A trip down memory lane...

I keep hearing about this ‘throwback Thursday’ business, so I thought I would jump in on the trend. My husband and I came home from a Valentine’s Eve dinner/dessert last night, and he asked me, “Do you remember when we actually met?” [Side note: if you didn't already know, Jake and I met in middle school and time sort of starts to blur together when you've known someone for so long]. But, thanks to my obnoxious ability to remember things, I DO in fact have a very clear memory of first meeting my husband...

It was the summer between our 7^th and 8^th grade years, so that would have been 1999. At the time, Jake and I were both part of the youth group at Skyline Church (in fact, some of you may even remember this, too. The Edge, anyone??). I had obviously seen him around, but we had never been officially introduced (because who officially introduces themselves when they’re 13 and awkward??). During the summer, our youth staff had decided it would be fun to coordinate with various kids’ parents to come to their house during the week while the kids were out and film segments in the kids’ bedroom called “It’s Your Room.” The goal of this endeavor was, of course, to embarrass us. To use things either found or staged in our bedrooms to provide an entertaining intro to our Sunday morning service. On this particular day (and without my knowledge, of course), I was the lucky one to be featured on “It’s Your Room.” In those days, we had two Sunday morning services, and I was arriving for the second one. Prior to the start of the service, I remember my friend Andy walking up to me with my now-husband in tow and saying, “This is her. Jake, this is Casey. Casey, this is Jake.” With much confusion, I shook Jake’s hand, with other friends assuring me that I would soon understand… and I soon did.  There were a few funny things staged in my room, but there’s one that holds the most relevance to this story. At the very end of the clip, our youth pastor and worship leader pulled out and read a (fake) love letter from Jake that they "found" in my desk drawer... which explained why this boy felt the need to know who I was earlier that morning. And that, my friends, is how my husband and I officially met.

We, of course, were only 13 and certainly didn’t have a clue that we would end up getting married someday, but this is truly one of my favorite memories of us and one that I look forward to sharing with our kids. And I think I do have to give a bit of prophetic credit to Mickey Watkins and Matt Lane, since Jake and I did end up tying the knot 12 years later. You never know where you’re going to find love… :)

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone!

Not quite 1999, more like 2003 (TEN years ago. Gah!). One of our first photos together.