- We met the summer of 1999 at a pot-luck lunch at Concord Baptist Church in Farmville, VA. As I left, I told my friend, Jen, that Rob wouldn't be a distraction. My bad.
- Rob was hired to be the youth pastor at that church, and I was already working with the students there. I gave him a bit of the cold shoulder initially because I had a crush on the last guy- oops.
- Never fear, by fall we were flirting and enjoying each other's company. We went to different colleges, so we would use AOL instant messenger to talk at night. Ha! It drove my roommate crazy with all that clicking.
- For our first date in early November, we walked to a park off-campus and played. He proceeded to spin me so fast on a flat bed merry-go-round that I puked not once, but twice. Romantic, eh?
- Our first for real date was in Richmond at Olive Garden. He brought me a yellow rose, and it was sweet!
- Just a couple weeks later he felt as though I wasn't the one he was going to marry, so he ended it. I was heartbroken, cried a lot, and basically just kept liking him. Ultimately, if he wasn't sure about me, I would rather him have ended it sooner than later to save further heartbreak.
- We stayed friends, continued working with the youth group together, and hung out here and there.
- On the first day of September 2000 (almost ten months after our sort of break-up), Rob called me all sick and pitiful from his dorm room. The short story is that he realized the error of his ways and couldn't bear to live life without me. For serious.
- He proposed on December 31, 2000, and we were married on August 4, 2001.
- Our first year of marriage was spent in Hampton were he worked at Liberty Baptist and I taught 3rd grade at Mallory Elementary for Hampton City Schools.
- In the summer of 2002, we moved to Fort Worth, Texas, where Rob worked on his Masters Degree full time, and I taught 3rd grade at Dallas Park Elementary in Crowley, TX, just south of the city. We spent two fantastic years here! We also had our first appointment with a doctor because we weren't pregnant yet.
- In the summer of 2004, we moved back to Hampton where I taught 4th grade back at Mallory Elementary and Rob joined the Waters Edge staff as a part-time employee. We even lived in the same apartment complex and same street as year one....just a different apartment.
- In 2005 we bought our first house in Yorktown, Rob was full time at Waters Edge, and I joined the Dare staff as a fourth grade teacher in York County! We camped out here for circa seven years, and it was amazing!
- We had a miscarriage in 2007, and we started the IVF process in 2010. I also finished my Masters degree in 2010 to one day become a principal. During this time I also taught Kindergarten for a year.
- Two anniversaries ago, we spent the day at the Jones Institute in Norfolk having two embryos implanted!
- In March of 2011 we welcomed two of the stinkin' cutest kids I know~ Reese and Hayden!
- In February of 2012 Rob resigned from his position at WEC to pursue what he had felt God leading him to do for close to a year. We sold our house, moved in with Rob's parents, and started Next Level Church! I also resigned from teaching at Dare after an amazing year of job-sharing with Nicole in the fourth grade. Stay-at-home mommy here I come!
- So here we are! We've celebrated our anniversary in lots of different places including San Antonio, Boston, Philly, a cruise in the Caribbean, and this year we'll be at someone else's wedding! Every year has been amazing, and I am very thankful for our relationship.
How did you meet your significant other? What has been your favorite anniversary trip?
