Nick, George and Me!

My first concert! Yes, I know it is probably considered strange that I am 30 years old and never been to a concert! But some things are meant to be and now I am so glad that I got to experience my first one with a singer that is my favorite - George Straight.

Nick introduced me to George when we were just friends and then I really got into him when we started dating. George has been a part of our relationship and that's why he means so much to me. When we were long distance dating, I loved the song, "Carrying Your Love With Me". It comforted me. I sent him a homemade card and wrote these lyrics in it, "On a lonely highway stuck out in the rain, honey all I got to do is speak your name. The clouds roll back and the waters part, the sun starts shining in my heart for you. You're right here, in everthing I do. Cause I'm carrying your love with me".

8 years ago just before the 4th of July, Nick flew down to Arizona to move the last of his things back to Utah. I drove him up to his Dad's house in Camp Verde where his stuff was stored. We listened to George on our first mini road trip and I'll never forget when "Ocean Front Property" came on. If you are unfamilar with the song, here's a piece, "I got some ocean front property in Arizona, from my front porch you can see the sea" (GS definitely has a sense of humor), and it was a moment in my memory that will be with me forever. Here I was on a date (our second weekend date - long distance dates are weekend dates) and stuck in a car for a couple hours with him. Don't get me wrong, I was excited, but there was a little anxious thinking...what are we going to talk about for 2 hours, is he going to be bored, etc. But the thing that I came to know with Nick and me is that we don't have uncomfortable moments. We never have had any uncomfortable silences or awkward moments. We are friends. We were friends first, before we became romantic. And it's not as if the feelings weren't there, but I was with my highschool boyfriend at the time and we each had to supress those vibes. I even told him once, "Uh, you can't look at me like that"! And he was dumb founded as he didn't realize it was so obvious. My best friend Sheila talked to him on the phone for the first time for 1 minute and when she got back on with me she said, "Lon, don't take this the wrong way, but if you weren't with Dan, I could see you with him". I was laughing, "What? Are you crazy"? But she was right, obviously!!! Nick's cousin Chris was living in Phoenix at that time as well and one night I drove Nick to his apartment and met him. Chris kept saying, "Why aren't you two together?" Nick told him that I had a boyfriend, but he was just like, "Whatever, you two look good together!"

I remember thinking when we were just friends that I was soooo not into him, but that was my brain thinking that (because I had a boyfriend) and not my heart. When my ex and I dropped Nick off at the airport when he was moving back to Utah (April 1st, 2001) I gave him a hug, thinking that this is the last time I will see him and sincerely said, "Have a nice life". He replied, "I will see you again". I cried A LOT on the way home and my then boyfriend was looking at me strangely and asked why I was so upset. I didn't know either. I never expected myself to react in that way and just told him that I was PMS'ing. I look back on that ride home, and now understand, my brain didn't get why I was so upset... but my heart did. My heart knew long before I did that Nicholas Gibb was my soul mate. Who could have guessed that 8 months later I would move to Utah to follow my heart, and on January 23rd, 2003 Nick would ask me to marry him, and on August 7th, 2004 we would be husband & wife. Our wedding song, was of course by George Straight, "I Cross My Heart".

I heard a wonderful quote last week that I love and completely agree with: "Don't marry the person you think you can live with. Marry the one you can't live without. Marriage can be difficult even when two people are passionately in love with one another, but it is murder when they don't even have that foundation to build on."

Counting down the days until our 5th wedding anniversary and celebrating it on the beautiful island of Kauai! I am so grateful that God has given me a gift of such an amazing man and wonderful husband to be by my side on this journey of life. Thank you Father - you overflow my cup! Thank you Nicholas for making me so happy and so loved in more ways then I ever expected!