the best in me, but he can also bring out the worst in me. Marriage is a continual growing process. Sometimes it feels like it would be easier just to give up than to work through the hard stuff. But that is so not true. The best is yet to come. God uses marriage to teach us to be more like Him, self-less.

Thank you for letting me share my love story with you. I hope you come by sometime to my blog and see me. You are always welcome.

Traci

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Cy and Traci, thank you so much for sharing your beautiful story! I owe you a McDonald’s Coke! Love ya, girl!

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?

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!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

So if you’ve read Free Stylin’ for even a second you know that I have a total blog crush on Sarah from Thrifty Decor Chick. I began reading her blog when we were living in Key West, FL in a tiny company apartment. My cute little family went through a lot of personal hardships and trials during that time, and I was homesick, pregnant, and all around lonely. I’ve always enjoyed decorating as a outlet, but because of where we were living, I couldn’t make any decorating choices or changes. (Don’t feel too bad for me…I did go to the beach a lot which helped!!) Reading TDC was very therapeutic for me. Because Sarah is such a skilled writer, I felt like she was speaking to me, like we were e-mailing or talking back and forth. Her posts and home improvement projects were a source of joy and comfort. I’ve continued to read TDC through the years and was beyond thrilled to finally have a chance to meet Sarah in person last summer. I ended up crying and looking like a complete moron. (Click HERE to read all about it.) I am so grateful that Sarah has agreed to share her love story with all of you.

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

Oh my goodness, we’ve known each other forever now! I’ve known him since 1992, but we’ve only been married eight years now. I’ve known my husband for more than half of my life now – we’ve been through so much together, he is truly my best friend for life.

This was soon after our son was born (about five years ago) on a school trip to Hawaii.

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

You know, he or I never really proposed! We had been together so long and just said, you know what, we need to just do this! He had been married before and I know there was a bit of hesitation there – not about us necessarily, but marriage in general. We finally decided on a date for our unusual nuptials and planned it all in a few months time.

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

Yet again, we were different in the way we did the whole marriage thing. I’m odd in that I never dreamed of a fluffy white dress as a kid…or even my future wedding. (I was too busy daydreaming about being an interior decorator.) So when we decided we were ready to get hitched, we wanted to do it our way. We planned a trip for just us and some close family and went to New York City.

We were married at City Hall in the middle of the week, on a VERY cold and snowy day in December. I didn’t even wear a dress – I bought a beautiful cream colored suit to wear and didn’t end up even wearing the fancy pants that went with it – there was too much snow and I wasn’t about to carry them on the subway or the taxi!

We got married in a private ceremony that was actually quite lovely. I was a tad nervous when we got started and I remember that I kept looking at the officiant when I started saying my vows, instead of my soon-to-be husband. I glanced over at my hubby and realized he had been looking at me the whole time. I will never forget that moment. (And I started looking into his eyes instead of the officiant’s from that point on.)

When we returned home we had a reception with family and one with friends. To this day I wouldn’t change a thing about how we got married. It was perfect for US.

4. What do you love to do together?

We love to travel, mostly to New York. We always have good intentions to branch out to new locations, but it rarely happens. Our kids are obsessed with the city as well now, so we take the whole family along. When we’re home we just like to hang out there…at home. My husband travels a lot for his business so we treasure that time together just relaxing in our house. We also love to eat out – we do so more than we should, but I’m sure not going to argue since I don’t have to make dinner so often!

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

Oh my goodness – this is easy for me. He is the most patient man I’ve ever met. I seriously don’t know how he puts up with me – I would give anything for just a smidge of his calm demeanor. He is also the hardest working man I’ve ever known – he LOVES his work (he’s a band director and a composer/arranger) but it’s more than just that. He would die if he couldn’t provide for and take care of us, it so important to him.

OK, I just asked him what his favorite thing about me was and he said “There’s too many things I love about you to pick just one.” Kid you not people – I love him! I tried to get him to nail it down and he said he loves that I let him be “him” in life and in our marriage and that I’m such a great mom.

The whole letting each other be “us” is what makes our marriage work. We accept each other, our loves and passions, and encourage each other to reach our dreams in life. I could NOT do what I do (blogging for a career) without his love and support. Not a chance. I am so lucky to have him.

Excuse the blurriness – our son was the photographer.

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Oh my gosh – what a unique and sweet story! Thank you so much, Sarah and Mr. TDC, for sharing with us!

I’m excited about today’s edition of How I Met Your Blogger because it involves two of my close in-real-life friends, Allison and Ben, of House of Hepworths. Allison and I have known each other since we were about 9 or so?, and Ben and I became good friends in the 9th grade. I moved away a few years later, so I wasn’t around to see them fall in love, but it was quite the story around here. “Ben and Allison!!” Here’s the scoop:

Hey Free Stylin’ readers! Allison here from House of Hepworths. I am so excited to be guest posting today on Beth’s blog. I should do a post about how Beth and I met and became BFF’s. Should I just go ahead and answer all the questions below about how she and I became inseparable? No? Fine, I’ll stick with talking about how my better half and I met and fell in love. But trust me, Beth’s and my BFF true love story is juicy, involves Ben, and contains tons of blackmail worthy photos from 1995. Maybe next time.

