No Ad Tanning Oil

It is funny how certain things trigger memories and then those memories trigger other memories and so on...Yesterday morning I was heading to the store to buy a birthday present and on the way I started taking a mental inventory of our sunscreen stock to make sure that if we needed some that I picked some up and while I was thinking about that I remembered about that brand of sunscreen called No Ad and thought to myself how clever that was because they don't advertise for their brand and then I started to wonder if it was really cheaper than a brand that is advertised for, which then made me think of the first time I had ever heard of No Ad which is where this story starts.....(wow, was that a run-on sentence or what?!?!?!)


So, lets go back to May of 1994 (just typing that makes it seem like 100 years ago...1994). It was the end of my freshman year at a new school and really, it was a great year. I experienced playing organized sports for the first time, made a lot of new friends and reconnected with some old friends. I also got asked to go to the prom. So, at the dinner they asked everyone to look under their chair and whoever had a little sticker won the door prize...and guess what?!?!? It was my chair!! And you guessed it, it was a bag with a beach towel and No Ad tanning oil...


As I was taking this walk down memory lane of my first prom, some other great memories started flooding my ming.......


Thinking about that No Ad tanning oil and prom made me remember my first dance every with Pratt. We didn't have school sponsored dances so the parents of the junior class would put together an after prom party with dancing for us to enjoy. This particular year the party was at Spanish Wells and I was not the dancing queen then that I am now. I shyed away from the dance floor and spent time talking with my prom date, Kris, and Pratt and his date happened to be sitting at the table with us. Now, I don't know if Pratt had this planned or not, but he eventually tricked me into dancing with him for the next slow dance. I think the song was "Lady in Red", but I was wearing green and I wouldn't let him get close to me at all. I firmly planted my forearms into his shoulders so that there was no way he could pull me in (I don't know if he intended to do that or not, but Iwasn't giving him the opportunity). Anyway, something happened during our time on the dance floor and by the end of the song I was kind of like, "what just happened here????" I mean, everything stopped, everyone faded away and it felt like it was just him and I alone in the room and that was the first time I thought that I might actually like this guy......


...the shocking thing about this to me at this point was prior to this, I really didn't like him one bit!!! I thought he was cocky, arrogant, mean, not serious about anything, loud; everything that was total opposite of me, I was quiet, didn't want to be noticed, studious......


Anyway, the dance ended and I kind of thought, well, he is too cool for me so that was nice but I better take my feelings and stuff it because there is no chance. Flash forward a week or so and as I was heading out for carpool he came running up to me and asked me if he could call me. I think I stuttered all bit before I came up with, "Okay." That night he called me and asked me if I would like to hang out with him on Saturday and I said, "Okay." We worked out when he would pick me up and then I waited. Saturday came and he must have thought I was mute because I don't think I said very much that whole day we were together and when he dropped me back off at home I thought, okay, that was nice but he won't call again....and you wouldn't believe, but he called again!!!!


So we hung out a lot on the weekends and on June 4, 1994 he officially asked me out (you remember, you weren't exclusively dating until you were "asked out"). I said yes and we spent nearly everyday together until he left for France. While he was away he had flowers delivered to me twice and that really impressed my mom and put me over the edge of being head over heels for him. I couldn't wait for him to come back!


The day came, he came home and that night as he was playing basketball he hurt himself really, really bad which led to him having to have surgery on his ankle. After that I didn't hear from him too much and the summer went on. School started again and to me it was a little awkward being around him because I really didn't know what was going on since I all the sudden he stopped calling and stuff.


Then came the high school retreat. We did all of our little activities and during some free time one night he asked me to take a walk with him....oh man, was my heart beating like mad!!! The only reason that I could come up with for him wanting to talk to me all the sudden was that he was going to tell me that he didn't want to date me anymore, but to my pleasant surprise we had a nice talk that night, he walked me back to my cabin and said good night and that was that. After that we started hanging out again.


Now, just so you know, up until this point we really didn't hold hands and we definitely didn't kiss (because you know, kissing gets you pregnant...hahahahha, jk!!!). A few weeks later he kissed me for the first time in the rain in my driveway and I don't know that I slept a wink that night........


The rest is history!!! Next week we will celebrate our 10 year wedding anniversary and I know without a shadow of a doubt that he is the man that God had for me. There is no one else out there who would put up with me like he does, who would encourage me to step out of my comfort zone, who loves me when I am unlovable. He is my best friend, my one and only true love, my husband! Now don't get me wrong, everything isn't always all rosey over here. We have our moments when we don't really like each other very much and it seems nearly impossible that we will come to agreement on somethings, but we made a commitment in front of God and our families to love, honor and cherish one another through all the days of our lives; so when those times come we chose to love each other, we chose to work on things, and we chose to stick it out; and those are the times that we find our relationship grow and become stronger.

Pratt, I love you more than words can say! Thank you for encouraging me, loving me when I make it nearly impossible, for always standing by me, for listening to me rant and rave about whatever it is that I need to rant and rave about and then for letting me cry on your shoulder when I have run out of energy to rant and rave. I am so glad that we have shared so many years together and am excited to share the rest of my days with you!