My better half

I haven't wrote about the one person who has been by my side over the past 11, almost 12 years. Dave is my best friend. We met at our friend Angie's house in Champlin. I will never forget that night. I wasn't planning on going out. I had come home from working at Perkins and was ready for bed. As I was getting ready to put my pajamas on, my friend Angie, called me begging to come over. I said no, but was persuaded quickly. When I made it through her front door, I looked across the room and sitting at the kitchen table was this guy who was arm wrestling some other guy. We made eye contact and he had the biggest smile I had ever seen with dimples to go along with it. I smiled back and went on to the other room to chat it up with the people I knew. As the night went on, I wanted to know more about this guy with a great smile. I sat at the table next to him and we started talking about mudding. He didn't talk much. I asked most of the questions, but he didn't expand much on the answers. I managed to find out that he had a big family and had sheep. The night passed and by 5 am it was time to go home, but he (being a small town guy) didn't know how to get back home. So, I told him he could follow me and by the time we hit highway 241, he thought he'd be funny and pass me. I liked his confidence and I wanted to know more about him. He had this mysteriousness that intrigued me. I called my friend the next morning and had her give him my pager number (yep remember when pagers were big?!). I got an unusual page a couple days later while at work and figured it was him. I will never forget his mother on the other end of the line. She had this high pitched "DAVID!" yell. She yelled his name at least 3 times before Dave finally came to the phone. I really had some interesting ideas of who his mom was. Thankfully, she was no where near what images I had in mind! Our first official date was the 4th of July at Delano carnival/fireworks with a random date at the Rogers truck stop in-between. Who could have known what the future would hold???
I am sooo very thankful that we managed to work out. We have had our struggles and break ups, but through it all, we have found light at the end of the tunnel. I learned that relationships are hard work at times, but that is how relationships grow. If we can work out our differences, happiness will shine through. Thank God, we have been willing to work through troubled times. My cousin wrote in our wedding card, "Keep the ups and downs between the sheets." I love that! Although I don't always follow that rule, I think it's important because in the end it doesn't matter what anybody else thinks.
Dave is an amazing husband. He is caring, loving, funny, smart, and selfless. He is a great partner. He cooks, cleans, and shares the work of the kids. I always say that I hope I don't die before him because I just don't know how I could function. He's truly my "better half." He really makes my life complete in so many ways. I am very lucky and very thankful for him.