circa 1998

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

Ben and I just celebrated our 14th wedding anniversary! I cannot believe we have been married so long. Time flies when you’re having fun. Ben and I knew of each other pretty much our entire childhood but didn’t actually know one another. We attended the same church growing up, and I was friends with his little brother. When I was a senior in high school Ben was living abroad in Russia. My parents went out of town for a week and had Ben’s older brother and his wife come stay at the house and “babysit” us (My sister-in-law still teases me about that!). Truthfully, I went to school full time and also worked each day after school, so my parents hired my future sister-in-law and brother-in-law to stay with my younger siblings – get them up and off to school each morning, pick them up, all that jazz (that’s what I tell myself at least. I hope my parents didn’t need a sitter for me. I was 17 after all!). While the babysitters where there all week, I became quite good friends with her, and she suggested I send her younger brother-in-law an email to say hello. Apparently he was lonely and somewhat homesick. I sent him a letter saying hi, and he sent me one back. After that we emailed each week for the remaining 3 months until he came home. When he arrived back in the States we went on our first date and became exclusive immediately. Within a month of our first date we were engaged and three and a half months later we tied the knot. Everyone thought we were crazy, but here we are, 14 years later and happier than ever! (And in case you did the math, yup, I got married at 18. I was a wild little thing.).

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

We had talked about getting engaged, so I knew it was coming, but Ben still tried to surprise me. One thing we use to love to do (before kids) was to go down to the train tracks, sit on the hood of the car, talk for hours, stare up at the dark sky and all the bright stars, and watch trains fly by. Not only could you feel the force of the train as it passed, but the chugging sound of the train as it whizzed by sounded so much more powerful in the dark and completely quiet of night. On one of our dates, Ben took me out to the old train station and we sat in the pitch black with only the moonlight and stars. We talked and talked for hours, and finally Ben pulled a ring out of his pocket, while sitting on the roof of his old teal mustang, and proposed. It reminded me of being in an older time, before computers and cell phones, before credit cards and video games. It’s probably why I love movies like The Notebook and Fried Green Tomatoes so much.

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

I don’t remember a lot about our actual wedding, except that is was apparently very cold outside (we got married in November). I wasn’t cold at all though. The adrenaline had me sweating while taking pictures outside. Everyone else was standing around shivering with thick coats on. At our reception following the ceremony, we decided to just have a great time and forgo tradition. We hired a Jazz Band to play live music and it was so much fun! It was like being in New Orleans. At one point Ben busted out his accordion and started playing crazy songs while everyone danced like little monkeys banging cymbals together. Someone threw out a hat, and by the end of the impromptu accordion playing, we had made a couple bucks – which we spent on burgers afterward.

Of course, every wedding has some nightmare story, and mine was no exception. Two days before the wedding our cake lady called and backed out – she had to go out of town. I was left scrambling to find a wedding cake in two days! Our florist knew a baker, so I was fortunate enough to talk her into making the cake for us. We were charged a pretty penny, and she could only do a basic cake, but we took what we could get. When the cake arrived at the reception it was a nightmare. It was covered in globs of horribly piped cream-colored icing! (I was specific that I wanted white). Did I mention it was leaning? It looked like the leaning tower of Piazza. I almost started crying, but fortunately the florist was able to talk me off a cliff and spruced up the cake with a spatula and a bunch of extra flowers that she had brought. In hindsight, I laugh at how horrible that cake was! At least I have a good story now.

4. What do you love to do together?

We love to travel and go on vacation. We will take a road-trip at pretty much any opportunity that arises. Getting away together and just relaxing and spending hours talking sounds like a dream to me. We have traveled most of the USA together, and look forward to being able to travel abroad someday. We also really enjoy watching movies together and going out to eat way more often than we should – usually to our favorite Tex-Mex restaurant, Chuy’s. We don’t do it often enough, but we love a good long hike or bike ride. We pretty much enjoy anything that we can do together while being able to have good conversation with one another. Now that we have kids, our family is our first priority, so we just love doing anything where we can be together. Our favorite thing to do together in two words? ROAD TRIPS.

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

Ben is hilarious. He has a very dry sense of humor and will sit in the background totally silent and then all of a sudden will say something under his breath that most people totally miss. But if you actually listen to his quiet one-liners, you will crack up. He likes to be the quiet guy who will randomly drop the most hilarious joke ever. Also, he can be shy around other people, but when we are alone together, or with just the kids, he will turn into a complete goof-ball. He has amazingly terrible accents that make me pee my pants and pretty much leaves me and the kids in stitches on a daily basis. When he doesn’t have the stress of work and life, he is pretty much a walking goof-ball 100% of the time – I think this is why I love vacationing so much with him. His true un-stressed personality comes out and it keeps us all in stitches. He does a terrible impression of Captain Jack Sparrow that the kids beg for on a daily basis, and his Russian accent impersonation will give you aches from laughing so hard. One time he decided to learn how to speak in a British accent and studied it for hours in the car while we were on a road trip. I have never laughed for so many hours straight in my life. To this day when he does a British accent it sounds like an Irish accent crossed with a dying cat.

What does Ben like about me? I asked him and I can’t repeat his response online. This is a PG rated blog. At least he still finds me attractive after all these years! Ha! After more prodding, he said one thing he really likes about me is my take-control attitude. I like to figure things out and move full-steam ahead on whatever project I’m working on. I think he mentioned the word “fearless”. You know what all the tweens say these days… YOLO! Does anyone else find that as annoying as I do?

So anyway, that is Ben and my love story. Sappy? Check. Young and fearless? Check. It’s been a great 14 year ride so far and we both look forward to 50 more.

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K, I’ve known y’all for how long, and I learned some things I had never known!! What a cute engagement story!! And I sincerely appreciate you not sharing pictures of us in the early ’90′s. My hair alone would frighten small children. Thanks, Ben and Allison! Hook ‘Em!