Today is our 7th wedding anniversary. Happy Anniversary Greg!! (We got married on 6/5/04 so it'd be easy for Greg to remember!) And I'm happy to report, there's no signs of the "seven year itch" here! Technically, we've been together for almost 12 years, so we're clearly past the 7 year mark. But then again, marriage is a whole new ballgame and we've proven to be a good team these past 7 years. We have had soooo many good memories that I decided to take a stroll down memory lane, to tell "our" story, and to give everyone some laughs with some old pictures (***Don't be mad, Greg!! I think you're more handsome now than ever!!)
It’s hard to believe we have been through almost 12 years of birthdays, holidays with family, graduations, beach trips, friends’ weddings, frat house parties, Valentine’s Days, national championships, date nights, races, anniversary trips, (and as you will see from some of the heinous pictures...) various hairdos & clothing styles! :)
Our story began back in August of 1999...I was 19 yrs old and a sophomore at UNC and Greg was a senior at Wake Forest University. Luckily, we both had a friend in common (Love you Erin!!) and we hit it off one night at a party. We have been inseparable ever since, even though we had to date long-distance for our first year. Thank goodness for Instant Messenger! We spent every night “talking” on IM, and even said our first “I love you’s” that way. I didn’t have a car, so Greg drove the 1.5 hr trip to UNC every.single.weekend his senior year of college to see me. What a guy! We knew we had something special and worked really hard to make it work & stay together. (Though it was trying at first for me b/c I was officially Greg’s first girlfriend, and I’ll just say it...he was clueless!! Love you sweetie!!)
I was SO relieved when Greg was accepted into & decided to go to UNC for grad school in August of 2000. No more long-distance!! Although Greg didn’t “wow” my UNC friends immediately when we started dating (hello, warm-up pants!), by the time he moved to Chapel Hill, they were as big of fans as I was. My senior year, I lived with my 4 best friends, and he was unofficially named the 6th roommate at our house on Dixie Lane. I could not have asked for a more perfect senior year of college.
Upon my graduation in 2002, much to the chagrin of both of our families, we moved in together to an apartment in Chapel Hill. Greg still had 3 years of grad school left, I got a job in Cary, and all of my friends were moving away so it just made sense (to us) to live together and save money. We promised our moms we would be engaged soon, and luckily, that happened in April 2003. It was a wonderful surprise proposal in our apartment, after a fancy meal at the Carolina Inn. I could not wait to become Mrs. Gregory Givens!!
We got married in June 2004 in my home church in Clemmons, NC. I’ll never forget how happy I felt, or how much fun we had at our reception/dance party!! :) Then it was off to Costa Rica for an adventure-filled honeymoon. Seven days of swimming, sun, eating & drinking, ziplining, horseback riding, sitting in hot mineral springs, touring the jungle, shopping, and relaxing.
Greg finished graduate school & got a position as an Economics Professor at MTSU in Murfreesboro, TN. We moved in July 2005 to a cute little apartment on Thompson Lane, and I was scared.to.death. I didn’t have a job or friends, but at least I had my wonderful husband!!
In December 2006, our prayers of almost a year were answered, and I became pregnant. This put our house search in fast-forward mode, and finally in late February 2007 we purchased our first home. I had fun bossing around everyone while we moved in, unpacked, and painted b/c “I was pregnant and couldn’t help!” :) It was wonderful. Even more wonderful was when we found out it we were having a boy, and in August 2007, Nathan Eric Givens was born. Greg was such a wonderful father from the very beginning, and I’m so grateful our kids have him in their lives.
Then in November 2009, our world was rocked again, when our baby girl arrived with hardly any notice – one full month early. Luckily she was healthy, and now we couldn’t imagine our live without sassy Miss Abigail Reece.
As we are about to start a new adventure in this summer/fall in Tuscaloosa, AL, I am again very nervous and scared to death. For so many different reasons this time though. I mostly think about the kids…if they’ll make friends, if they’ll like their new school/teachers, if we’ll have a nice neighborhood, etc. But all those things aside, I am excited to start a new chapter in our lives, this time as a family of 4, and I know with my wonderful husband by my side, it will all turn out just fine.
Greg, I love you for SO many reasons, but probably the biggest is putting up with me these past 7 years of marriage!! You truly are my best friend, and I look forward to seeing what the next 60+ years hold for us!
