Let's rewind.

Well I guess I never really told you my our story. I say our story, because well Josh and I have been a part of each others lives since 2001, when we were both in the 7th grade. These aren't FROM the 7th grade, I couldn't find any, but these I think are circa 8th grade:

He's in the blue jacket, and I'm wearing a Nintendo controller :)

• 7th grade we knew each other, but that was about it. We had both just moved and were starting Jr. High as "the new kids". That was that.

• 8th grade, we started becoming friends. But there was really no "romantic interest" (whatever that means in the 8th grade) because, well, Josh was Gross with a capital G. I'm talking he-hawked-a-loogie-into-the-garbage-can-then-picked-it-back-up-and-ate-it-again gross. Point taken?

• 9th grade I had a boyfriend, but Josh and I started hanging out on a daily basis. He would come over after school every day and we would just hang out and watch tv; he would even have dinner many nights during the week. 

 This is a picture of my and my girlfriends right before the big 9th grade dance. Josh? He was off in a limo full of prepubescent 9th grade girls :)

• 10th grade came and my then-boyfriend finally caught on to the fact that I wanted a boyfriend that liked me more than his video-games, so we broke up; just in time too, because I was finally realizing that I liked Josh more than just a friend. Luckily, he felt the same way - so May 10th 2005 he asked me out at the school pool. Of course, I gave him a hard time and said "no". He promptly sank to the bottom of the pool. When he came back up, I said "just kidding!" and that was that.

 The top picture was the first picture we took as a couple - 4th of July 2005; and the second picture was at Ruby Beach on the peninsula. See the short hair? I'm thinking that may be my PWC?

•  During the 11th grade, I got really involved in the JROTC, which turned out to be the best and worst decision I made in high school. I made some bad choices and Josh and I ended up taking a short break.. But I eventually came to my senses and begged Josh for forgiveness, and he forgave me. I'm a lucky girl!

•  12th grade was the best of high school. Josh was on the chain of command in the JROTC program and Drum Major of the school band, and I was the Battalion Commander of the JROTC program and I was on the yearbook staff. We were seniors and CWU-bound!

 

 The top picture is right before leaving in the limo for Senior Ball, and the bottom picture is right after graduation.

• Freshman year of college was what it is for most kids. I got a little homesick, questioned why I was here, etc etc. Josh and I got to experience all of the first-year things like football games, homecoming dances.. It was pretty good overall.

Poor Daddy didn't want to let me go.

• Sophomore year Josh and I got jobs as Resident Assistant's in the dorms. We both kind of figured out what we wanted to major/minor in, he played in band and I quit the dance team. I decided to pierce my lip too. We met a bunch of the people we're friends with now this year. I'm actually roommates with two of them right now!

•  Junior year was the year we got engaged. We had also hiked the Wonderland Trail around Mount Rainier the month before school started (I'll blog about that soon, it's a story in it's own). Josh was an RA again and I got promoted to a Manager position. This year was full of the major wedding planning: engagement party, booking the venue, buying my dress, etc. I discovered I could graduate two quarters early, and Josh could graduate a quarter early.

 The 11-day hike with nothing but each other and what was on our backs was SUCH an amazing experience and we're going to do it again soon.

• And now we're here, I have less than 4 weeks of school. Josh and I are just about to send the wedding invitations out, and we have major plans for Christmas break, since it's the last big period of time we'll have together before he has to go back to school on the other side of the mountains for his last quarter of school. I'm frantically searching for a job so I can make some money for us to live off of the first month after the wedding. We're also researching apartments and possibly getting a kitty (since we can't afford an English Bulldog right now). It's so crazy now, but is only going to get crazier until after the wedding I guess.

 

Us at our very last Battle In Seattle football game!

So after nine years of knowing each other, five and a half years of dating, and an 18-month engagement, I'm feeling completely ready to marry my best friend in the whole-wide world. It's about time, huh?