Memory Tag

1. Add a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments. I can't wait to see what people remember.

10 Happy Years!

This past Thursday, July 17th, Darin and I celebrated our 10th Anniversary! We can't believe that 10 years have passed. Marrying Darin in the temple is the single best decision I've ever made. Every meaningful blessing in my life since then has been a result of that decision. He is a wonderful, self-less husband and father. We celebrated by going to the temple here in Columbus (Darin's 'lil sis Janell was visiting and babysat. ) Next month we'll celebrate by going to a resort in Cancun - so excited! So I don't have a wedding picture on this computer, I'll have to update that tomorrow so you can all see how much we've changed. Janell did shoot these for us...wow, things have certainly changed over the past 10 years (even if Darin is still a student)!

Not-so-quick story of how we met and fell in love: Our freshman year (1st semester 1994) at BYU we had a 7:00 AM English class together. I remember when he walked in the classroom and I thought he was hot...I on the other hand was "not-so-hot" (remember my post about gaining 30 pounds in one summer???)! Darin was a baseball player and was probably 20+ pounds heavier than he is now and it was all muscle - and he still is all muscle ;). Anyway, the class was experimental because our entire grade was based on a group project. Our groups were literally determined by the teacher drawing names out of a hat. I was so excited that Darin and I were in the same group. There were probably 5 other people in our group and we quickly became friends. Well a few weeks into the semester I started dating another guy and one of the girls in our group had a HUGE crush on Darin....so Darin and I were just friends. We should have known we were meant for each other when we were THE ONLY students to show up to class at 7 am during a blizzard! It was one of the only times BYU cancelled classes due to snow. The rest of the semester we had a lot of fun and always walked to our second class together because it was in the same direction. I also went to an aerobics class on campus every night. I always ran into Darin working out too, and so we would say hi to each other. I mentioned that to our friend who had a crush on him and pretty soon she was an aerobics regular too! LOL She ended up asking him to Preference (Girls' choice dance) and I asked the guy I was dating. Darin remembers we danced one song together.

Last summer we took this picture in front of the building where we met...

The next semester (spring of 1995) Darin and I ran into each other rarely but one day I had to go back to the building where we had our class and whadya know...I ran into him! He told me that he had just gotten his mission call for our church and was going to be serving in Santiago, Chile for two years. We chatted for a while and he got my Texas address so we could keep in touch. I walked off thinking, "Yah, right! That guy is never going to write me."

Fast forward to the next Christmas '95. I went home to Texas for vacation. While I was there my mom said I had mail...which was weird. Even more weird was that it was from Darin! I thought that was cool and that he must be interested in my friend and was writing to get the scoop. I wrote him a letter back and never heard from him again. Little did I know that another mutual friend that was serving in the same mission told Darin not to write me or he would end up marrying me and something about me being crazy I think??? Darin says that guy just wanted to date me but I'm pretty sure that wasn't the case....see what a cute hubby I have!

Fast forward again to Fall of 1997. I was at BYU having lunch with some friends. I turned to one and said, "Hey all the guys are back from our freshman year. There is this one guy, his name is Darin, I hope I run into him." Seriously, not even 5 minutes later I hear..."Sarah??" OMG, it was Darin! He was with Paul, who is now Darin's bro-in-law, and we chatted for 10 minutes or so. He asked for my phone number but I thought nothing of it. K, so I also have to say that while he was gone I got a major makeover. I dated a guy seriously and when we broke up I decided that to get back at him I would work out really hard and when he saw me he would be sorry! LOL I also got rid of my true "Texas" hair, which, will never make an appearance on this blog...even for memory's sake. So the new sleek due and trimmer body made a better impression on Darin than my freshman look did. LOL

Fast forward two months. I never heard from Darin and even moved to a new condo. I went to visit my old roommate one night and when the phone rang she said it was for me...very weird and this was pre-cell phone days. So I told her to ask who it was...she said Darin. I was confused because my best friend at the time was a guy named Darin and he was standing right there. She got his last name. I took the phone and chatted for a minute, he asked if I wanted to go out the next night. Honestly, it wasn't until THAT very moment that I realized he might be interested in me. We doubled with Paul and some other girl. They planned a fun date, we went to a haunted house and then out to Brick Oven for pizza. I guess the rest is history... we got engaged at the end of January and married the following July. Darin's proposal was so beautiful and such a surprise but I'll have to blog that later. There are so many other details I'm leaving out but I wanted to get this recorded for my blog book and it's fun to reminisce.

I'm looking forward to looking back on these next ten years!

(FYI - if you read this entire post you're pretty cool because the length is fairly intimidating.)

This week we also had fun w/ Janell. We all miss her already! (Forgive me for the shirt I'm wearing...I just needed a T and didn't realize what I was doing!)

Darin had an Ortho party at a really fun resort in Columbus. Roman LOVED this little pool because he could walk around on his own.

Dad and Roman love hanging out in our basement.

Roman's favorite toy these days...that's right, I'm training him young! I can't get over how chubby he looks in this picture. I think it's just the horizontal striped shirt ;). lol

4th of July Fun

I'm a tad late on posting this, but we had a really fun 4th of July. We were threatened by rain but luckily it passed quickly and we were able to enjoy the evening outdoors. Thanks to the Johnson's for having us over for a really fun barbecue! We all headed over to a park to watch the fireworks that night. I just love the 4th of July!

Twinner's! I'm sure I won't be able to get these guys to agree to wear matching shirts for much longer.

Kate's FAVORITE Activity...she even jumped when it was filled with rowdy boys!

Allie's first experience with sparklers. She probably held 10!

Hot Mamas! Seriously, these girls are so much fun and such amazing people.

Roman was worn out and slept through the noise of the fireworks!

One quick pic before the girls ran off to watch fireworks w/ their friends.

Short video of how much fun we had:

Virginia Beach

Last weekend (June 27th) we took the kids to Virginia Beach. It was well worth the 10 hour drive! Here's a quick list of what we did:
1. Stayed at an awesome hotel right on the beach, so fun to sit on the balcony and enjoy the ocean breeze.
2. Went to the beach.
3. Walked the boardwalk at night and listened to lots of bands.
4. Rode some rides at an amusement park...Kate even rode one alone!.
5. Kate taught herself to skip! - very exciting!
6. Allie is officially a beach bum - she was the saddest one to leave.
7. Roman tasted his first handful of dirt, no complaints.
8. Rode a bike that fit our ENTIRE FAMILY on it, and Roman fell asleep during the ride.
9. Took the Trolley all over town, the kids loved it.
10. Slept in!
If anyone is contemplating this trip I definitely recommend it. The drive through West Virginia was gorgeous. The kids did great in the car. The girls just watched movies and Roman slept or played. Darin and I had great conversations about the future and how it will feel to drive for DAYS to our new home....yet to be determined but coming very soon (only 9 months left)!
Enjoy the pics!