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Today is our one year anniversary. This year has been incredible and I'm so grateful for all the blessings we've recieved, and there have been many:) To celebrate, we went to dinner at Ruth's Chris last night. It was fun to get dressed up, go out and spend time together. The food was delicious and the staff made it extra special by putting rose petals on our table and treating us to a dessert, nice huh?

We asked for our dessert to go because we were too full to eat it there. So our waiter put two candles on a plate for us each to make a wish. I thought it was nice even though I never knew you blew out candles and made wishes on anniversaries. To many more wonderful years together, making memories. I love you Chris:)

Days before our anniversary, Chris and I were talking about 'our story'. We want to have how we met and dated and decided to get married in writing so our kids could read it and also, so we won't forget details that are so fresh to us now. Here it is if you want to read it.

Chris and I were living in Phoenix, Arizona when we were set up on a blind date by our mutual friend, Sara Chapman, in February 2008. Chris called to set up a day and time but I was in the car with my friend Christin and had a hard time hearing him so he had to keep repeating everything he said. I sensed he wasn't pleased about repeating but I remember laughing about it. Chris confirmed later it made for an awkward first phone call. The day came and he picked me up to go out to eat. On the phone he only asked if I wanted to go to dinner. I figured he wanted to see how dinner went and then continue the date if I passed the initial screening. After dinner he asked if I wanted to go to his apartment to talk and play guitar hero. In my mind I was thinking, ‘I guess I passed’. We just talked and played guitar hero. We both said later that we had fun but didn’t know what to expect next. We went out a couple more times and I started to like Chris but couldn’t figure out how interested he was. Chris later told me he was drawn to me but because he had recently come out of a long relationship, he wasn't ready to date seriously. In March, some friends of mine planned a camping trip and convinced me to invite him. He came and throughout the night we made a bet about the time the second half of the group would show up. When he asked what he gets if he wins, I told him to choose. He decided he should get a kiss if he wins. I replied, ‘just one?’ Chris laughed and replied ‘well, I didn’t want to be greedy’. I was a little embarrassed after I said that because my intent was to clarify but obviously that is not how it was interpreted. I lost the bet and Chris got his kiss(es).
We continued to spend time together but the relationship was not defined. I already knew I was interested but did not want to be the one to initiate a conversation telling him that. One night after institute, Sara (same as above), Chris and I went over to Chris’ house to watch 'The Office'. We all drove separate cars. When we got there, Sara and I had a hard time finding places to park. Chris called me while I was trying to find a parking space, to apologize for the scarce parking and ask if I found one yet. While on the phone with him, Sara called in on the other line. I told Chris to hold on because Sara was calling to find out where his apartment was. By then, I had parked and was walking through the complex to his apartment. I clicked over to Sara and told her where to go. She then started asking me about Chris, saying things like ‘Isn’t Chris cute? He’s just so cute.’ I replied, ‘I know, he is so cute’ and went on and on about how much I like him. Then all of sudden I heard ‘uh, Ginny, this is Chris, you’ve been talking to me the whole time.’ I froze! I looked down at my phone and it said Sara as the caller. I was in total disbelief, thinking it had to be a joke, that Sara had passed him her phone and told him to say that. Nope, I wasn’t that lucky. Apparently, Sara hung up right when I clicked over to answer her call so my phone went back to Chris’ call but my phone still read Sara on it. Chris thought it would be obvious it wasn’t her because he did a horrible impression of Sara. Not so obvious to me though. I thought she sounded funny but since I was sure I clicked over it never occurred to me that I would be talking to anyone else. I hung up the phone and called Sara to ask her if I was just talking with her, praying that I was. By then Chris told her what happened and they both were laughing. I thought about turning around, walking back to my car and going home but Sara convinced me to stay. I was completely embarrassed. Chris tried his best to make me feel better about the situation but he thought it was funny too. My only consolation was that we were going to watch the show, 'The Office', which is full of awkwardness but it would make me laugh. Not so lucky again because it didn't get recorded. We all sat there for a few minutes then Sara said she had to go and I quickly followed her out the door. She laughed the whole way back to her car, trying her best to reassure me it wasn't that embarrassing. I then sat in my car contemplating if I should go back up to Chris' and find out what or if he was thinking about us. I couldn't make the decision and had to get a second opinion. I called my friend Ashley, who was visiting her fam in CA. She had me on speaker phone and I retold the story. Well, her fam thought the story was hilarious and unanymously agreed I should go back and talk to Chris. So I did. He really felt bad that I was so embarrassed and gave me a hug, which made me feel better. We started talking and he said he really liked spending time with me but he wasn't interested in dating me. I told him there's no point for us to be friends if he already knew he didn't want to date. He did not expect that and was a little taken back. He walked me to my car and gave me a hug. I remember thinking 'this is the last time I'm gonna see or hear from this guy.' Well, the next day Chris texted me and a few days later he called asking if I was going to some party. I was a little bothered by it, but also a little happy. After awhile I kinda gave up the idea of not being friends since he continued to keep in contact and I didn't want to tell him to stop because I liked him. Chris told me later that he wanted to get to know me better but he wasn't ready to date me.

