5 Years of Bliss

**Warning: This post is incredibly long, and probably only interesting to close family members and future posterity. Read at your own risk!**

My sister Avree's latest post (about her anniversary, so appropriately entitled "3 Years of Bliss") reminded me that I let my "5 Years of Bliss" posting sneak by last month. I wouldn't be a good Utah-Mormon-Mom blogger if I didn't post something about my wedding anniversary and how wonderful my husband is. So here goes:

It was the big 5 years on Dec. 13, 2008. My actual wedding day, December 13, 2003 was absolutely perfect, the best day of my life up to that point... that's all I will say about that.

I love to hear stories about how people met. In fact, I tag everyone who reads this to post how they met their husbands (if you have one, that is), I love hearing all the details so much! So I will tell you about how Mitch and I met, if you didn't already know. If you hate hearing stuff like this, feel free to stop reading, I won't be offended (I won't even know, duh). It was a crisp, cold February day in 2003, the birds were singing, the sun was shining... he he just kidding. It was a day in February 2003 and I was going to work on a service project tying quilts in our student center. I was going for all the wrong reasons... seriously, I was applying for my dietetics program that month and hours of service counted A LOT on the application. I also joined the Red Cross and volunteered at a local school lunch program that month. I was on a mission. Anyway, I walked past the area where they were tying quilts and saw not one person I knew and decided to keep on walking and ditch it. Then I remembered my application and decided to suck it up and work for an hour. I walked over to the quilt and asked a guy wearing a beanie, a Quiksilver hoodie, and skate shoes where I should start. He handed me a needle and some yarn and said I could start tying next to him. Now usually I am a little shy when I first meet people I don't know, but for some reason I just started chatting it up with this guy. I asked him all kinds of questions, starting with his name, Mitch. Then the next main question, what he was doing there, was a great conversation topic. He was from the "Tubing Club", actually the president of the club. He explained that yes, this was an actual University-sponsored club, and that they went up the canyon, built huge jumps, and did tricks off of them. They had to document service hours to get funding (to pay for tubes and parties) so that's why he was there. Then, several of his other roommates showed up, including Matt Ethington (my future brother-in-law). They asked if I wanted to join the club and being the huge extreme sports fan that I am (ha!), I said sure. Mitch said he would e-mail me an application and then we kept quilting away. Mitch had to leave for class a few minutes later so he packed up his stuff and was getting ready to leave... without my e-mail address. I was too chicken to speak up and give it to him and he headed off without it. I was a bit disappointed because my reasons for wanting to join the club were obviously related to it's president... and then... Matt to the rescue! He said, "Wait, Mitch you forgot to get her e-mail address!" So Mitch came back, got my address, e-mailed me the application (which I still have a copy of that e-mail and the application, it's hilarious), I joined, and about 9 months later I started my "5 Years of Bliss". And that's when Matt met Avree, and 2 years and 18 days later they got married in the same room as Mitch and I, and thus began their "3 Years of Bliss". Funny how things work out. Mitch was the first guy I ever had a huge spark with right from the second I met him. It's a good thing the feeling was mutual! I've said this before on my blog, I'll say it again, Mitch is the absolute perfect guy for me. Here's to many many more anniversaries!