It all began with a summer in Disney World...

This one is dedicated to my baby sister Lizzie!

If you've been reading my blog, you know that Nick and I met 10 years ago in an interview to work in Disney World!!!!!!!!!  

We worked in the Magic Kingdom, mainly the Splash Mountain area...I dressed like Laura Ingles Wilder and Nick like a cowboy.  My outfit required PANTY HOSE and Nick was in a full polyester costume...seriously Disney?!?!!!?!  It was probably an excellent detox program because you can only imagine the sweat...

I had a HUGE crush on Nick all summer, but couldn't figure out if he really liked me or not.  He was nice to everyone, so it was hard to know for sure.  And all the girls liked him, so I didn't think he would choose me.

Turns out he DID like me and we started dating...and it turns out Lizzie REALLY liked Nick (well, my whole family did, but especially Lizzie).

One day, after we were dating, Nick went to pick Lizzie up from school.  He got out of his car, found her and carried her backpack.  She STILLS tells that story.  All her friends saw and were totally impressed and jealous.  She was about 9 years old and in love.  Lizzie casually mentioned to me that if I die, not to worry because SHE will take care of Nick.  She was serious.

So Nick became Lizzie's version of her knight in shining armor/brother she never had.  She LOVED to tell our love story to anyone who would listen to her...it always began like this, "It all began with a summer in Disney World"...her eyes were dreamy and she would sigh before continuing on...she really knew how to work her audience.

For our one year dating anniversary, Lizzie dressed up in a yellow dress with black polka dots, jewelry, makeup and heels.  She was 10 years old and she decorated the whole table and cooked our entire meal and served us dinner!  She cooked meat, mashed potatoes and asparagus and served with a napkin over her arm like a fancy waitress.  And until she was too old, Nick and I took her trick or treating every year after that!  She realized the other day that Nick has been around for over half of her life!  Some of her earliest memories are with Nick already being around!

It's crazy how right Lizzie was...it DID all begin here, ten years ago...even before we knew "it" was beginning.  Who knew that ten years later we would be married and be back in Orlando for a work event with a bunch of oil freaks?!?!?!?!!   Who knew that Nick would be family?!?!?!  Who knew that we would have had a decade of adventures and hardships?!?!?!  Who knew?!!?!?!!! The LORD did!!!!!!!  

So in honor of ten years, we went back to Celebration (America's most "perfect" town) and had dinner at the soda shop.  Ten years ago, on our last day of work, Nick brought us here and treated Mark, Quasia and me to dessert to celebrate.  I remember being so impressed with his generosity and have watched him become more and more generous over the past decade!  Except for cookies...if he gets cookies, he's a stingy hoarder (I guess it's only fair that he has one flaw...right?!?!?!).

So here we are...same place...ten years later...can't wait to see where The LORD takes us over the NEXT ten!!!!!!!  

PS we don't have a photo to show from 2005 because we were still in that "awkward friends" stage...