This is for posterity so please be honest.

10 years of marriage, to my best friend. It would be a complete lie to say that it was all root beer and lollypops. But it would also be a complete lie if I didn’t say that most of it wasn’t.

When Edward and I met, we were both cleaning toilets at BYU’s Museum of Art. Cleanliness next to godliness. I loved it. This was the same job I’d had before my mission but my first day coming back I met a very tall, very clever, very cute guy named Edward. I will sheepishly admit that I crushed on him right away. And when I like someone I feel awkward. As in a tongue twisted, red in the face, kind of awkward. I really wanted to hang out with him. He had these interesting things to say. He read interesting books. He was funny. Fortunately for me I liked him enough to overcome my blundering self. I was, however, completely artless in the pursuit of a date with my dream boy. I essentially forced him to play card games after work everyday. This, as you might know, was not one of his favorite pastimes. In fact I occasionally commit spousal abuse these days and force him to play a game or two with me if I’m feeling really sinister. But starting off a relationship with harassment is, shall we say, risky?

Fortunately we had Vonnegut, Henry David Thoreau, Madness, and Jamiroquai to help us get through the initial relationship clumsiness. We traded books, CDs (remember when we use to use those?!), talked about movies. Finally, after what seemed like forever, Edward asked me out on a date. It was October, so instead of bringing over a flower he brought me a pumpkin. Halloween is my favorite holiday so when I saw that, I melted into a pile of wax on the floor. We saw a movie, we ate pizza for dinner… The best part was that we enjoyed talking to each other so much that we didn’t realize that it was 3 AM in the morning. The whole date was a blur.

We were essentially besties right away. Our transition from co-workers to friends, to boyfriend/girlfriend, to fiancées, to husband and wife… it all felt pretty seamless to me. We were perfect for each other, but again, it’s not that everything was perfect. Edward stinks up the bathroom and sometimes I overly nag him. But we love each other. We even like each other. We are on the same page. We are dreamers. We work hard. Life is so very good I feel like I could implode.

In summary, Happy Anniversary to the stinkiest brain ever!