Marriage Meme

Stephanie tagged me to do this.

1. Where/ How did you meet? Jake & I worked together at a Crisis/ Runaway Shelter for teen boys. I was the Outreach coordinator. He was a Group Life Supervisor. The day he came for an interview I was in the office, talking to the secretary and I asked her (she was also young & single), who's car (with Texas plates) was in the parking lot. She said it was a new interview...some guy named Jake. I asked if he was cute....she said "he's young." We both laughed and said oh well. When Jake did get hired I told my boss to fire him (while Jake was sitting there) because I wanted my friend to work there instead. I think that made him like me.

2. How long have you know each other? Well...almost exactly 6 years.

3. How long after you met did you start dating? 4 months. Jake started asking me out about a month after he was hired but I kept avoiding him. I lied and told him I had to work, then picked up a shift so he wouldn't find out. Once he asked me out to lunch & I told him I had to clean my house because my friends were coming from out of town for a Bachelorette party (for Amy!). He once told me I just needed to find a nice guy...my response was "oh, and I suppose you think you are a nice guy!" He gave me his phone number & I threw it away. Finally, my best friend came into my work and met Jake (BTW...she said something like, I've heard all about you to him - He turned beet red!). As soon as she left she called me and asked me WHY I wasn't going out with him & WHY I was being so mean. For the first time I thought...oh, I guess I never thought of it as an option. Ha. Looking back, I wonder why he even liked me. I suppose it was the challenge.

4. How long did you date before you were engaged? Well, our first date was in early August. We were engaged (with the ring and everything) by October. Our parents met and it seemed to go well so Jake said we should get married. I said okay. He bought a ring later that week and basically handed it to me as I was walking out the door to go teach a class. I still remember he was wearing a hooded sweatshirt and had the ring hidden in the front pocket. The whole engagement was very casual. We had no idea what we were doing. Ha ha ha.

5. How long was your engagement? A little more than 2 months. Yes, we met, dated, got engaged and married within 8 months.

6. How long have you been married? 5 years

7. What is your anniversary? December 29

8. How many people came to your reception? About 200. I made 200 heart ornaments in my pottery class...one for each guest.

9. What kind of cake did you serve? What the leaning tower of cake??? I think it had 3 or 4 tiers and they were all different flavors (vanilla, strawberry, spice & I don't remember...maybe it was just 3). Either way...it tasted good but it almost fell.

10. Where was your wedding? Stow Parks & Rec. Heritage Barn.

11. What did you serve as a meal? Beef tips, cabbage rolls , pasta & sauce, green beans, salad, mashed potatoes, bread, cheese & relish tray, cookies, cake, coffee, tea, wine & beer. Oh...and these chocolate spoons that I made. They were to put in your coffee but they ended up being a hit with the kids.

12. How many people were in your wedding party? Um...two. Heather my sister & Jim, Jake's friend. I wanted to have more but one of my girls was giving me a hard time about the dress and who she would stand by and all that so I opted not to have any other girls to save her feelings. Looking back I should have cut her and kept the others...I am not even friends with her anymore but I am friends with the others. Oh well.

13. Are you still friends with them all? Ha ha...I guess I already answered that...yes, we are friends with everyone that was involved.

14. Did your spouse cry during the ceremony? No.

15. Most special moment of your wedding day. My sister gave a very nice toast. She started with a joke and then went on to say lots of nice stuff about me and Jake. Awwww..... Jim's toast was a good one too. He said he and his wife knew Jake was going to marry me after the first time we met at Borders. Man that seems so long ago (almost 6 kids ago between the two couples!!!!).

16. Any funny moments? Yes. The piano player (who was very VERY old) forgot to play the wedding march. We waited and waited and waited. People were sitting in the room looking at each other saying, "See I told you Delilah wouldn't really get married." Nice, eh???? Well, my sister walked out to the sound of her heals clicking on the floor. She told him to play it when she got to the front. Also, my father-in-law, Paul married us. It was his first wedding and he got very nervous. Jake & I thought he was going to pass out.

17. Any big disasters? Besides the piano man & the cake???? Not really.

18. Where did you go on your honeymoon? On an Eastern Caribbean Cruise.

19. How long were you gone? One week.

20. If you had your wedding to do over what would you change? It would be smaller (half the people that came...no wait....probably way more than half aren't even friends of ours anymore). Looking back we probably should have just eloped. We could have saved a TON of money. Or maybe we would have just had a much smaller. I don't know.

21. What side of the bed do you sleep on? Left side.

22. What size is your bed? Queen

23. Greatest strength as a couple? This might sound a little sad, but this is such a difficult question for me. I called Jake at work and asked him and he said that we balance each other out - trust me that doesn't feel like a strength at times (our difference). But after talking to him I think our greatest strength is our commitment to make the world a better place. Weather it be through church or our children or just by being nice people I think it is a strength. So there.

24. Greatest challenge as a couple? Now this one is an easy one. I think just growing up and becoming responsible adults together has been the greatest challenge. We weren't kids when we got married but we still had a lot of growing up to do. And meshing all the stuff we already had learned through life together into our own family has been a challenge as well.

25. Who literally pays the bills? Jake

26. What is your song? We are so not romantic. We don't even have a song.

27. What did you dance your first song to? Who knows? I have NO idea. The band played something and we danced. It was something slow and mushy, I am sure.

28. Describe your wedding dress. White, plain, long sleeved, long train (that I busselled during the wedding, rather than let it flow), scoop neck, beads & sequins around the wrists and hem line. It had a zillion buttons in the back. I had a simple head piece and the longest veil you have ever seen. I didn't put it over my face. I also wore platformish type shoes and blue fish nets for my something blue.

Man this was a long meme. I am not going to tag anyone. If you want to do it just let me know and I will add a link for you.