Firsts

The first time Steve and I spent time together, just the two of us, was in May of 2002. We got sandwiches and walked the length of the Arboretum at UC Davis. We had a fabulous time. We went out a few more times over the summer, but weren't really sure if we were officially dating or not until August. We took exactly zero photos of any of the places we went together, even after we were officially together. Steve had a digital camera and I had a film camera, but apparently neither of us took cameras along on any of our dates, including the epic Alcatraz at Night tour we did. Of course, this was well before smartphones, but still. Remember how much I regret not taking more photos of my time as a teacher? That pales to how much I regret not taking pictures of the beginning of my relationship with Steve.

In September 2002, Steve and I went together to a formal gala in San Francisco to benefit the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. This is the first photo he ever took of me: 

And that's it. No photo of our table, or the ballroom, or anything. And no photo of the two of us together. I have no idea why. This was a really big deal. I was a scrapbooker! Why did I not take photos? 

Steve and I started spending every weekend together, plus a rare weeknight whenever we could. (We lived 50 miles apart and I commuted the opposite direction from him.) We went to all sorts of cool museums, concerts, parks, etc. Any photos? Nope. The first photo of the two of us together is this one, from a wedding in October 2002.

Funny story about that wedding. One of my ballroom dance partners (Alan), who I'd been close with for years, was marrying another dancer (Kelly). I knew her, of course, but we weren't close and I probably wouldn't have been on her guest list. My invitation was a plus-one; Steve and I were already getting serious. Seems like a no-brainer that I'd bring him, right? Well, the bride was Steve's ex-girlfriend. They'd broken up before I met her, but she was the reason Steve had ended up doing lighting design for our group in the first place, and thus how he and I met. She didn't know we were dating. I asked her permission to bring Steve and she was gracious enough to welcome him as my wedding date. 

Two years from that first sandwich date, Steve and I got married. Here are some of the 'first' photos from our wedding, 12 years ago today, starting with the first photo of us together on our wedding day:

First photo after we were declared husband and wife:

First photo of our first dance:

First photo of cutting our cake:

You'd think we'd learned our lesson about photos and would take a ton together on our honeymoon, right? Nope. This it the first and ONLY honeymoon photo of the the two of us together.

I've been through so many firsts with Steve over the years. Photos of us together on our first vacation? Nope. Photos of the first day of us in our house? Nope. I'm so sad not to have these. Since I obviously can't do anything about it, I'm focusing on the photos I do have.

This is the first photo of us together on our first anniversary.

This is the first photo of us together when I was pregnant.

And here's the first photo taken of our family of three.

Happy 12th anniversary to the guy who has made the last fourteen years of my life more wonderful than I could ever have hoped. I love you, Steve. I'm looking forward to many more firsts with you as we spend the rest of our lives together. Let's just do a better job of photographing it all, ok?