2 years already!?

On this day 2 years ago, I met my best friend and the love of my life! I had just moved back to Utah after living in Minnesota and Texas for about 7 years and was separating from my husband at the time. When my ex-husband and I separated in November 2010, I told my dear friend that my next boyfriend would have to drive a big Chevy truck, drink Bud Light, and love to hunt, shoot guns, and be outdoors (the exact opposite of my ex-husband). He said, "well, let me give you Bj's number, he fits that description." I let him give Bj my number and he text me that night, November 19. At first, I wanted nothing to do with Bj. I was still pretty confused about my marriage and separation and moving and all the big changes that were happening for myself and my kids. My friend, Ali, was visiting me in Texas the night he and I started talking and I remember telling her, "Oh wow, this guy is ridiculous!" (to be fair, he was drinking and that does make him a bit ridiculous) I didn't text him or reply to his texts much after that but it didn't stop him from texting me every morning to say good morning and most evenings to ask how my day was. The kids and I moved from Texas to Utah around December 1st and he was still texting me daily and pretty much getting brushed off. He was persistent, that's for sure! One night I was talking to our friend, Zac, who spent a lot of time with Bj and asked him what Bj was doing and he said that he was hanging out with his "girlfriend." This obviously irritated me quite a bit, enough to peak my interest, if for no other reason than to call him out for being a jerk! So the next morning I asked him how his night with his girlfriend was and he denied having one and was very adamant that she was just his friend. I started to give him a hard time about it which led to more texting than usual and actual conversations between us. I found out that he was actually kinda charming and interesting. We ended up talking on the phone a few times and decided that we should meet. I arranged for my parents to watch the kids and came down for the night to hang out with him and Zac. All the way here I was so nervous. I just kept thinking, "what if he doesn't like me?" and "what if I can't stand him?" along with about a million other things that someone headed for, basically, a blind date probably thinks! When I got to town I was supposed to call him so he could meet me and lead me to his house but of course my phone didn't get service in the middle of no where so I had to call him from the tire shop. I called him and he met me about 10 minutes later. It was probably the longest 10 minutes ever! As soon as he pulled up and got out of his truck I knew I was in big trouble! I can still remember what he was wearing: wranglers, boots, an old grey high school hoodie, and a hat. He was pretty muddy from working on the farm and I just remember thinking, "aaaw! He didn't shower or change or anything before he came up here! Now that's a real man and he's not trying to hide who he is!"

We met up with Zac and he and I headed to town and Bj was going to meet us after he got his paycheck. We headed to Chili's to wait for Bj and I was so scared that he would sit by Zac once he got there (completely silly girl shit, I know). Luckily, I must be a little better looking than Zac because he slid into the booth next to me, still wearing the muddy clothes! Yay! I could tell he was nervous too and it was so damn adorable! He bought my dinner then we talked Zac into driving my van back to Bj's house so we could ride together in his truck. He needed some new boots so we headed to the store to shop. He seriously put his boot on the wrong foot when trying them on! His face turned bright red and again, he was just so damn adorable! He finally found the pair he liked and we headed to the gas station to get a few beers. We headed to his house, which was about an hour trip and we talked the whole way about past relationships, what we wanted out of life, what we expected in a relationship, and I seriously knew I was going to fall in love with him!

That was the beginning of what has, so far, been the greatest chapter of my life story. We are now raising 4, almost 5, babies together and I am amazed at how wonderful and easy a relationship can be. We get irritated with each other, we say things we don't mean at times, but we always work through it. We've seriously been through a lot, but every time we face a challenge together, we come out of it stronger as a couple. I cannot imagine a more amazing father, husband, and best friend! I am seriously the luckiest woman in the world! These two years have been awesome and I love looking forward to the rest of my life with him!