Sometime in March 1996...

Our first HFC spring banquet as a couple.

I met my match.  He was an orange North-Face jacket wearing', gold Acura driven', blue eyed hunk, that I knew almost instantly I would wind up with permanently.  We met at the Hilltopper's for Christ on Western's campus and have been inseparable since.  I rummaged through old pictures and found a handful that highlight our 18 years together.  This post should've happened on June 5 as we celebrated our 15 years of married life.  We had a super romantic day - consisting of both of us going to work, dropping and picking Karson up at WKU volleyball camp and then my sweet mom cooking us dinner that evening along with my grandparents who have been married for 66 years now and share the same anniversary as us.

Our early days of dating - Ben was five (5) years old.  Ben then...

Ben now…he's a little older and larger.

We spent lots of time at Kentucky Lake, Lake Barkley and Fairfield Glade with the entire Deaton family.  One of my favorite pictures from Patti's Restaurant.

Concerts at Opryland were always fun during our dating years.  I snapped this pic of Matt handing his golf cap to Willie so he could autograph it.  

Most of our dating years consisted of time with our HFC friends.  We vacationed in Daytona with about 50 of us staying in a two-bedroom condo.

Many spring and summer breaks were also spent doing mission work in Mexico, Costa Rica, Belize and Guatemala.

We met lots of great friends and helped many churches with VBS's, small building projects, and spreading the gospel to people who had never heard of Jesus.

Matt baptizing one of many people in his life.

Retreats, conferences, mission work, school, part-time jobs, church and that was the gist of our college days at WKU.

I believe this was during a trip to Pigeon Forge when around 50 of us stayed in cabin made for a family of 12.  That was typical for us poor college kids.

Visiting the Alamo post one of our mission trips to Mexico - being in San Antonio was always a nice way to end Spring Break.

Matt marrying a couple that couldn't afford a church wedding - no telling how many wedding ceremonies Matt has conducted in our 18 years together.

I am fairly certain we took this picture the night we got engaged - or soon after - but don't know for sure (that suitcase in the background with an airport tag is throwing me off).  Matt's proposal was simple and happened around Christmas (December 13th I believe).  We went to Nashville, ate dinner at The Cooker and went to the Opryland Hotel to see the lights.  He didn't 'pop the question' at any of those places.  He asked me around 11:30 p.m. that night when I was in my pj's at home in BG and everyone I knew was fast asleep.  He told me he was really nervous and wasn't sure what I'd say -- he had the ring in his pocket the entire time.

Graduating from Western - who knew Matt would STILL be in school after 15 years of marriage.  He is a perpetual student who has more degrees than the average high school teacher.  I have a feeling Karson is going to follow in his footsteps.  Some people are just cut out for school - me, one and done, I can't ever imagine going back to school.  Never say never though.

I had a slew of wedding showers.  I don't think I've ever written that many thank you notes in my life.  In the picture above, we are holding a Love One Another cross stitch piece that my sister's mother-in-law made us.  It's currently hanging in my dining room and one of my favorites.  Thanks Vicky!

We spent our honeymoon on a cruise - Royal Caribbean - Sovereign of the Seas.  We were practically kids and although I feel like I've aged significantly (three babies, a muffin top, crow's feet around the eyes), Matt still looks almost the same.  

 Matt had a dream of becoming a professional golfer during the onset of our marriage which took us to Lake Park, Georgia (right outside of Valdosta).  A friend involved with the HFC's (from that area) put us in touch with a small church there looking for a charismatic youth and associate minister.  We met Evans and Lenora McMullen and the congregation of Lake Park Church of Christ.  It was a 9-hour fit for us, especially when I landed a job immediately at the Valdosta Times as an account representative in advertising sales.  Matt spent his days on the golf course determined - I spent my days in sales.  We both worked closely with the church.

Matt sitting on Shirley Tucker's couch snuggling with all her adopted babies.  Ms. Shirley was one of those rare people that truly defines selflessness.  She's right up there with Mother Teresa in our book.  She felt a calling to open her home up to small children when she witnessed a young child being back-handed off the porch by their guardians.  Matt went there weekly for visits.  Lake Park was a wonderful experience and testament of God's work - the people there treated us like family.  I can't think of many nights that people didn't open their homes up to us.  We had our dinner card filled 90% of the time.  We soon realized that golf was a dream and nothing more and living 9-hours from our family was harder than we thought.  It was a tough decision (but also joy-filled) when we left after eight short months and returned to Bowling Green.  If we could've scooped up that entire community and brought them home with us, we would have. We were leaving family to return to family.  It was truly heartbreaking.  I'm thankful for our time there, the relationships made, and that we are all united in Christ and will meet again one day.

We recently took a trip to Disney World and made a quick detour to Lake Park to see our first home (a townhouse) and the church we worked with.

Early Beginnings

We survived our first year of marriage and celebrated on anniversary at The Blue Mountain Mist Bed and Breakfast right outside Gatlinburg. We celebrated a little early because we had church camp on the agenda for our actual anniversary week.

We took our cake topper to Alvaton's church camp because our anniversary was actually during camp.  Matt's brothers enjoyed a piece of year-old cake as well.  I honestly can't remember if it tasted any good, but it didn't make any of us sick.

On the Belle of Louisville celebrating 50 years of marriage with my dad's parents - Margaret and the late Jack Pogue.

We spent our 2nd anniversary in Pigeon Forge staying at Eight Gables Bed and Breakfast. We hiked the Chimney Tops which was gorgeous, but we were bummed that a guy packing a baby on his back and trekking with a toddler made it up the hill faster than us 'young' people.  We nicknamed him "Babyback".  Little did we know, we would soon be having babies of our own...

I could probably upload a million more pictures, each with a story behind it.  I love taking pictures and creating memories - I love blogging and cataloging the events of our lives.  I love being a wife, a mother and a child of God.  I have been very fortunate - love the Dallas Willard quote (which is hanging in my office as a reminder). I hope believe I'm becoming better - as a wife, mother and child of God.  Here's to many more years together...