Here we are. June 23, 1990...toasting with PUNCH! I was only 19 anyway...so punch was fine for a number of reasons. Aren't we adorable? So innocent. So naive. So unaware of what life would throw at us...and how we would handle it.
Like that time when Sterling was out of work and he had a giant tumor on his carotid artery and then the ENTIRE motor had to be replaced on our car.
Yep. Good times.
But even with that, I think we've had an exceptional 21 years...filled mostly with joy and only sprinkled here and there with frustration (like practically brand new grills that don't work properly).
After our June wedding, Sterling and I stayed in Houston to work for another month before heading back up to BYU (with a week-long pit stop in Hawaii for our HONEYMOON!). Because we had been unable to secure an apartment before leaving Provo for the summer, Sterling's dad put down a deposit on an apartment for us while he was in Utah (for what reason I know not). From what I remember we gave him 2 or 3 places to look at. We were desperate and not too picky.
So, near the end of August we loaded up a tiny U-Haul trailer with all of our wedding gifts (and a newly upholstered PINK sofa) and drove our new, red Ford Ranger (courtesy of Sterling's dad) up to Provo. We stayed the first night with my Aunt Mary and woke up the next morning eager to check out our new digs. We picked up our keys and made our way to our new apartment. Our first apartment together. My very first grown-up apartment WITH MY HUSBAND.
It was a dump.
I cried for a while.
Sterling told me we could forfeit our deposit and find something else.
But...I'm a pragmatist if nothing else. I knew there would be nothing to rent in Provo in late August. I decided to move in and make the best of it for the moment.
We lived in the Moonriver Apartments for two years (the pic is of us outside our 2nd story apartment). We LOVED it. Sterling eventually got a job as the apartment manager. To this day I can hardly utter the words Moonriver without getting a lump in my throat. It's where my marriage started. Where I finished my degree. Where I figured out a whole host of things...not the least of which is that if you eat frozen burritos nonstop you may gain a few pounds.
And really, when I think of each of the houses we've lived in since the Moonriver...I get that same lump in my throat. They've all been great. They've all been real homes...because Sterling and I were there together. Working together.
21 years? Ha! That's nothing...We're just getting warmed up.
Happy Anniversary Babe!
You were a beautiful baby bride!
Posted by: Big Momma | June 23, 2011 at 08:16 AM
You guys were so young. In my memory you look about the same now as you did then. Well, except Sterling has a little gray hair. I loved having you guys so near. It was fabulous.
Posted by: Aunt Mary | June 23, 2011 at 09:02 PM