8 years ago today...

Some say that ages 18 and 19 were "too young" to get married. (If it were Haylee, that could be a true statement, hee hee) But this young couple took a BIG chance and a HUGE leap of faith on September 11, 1999.

Tim & Melissa


We met each other for the very FIRST time in Biloxi, Mississippi. We just so happened to have the same exact job in the Air Force and Tim was 1 week ahead of me (he went to basic training first). He was walking around the school grounds talking about his last day. I had seen him before and he actually helped me study for my BIG final. He seemed like a really sweet guy, looking out for other people. A caring heart. He was supposed to get stationed in England but just a few weeks prior to his departure they decided to send him to Abilene, Texas instead (he was livid, of course! A Californian at heart being sent to Texas!?). Abilene, Texas was the base I was hoping for since my family lived only 1 hour away - that way I could stay close to them & visit when I got home sick for them.

Tim bumped into me and was bragging about leaving & going off to his first base! We figured out that both of us were going to the same base so I wrote his last name down (come to find out I wrote it down wrong, LOL) so that we could look each other up, after all a familiar face would be nice at an unknown place.

As life would have it, I got STUCK at Biloxi for an extra 3 weeks due to Hurricane Gorge in Mississippi. Ugh. I forgot to mention I was dating someone at this time (Tim was too, back home in CA). The guy I was dating was not so serious. He had a car and not a lot of people had a car in tech school. He was a sweetheart, but I knew that he didn't have all of the qualities I wanted in a husband. Finally got to Abilene and the first week I was cleaning up the dorms - when it's your first few weeks you have what they call "dorm duty" where you have to clean up around the dorms until they had an office or job to place you in. :o) Fun fun! So I was cleaning and I saw Tim walk by. We both did a double take and I said "Hey! I know you!". We got to talking for a bit and I invited him to a coffee house with some of my girl friends that night. That night was fun, we talked a lot and I didn't have my phone set up just yet, so I gave him my dorm number so he could come by and talk at a later date if he wanted. Shortly after this we both broke up with our boy/girl friends. I guess we knew it just would not work out with them.

I brought him to my parents house in Texas for Thanksgiving that year and introduced him as my friend. He was! We had been friends for a couple of months and sometimes would just talk and hang out all night long. We didn't have a LOT in common, but that is what made our relationship SO very unique from the very beginning. The first time he came home with me and stayed the weekend at my parents - he received Christ as his Saviour. I'll never forget it, neither will he. It was one AMAZING night. I was (and still AM) very proud of him for that.

A couple of weeks after this - Tim and I started dating. We had a lot of fun together, granted there wasn't very much to do in Abilene, Texas. :o) We managed to make the best of it and we were just there for each other. Tim has always been there for me. Even when a lot of people around me weren't, he has always been. He knows everything about me, the good, the bad and the ugly. He still loves me. He puts up with things he doesn't necessarily like (like my smelly feet and the fact I like peanut butter on my waffles...mmmm it really IS good!). Just as I put up with the things I don't like about him (too many to name...hee hee JUST KIDDING!!).
I still cannot believe it's been 8 years now. We got married so young, we dated for less than a year before we decided to take the LEAP of marital FAITH. Some people were very unsure of our decision, some were very supportive. I knew we'd make it, we just have to keep God centered in our life and our marriage. We have grown up together and grown with each other. We both have changed a lot during the past 8 years and I'm going to say it's definitely for the best. :o)


To my honey...I love you so very much and I'm glad we've grown together. We've had GOOD times and we've had BAD times and we've gotten strong through it all. You're a great husband and an even better Daddy to our Haylee Gabrielle.


Here's to another 8 years!! I love you!!



Timothy Paul & Melissa Marie
September 11, 1999