My parents were high school sweethearts and have been married forever. When I was in high school, I thought I would meet "THE" one. Didn't happen. I graduated from high school and went to college where I just knew I would meet "THE" one. Didn't happen. I honestly remember moving out of my dorm after college graduation and thinking, "Now, what am I going to do?!" I knew from an early age what I wanted out of life. First, education. Education wasn't something that I necessarily wanted yet it was something that my parents said I would get. I did. Second, family. I wanted to be a mother. I was the one in high school that would rather babysit than go out with friends or boys. I was the one who couldn't wait to get home from school so I could go over to visit the neighbor's grandchildren and baby them. I was the one who always loved children. I. Loved. Children. Still do. I knew that having a family meant finding someone who I cared for and loved, someone to marry. Upon my college graduation, I was kind of just fed up with guys. I had dated some but I always found something wrong with them....their hair was funny or they made funny looks or whatever, they just weren't what I was looking for. Then, on an evening during the Thanksgiving holidays of 1995, I was introduced to a guy on a blind date. (This is the part of the story where Ryan and I don't agree, he says we met the weekend before Thanksgiving at a Clemson/Carolina game. I say we didn't!) The "guy" that I was introduced to on the blind date was Ryan. Trouble is, Ryan wasn't the one I was on the date with. Ryan was friends with the guy that I was set up with and he came over after our date to visit. Good thing :) By the end of the evening, I told my friend, who set me up on the blind date, that I actually liked the other guy, not the one I had been set up with. Got that? It was Ryan that I liked - there was just something about him. The next evening, I saw Ryan again and we exchanged phone numbers. As they say, the rest is history. Today, January 17, 2010, Ryan and I celebrate 12 years of marriage. And we celebrate our life together. We celebrate our family. I have everything I ever dreamed of. I have a husband to love and I have my children (and the dog, we mustn't forget Fin!). During one of our wedding showers, I told Ryan's mother that he was perfect. She laughed and said, "Oh no he isn't!" I still beg to differ. He IS perfect. He is perfect for me, for us and for our children. Happy Anniversary to us!