This is me in December 1998. My first semester of college. I was a humanities major at Ricks College. I attended on a merit scholarship, involved myself in drama and French club, was involved with Lambda Delta Sigma sorority, attended dances often, went to the devotionals, played in the Rickstix drum line and loved college life. I was the alto section leader in the Ricks College Choir.

I recall my time at Ricks College with great fondness…for unforgettable memories and dear friends.

How did we meet? At a choir retreat at the Teton Lodge, I started flirting with a boy named Steve. He had caught my eye a time or two in choir (always late to class, but dressed sharp) We cheated to be on the same team for activities, and on the van ride home from the lodge he held my hand. We went to a dance on campus that night…and afterwards a snow wrestling match turned into our first kiss. This picture is from the night of the Cabaret dance where we said our first “I love you’s.”

Three weeks after we met, he came home to Salt Lake with me to meet my family. Christmas Eve, he proposed to me. We excitedly planned our wedding in the Salt Lake Temple for March 26, 1999.
We were married until 2003, when we divorced for a variety of reasons. Out of respect to him, I will not go in to those reasons for our separation. We had some good times, we had some great time, but we also had many horrible times.

Some may call my speedy courtship and marriage a mistake. Some may call it a “starter marriage.” My time with him is part of who I am today. I became an adult much more quickly than I had intended, but I have loved the roles as a wife and mother that I have assumed. As I looked through the boxes in my home in Georgia, I could only find these few pictures from this period in my life. My old wedding pictures are stored deep away in California, and it really feels like a chapter of my life I no longer need to dwell on . I will always be grateful to him for bringing Rosie into the world.