5 Years and Counting...

June 14, 2008

That's the day I married my best friend y'all! That was 5 years ago tomorrow. So, today in honor of our anniversary I'm going to share how we met and started dating. I may also say some mushy sweet things about my dear husband, so if you don't like that...too bad. Also, as a special treat for you I have made asked my longtime boyfriend to share something sweet about our dating years and how we met. He's pretty funny so I'm sure it will be enjoyable for you.

I remember the first time I saw Justin Heck. It was the first day of Singers (the singing group we sang in together at Williams Baptist College) in the Fall semester of 2005. Here walked in this bearded man who was dressed really nice (for a college student anyway). My first thought was he looked like an old, really serious guy. Which just goes to show you shouldn't judge people by their looks! It was not a love at first sight reaction for me. We actually didn't even become friends until later on in the semester. Justin had a girlfriend at the time. I was single but not looking into dating anyone then. But we started hanging out with the same group of people and became friends first. It slowly began to become more as the months went by. I realized I was starting to really like this strange bearded man. He was a lot of fun to be around and of course made me laugh and I loved that! Our first (unofficial) date was Winter Formal at our college. I remember being in my suitemates room, on her computer and talking to him on MSN messenger (so cool). He then asked me if I'd like to go with him to formal and I said sure!

Formal 2006-So young.

Soon after formal we went on our first date, and soon after he asked me "Do you want to be my girlfriend?" Cute huh?

This was one of the first times he met my whole family. 

Second Formal-2007

There are a lot of other details I could go into but I guess you could say the rest is history after that. We continued to date for another year and a half and then he proposed the summer of 2007 and we were married the next year. I knew I was going to marry Justin just a few months after we started dating. (I didn't tell him that then...pretty sure he would have been freaked out) I don't know if any of you ladies (men too I guess) ever made a list of the characteristics you would want in a man/woman you marry some day but I did on several occasions I'm sure. After getting to know Justin he really was everything I ever wanted in a guy (minus the beard...now I love it. :) ) His love for the Lord and desire to know Him more was encouraging to me and helped me want to know Him more. I could also trust him, which is something I had struggled with in other relationships. He was liked by lots of people and was super funny. Justin also has this really great singing voice that you wouldn't expect to come out of his mouth. I remember the first time I heard him and I'm pretty sure I was in shock for about 3 seconds. He treated and still treats me with respect and takes care of our family. I feel safe with him. He's also a pretty awesome dad.

He became my best friend and our love has grown a lot since that really hot day in June 2008.  These 5 years have not been easy and all lovey dovey like it may have been when we were dating. But I can't imagine spending these years with anyone else besides him. I want to grow old with you my love!

Uh, hello.  I'm Justin.  

What first attracted me to Laura Beth was her Southern charm and intellect.  Just kidding.  It was her good looks.  My wife has already gone into detail on how we met, so I'll skip that part.  I guess I developed a crush on her sometime in January of 2006.  I don't remember if this happened before or after the crush, but I found out that her grandpa (Dr. Millikin), was one of my favorite preachers who I'd heard preach for years.  And I was like, I should marry this girl because her grandpa is cool.  (Her grandpa is cool, but that's not why I married her).

Sometime after the formal, my crush blossomed into a genuine liking.  So I asked her on a date.  We went to Jonesboro.  At Lazzari (they didn't have all the good restaurants back then), the attendant sat us down at the longest table ever.  We were literally 6 feet apart.  Uber awkward.  I moved to the side of the table so we could actually hear each other.  It was a good date.  We were the hottest couple in Jonesboro that night.

After a few more dates, I went to her mom's house in Trumann.  It was during March madness.  I was sitting in the recliner watching basketball with Laura Beth and Julie.  I think Rhonda was in the kitchen.  Something exciting happened on the game and I jumped up and yelled and tooted on accident.  I was super embarrassed but I guess they didn't hear me.  That was the closest I ever came to ruining our relationship.  (I don't toot anymore).

I stayed in Mammoth Spring that summer, serving at a church as the youth intern.  At some point during that summer, I knew I'd marry Laura Beth.  I asked her to marry me the next year (summer 2007), and we got married in 2008, hence the 5-year anniversary. 

5 years.

Half a decade.

1/5 of a quarter of a century.

2 kids.

She is my best friend, and I love her tremendously.  It's a heck of a life.  Teehee.


Thanks love! That was sweet and weird....just what I expected. Thanks for reading our "love story" of sorts. Hope all of you have a wonderful weekend (yes I know it's Thursday..early weekend wish)! We are about to go drop off our kids with my sweet sister. We won't see them until Saturday...so our weekend will be pretty great I'm sure.