The beginning of July I went home to Florida for a visit. Chris called and texted me throughout the week and it stood out to me how he kept asking when I was coming back to Arizona. He called the day after I returned to see if I was going to our stake volleyball game. I wasn't able to go. Later that week, he asked if I wanted to get together. I already had plans with friends to go to a midnight showing of 'The Dark Knight', so I invited him to come along. He came. All this attention got me wondering if he had changed his mind about dating me. So I asked him and he restated as he said before that he couldn't date me. I was a little frustrated and confused. I again said I didn't want to be his friend but I changed my mind two days later and called to tell him. I realized we had become good friends regardless of the whole dating/non-dating situation. Chris agreed and apologized for his confusing behavior. One week later Chris called and asked me out. He said, 'you probably hate me but do you want to go out on a date this weekend?' I said yes, of course. Chris made me lasagna for dinner and it was delicious. We watched a movie and then ventured to the back yard to chat. We were in the hammock together and we kissed. We still debate about who kissed whom because we each think the other initiated the kiss. The next night we went out and decided we shouldn't continue kissing if we weren't going to be exclusive.

Throughout August and September, we went out on some dates but it wasn't until my birthday (September 29th) that he no longer was known as 'Fickle McFickleson' to my roomates. He made me whatever I wanted for dinner and I requested steak, mashed potatoes and gravy, aparagus and homemade cheesecake with strawberries for dessert. It was so good. That night he kissed me and from then on, we saw each other almost everyday. Chris went home to Utah for Thanksgiving. Later, I found out he had mentioned to his parents that he was thinking about proposing to me but wasn't sure when. I picked him up from the airport when he came back and that's the first time we said 'I love you' to each other. I asked Chris if he wanted to come home to Florida with me for Christmas. He came and proposed December 29th, 2008. We had already planned on going to the beach the morning he was flying back to Arizona. We got there early in the morning and layed out a blanket to sit on and enjoy the remaining of the sunrise. We were practically the only ones on the beach. Chris asked me if I wanted a snack. I turned around to look at the condos behind us and when I turned back around Chris was down on one knee with a ring. I gasped and couldn't believe it. He said he loved me and some other wonderful things then asked if I would marry him. I said yes! We went to breakfast and then I took him to the airport. We were married March 7th, 2009:)

Isn't she beautiful?!!!

Lila Sharon Johnson was blessed on Sunday, February 21st. It was a special day that I will always remember and tell Lila all about when she's older. Chris gave a wonderful blessing to Lila. He blessed her to have a strong testimony and love of the gospel, a good sense of humor, compassion for others, and many more wonderful things. Lila was as always, calm and easy going. She even waved to the congregation when Chris held her up to show her to everyone:) She's just so cute! Her Grandma (whom her middle name is after) and Grandpa Johnson were able to be here from Utah and my sister-in-law Shannon and her family came as well as our friend Josh from Sacramento.

After the blessing, Chris was holding her and this note was passed to us from his niece, Kiley. We were expecting a cute pic or something but then laughed when we saw this. So, of course we had to pass Lila around for the family to hold her. She only opened her eyes briefly to give a look of 'what are you doing and who has me now?"

I'm not sure why we didn't take one pic with everyone but we did take pics with everyone seperately. Here they are:

Our family pic.

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Afterwards, everyone came to our place for some food and to visit. Chris' parents adore Lila and wanted to hold her every chance they could and Lila loved it as well:)