Monday, March 11, 2013

Our Love Story

When Jared and I were in premarital counseling through our church, one of the things that most stuck with us was that our relationship needed to come first.  Jason told us that once we had kids, we would love them an awful lot, but to remember that we needed to put our relationship first...spouse before kids.  We started talking about it then.  We knew that was something that we wanted to always pursue.  We wanted our kids to know we loved them, and that we loved each other.  I think it's important for Paxton and any brothers or sisters he might have to know our love story.
We met when I was in 7th grade.  The bus stop was across the street from Jared's house.  We saw each other every morning, and his mom even let all of us wait for the bus on her porch or in her entry way hall when it was raining.  I remember seeing his little sister (about two at that time) playing on the floor in the living room while we were waiting for the bus at his house.  We talked a little and Jared even signed my yearbook in 8th grade: "Have a good summer. -Jared Miller (from the bus stop).
Fast forward through some not so great relationships for both of us to fall of 2002.  I worked at Marble Slab with a girl named Val, and we got to be pretty good friends.  We hung out a lot and I even started dating one of her friends.  I started hanging out with her friends some weekends, including Jared.  After about a month, the friend and I broke up and Jared made his move.  He came up to me at my locker and asked me on a date.  We went to dinner at House of Hunan and to the school play, Steel Magnolias on December 6, 2002.  My sister started dating one of his friends and we mostly hung out in groups.
We took a short break from April 2003 to July.  We started hanging out again and were starting to get really serious.  We were both nervous that I was going off to college (at OU...just 30 minutes away, but it seemed far away) and he had one more year of high school.  We made it through the "long distance" and so much more.  I went to Florida for an internship with the Walt Disney World College Program.  Jared was there for the drive there and the drive home, and everything in between.  We missed each other a lot and it was probably the hardest thing we've gone through but we made it.  I still like to look back at those emails he sent me during that time, I could definitely tell how much he loved me.


We took another break from September 2005 to September 2006.  We talked a lot while we were broken up.  I know we both still had feelings for each other, but we also both had a lot of growing up to do.  When we got back together, we knew it was for real.


On April 15, 2008, I came home from work to find my living room dark.  There were candles lit and flowers on the table.  Jared had made a beautiful dinner of steak, baked potatoes, rolls and salad.  He was wearing a shirt and tie.  After we ate, he took me to "our spot" at Lake Hefner.  Our first Valentine's Day together back in 2003, Jared had taken me to House of Hunan and we had taken the food out to Lake Hefner and shared a sunset picnic by the water.  That was where we were sitting when he took my hand, told me how much he loved me (and some other things) and asked me to marry him.


  We planned a wedding and bought a honeymoon package.  Jared helped me make almost every decision about the wedding.  He was so involved and I knew I was lucky.  We got married on June 6, 2009 at Boulevard Chapel.  It was a medium-sized wedding (big for that chapel), and it was perfect.
We left the next morning for our honeymoon in Puerto Vallarta.  It was the most amazing week of my life.






We came home and settled in with our pets.


Jared graduated from college,
and got his dream job at Third Degree Advertising.


I graduated from college and got a big girl job too.


We had heard that the first year of marriage was the hardest, but we cruised through it.  We celebrated our one year anniversary with a trip to Kansas City.


 Not long after our trip, we found out we were about to be a family of three.  We were excited to tell our families and couldn't even wait to go to the doctor first.  The day after we found out, we made the rounds to everyone's houses and told them.  Jared was amazing throughout the pregnancy.  He refused to let me pick up anything heavier than my purse, he came with me to every single doctor's appointment and made me feel better after my doctor told me I was getting too fat.  He discussed baby names as well as every single development Baby Paxton was making in my tummy.  He was ecstatic to find out we were having a little boy.  Every night we would lay in bed with his hand on my stomach and feel Paxton moving around. 






We became a family of three on March 22, 2011.  Jared has been the most amazing dad and husband.  He changes the poopy diapers when he's home and Paxton loves playing with him.  I am so grateful that he has put up with me for all these years and helped me grow up.  He works so hard so that I can stay home, and he never complains about the sacrifices we have to make.  In fact, when I complain sometimes, he reminds me how lucky he and Paxton are to have me at home.  He really is perfect.
In August of 2012, we found out our family would be growing some more.  We wanted Paxton and his sibling to be two years apart and grow up close together, we were on track to get our wish.  Again with this pregnancy, he has been there for me.  He puts his hand on my tummy almost every night to feel P2 move.  He was just as excited as I was the first time he felt him move.
I know that I picked the right guy.  I know this is the man that is supposed to be the daddy to my boys.  I know this is the man that is supposed to take care of me each time I'm sick or sad or stressed.  Every day we get a little closer together, we learn how to compromise and how to fight fairly.  We have come a long way in the past almost four years and I would have to say that things are perfect.

2 comments:

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  2. What a beautiful story!! Thanks for sharing.

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