Thankful Thursday

I have decided to write my Thursday posts about something or someone that I'm thankful for. After all, thankfulness shouldn't just be relegated to a once-a-year holiday!

One person whom I'm very thankful for is my sweet hubby, Andy. He is such a responsible, hardworking man, and completely dependable. He can also be very sweet. For instance, I have not been feeling very well today (bad sore throat), and he picked up a bit around the house and kept the kids from bothering me while I was napping. Right now he is diligently wrapping Christmas presents for me. (Hee hee, he's using birthday wrap instead of Christmas wrap, and hasn't noticed yet. He's so cute!)

Andy and I met at a small college in North Carolina. He was attending college classes, and I was still in the high school affiliated with the college. He was quite a sneaky suitor. He found all sorts of ingenius ways to talk to me, and I didn't have a clue that he had ulterior motives!

Here's one rather funny story. Every year, for the college Valentine's Banquet, I made corsages to sell to the students. Although I was technically too young to attend the banquet, I was allowed to get a bite to eat after everyone had picked up their corsages. Well, Andy had strategically placed himself near my sister Lynn's table, knowing that I would sit with her and her date. He ate so slowly, that all the other single bachelors (without dates) at his table left. My sister, having pity on the poor guy, invited him to sit with us. Sneaky, sneaky! He spent the entire banquet right across the table from me, and then attached himself to our group for the rest of the evening.

He really can be quite sneaky when he puts his mind to it (of course, I can also be a bit oblivious). After we'd been dating a couple of months, I figured that we'd get engaged soon. I just assumed that he'd propose around Christmas, since that seemed the most natural time to do so. One evening, for our weekly date, we went to a beautiful state park in Greenville, South Carolina. It was early fall, and the colors were simply breathtaking. We sat on a log near the lake to watch the water, and to my complete astonishment, Andy got on one knee and proposed. I was so shocked, I blanked out for a minute. To this day, I'm not entirely certain that I said yes!

We were married on July 3, 1999, in Monroe, Wisconsin. I am so thankful that the Lord brought this wonderful man into my life.

(Okay, you can stop gagging now, I'm done!)