I met my husband WAY back in 1990. June 2, 1990 to be exact. I really didn't mean for it to happen. One of my girlfriends and I were talking, as most teenage girls do, and another friend wanted to know what we were talking about. Not wanting to discuss it with this second friend I simply said, "Oh, Dawn is going to set me up with one of Shawn's friends." (Dawn being my friend and Shawn being her boyfriend.)

Well, would you believe she did? She set me up on a blind date! I was barely 17 years old and little did I know that I was getting ready to meet the man I would spend the rest of my life with.

The night of the blind date was upon me. It was June 2, 1990. My friend, her boyfriend and I arrived at the designated location to wait. And we waited and waited and waited. We waited 2 hours!!! Are you kidding me?

My date finally arrived for our big evening. He was wearing a gray tank top, blue and white shorts, muddy socks and Sebago shoes! HUH? He had been playing soft ball and stayed to play one more game and didn't have time to change. Softball…he was late because of softball!

Oh, but I was smitten with him! Even if he was a goofy dresser LOL! We went to Pizza Hut for dinner and just hung out the rest of the evening. Not a spectacular first date by any means, but it was our first date.

We dated all that summer. After knowing me only 3 months, he decided to move out from home to move closer to me. He moved in with his friend that introduced us and at 19 he was on his own. He worked 2 jobs to make ends meet. We didn't go out on dates very often. I would visit him and he would visit me. We just didn't have tons of money for dating, but that was okay. We were together! We continued dating while I finished high school. He even took me to my Senior Prom!

I knew we were going to be married. He knew we were going to be married. We both knew we were too young to be married so we both worked and dated and waited for us to get older. Remember that softball game that made him late for our first date? Well, it turned out to be softball that got us to the alter! Let me explain. We had been talking about getting married. One Friday night, he told me that if he hit a home run in the first game of his softball tournament the following morning, we would get married. I sort of forgot about it until the next afternoon while I was at work. His mother called me to tell me that Kenton had hit not only a home run but a GRAND SLAM! She was sure he was going to propose. I didn't believe it. I thought it was just a joke. About 10:00 that night, he came to my house, still dirty from playing ball. He handed me the softball he had hit the Grand Slam with. He had written on it and it said:

"The time has come

It's here at last

Now let's enjoy

and cherish the past

It's time to move on

to higher ground

Just keep reading

as the ball goes around

Room is running out

as you can see

So let me leave you with

Julie, will you marry me?"

As I read the words he pulled out my engagement ring and slipped it onto my finger. 14 months later we were married!

(Kenton 23 yrs and Julie 21 yrs)

August 20, 1994 We have been married 14 years now. I just can't believe it. We have been through some rough times. Almost 5 years ago my husbands father passed away. Kenton took over running the ice business. There were alot of debts involved. Things haven't been easy for us but we are so happy! We are so blessed!

Thursday I will turn 35 years old. I can't believe I've been with my love for 18 years. It still feels like we just met. Time is going too fast. I'm now the mother of his beautiful children. We have such a full life! Such a wonderful marriage.

Perfect? No!

Wonderful? YES!

A thousand times YES!

(Kenton and Julie with "A",

"J", "K" and "D" in March 2008)