13 years ago

today we have been married 13 years. wow. 13 years have gone by SO fast. seeing as how it's our anniversary, i think i will tell our "story". it's not romantic or too exciting, but it is our story.

we met in the youth group at church in oklahoma. we really started a friendship right before i turned 15 and shaun was almost 18. i really had a crush on shaun and for my 15th birthday he wrote me a song and recorded it on a tape. let's just say i had all the words memorized front and back, and still kind of do. during that same year (shaun's senior year of high school) he took me to his schools junior senior dance (similar to prom). i was so nervous and i'm sure shaun was too once he saw me walk out in this fuchsia colored number (yowza!).




shaun graduated high school and continued to come over to my house every day to hang out with me and my family (and eat dinner with us every night). i was very much "in love" with him. we continued to spend all of our spare time together. during shaun's second semester of college he moved to north carolina. we continued to write and call and i kept thinking about how much i liked him and wanted to marry him someday. even at the age of 16 i somehow knew that he was "the one". *** side note: if eva comes home at the age of 16 telling me she has met "the one" she can just forget it.

anyway, shaun moved back to oklahoma, and during my junior year of high school he got a job as a youth pastor (a young youth pastor!) in another town. during my junior year of high school i found out that i could graduate early because i am a super genius was able to do some extra work on my own. so after i graduated at the age of 17, that summer shaun asked my parents if he could propose to me. did i mention that i was only 17??? did i mention that my parents said yes????? again, i was ONLY 17. so that summer during vbs at shauns church he had planned on proposing to me while he was dressed as a clown. thankfully he did not go through with that thought-filled plan. but he did propose to me later that evening as we were sitting at the church talking by ourselves. oh, and i said yes.

so the next may, after i turned 18 and shaun was a mere 21 years of age, we got married. it was the very best thing we have ever done. we both agree that we have had 13 awesome years. we cannot look back on one single year, month, or week that has been difficult between us. we are so thankful that God has been so gracious to us, especially since we got married so young.

here are a few fun facts about the spencers from the last 13 years:

• we have lived in 14 different places (this is somewhat embarrassing, but this is how we were brought up, by moving a lot)
  
• 11 of those places were in the first 7 years of marriage
• we have owned two houses, lived in 10 different apartments, rented one house, and lived with my mom for one month
• we have been through 10 different vehicles (including the ones we have now)
• shaun has worked 14 different various jobs (some part-time, some full-time)
• i worked 7 different jobs
• we have been on 3 vacations (colorado, cozumel, minnesota)
  
• we have had 5 pets: a fish named napolean, a dog named maggie, our first cat was murray (who is now in the big litter box in the sky, as shaun says), we also had a cat named milton who dissappeared, and charlie who currently resides with us
• after 9 years of being married eva was born and lily came after 12 years
• out of 13 years of marriage, at least on of us was in college for 11 of those years. we both went all the way through college, and shaun through seminary
• shaun weighs 10 lbs less now that when we got married (how many men can say that!)
• i was 18 with .0000001% body fat when we got married and i have had two children since so i will NEVER again weigh what i did when we got married
• we still love to hang out together and we are still best friends

i am so thankful to be married to such a loving, kind, and caring man who strives to provide for his family, is an amazing father, and who longs to see me, eva, and lily grow to know Jesus. and who has done one heck of a job making our house and yard look top notch! i am looking forward to the next 13 years and more!