Believe in the Magic Traci Diary

Let me take you back further than 14 years ago because that’s where this story begins.  It was September of ’97 and the fall quarter at the college I attended.  I was running late to one of my classes because I was doing my teaching practicum at a school that was 45 minutes away from my college.  I didn’t have a car, so I rode public transportation to and from the practicum.

I walked into the teaching reading class, and there were no seats.  Hubby was there and practically pushed one of his friends out of their seat.  Unfortunately for hubby, the professor found me a seat next to her.

A few days later, I had an art class, and guess who was in my class.  Yes, hubby!  A few weeks later, the art class professor had a sick family member, so 3 classes were canceled.  We went over to my dorm room and just talked.

In October of ’97, we began dating.  Our first date was at the Spaghetti Warehouse in downtown Dayton.

In January of ’99, I began student teaching.  When I was student teaching, we had a big snow/ ice storm that caused the school to be canceled for multiple days.  I visited his parent’s house for a week, so I was not stuck in the dorms.

I also ended up with either a stomach virus or the flu.  On the day I was sick, he went with his sister to find me an engagement ring.

Since school was canceled and was closed for multiple days, my student teaching was extended for about 3 days.  My last day of student teaching was St. Patty’s Day.

The next day, I had class, and all I wanted to do was sleep and rest afterward because I was exhausted.  Hubby was insistent we go out.  Since it was a rainy/ dreary day, we didn’t get to go where he wanted to – Glen Helen Nature Reserve in Yellow Springs.  Instead, we went looking for apartments.  He was ready to move out of his parent’s house, and I was getting ready to graduate from college in a few months.  The first place we visited ended up being nice, so he got on his knee by the stairs in the apartment and asked me if I wanted the apartment and him.  We were engaged!

That weekend we went to Pittsburgh to visit my grandma, aunt, and cousin.  It was the first time I had been back there in almost 14 years.  It was a nice way to celebrate our engagement.

We planned to live with each other for a year, plan a big wedding, and then get married.  My grandpa put a stop to that plan.  He basically told us that he didn’t want us living in sin even though we had committed to each other.  We decided to follow my grandpa’s wishes for us to get married.  We picked a date on a Saturday for the following year and then began marriage counseling.  We were going to elope a month after we were engaged.

We ran into a snafu while planning the elopement because we needed witnesses.  We decided to ask hubby’s dad and my grandpa.  If we asked them, the rest of the family would be there at the wedding.  We ended up having 12 people at our elopement.   Eleven were family members.  One was a family friend.

It was a Thursday morning around 11 am if I remember right.  I only had classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so I took the day off.  It was also World Day of Prayer.  Our current pastor married us, and then we ate at First Watch.  That night we went to see Shakespeare in Love.

14 years ago today, we were married.  Two days later, I turned 24.  A month later, I graduated from college.  We had our big wedding and honeymoon at Walt Disney World a year later.  A few months after our big wedding, I began working at my current job.  When I decided to marry my sweetheart, it began a snowball effect of life changes.  I cannot believe it’s been 14 years!

Enjoy pics from our bigger wedding a year later.