who would have known back then, that on that night a journey would begin …

that journey that has now spanned 12 years …

it all began with a passing glance in Spanish class …

it consisted of several attempts (and rejections) until the right time/place …

but on november 12, 1998, she might not have known, but I know I most certainly did …

for on that night, Lisa and I had our first date …

we have seen and experienced so many things since that first date …

I would eventually convince her I was the one for her …

I am sure she had her doubts, but if she did, she never let it show …

And on June 24, 2000, in Fort Smith, Arkansas, we both took a vow that we never intend to break …

Lisa is my one and only, and there will never be another who could take her place …

We are together forever, through good times and bad …

Together through heartache and heart-felt joy …

We have grown closer and more attune to each other's thoughts and desires …

We are no where near perfection as a couple, but we try to grow closer each and every day …

The path isn't always straight and wide, but the curves and bumps help build character …

There is no one I would rather be on this journey with in life …

There is no one I would rather be the mother of my beautiful daughters …

There is no one I would rather call my wife, than you …

You are my wife, my all, and my everything …

Without you, life would simply be a series of minutes/hours/days survived, and not lived …

I have truly, beyond words, enjoyed the first 10 years of marriage to you Lisa …

I pray and hope that the next 30, 40, 50, or however many years God gives us, are as fun and full of life as the first decade …

Lisa, I love you. I have since that moment back in november of 1998 …

You may not have known at first, but I knew then what I still know now …

You are my everything …

Happy Anniversary Lisa …

there at the First United Methodist Church in Fort Smith Arkansas …

I waited with my father at my side …

there with dear friends standing beside me in support, and family members watching on with amazement …

as Phil Taylor walked his beautiful eldest daughter, and my bride-to-be, down the aisle …

how I ever got to that day …

how I ever convinced her I was was the one …

how anything so wonderful could have happened to me …

it was all by the grace of God, of that I am positive …

it wasn't as simple as "hey, you're hot, wanna go out?" …

no, it was 3 months of rejection …

then 3 months of "moving on" …

and then a phone call one night to ask me how I had done on an exam …

there was the honey mustard chick-fil-a sauce spilled all over the apartment carpet …

there was the Razorback basketball game as a first date (should have been a sign) …

there were trips to the lake, trips snow skiing, and trips to LR to watch Razorback football …

all from a girl, who by her own admission, had never attended a Razorback athletic event …

till she called me one night to ask how I did on an exam …

since that fateful night when Lisa decided to pick up the phone and call me …

I am sure she never imagined her life quite like it is some 11 years later …

I couldn't have imagined the past 11 years w/out her …

she is my best friend, my common sense guru, my financial planner, my lover, my wife, and above all …

she is the mother of my two beautiful daughters …

whatever God feels I did to deserve the last 9 years of marriage I have been able to share with Lisa …

I thank him each and every day …

and Lisa … I don't know why you did, but I thank you too …

for picking up the phone, and calling to see how I had done on that exam …

pretty sure I made an A, but when I answered the phone and you were on the other end …

I probably couldn't have told you what the subject matter was for which I had taken the test …

Lisa, I love you more every day …

I can't believe it has been nine years …

it still seems like yesterday, when you took my breath away as you came down that aisle …

at the First United Methodist Church …

in Fort Smith, Arkansas …

on June 24, 2000 ….

"You are absolutely beautiful, my darling, with no imperfection in you." — Song of Songs 4:7