 Hi Really interesting story and some people have asked me. How'd you guys meet and I thought we would share that today? Babe, how did we meet? We met at church. So interesting. No, how old were we though? We were a little 16 you were 16 I was 14. I didn't like you when I first met you No, it was you're different now, but when I first met you you were really arrogant I'm kind of cocky and all the other girls liked him and I was like, you know, I don't need to get in on that She didn't like me because all the other girls like me. Oh that too. I didn't I wanted to be different eventually though, we started liking each other and remember that time we were we would do these like service projects at church and stuff and like we got put on bathroom duty together and We did the girls bathroom and then by the time we got over to the boys bath Well, you and the girls bathroom you said I like you and then by the time we got to the boys bathroom I was like, I like you too Because we're ridiculous and then we started dating and dating meant mostly just men hanging around at church or Around the neighborhood around the orange circle. So we went on dates, which was mostly just walking around the orange circle and Looking at things because I didn't have a job or any money She didn't either because we were very young or just be that I grew peanuts and Our friend Lily shout out Lily would drive us around because we didn't have cars or licenses She was like the reason we were able to go places Yeah, like the beach. Yeah, it was awesome. Good memories Okay, so then you turned 18 and joined the military and I was still in high school at this point. I didn't like I had to finish Graduating before we could even plan on getting married. Obviously. No, yeah, no child Brad's here We Okay, so he deployed he was going to deploy to Iraq There's a couple years later. It was a couple years later and then by this point I'm like, it's my senior year of high school. We knew we wanted to get married But I didn't think ever that it would be so soon I always saw myself going to college like first before I ever got married. So this was really unexpected Yeah, so I was living in North Carolina and she was still in California going to school She just graduated high school in 2005. I'm getting ready to ship overseas and like October or something like that. So we're like, well, let's get married By the time I proposed it was it was already subtle But I hadn't been home because I was living in North Carolina. We were doing this long distance relationship for like two years and You know, we visited each other and stuff, but we still live I was still in North Carolina And she was still in California. So it's pretty about as far apart as you can be and still be in the United States Which is good for shenanigans all you teenagers out there. I like long distance for Long distance relationships are good if you are wanting to wait till marriage, which we did Wedding was already planned honeymoon already planned and then I proposed to her This little starry light area I really agree Where we had our first kiss Very romantic and callbacky And lily remembers that moment too because she was there. She drove us to that part for our first kiss I'm sure she's laughing as she watches this right now And then we got married and then he deployed continued our longest Marriage now at this point Uh, it was okay. I came back from my mid-tour leave and we went on a cruise Uh-huh to the Mexican Riviera. Yeah, that was awesome Wonderful trip and I'm right back to Iraq and then Finally when I was all sudden done, uh, loren Moved up a couple weeks before I got back and stayed with a friend of ours. I don't know how we'd manage Oh, yeah, that's right. We stayed in the hotel for a little bit while we were looking for a little place to rent Yeah, we didn't have a house or anything. We didn't have any furniture or a car We just had uh, well a year's worth of deployment money. Yeah, he had his iraq bonus that that That deployment money which back then seemed just like so much But now it just it wasn't that It wasn't us we didn't have not we didn't have squat. Yeah, we rented our place We bought we went to the one furniture store and bought Like 11 grand worth of furniture Most of which we still have We saved like years later 12 years later They need to be cleaned as we speak, right? okay, um, we bought a car and Uh, I had to get a flat screen tv because it was all arranged and spent like $1,500 Which was just ridiculous But we did it all in cash, which what a great way to start your marriage without any debt Having all the things that you need And and it wasn't really start it was a year after the start of our marriage, right? But It still felt like we started it, right? It was hard to like I don't know all people think that's hard to start your marriage off that way, but we were so young More so young, but you had a pretty strong foundation already though. We did We knew the commitment we were making and I think we took that pretty seriously Yeah, and then shortly after that Maybe six months of living in north carolina, we moved to Kansas I love Kansas I do middle of middle of nowhere, Kansas. There's tornadoes everyone. They're exciting. They're work tornadoes Yeah, and ice storms and crazy weather bounds That was pretty cool. You know, we have really good memories of living there, too Oh man If I could live there again, I think I would No Maybe not I enjoyed it. Yeah, that's all right And I got to go to college while we were there. So even though we aren't married young it was like We both we didn't miss out on anything like people were like, don't you want to like date other people? And I don't feel like we felt like deprived of that experience or anything So we're really happy the way we did it and I recommend it if you were sure enough mary young Mary young So, yeah, we lived in Kansas for like six years Seven years six years Six years I had another deployment during that time To iraq again Fun. It was all right. It was fun for everyone So during that time Lauren she went still in college I got to I got to study abroad so that was pretty sweet very nice We used our time wisely I know thanks dad that dad helped me with that So, yeah, we were just living our life and Eventually my time to get out of the army happened and we were like, what are we gonna do now that we're grown up? I still don't feel like it. So we moved in with her mom As grown up to want to do who've been married for seven years already or whatever at that point I don't know Yeah, we didn't know what to do with our lives. So we moved to colorado and because her mom lived here and They're like, okay. Well, we need a starting point some sort of living in a hotel this time with her mom So we found an apartment She was part of the reason we moved here too. Like we saw how we came on vacation to visit her We're like, dude, this place is amazing. So we wanted to stay And then yeah, we just We lived with her for a couple months. We both found jobs and got on our feet Where are you laughing? I worked at walmart Or security company lots of little weird odd jobs. I didn't know what I wanted to do. I started college Army paid for that. So pray for army. Okay, so not only marry young join the military. It will set you up for life A string of terrible advice So, yeah, went to college got my uh degree and Computer something or other. I don't remember. That was the information technology And lauren was working Oh, I did weird jobs too. Like I worked at a daycare I worked for our church for a while doing receptionist job like odd jobs and then Eventually we got our own apartment We got our own house. Yeah, so that was a big deal while I was getting my degree. I got an internship They like me so much that they moved my internship into full-time work while I was still getting my degree So I was working full-time going to college full to double full-time. It was ridiculous actually, right? He's doing a lot of work back then Then I got through My degree and I decided I wanted to go and get my master's degree Long and about halfway through that We had our first kiddo Baby number one. Yeah, we had already bought our new house when we were living in the house and We had our son That will change your life Yeah, that changes things in a good way in a good way. We're glad we had our kiddos Yeah, but it was definitely not us anymore And it wasn't that every Friday night going to the movies like we used to do It was like to the movies a lot. We stayed home and out to eat. We still go out to eat a lot Well, now our kids are a little bit older. So we can do that. But when we they were babies. Oh my gosh We just wanted to be home Good times a couple years later. We had another kid She's awesome And a handful Yeah, she's the fiery one. She'll be a strong woman when she grows up one day. Yeah, definitely Anyway, so here we are 13 and a half years later married. We've been together though like for almost 18. You realize that? It's a long time. That's nearly like 20 years But I still like him And he makes me laugh every day and he gives me like the most forgiveness, which I appreciate And and he's a really good cook He made this chili last night that made me want to die. It was so good And beer bread and beer bread super good. I married her so easy best life decision I've ever made Yeah Yeah, good times. So Anyway, there's our story Hope you enjoyed it. And I will see you again next Monday for more Lauren learns episodes Hooray Go get messy have fun and learn. I will see you again next week