Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!!

Today, my parents are celebrating their 33rd wedding anniversary! What a crazy long time to be with someone, especially in the world we live in today. Most marriages don't make it past the 10 or 15 year mark anymore. So unbelievably sad.

But anyway, my amazing parents met over three decades ago in Arizona and just a week (a WEEK!) later, my brave dad took my mom on a horse back ride up to some mountains and asked her to marry him. She replied with, "It sure took you long enough!" They'd only known each other for seven freaking days and she asked why it took him so long?! I can't even wrap my mind around that. It seems so crazy that they could make such a huge decision without very much time to really think about it. Obviously it was the right choice for them though, look at em now. 33 years. 3 kids...well 5 if you count spouses, and 5 grandkids. What a great legacy!

My favorite thing about my parents is that I've never seen them raise their voices at each other, not many people can say that. My dad is seriously the most soft-spoken man on the planet and he would do absolutely anything for my mom so they never really had anything to fight about. Mom lucked out by marrying the most least selfish person ever, I swear. And my mom is this lady that when she gives you a look you know you need to shape up, I know I got the look a lot and felt immediately chastised as I was growing up. But I don't recall being verbally berated by her. I love my parents so very much for all of the things they've taught me as I've grown up.

Mom and dad are also very faithful people, very devout LDS people and I love them for it. They helped give me the foundation I needed to become the woman I am today. Their steadfast adherence to the standards and morals we are taught every Sunday really helped me become strong enough to overcome peer pressure and endure taunts from both peers and teachers. Church was never force fed to me, my parents gave me the blocks and they encouraged me to explore the teachings of our Savior and Heavenly Father, they were obviously firm with me because I was still a child. I know that if I had woken up one Sunday and resolutely said, "I don't feel like going to church today." My mom would've just looked at me and said, "Well, that's between you and the Lord." Of course that would be enough to get me out the door. One thing that my parents instilled in me from a very young age was a love and trust in my Father in Heaven. A love and faith I still foster to this day. I don't want any of you to think that I only attended church because I wanted to please my parents, because I didn't. I truly believe the teachings of my church, the teachings of Jesus Christ, and I adore the feeling I have when I'm living the gospel and how I feel when I'm at church.

Back to my parents. I know I'm extremely lucky to have them. And I'm missing them more than I ever have before. I come home from work and my feet ache and my shoulders hurt and I wish my dad was sitting on the couch next to me so I could put my feet in his lap and get a nice massage. Now that I work at a theater I can see movies cheap and don't really have anyone that can go with me and I wish my mom was here to enjoy the perks of my job. I decided the other day that I want to marry a man similar to my dad, a man that can give really good massages. That will be a test before any guy can advance from 'boyfriend' to 'fiance'.

Well, mommy and daddy, you've done really well for the past 32 years of having kids in your home and this is the first anniversary that you don't, so PLEASE go out and paint the town red. You've earned it for dealing with us kids for so long. Now you're free to learn how to underwater basket weave, salsa dance, or go frolfing (frisbee golfing). LOVE YOU!