MY LOVE, RHETT

Jen tagged me so I would tell more about Rhett....and I will reiterate her words - nobody tell Rhett I'm doing this or he may object!!!

(YAY! Another opportunity to talk about me and scrounge up old pictures! Hooray for ME!! I mean ...hooray for Rhett!)

What is his name? Rhett, but I call him Love. He's offended when I call him Rhett, and he knows that I'm annoyed with him if I DO call him Rhett. His mother named him after Rhett Butler from Gone With the Wind.

Where did you meet him? We met at a Tri-Stake activity in the Bay Area. I had seen him a few weeks earlier at an FHE that I went to in my friend's ward (his ward) and had noticed how dreamy he was. Then, at the Tri-Stake activity, I went with some guy friends, but saw him there. I was determined to make him mine, so I left my friends and pretended I needed to walk across the room so I could flash him my sexiest smile. He was hooked. He later asked me to dance and we exchanged email addresses.

Who asked who out first? We both just kind of mentioned that we should hang out (over email), but I finally invited him to my ward picnic, so that was kind of our first date.

Who kissed who first? Rhett did, but I couldn't have given him more hints. We were at his house watching tv and I could tell we were going to eventually kiss but I wasn't going to make the first move. I just kept waiting and waiting and scooting closer and waiting....

Who said I Love You first? He did, which freaked me out. I had a big long talk with him about how nervous it made me for him to say it. And then a few weeks later, I said it, too. I think I just wanted to be the first one to say it because I loved him, for sure.

How long did you date? Dating is so subjective...we met in Feb of '01, emailed, hung out, went on dates, IM'd, talked on the phone, went on more dates and got married in Feb of '02.

Who proposed? We decided to get married together, but Rhett finally proposed to me (after enough hints that he needed to do it officially). I was teaching a group lesson to my 17 severely disabled students with my five assistants standing by ready to "assist" when I saw Rhett coming down the hall with a bunch of long-stemmed roses. He walked in, totally caught off-guard to see so many people in the classroom with me, and the attention suddenly all directed to him. If you know how shy Rhett is, you will understand how awkward it quickly became. I swiftly gave an assignment to keep everyone busy and went off the the side with him. He quietly asked me to marry him. The ring was in one of the roses.

Where did you get married? We were sealed in the Mt. Timpanogos Temple, but he really wanted the Oakland Temple. So I went a week before our wedding and received my endowments there.

When I was a young woman, I helped clean the Mt. Timpanogos Temple and take out carpet staples when it was first built, so I always wanted to be married there. The bride wins again.

How did your reception go? Beautiful, even though I planned it two states away. It wasn't exactly how I pictured it, but it turned out great and the food was FABULOUS. It was at the North Hampton House in American Fork. It was during the closing ceremonies of the Winter Olympics 2002 (a tiny detail that hadn't occurred to us as we were planning it in Cali), so needless to say, we didn't have as many guests as we had hoped but it still turned out wonderfully. We also had an Open House a few weeks later for our friends in California at my aunt's large house.

Honeymoon? We stayed the first night at Sundance in one of their studio rooms. It was gorgeous with all the style and rustic class of Sundance, fully equipped with a fireplace and a great view of the slopes. Then, we we stayed in King's Beach at Lake Tahoe on our way back to our home in Walnut Creek, CA.

I did have to be back to work a few days later, though, so it wasn't as long as we would have liked. We actually were really excited to get home and put together our little place and start our life together so it was ok that it was short.

How old is he? Two years older than me, and we ALL know how OLD I am. (He's 32).

Who eats more? It seems like I do, because I eat faster. He takes his time and eats each bite so carefully and needs maybe one napkin (if that) to my four messy napkins. But who eats more junk food? The answer is not me.
Who is taller? Rhett by 6 inches.
Who sings better? I do, but its only because I try. It melts me to hear him sing Jason Mraz, 311 or Incubus and I wish he would go out on a limb and join the choir. He could totally do it.

Who is smarter? I am probably more book smarts, but he is more street smarts, by far. He also is smarter when it comes to technical, electrical, sales or sports skills. But I can out-geek him any day on the computer.

Who does the laundry? Does that mean it has to be finished? Because we are both notorious for starting loads and never finishing them or I start and he finishes or vice versa. He knows not to do my delicates anymore, though. I have enough shrunken sweaters and pants (maybe the pants aren't shrunk because of the laundry) to ban him from washing my delicates (which has now become an excuse to never do my laundry). I wish this was a "Who does the ironing?" category because I would totally win that one. He pretends not to know how or says he is too scared to because he might ruin something, but I know the truth - he just doesn't like to. That's why I need the Tobi.

Who pays the bills? I do, but let's not go there. We should both be doing it, but he works too much to pay a bill on time. Plus, I like to be in charge so I know where its all disappearing to.

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? If you're facing the bed, I do. When we first got married, he did, but the way we both fell asleep, we had to be lying on our sides so we ended up facing each other each night and it made me nervous and I would end up laughing. He was always pulling pranks on me when were first married (like pouring cold water on me in the shower, taking advantage of my fears to get a good laugh, etc) so I didn't trust facing him while we slept because I didn't know if he was going to lick my face, or be making faces at me (remember my scary eyes fear?). Anyway, it made it tough to sleep facing him, so now, I am always on the right so I face away from him when its time to really go to sleep.
Who mows the lawn? The management company does it. But if we had our own place, Rhett would because he actually loves that kind of thing. His Marine step-dad got him into the habit of doing outside (and inside) chores and he actually started enjoying mowing the lawn.

Who cooks dinner? I do, if you call what I do cooking. I will sometimes put together a meal (if it meets Rhett's numerous standards), but we often fend for ourselves. It's how I grew up so I'm used to that (AND my dad was the cook in the family). It is not how Rhett grew up and sadly I am not the cook that his mother is.

Who drives? Rhett does when we are driving together. He doesn't feel like a "man" if I am driving. But since we have two cars, we are usually each driving our own cars. I like it better that way anyway because I get too car sick when I'm the passenger.

Who is more stubborn? Rhett is for sure, although I am, too, so we butt heads sometimes.

Who is more sensitive? I am when it comes to emotions, but Rhett has his own sensitivities (like don't turn his football channel if he walks out of the room, or don't cut the onions so small that he can't pick them out).

Who has more siblings? Rhett does - 6 sisters, 2 brothers (2 sisters pictured here, one sister in another state, one sister died when she was 6 months old, 1 brother pictured here, other brother died about 6 years ago). I have 4 brothers.

Who wears the pants? I try to but we actually work really well together. We are both givers and takers. We are a great team!!

I LOVE YOU, RHETT!