Fourth Wedding Anniversary

I realized the other day that I started this blog in 2009, almost a year after we'd been married.  So, I've decided in honor of our fourth wedding anniversary, I'm going to write about Ryan and I.  How we met, when we got married, and where we went on our honeymoon.  

I had just graduated high school and decided to attend Girls' Camp one last time, even though I thought I was too old.  I met a girl named Casey at camp who I quickly became friends with.  I was bemoaning the fact that all the boys I met seemed to be pre-mission and how I wanted to date a more "mature" boy.  She told me about this cute guy that lived in her neighborhood that had already come back from a mission.  We decided that we'd plan a group date so I could meet this mystery boy.  Perfect!  Well time came for our group date, only to discover Ryan had a girlfriend at the time.  So Casey quickly found me another friend to go with so I could still come.

When I got to Casey's house, they introduced me to my date and I thought "Ok, he's pretty cute.  This won't be so bad."  Unfortunately the boy I was busy looking at was not my date, it was Ryan.  My mistake was quickly corrected and we went on with our date.  Of course I was still checking Ryan out the entire night thinking of what could have been.

Fast forward to the end of the summer.  Ryan was now single and after what seemed like forever, he asked me out on a date to go to Austin Parks and Pizza with him.  We went on a bunch more dates, but the summer was ending.  I really liked him, a lot!  But I was going to school in Nebraska, and he was going back to school in Arkansas.  So we parted ways in August with the promise to keep in touch, but nothing more.

We kept talking and eventually, I convinced Ryan to come see me in Nebraska!  After that, we decided to officially have a relationship.  We eventually decided that I should transfer to Arkansas and in February, I got my transfer accepted.  I was moving to Arkansas!  Then in March 2008, I went to visit Ryan in Fayetteville for Spring Break. We went on a climbing and camping trip with some friends to the Buffalo River.  While we were caving in Copperhead Cave (well more like wading through a freezing underground river), Ryan took out a ring and proposed!

Immediately after getting out of the muddy cave.

We went back to the cave entrance and took "fake" proposal pictures.

One of our engagement pictures.

We were sealed in the San Antonio Temple on August 2, 2008.  It was also the hottest day of the entire summer!

Wedding Party

San Antonio Temple

Ring Ceremony & Reception

Adorable flower girls! Niece on the left, then two of my cousins, and my two little sisters

Ring bearers. Red head is my brother, tallest is Ryan's nephew, and the other little two are my cousins.

My amazing Granny made this dress! 

 Despite it being hot and some hiccups at the reception...such as my cake falling over... it was a great day!  Ryan and I headed down to the historic Driskill Hotel in downtown Austin to start our honeymoon.  Then we headed to South Padre Island.

At the Driskill

Our "snorkeling trip" consisted of looking into cloudy water. 

We ate at some amazing restaurants, lounged on the beach, went para-sailing...

And my favorite... we went on a two hour pirate cruise on a pirate ship with a pirate crew and got pirate tattoos! 

We had a great honeymoon and it was awesome to be able to get away before school started again.  After we got back, we moved to Fayetteville, AR to begin our married life together.  And most of you know the rest.  

I can't believe we've been married for four years!  We've gone on all kinds of cool trips, moved a total of 1000 miles, driven way more than that in our little Pontiac, earned two bachelor's degrees, and are hopefully ready to jump start Ryan's career soon.

1st Anniversary- In Austin, TX. Went downtown to see the bats, had dessert,  saw a movie.

This is the only picture I have of us together on our 2nd Anniversary.
Ryan had just gotten back the day before from spending almost three months in Mexico
for an architecture trip.  We had a lovely dinner at Fonda San Miguel. We're at Rita's Italian Ice in Austin in this picture. Great Anniversary!

3rd Anniversary- Spent this one in Fayetteville.  Went to Turpentine Big Cat Refuge, swam
at Beaver Lake, and had a wonderful dinner at James at the Mill.

4th Anniversary- Again, back in Austin, TX!  Went back to Fonda San Miguel for dinner.

Thanks for reading my overly long anniversary post.  Just wait for what I'll write when we hit 10 years!