The Man Of My Life

You have all been tagged (unless you've already done this post!) My new sister-in-law, Laurie Ray, posted this about her man, Brennan, and then tagged everyone who read it. I thought it was a great post for Valentine's Day so here is a tribute to my man...

-What is his name?
Eric

-How old is he?
Mid-thirties

-How long have you been together?
Eleven years of wedded bliss! Yeah!

-Who asked out whom first?

Eric asked me out for our 1st date. He also remembers asking me to dance a year before that 1st date at an ASU Institute dance right after he returned home from his mission, but I was leaving the next week to attend BYU, thus nothing happened then. I came home to work the next summer and attended the Young Adult Ward in our Stake while I was home, which was his Ward. He saw me and asked me out that week. We went out 3 times before I went back at BYU.

-How long did you date?
Official Number: Off and on for 1 1/2 years.
Official Story: This story makes me looks like a flake and Eric like the sweetest guy in the world (which he is!) After those first 3 dates, I went back to BYU where we continued our courtship over the phone (a long-distance relationship with $700 a month phone bills.) I was a little confused in life so when he came to visit me October Conference weekend, I broke-up with him. Then I called him back in Mesa 5 days later asking for another chance. Eric said okay and the long-distance relationship continued. When I came home for Thanksgiving, I was dumb & confused again and broke-up with him for the second time. When I came home for Christmas break, I saw Eric, was still struggling with my feelings, and asked him if we could go out to talk things thru; he reluctantly said yes. Anyways, after this evening together, I was ready to date him again but he said "no, the ship has sailed" (seriously, he said this!) and so I went back to BYU and realized that letting Eric go was the hugest mistake of my life. A few weeks later I was in a car/pedestrian accident (me being the pedestrian) and to make an already long story short, had to drop out of BYU and come home to recover. Eric said the Lord needed me to get hit by that truck so that I would humble myself, leave my BYU dreams, come back to Mesa and marry him. Well, after a significant amount of time (you can imagine that Eric was not overly excited to ask me out again) we finally went out in the Fall of '96, and hey, third times a charm! We got engaged and then married the next Spring.

-Who kissed who first?
Eric kissed me-- Ya Baby!

-Who said I love you first?

Eric told me he loved me first (later he told me that after our second date he knew I was the girl he would marry.) I wanted to say "I love you" a short time before he actually did but there was no way I was going to say it first and have that big 'ol matsaball hanging out there if he didn't feel the same, so I waited for him to say it first.

-Who proposed? How?

I knew Eric had ordered the ring but did not know when it would be ready. Eric invited me over to watch a movie one night after I finished work. We were in the basement family room at his parent's home and he'd stuck the ring in a bowl of candy so I would discover it while I was eating movie snacks. I kept saying I wasn't hungry and he kept pushing the snack bowl on me. I was totally shocked and so excited when I found it! He proposed and then we drove over to show my parents, who greeted us at the door with a video camera in hand. Then we went back to his house to finish the movie and celebrate! A happy day!

-Who eats more?

Eric does, but can because he exercises more and burns it off.

-Who is taller?
Eric

-Who is smarter?
I think Eric is much smarter than I am and I love that! I am thankful for all he knows and has the answers to when I ask. Even though he is academically smarter than me, I do think I hold my own in other areas of knowledge.

-Who does the laundry?
I hate to say it, but Eric does almost as much folding of laundry as I do! I HATE folding any laundry item that is not a towel! For some reason I don't mind sorting, treating, and washing, I just hate folding clothes! I'll usually leave the nicely cleaned laundry in a neat pile on the bed, ready to be folded and put away at night. Piles sitting around of unfolded clothes do not mesh well with Eric's type A personality, so half the time he'll breakdown and fold it for me. The sad and embarrassing thing for me is that he does most of the ironing, too. Eric is so much better at ironing than me so he actually prefers to iron when it needs to be done. I do get points for taking and picking up his dry cleaning (I know... it's still embarrassing!)

-Who does the dishes?
I do the dishes and actually this is my favorite household chore.

-Who pays the bills?
Eric technically pays the bills since he's the provider. However, I'm in charge of the home so I pay (write & mail) all home-related bills. Eric takes care of the other bills.

-Who mows the lawn?
Eric mows the lawn and takes care of all outside plants/stuff-- and does a great job, by the way. However, I am in charge of any small potted flowers and really enjoy planting these with our boys and occasionally Eric.

-Who cooks dinner?
That would be me, though Eric will occasionally help if I need him to. He is actually a good cook and I am always treated to great meals on Mother's Day and my birthday. I do enjoy cooking the meals and like to try new things. Any recipes you love?... send them my way!

-Who drives when you are together?
Eric does and I love it! I get to sit, relax, and hold hands with my man while he drives our family around-- good deal to me!

-Who is more stubborn?
That would be Eric.

-Who has more siblings?
Eric does. His family has eight children and mine has five.


-Who wears the pants in the family?
Eric defiantly does, but there's no domineering-male problem there. Eric is a great leader in our home and makes sure my needs are met.

*That's all folks! Okay, TAG... you're it!!!