Okay, this is MY shout out to my hubbs. I was cleaning out a storage container the other day with a bunch of old pictures and scrapbooking stuff and found this old ticket stubb. Now I don't usually hold on to old momentos such as ticket stubs (anymore, since I realized paper scrapbooking just isn't for me) so what is so special about this old scrap of paper? THIS IS WHERE IT ALL BEGAN.
Let me tell you a little love story.
Brett and I met and dated for about 6 months in 2002. I had...um issues... Needless to say it didn't work out. Brett is the kind of guy that has goals and know exactly what he wants, and isn't afraid of making the hard decisions when he finds a path isn't leading in the direction he wants to go. Basically HE DUMPED ME. Don't worry, it was the right thing to do, even I knew it. I just didn't have the guts to go through with it. That is one of the millions of things I have learned, or am learning rather, from him is how to make the hard decisions when you know it's the right thing to do... even when everyone else thinks you're wrong!
A lot of things happened after that, but the Readers Digest version is we both changed a ton after we broke up. I had made so many good/close friends while we dated (his best friends wives, his sister in law, his MOTHER) and I kept in touch with them after wards and even got together quite often with his best friends wives and his sister in law. They, especially his sister in law Jamie (who happened to set us up in the first place) always kept me posted on what he was up to.
When Brett broke up with me it was for good. When he makes a decision he is confident about it, sticks with it and doesn't look back. Yet another of the million things I've learned from him. I TRIED not to look back. But "try" basically means you're not really doing what you said you were going to do, you just want other people to think you are, or you're giving yourself an out because you know you really don't care to achieve it- also something I've learned from Bretts "failure is not an option" policy. Basically, I didn't want to forget about him, I just wanted other people to think I did.
Then came September 11, 2003.
Rascal Flatts came to town to perform at the Salt Lake County Fair. Brett and his friends introduced me to Rascal Flatts and I LOVE THEM! I wouldn't admit it at the time, but a big part of the reason was that it reminded me of Brett. ANYWAY, my sister Mary also loves Rascal Flatts so she came with me as my date. I suspected that Brett and his friends would be there, but it was confirmed when OUR friend Des called and said she wanted to meet up after the concert to say hi.
Mary and I got to our seats pretty early and I watched the entrance nervously. I had not seen Brett since a wedding reception that we had both attended several months before, and that was AWKWARD! Plus I knew Brett well enough to know that he would have some cute girl on his arm! Then the moment came and he walked through the doors, my heart stopped. You know that feeling when your blood kind of turns cold and drains from your face for a second and then immediately turns to fire and your face goes bright red?! Yeah, that was me. He walked in looking all cowboyed out and hot. I don't usually go for cowfolk, but he was rockin' those levis, western style shirt and cowboy boots!
The concert was awesome. They always put on an awesome show. Mary and I had a blast belting out each and every song and dancing like total geeks (no seriously, there is a reason I usually won't be caught dead dancing in public). Sure enough, as soon as the last song ended my phone rang. It was Des and she wanted us to meet her right outside the concert area. Oh, and one thing that I haven't mentioned yet, and that wasn't mentioned to me...BRETT HAD NO IDEA I WAS THERE. Nice.
I was soooo nervous. My stomache was still dancing around, but this time it wasn't from the awesome tunes we'd been listening to. I knew Des was up to something and I knew there was no way that she was going to let me get away with meeting JUST her to say hi. Little stinker. But I loved her for it. Still do! It was like herding cattle getting everyone out of that arena, appropriate I guess. I seriously thought someone was going to prod me with a hot branding iron at any moment. My sister and I aren't exactly big (my maiden name IS Tiney) and we just about got trampled. There were these two huge guys standing directly in front of us. Actually, they were standing on my toes. Point is, they were blocking my view.
Now brace yourself, this is corny and it sounds like it comes right out of some cheesey Freddy Prinze Jr. movie but it's the honest truth so let me have my moment!
All of the sudden, as if on cue, the herd parted, and what do you think was directly in front of me? Brett was standing right there, even more beautiful up close. The heavens parted and light came down on him and I seriously could not see anything else. Okay, maybe there really wasn't celestial light decending down, but that's honestly how I remember it in my mind. I KNEW at that moment. We BOTH knew. We kind of stammered hello and then Des jumped right in and saved us and started chatting away. Sorry Des, I love you, but I have no idea what you said to me! Brett's date looked up at him and said, "Ex girlfriend?" he just said, "yeah". Des and all his friends said, "Hey come get some icecream with us." Brett didnt' want his date to be uncomfortable, so they walked off. I walked with his friends for a while and decided to go.
All the way home my poor sister had to deal with my ramblings on and on I won't even get into that. I wondered if I had just imagined what I had felt, and if he had felt something too? Then my phone buzzed that I had a text. Okay, Brett worked for Verizon wireless for years after his mission, so those of you that know him know that he is the KING of text mesaging. It suprised me when it buzzed that I had a text because very few of my friends had discovered the joys of texting- another thing I learned from Brett. I picked up the phone and seriously thought I was going to have a coronary! It was Brett, he had taken his date home early. We texted all night. And all the next day. And all the next. We texted for about a week. No one knew we were corresponding except for my sister because she had been sitting with me when my phone went off the first time. We finally went out a week later (still had not actually TALKED at that point)! We didn't tell anyone for a while that we were dating because everyone took it so hard when we broke up. But long story short, we knew from that first second that we were going to get married and we were engaged on Christmas Eve of that year. That's a story for another time though.
The whole point of all this rambling, and I DO have a point, is that this tiny piece of paper changed my life. It was at this concert that the Lord confirmed to me that Brett William Garner was and is my one and only and I have never looked back! No matter what life has thrown at us I always have that constant. He has been my rock and my best friend. He is so patient with me as I trudge along trying to catch up to the amazing person that he is. I have learned so much from him in the short time we have been together that I can't even imagine what the next infinity years are going to be like. But I'm grateful that I get to find out!
I love you honey! More than anything in the world!
Hunter was so excited to get in the pool one day that he decided to go out and watch it fill up with water. He sat on this bench and watched it intently, getting up periodically to "check to see if it was warm yet." Then he was right back on the bench! As soon as it was full he ran to tell me that it was time to swim!
....or not
Madelyn LOVES Sami! She is so cute with her! Everytime she sees her she holds her hand and plays with her. I just happened to catch this adorable shot of her holding her cheeks and telling her how cute she is!
Trevor got sad in the pool so Hunter came over and asked him what was wrong and tried to make him happy!
6. Sun Bathing
Carly decided she was done playing in the pool and decided to "lay out" for a while!
...but who can choose just one?
Sami just loves babies! She wanted to crawl all over our new friend Addison! She kept leaning telling her "hi"! It was so cute!
Madelyn LOVES Sami! She is so cute with her! Everytime she sees her she holds her hand and plays with her. I just happened to catch this adorable shot of her holding her cheeks and telling her how cute she is!
Trevor got sad in the pool so Hunter came over and asked him what was wrong and tried to make him happy!
6. Sun Bathing
Carly decided she was done playing in the pool and decided to "lay out" for a while!
...but who can choose just one?
Sami just loves babies! She wanted to crawl all over our new friend Addison! She kept leaning telling her "hi"! It was so cute!
the end
the end
