A Practical Love Story

I remember the first time I saw Quinn. It was at church. He was 14 years old and I was 12. His blonde hair was shoulder-length and he had a cast on one of his arms (I can't remember which one). He was sassing the young women's president who was showing me where our class was. I was intrigued.

As I got to know him I found him smart, sarcastic, cute, and very, very funny.

By the time we went out on our first "date" he was a senior and I was a sophomore. He was really good friends with a couple of my older brothers so we already knew each other pretty well (what a jerk I was to go after my brothers friends, right??).

Since we were both in the Drama Club (nerd alert) and I had a car and he did not,I asked him if he wanted to go to the Drama Club Social together (can you believe how forward I was???). I didn't really even think if it as a date at the time, I thought we were just going as buddies.

So we ended up roller skating together at the Drama Club Social. Since we made such a cute couple we were chosen along with several other couples to participate in a little game on our skates in which we ended up saran-wrapped together to a support beam in the middle of the skating rink. The contest was to see which couple could free themselves from the saran wrap the fastest. Needless to say we creamed the competition. After our skating adventures we headed over to the park so Quinn could put the moves on me.

We hit it off so well and Quinn was so hilarious that it was clear by the end of the night that "buddies" was not the word to describe our relationship anymore.

That was at least 12 years ago. On my 21st birthday he asked me to be his wife. We were married 7 months later at The Old Meeting House on Highland Drive. In June of 2004 we were sealed in the Salt Lake Temple.

Being married has taught me about patience, oversight, compromise, teamwork, and forgiveness. Marriage has also shown me my own short-sightedness, selfishness, weakness, and unkindness (hey, I'm just being honest).

The reality of marriage is that sometimes it feels like we are still saran-wrapped to that support beam in the center of the roller-skating rink. Ripping, tearing, and gnawing day in and day out. Some days it's easy, almost effortless and it feels as though we have mastered the technique. Other days maybe I just want to wrap my head up in saran wrap.

It is especially on those days that I am so grateful I married Quinn. He wraps me up in his big arms and makes me realize that even on the crappiest days, our life together is so incredible. I hate to get all mushy but the honest truth is that my marriage to Quinn is a quiet, warm, safe sanctuary where I feel secure and fulfilled. Quinn is my capable, considerate, gentle, eternal companion and there is nobody I would rather be saran-wrapped to the support beam of life with...

I love you Quinn. Happy v-day.