Our first home

After a short honeymoon in the Wisconsin Dells, we were home.

Kent had been living in a small rental house when we married.  And I mean small.  It had originally been a two-car garage, which was the living room and bedroom, and it had a 6 foot wide addition that ran the length of the house that became the kitchen and bathroom.  But it was our first house!   With the couch and chair Kent's folks gave us, my bedroom set and piano, and a kitchen table we were settled.

We had a nice surprise our first week, too.  Kent had been working at a small local company, but had a message waiting to call personnel at the Rock Island Arsenal when we got home.  He was hired on immediately, and spent the next 22 years there.  His job required frequent travel, and we often went along with him through the years.  In fact, his travel schedule was a big factor in our first RV purchase - we were already homeschooling by then, and it was easy to go along, and extra nice to spend a month or two in Florida away from the midwest winters! :)  

- Dana

A short honeymoon in the Wisconsin Dells?  I was such a romantic.  I took my bride to the circus museum.  I think it was to be a premonition of what life was to be like with 7 kids.

When we got home to the "garage", I found a notice to go for an interview at the Rock Island Arsenal for a job.  I had been trying to get hired there for several years.  My job at the time was as a quality control tech at a small electronics company and I loved it.  The only problem was that the pay was not going to support my new bride and I the way I wanted.  After the interview I was hired and got an immediate 30% raise.  God is good all the time!

I have been a traveler all my life so it is no surprise that I enjoyed taking Dana on trips with me.  I regretted that I couldn't take her with me on every trip.  I didn't even suspect at that time that my job would enable the nomadic lifestyle we so enjoy today.

 - Kent

Our beginning........

So this is it... Friday, May 8, the last day of college.  Tonight is graduation.  It's been a busy week with lots of extra activities, projects to finish, rehearsal, family is coming, and there's packing and cleaning to move out of the dorm.  Oh, plus I'm getting married - tomorrow.

Kent and I met in college (Central Christian College in Moberly, MO) and started dating our junior year.  We got to know each other in Greek class, and were soon studying together, along with another friend or two, most nights.  Kent ended up moving back home (Moline, IL) that summer, and our relationship continued via telephone and weekend visits.

I had my "candlelight" - a tradition where all the girls in the dorm were called together after hours and a lit candle was passed around the circle (with the engagement ring tied to a ribbon) and the recepient blows out the candle announcing her big news - in January, and we planned our wedding for May 9 - the day after graduation (since all the family and friends would already be there.)

Kent arrived Thursday night and I broke my last college curfew.  Friday morning, I went to my 7:00 and 8:00 o'clock classes, and then called it a day.  My parents arrived, and my mother was appalled to discover I still needed the zipper put in my wedding dress (it was all done besides that!)  So we finished that up, packed up my car (for my soon-to-be brother-in-law to drive from Missouri to Illinois), and both families went out to dinner to celebrate my graduation.

The graduation ceremony went off without a hitch, and we called it an early night.  Because tomorrow was also my dad's birthday, and I was planning a surprise party for him at lunch - between rehearsal and and a 2:00 o'clock wedding - and still had to decorate the cake.  (I know, crazy! And the craziest part - at lunch we completely forgot about the cake - hidden in the oven - and had to call back to the church after the wedding and tell my dad!)   Kent picked me up about 8:00 Saturday morning, and I said goodbye to dorm life.

Saturday morning was spent decorating and rehearsing (our flower girl made a small fortune, trying to entice her to her "spot"), then lunch, then dressing and pictures.  The wedding started promptly at 2:00, and we were officially pronounced at 2:21, according to the college president - I wasn't paying attention to the clock!  A nice reception, and we were off to start this grand adventure!

And that's my story of us!

 - Dana

It was a hectic weekend indeed.  I had gotten a haircut the weekend before the wedding and of course it was a butcher job.  My hair grows fast but not that fast.  By wedding day it wasn't quite as bad as when it was cut, but it wasn't what I wanted it to be either.

The drive to the college was long -- it seemd like I would never get there.

When I finally arrived I was given a room in the guys dorm.  They had a cute little tradition of kidnapping the groom before the wedding, stripping him down and dumping him behind the girls dorm sometime during the week before the wedding.  They got me that night.  I hid in the little cabinet above the closet and had two pillows in front of me so I couldn't be seen.  I had opened the window so they would think I jumped out of the window but I forgot to remove the screen.  My bad.  They kept looking in the room until they found me and had duly initiated me.

The graduation was great.  I loved watching Dana getting her diploma.  I knew she had worked hard for her degree.  Our study sessions had been pretty intense at times.  All the parents took us out to dinner that night (I have the absolute best in-laws any man could ask for).  By the time we were done I thnk we were all so exhausted we could barely see.

Wedding day arrived!  Some friends from the church I had served while in college showed up early.  The daughter of one family was the rich flower girl mentioned above.  The parents of another family had agreed to be the official photographer.  During the rehearsal the guys were typically goofy.  We came out wearing kids choir white shoulder covers.  Dana's brother was playing the piano and kept us in stitches.  He was an excellent pianist and kept throwing in obvious clunkers at all the most inopportune moments.

Finally the real wedding was underway and my knees were knocking so badly, I was sure people could hear them in the back of the church.  When the ceremony was over I was my usual calm and cool self, but married to the sweetheart I thought I could only dream of.

 - Kent