happy birthday, eric!

My amazing hubby is 26 today!

A month from now, and we'll have been married for two years; I can't believe it - time has flown. Almost four years ago, I saw this guy who had started coming to our church... I recognized him as a basketball player at Calvin, but I had never met him before. I knew they called him Bear, but that's about it. A few weeks after first spotting him, he approached me after church. We started talking in the foyer after Sunday services, and then I invited him to sit with our family. He told me about his barefooting and about a tournament he had coming up. He offered to give me his phone number so I could call him if I wanted to come... heck, I wasn't going to call him! No way! If he wanted me to come, he could call me with the details, so I said, "Why don't I give you my number," pulled out a pen and wrote it down for him. And, I found that piece of paper two weeks ago when I was cleaning out our office... :)

That Wednesday night, I got a phone call. I didn't recognize the number, but I knew it was him. He was calling from the hallway of his hotel in Louisville, KY. We talked for a long time, and I remember being so excited that he actually called!

I convinced Steph to come with me to his barefoot tournament that Saturday at his cottage on Payne Lake, only a couple miles away from my family's place on Gun Lake. I remember wearing a cute teal t-shirt with cutoff jean shorts... and he looked great in his bathing suit... I got a little side-hug from him when we got there. The rumors started immediately, "Bear, is that your GIRLFRIEND?!" "NO, she's not my girlfriend!" He convinced his sister Kaitlyn to come talk to us to make us feel welcome... and then, their neighbor came over and strangled me with a towel, thinking I was someone else. Whoops!

When I saw him at church again, I decided to invite him over to my parents' for Sunday dinner. He came. We talked at the counter all afternoon. And then my mom asked him if he was staying for supper... And then we even went out for ice cream later...

All that said, the rest is history. I never thought I'd meet my best friend, my soul mate, and my husband at church. But I'm so glad I did. I have to thank Steph for braving the tournament with me (I think that's why she's still Eric's favorite!) because I never would have gone without her. And who knows, maybe it never would've ended up the way it did?

Happy birthday, babe. I love you. :)
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And I can't not write a shout-out to Britley... it's her birthday today, too! The big TWENTY-ONE!

I'm so excited to have Britley as a sister. I can't imagine anyone else better for my brother. She's a really great person, and she fits our family so well. She's bubbly and energetic and ALWAYS positive. Can't help but love her :)

Happy birthday, Brit! xo!