Gotta Have You

I decided to copy Heidi's "love story" questions. If I lose you half way through I'll understand--I can be a rambler :) Oh, listen to The Weepies' song Gotta Have You or any song from James Blunt's new album All The Lost Souls as you read :)

Where did you meet your husband?
We met in August of '98 when he came home teaching with his Dad. His family and my family had moved into the same ward about 2 years earlier and his dad had brought most of his boys home teaching at one point or another. I was home from my first year at BYU and Joseph had been home from his mission for about 3 seconds (OK--3 days, but he was pretty fresh).

What is the first thing you said to your husband?
Probably something along the lines of "oh you served your mission in Brazil? I am writing to a missionary serving there." Seems kind of dumb looking back on it since I thought he was so cute--way to send the wrong signal right? It was good though since he had a girl waiting for him that he had just seen/kissed again the day before. Our meeting ended up having great timing: I headed out of the country just after it while Joseph headed back to school where his relationship didn't work out. I returned home and ran into him right when he and I were both ready to move on and find someone new :)

Where was your first date?
At temple square on a Sunday evening to see the Christmas lights. It was kind of an odd date because Joseph's best mission buddy (Brian Nuckols) was in town and staying with him for a few days and he came along with us. Then we met the whole LeBaron clan downtown for a bit. And then we picked up one of Joe's good friends from BYU at the airport and dropped her off at her Grandma and Grandpa's house over in Holladay. We ended up hanging out with the Swiss g-ma and g-pa for over an hour and laughing at the way they bickered and snapped at each other. We ended the night at my house where Joseph and "Nuckols" looked at ALL of my pictures from study abroad. Now that's the way into this woman's heart!

Where was your first kiss?
At my parent's cabin in Weber Canyon in January '99. We stayed up later than everyone else watching "Funny Farm" and snuck in an old fashioned make-out.

Did you have a long or short courtship/engagement?
We got married after dating each other for about 10 months. I feel like our courtship was kind of long (compared to typical BYU standards :) I guess I say that because we took our time getting to know one another and allowed our relationship to excel at a pretty reasonable pace. We dated a lot for about 4 months but we were both dating other people during that time. Once we decided to just date each other however, that was it and we were engaged about 8 weeks later (thanks to a 3 week delay inspired by my Dad...but that is an entirely different story--but a good one!)

Where did you get engaged?
On the beach in Newport, CA. I had been out there all week with my family and Joseph joined us for the weekend before we headed home. I knew he was going to propose since I had dropped the hint about how romantic beaches were about a hundred times. I still loved the anticipation I felt and hearing all the wonderful things he had to say about me and our love for each other.


Where did you get married?
Salt Lake Temple, October 1, 1999
How did your reception go?
It was perfect and exactly how I had planned it since I was about 16! We actually had it the night before our wedding in my parents' backyard. The night was gorgeous and just a little bit crisp, the ambiance so beautiful and the food amazing thanks to Ruth Ann who planned it all out for us. Joseph and his accapella group sang a few songs and then we had a band play a list of faves Joe and I had chosen out. I loved the fact that we could dance and visit and hang out all night and not feel the need to rush off for the wedding night "festivities" or feel totally exhausted after a whole day of activities. It also made our actual wedding day so calm and focused.

How was the honeymoon?
So fun--but too short! We headed to San Diego for 5 days and loved our first real vacation together but I wish it could've been twice as long! We had to get back though since we were in the middle of school and had already missed our share of classes, study groups, work hours, rehearsals, performances, etc...Hopefully, for our 10th anniversary we will do something really exotic and relaxing like heading to Tahiti or Bali for a good, long vaca :)

How has married life been?
I am a romantic at heart and can easily picture and describe things in their idealistic forms rather than their realistic ones. But, honestly, my marriage is something that is truly great in my life in very real ways. Joseph and I have learned (and are learning...) how to communicate, listen, and most importantly, love each other. It's been an incredible journey thus far. I think becoming parents was the most powerful experience we've been through together and it has created so much more love in our home as well as many more common goals and concerns between the two of us. Even though our children bring a lot of chaos, stress, sleepless nights and drama into our relationship, they have forged us like nothing else could. And for me, there is nothing more beautiful than seeing my husband laugh and play with our kids, sing to them and comfort them when they are crying, or bear his testimony of the Gospel to them (as simple as it has to be right now for a 3 year old to understand). Life is good :)