**Btw – shout out to Kelsey for the great blogpost idea! :)
It’s hard to believe we have been through almost 12 years of birthdays, holidays with family, graduations, beach trips, friends’ weddings, frat house parties, Valentine’s Days, national championships, date nights, races, anniversary trips, (and as you will see from some of the heinous pictures...) various hairdos & clothing styles! :)
Our story began back in August of 1999...I was 19 yrs old and a sophomore at UNC and Greg was a senior at Wake Forest University. Luckily, we both had a friend in common (Love you Erin!!) and we hit it off one night at a party. We have been inseparable ever since, even though we had to date long-distance for our first year. Thank goodness for Instant Messenger! We spent every night “talking” on IM, and even said our first “I love you’s” that way. I didn’t have a car, so Greg drove the 1.5 hr trip to UNC every.single.weekend his senior year of college to see me. What a guy! We knew we had something special and worked really hard to make it work & stay together. (Though it was trying at first for me b/c I was officially Greg’s first girlfriend, and I’ll just say it...he was clueless!! Love you sweetie!!)
I was SO relieved when Greg was accepted into & decided to go to UNC for grad school in August of 2000. No more long-distance!! Although Greg didn’t “wow” my UNC friends immediately when we started dating (hello, warm-up pants!), by the time he moved to Chapel Hill, they were as big of fans as I was. My senior year, I lived with my 4 best friends, and he was unofficially named the 6th roommate at our house on Dixie Lane. I could not have asked for a more perfect senior year of college.
Upon my graduation in 2002, much to the chagrin of both of our families, we moved in together to an apartment in Chapel Hill. Greg still had 3 years of grad school left, I got a job in Cary, and all of my friends were moving away so it just made sense (to us) to live together and save money. We promised our moms we would be engaged soon, and luckily, that happened in April 2003. It was a wonderful surprise proposal in our apartment, after a fancy meal at the Carolina Inn. I could not wait to become Mrs. Gregory Givens!!
We got married in June 2004 in my home church in Clemmons, NC. I’ll never forget how happy I felt, or how much fun we had at our reception/dance party!! :) Then it was off to Costa Rica for an adventure-filled honeymoon. Seven days of swimming, sun, eating & drinking, ziplining, horseback riding, sitting in hot mineral springs, touring the jungle, shopping, and relaxing.
Greg finished graduate school & got a position as an Economics Professor at MTSU in Murfreesboro, TN. We moved in July 2005 to a cute little apartment on Thompson Lane, and I was scared.to.death. I didn’t have a job or friends, but at least I had my wonderful husband!!
In December 2006, our prayers of almost a year were answered, and I became pregnant. This put our house search in fast-forward mode, and finally in late February 2007 we purchased our first home. I had fun bossing around everyone while we moved in, unpacked, and painted b/c “I was pregnant and couldn’t help!” :) It was wonderful. Even more wonderful was when we found out it we were having a boy, and in August 2007, Nathan Eric Givens was born. Greg was such a wonderful father from the very beginning, and I’m so grateful our kids have him in their lives.
Then in November 2009, our world was rocked again, when our baby girl arrived with hardly any notice – one full month early. Luckily she was healthy, and now we couldn’t imagine our live without sassy Miss Abigail Reece.
As we are about to start a new adventure in this summer/fall in Tuscaloosa, AL, I am again very nervous and scared to death. For so many different reasons this time though. I mostly think about the kids…if they’ll make friends, if they’ll like their new school/teachers, if we’ll have a nice neighborhood, etc. But all those things aside, I am excited to start a new chapter in our lives, this time as a family of 4, and I know with my wonderful husband by my side, it will all turn out just fine.
Greg, I love you for SO many reasons, but probably the biggest is putting up with me these past 7 years of marriage!! You truly are my best friend, and I look forward to seeing what the next 60+ years hold for us!
**Btw – shout out to Kelsey for the great blogpost idea! :)
6 comments:
What a lovely post!!! Happy anniversary! Love Aunt Molly
I love this post. Happy Anniversary!
Happy Anniversary! I LOVED reading your history together. Thanks for sharing.
Those pictures were hilarious!!! Happy Anniversary sis- Love you!
Congrats! Crazy how fast these seven years go!
happy 7 years and go me for the intro haha :). woot! love you guys!
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