Marriage "Tag"

(We set the timer on my camera and took this picture of ourselves in the summer of 1996.)

* What is his name? Ryan

* How long have you been together? We met in January 1996, so I guess that's 12 1/2 years, and we've been married for 11 1/2.

* How long did you date? About 9 months before we got engaged, and then we were engaged for 4 months.

* How old is he? 36

* Who said I love you first? He did, after we'd been dating for only a few weeks. He was ready to get married almost immediately, but I was young and immature so it took me a while to come around.

* Who is taller? He is, he's 6'2" and I'm 5'10"

* Who sings better? He does. He's a great singer, and he often sings for the sacrament congregation. I can hold a tune, but I'm not great.

* Who is smarter? I would say Ryan. He has somehow managed to get a Bachelors Degree and Masters Degree during the time we've been married, and I've never seen him crack open a schoolbook. He graduated from his MBA program with all A's. I'm not sure how he does it because I have to study and study and barely squeeze out a B. He also knows more useless info. than anyone I've ever met! :) Don't ever play trivia games with him; you'll feel like a big loser.

* Whose temper is worse? I would say Ryan's used to be, but now we are both pretty calm people.

* Who does the laundry? I do during the week and Ryan does it on the weekends.

* Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? If we're laying on the bed, or looking at the bed? I lay on the right side when we're laying down.

* Who pays the bills? I do, and I always have. I would go crazy if I wasn't in charge of our money. I guess that sounds bad, but it's just one of those things I have to control. If I died Ryan would be in a real bind because there would be automatic payments coming out all the time and he'd have no idea!

* Who mows the lawn? Almost always Brevan now, but Ryan has up until this year. I mow it occasionally because I really like to mow the lawn, but I get allergy attacks.

* Who does the dishes? Usually me, but Ryan and Brevan help out.

* Who cooks dinner? I do a lot of the time, but Ryan is a great cook so he does on the weekends or whenever I need him to during the week.

* Who drives when you are together? Ryan. He would go crazy if I drove us around because he's a "back-seat driver" kind of passenger.

* Who is more stubborn? Um, I don't know. I guess we can both be stubborn when we're in the mood.

* Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? Ryan. He's always been great at that. I guess I should re-answer the last question about being stubborn, because I have a harder time admitting when I'm wrong and apologizing.

* Who proposed? Ryan, although we had talked the marriage subject to death by that point (because I was stubborn. Hmmm, I'm learning something about myself!)

*Who is more sensitive? Used to be me, now I don't know. About the same.

* Who has more friends? We're probably equal.

* Who wears the pants in the family? Ryan would say me, but I'd say we're even.

Those are all the questions that I was "tagged" with, but here's a few more:

*How did the two of you meet? We met on January 13, 1996 when some of my high school friends came to my apartment in Provo to celebrate my friend Jaime's birthday. But we didn't even notice each other this night. Then I started hanging out with his roommates. The first time we were alone was at the Training Table Restaurant because no one else could go with us. Then we went sledding a few days later with his roommates. Our first real date was on February 2nd when we went to Los Hermanos in Provo and rented the movie "Rob Roy" to watch at his apartment. I fell asleep in the movie (big shocker . . .I've done that in almost every movie we've ever watched) and he put a blanket on me and then went to bed in his room. I ended up sleeping on their couch all night. I felt so safe with him from the very beginning.

*What is one of his lovable quirks? When he's nervous he makes this funny bird noise with his mouth. It has always cracked me up.

*What is your favorite thing to do together? Probably eat out. We spend way too much money eating very good food. We have expensive tastebuds.

*What is something you rarely agree on? I am more of a tightwad and he would like to be more of a spender.

*What's an important thing you have in common? Spending quality time together (as a couple) and as a family.

*What names do you call each other? Umm, this is embarressing. We've shortened the nickname "sweetpea" into just "pea." We've called each other that since we were dating, but not so much anymore. When he's trying to be cute he calls me my whole name.

*What gift did he give you that meant the most? He's given me a lot of nice gifts over the years, but the one that meant the most was probably back when we were newlyweds and very poor. We gave each other a stocking and all the gifts had to fit inside it. He got me some packs of metal spoons because we needed them, Almond Roca and a new pair of sweats. Funny that I'd think that was the best gift ever, but it meant the most at the time.

*What's the kindest thing he's ever done for you? It's the little things that have meant the most . . .doing my "honey-do" lists, running to the store when I don't feel like going, giving me massages, helping around the house, taking care of the kids to give me a break.

*What's the most interesting thing about him? My favorite thing about him is his sense of humor. It makes me laugh when he thinks he is the most hilarious person in the world.