Story of Us

Aren't old pictures great?! It's so funny to see how Young couples look in their old photos. In fact, Evan doesn't think the man in our wedding pictures is Daddy because he doesn't have grey hair. So I have to point out some of the salt-and-pepper flecks to assure him that, indeed it is his Daddy that Mommy is kissing.

Just like old pictures are great, so are old stories. So here's an old story. The story of us.

Our's begins long before we were born, and even before our parents were born. My grandpa Evan and Greg's grandpa Grant (both of whom our eldest, "Evan Grant", is named after) used to raise and break horses together. I don't know much of their story beyond that, other than it fostered a deep friendship between the Palmer and Porter families and when both of our fathers went to Mesa High together, that friendship continued.

Growing up, I always knew of the Palmer family. Their Dad worked with mine at the cabinet shop. They were cute, cowboy kids that would come over and feed their horses we sometimes boarded in our pasture. And their dad would take us horse-back riding in the Arizona desert now and again.

But after about the age of 10 I never saw much more of the Palmer clan.

Enter summer 2001. I was home from BYU for the summer ready to live up my care-free studiless months. I attended institute once a week with a friend of mine, where one evening I ran into a face I recognized from long ago.

"You're a Porter, right?"

"Yeah. Aren't you a Palmer?"

And so, it began.

We went on a couple dates at the end of the summer. I was, of course, infatuated with his grey hair, penetrating blue eyes, and infectious smile. But he never called me again, and I went back up to BYU with a different suitor on my mind.

From out-of-the-blue, a few weeks later, came a surprising email from grey Greg. I broke protocol and wrote him back immediately, and he double-broke it by replying the same day. That began our long-distance "online dating," which was soon followed by late-into-the-night phone conversations, and a much anticipated meeting in November. His trip up to Utah pretty much sealed the deal and I was head-over-heels in no time. (Despite an unexpected visit from that other aforementioned Arizona suitor whom I hadn't heard from in months and was stunned to see standing at my door as I readied myself for a date with Greg. Talk about a shocker! But that's a whole other story.)

Thanksgiving provided a trip down to Arizona where we each met the fams (for realsies). I don't think either families had ever been so excited at the prospect of welcoming the other to their circle. It was almost like it had all been arranged at birth.

During my finals week at BYU, Greg came up to visit and take me back home for Christmas. Strange thing was, he showed up in my Dad's truck! I found out why the next night, when after a picture-perfect evening with Greg at Temple Square, he told me that the truck wasn't the only thing my Dad had given him. He had also given his permission! Then he knelt down on one knee and asked me to be his wife. Yes!

So we loaded my belongings up in that-there truck and moved back home for a semester's break, full of wedding plans, a ceremony, and the beginning of a brand new life. One full of ups and downs and dips and turns, and tremendous highs because I get to navigate it all with my best friend at my side.

I was just reading in my journal a bit of what I wrote about Greg when we were still dating:

He is hilarious, good looking, smart, spiritual, chivalrous, romantic, sings well, and he's Humble.

I couldn't imagine a more wonderful and perfect guy except in my dreams.

We are so similar in our wishes and hopes and philosophies. I love that. We can talk for hours and hours.

He is definitely worth my very best efforts.

And still is.

Happy 9th Anniversary Love!