Two DECADES ago. . .

. . . Tim & I started this love affair of ours! 20 years ago exactly today we had our first official date. He had already asked me to the Christmas dance occurring in another week, but we couldn't wait. We were both home for Thanksgiving break & that year, the 23rd was the Friday after Thanksgiving. He arrived at my parent's house with flowers! We went and saw "Home Alone" in the theaters - can you believe that movie was a new release 20 years ago?! He introduced me to the candy called Skittles (& then he saved the wrapper & put it in our very first scrapbook). I had liked him for a while and I fell hard & fast! In a very short period of time, I was sure I would marry him someday. Of course, all the flowers & love letters he wrote helped that along! I received flowers from him 12 times in the first 6 months we dated.

We thoroughly enjoyed our time together at Ball State over the next year and a half. We spent free-time and ministry time together with our involvement in Campus Crusade for Christ. Tim even started a prayer movement in our dorm & I helped him with that. And it was an extra special bonus that our parents only lived 15 minutes apart, so breaks & Summers were also great! Then I moved to Northern Virginia for grad school. The 600 miles separating us was definitely a challenge, but we made it through 2 years of separation until we were able to get married.

I don't have a digital photo from our earlier years - that was before digital cameras & my scanner isn't working. So, you'll have to settle for our wedding picture, which was 3.5 years after we started dating.

And here we are earlier this month - we've only changed a little bit, right?! Ha!

I, for one, am really looking forward to the next 20 years of dating this man that God has given me!