How I Met Your Father

Doug took the class because he'd had the teacher twice before & knew he could make a good grade; I took the class because it was either that or poetry.

Those are the first words he ever said to me. I thought he was shorter than me, with red hair & funny sandals. He thought I was opinionated.

I was dating my high school boyfriend, he was in a serious relationship. We stayed close through several class projects & over AIM.

One day outside of the business building, I saw him & for the first time in our friendship, we hugged. I felt tingles all the way down to my toes. A week later, we went out to dinner "as friends."

Doug picked me up in his black pickup truck & took me to O'Charley's where he had soup & I ate chicken fingers. I wore jeans with a aqua tshirt & a khaki blazer over it.

April 22, 2004. He had spent the night in my dorm room after celebrating his impending graduation the night before. That morning, he leaned over & kissed me for the first time. I said "I thought you were never going to get around to that!"

After trying to deny it for a long time, we finally just admitted that we were crazy for each other. Doug told me that he loved me one afternoon in July.

Doug ran a golf course & we spent almost every weekend together on the course. I would drive over after summer classes as he wrapped up the day. Every time I hear Kenny Chesney's song "I Go Back," I think of the times I drove the highway to Doug's work.

When you know, you know. You know? Sitting by the fire & reading The Polar Express with him, my head on his shoulder...& I just KNEW this was the man I would be with for the rest of my life.

Doug came for Christmas the first year we dated, which was unheard of in our family. He also came to Easter, my birthday, & our beach vacation.

He bought my engagement ring sometime in the spring of 2005, but I begged him not to give it to me. I was spending the summer in the mountains on the Apalachian Trail, away from him for 3 months. I couldn't bear to be engaged & separated, so he waited with it in his pocket until I returned.

In August 2005, he got down on one knee on the beach & asked me to be his wife. Nothing could contain our joy.

We had a typical Southern Baptist reception with no alcohol & a delicious lemon & buttercream cake. Yep. Put it right to the face-parts.

At 5:30am the morning after we married, we boarded a plane to St. Lucia & spent an entire week in the sunshine. (p.s. I doubt I'll ever get that bikini body back!)

We adopted Tuck in October 2006 from the local animal shelter. She's a German Shepherd/Collie mix & our first baby.

Doug started the tradition of putting a Tiffany box at the bottom of my stocking. I wouldn't ever be disappointed if it wasn't there one year, but it is so exciting to see what he's picked out. He has great taste in jewelry.

We've learned a lot in this little house.

They say the first year is the hardest, but we had a blast. It was so much fun moving in together, setting up our home, learning to cook & live together.

We took an impulsive beach trip down to Emerald Isle where we were engaged with some friends. Sleeping on a pull-out couch & making a mix on the iPod for the road.

We celebrated Halloween & my first pregnancy as KFed & Britney, but I miscarried our baby a month later. We were heartbroken.

Expecting Harrison - one of the happiest, most exciting times in our lives.

This was the hardest year of our marriage. I suffered from deep postpartum depression & Doug was my rock through the entire ordeal. His devotion & patience with me was the purest form of love.

Almost six years under our belt, one little boy, a lifetime ahead of us.