Seven years later

Once upon a time there was a banker named David, whose banker friend invited him to church. First (?), because it was a great church, and second, because there was "a girl" there that the friend thought David should meet.

That girl was away at grad school. Bummer for that girl. But there was a girl named Cara, who was also going to school, but was here in town.

After some shameless flirting (the debate will continue to rage as to who started said shameless flirting), Cara caught David's eye [or maybe the other way around; no wait, I'm writing the blog - David was completely smitten with Cara].

David's friend and his friend's wife set up a dinner outing with people at church, complete with a designated meeting place to meet and ride together to the other side of town for dinner. Cara showed up at the designated meeting place. So did David, his friend and his friend's wife. Oddly (or rather schemedly - yeah, it's not a word, but it conveys my meaning anyway), everyone else met at the restaurant, where Cara headed to the table and buried herself among some friends so as to not have to sit by David and look too "date-y" and have too many people gossip about them.

Good effort Cara. Eventually David worked up the nerve to ask Cara out on a real date - lunch at a much frumpier place than Cara would normally dine. Little did David know, Cara would've been just as happy with a slice of pizza from the food court. Thanks to law school finals, Cara and David didn't have another date for a few weeks - Christmas at the Zoo and dinner out. David alleges that he knew then that Cara was the girl for him. Cara took a little more convincing [her thought process at that time: I'm nearly done with law school. I don't have time for this nonsense.]

But David was persistent. One year to the day after their first frumpy lunch date, David proposed to Cara downtown at the canal, complete with twinkly Christmas lights and mind numbing cold temperatures.

In the next year, Cara wrote a big ugly all-consuming paper for law school, graduated law school, spent weeks at bar review, got kidnapped from bar review by her mom and sister to shop for a wedding dress, spent a week living in a hotel w/a fridge stocked full of her favorite study foods(courtesy of David - still one of the best gifts ever) to study non-stop for the bar, took the bar, passed the bar, planned a wedding, got married, and gleefully honeymooned in Cancun!

And never, never, ever, did Cara imagine that this is what life would look like 7 years later - attorney turned stay at home mom to three (!) little boys, with a wonderfully loving and supportive husband who works so hard to let her be at home (even though Cara is quite sure an attorney's salary was more what he had in mind, rather than a gluestick waving, cookie baking, minivan driving mama). But that's what this whole marriage thing is about, right? Compromise, change, growing together, and most of all - a whole lotta love!

Thank you, David, for 7 wonderful years of marriage, 3 fantastic little boys, and the promise of the rest of our lives together. I love you!