Happy 7 Years Mr. Brewer

Wow, 7 years. That's a really long time. I feel so grown up, being married to someone for 7 years! Instead of a gushy post about how awesome my husband is (we wouldn't want him to get a big head, now, would we?) I thought it'd be more fun to write a quick back story and take a look back at our first 7 years through pictures =)

How did we meet? We met Spring semester (January) at UVU. We were both enrolled in the same Physics class. Adam was sitting in the middle of the room, middle of the row - where I usually like to sit. I left a few chairs between us - didn't want him to get the wrong idea. After filling out those teacher info cards, amid passing them down the row I noticed our majors were the same. Small, polite chit chat ensued and class was dismissed.

The next class, I didn't want him to think I was interested so I sat nearby, but again, left multiple chairs between us. He leaned over and said something to the likes of, "I don't bite, you can sit closer."

I asked Adam to send me a picture of himself (so I could send it to my mom) and this is what he sent me.

What was our first date like? Well, technically I blew him off. He'd asked me over to his house (he lived in a house with friends from home near BYU campus) for some kind of party or get together, and I'm not big on "hanging out". When I received the call that a friend from home was in the hospital, I saw it as the perfect opportunity to cancel my date and go visit my friend instead. However, when I called to blow him off, he was so charming and I loved talking to him on the phone so much that we made arrangements for a future date.

Our first Valentine's Day. Adam cooked, bought Cherry Coke, and even mashed his own potatoes - by hand.

How did Adam ask you to be his girlfriend? Ah, the famous "DTR". I made it clear that if we were going to be exclusive, he needed to ask. So, one night we drove up to Salt Lake to go to a club with another friend. We were dancing, having a good time, when we yelled into my ear (it was a club afterall) "This is fun - next time you should come as my girlfriend." SLICK.

We spent our first summer apart - he went home to Michigan and I worked at Joann Fabrics and Red Robin at home in VA. We saw each other a few times that summer, one trip being my annual beach trip with my family. We slept in the same room - on opposite bunk beds, with a room full of toddlers.

How long did you date before getting engaged? We met and dated shortly after in January of 2004 and were engaged in November of the same year. We married May 7, 2005, making our entire courtship about a year and a half.

How did he propose? As we were flying home to see my family for Thanksgiving and I was really pressuring him to propose before we arrived so that I could show off a ring that Sunday to all my friends at home. The morning of our flight at the butt-crack of dawn, Adam claimed his roommate was snoring and if he could come hangout before our flight. I let him in and went to the bathroom. When I came out, Adam was on the floor on his knee. Then he said the sweetest words every girl wants to hear, "You know this was coming. Will you marry me?" He may have said he loved me, that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with me, but those two sentences are all I remember. That day however was a horrible flying experience (we missed our flight and ended up spending the night in Phoenix) but at least I was engaged!

We were married May 7, 2005 in the Washington, D.C. LDS Temple
I found my dress, brand new, special ordered on eBay. Didn't even have to be altered!
My favorite picture from my wedding.

Our first apartment was a basement apartment in Provo, Utah, just a block from the Provo, Temple. We paid $650 a month for all utilities included, high speed internet and cable, and a washer and dryer. To pay our rent every month, I would write the check and place it on the sofa in the owner's part of the basement. The washing machine was in a storage room, which had a separate entrance into the owner's home. It was very private, and all ours! Our first home!






We had a lot of firsts in this apartment - our first Thanksgiving and first Christmas! Adam's job didn't really allow him to travel during the holiday season, so we stayed in all Winter. I loved it! Despite getting offers to spend the holidays with friends, we opted for our own big dinners and Christmas mornings. Because of this tradition, I still cook on Christmas Eve for my family now that we're back in VA, since I have Thanksgivings off now =)

Thanksgiving 2005

Christmas 2005

Thanksgiving 2006


Christmas 2006
Thanksgiving 2007

We spent 2 years in this apartment - before being kicked out! Evidently our landlords did not live in the proper zoning area to have a basement apartment and the city was pressuring them to kick us out, or face some ramifications. It was all very sudden and while our landlords felt awful, we just wanted to move on. So we moved - 2 days before Christmas. We didn't have a tree that year, I spent the day unpacking, and Golden Corral completely ruined our Holiday meal.

Moving into our new apartment, that was in Orem, just a block from campus. It had underground parking (great in the winter!), it was 2 bedrooms, a separate vanity from the bath, huge closets, and it was a really nice apartment. Big kitchen, huge pantry, tile floors...

Our Christmas dinner in our new apartment, care of Golden Corral. I went to pick it up on my lunch break from work, planned to put it at home in the fridge and run back to work. I spent over an hour waiting to pick it up, because they had no record of my order. They were rude, I missed a lot of work, and they made me cry :( Total stress of moving during the holidays!

Mostly unpacked! I loved this huge kitchen. I had tons of storage space.
We took a few trips during our married life - trips home to VA for the beach, weekend getaways to Salt Lake, but most notably for my birthday we went to Las Vegas to see Jerry Seinfeld live at Caesar's Palace! It was awesome and Jerry did not disappoint!


While we lived in Utah, Adam held 4 jobs: Cell phone salesman, CompUSA tech, PC Club Tech and a Friendly Computers field engineer. I worked 1: Stevenson's Genealogy Center.
 
The following year, in December 2008 I graduated from Utah Valley University! Finally! We planned to stay and work until the Spring so we wouldn't have to move cross country in the dead of winter.


On Valentine's Day, 2009, I found out we were expecting our first baby, little Autumn!


After moving cross country that Spring, we settled in with my parents in Virginia in May 2009. We moved with no job prospects, but Adam was offered his position at his current company just a week after our arrival! Thus began the long tale of finding a house, which you've all heard before. "3 months tops" turned into a year, and we lived with my parents until we purchased our first home in February 2010. Before that however, we saw the arrival of Autumn Michelle Brewer on October 21, 2009.




We celebrated our first Christmas with Autumn in 2009, which would be our last Christmas with my parents. At this time we accepted new callings in our ward. Since marrying, we've been: Nursery leaders, Sunday School leaders, Adam was a Sunday school teacher to the teenagers while I taught the Valiant girls in Primary. Shortly after that, I was called into the Primary presidency and Adam into the Elder's Quorum Presidency. Most recently I serve as the Primary president in the ward and Adam is first counselor in the Elder's Quorum.


In February 2010, we bought our first home after unsuccessful short sales, foreclosures and an upside down market. #4 was the charm! It needed a lot of work, but I was able to do most of it before we moved in since we were still living with my parents. It was a crazy experience buying our first home, but we couldn't be happier with where we ended up.





"The Beach" was never the same after Autumn arrived! It was like experiencing it all again for the first time. It was our first beach trip in our new home, so we were officially on our own packing and following the caravan. This was also the time I received my "Best Moms Ever" membership card from my sister in law - I was finally one of the girls!




In October 2011, we returned home to Utah to visit our friends that we miss way too much and to pay a visit to Adam's family who recently relocated from Michigan to Utah. It was Autumn's first plane ride and our first big excursion as a family besides trips to the beach!





Then came our most recent Thanksgiving. It was a blast seeing all of our friends and family and Autumn just loves hanging out with all of her cousins - especially the girls, since "the boys" live so close and we see them often.



I couldn't understand why I was so tired all the time and just felt lousy when my family was here. Well, soon after everyone left I found out we were expecting our 2nd baby, little Brody! 



That brings us about up to speed. At the current time, Autumn is now 2.5 years old and I am six months pregnant with baby #2. We've lived in 4 places (Apt. 1, Apt. 2, my parents, our 1st home), driven and flown cross country, had lots of jobs, graduated from school, love our home and callings at church, and can't wait to meet baby #2.


It's amazing how long and how short 7 years seems all at the same time. I can honestly say I have never been happier in the 7 years then I am today - I figure that's not a bad start for eternity, right?


4 comments

  1. I don't remember how I found your blog but I've been reading for a long time. Congrats to you guys! It was really neat to read your story. I can't wait to be married! Only 60 days left! :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Very sweet post. We have such a similar story, its fun to read someone who has some of the same experiences! We are going on a YEAR this month living with my parents, and are also trying to find that "perfect home!" *sigh*

    ReplyDelete
  3. Love the recap and walk down memory lane. Not a bad start for eternity at all! =) Love you guys!

    ReplyDelete
  4. What a great day to be married on! My 18th birthday! How did you choose that date? So fun to see the pictures through the years and your hair colors and styles :) Yay for baby #2!

    ReplyDelete