Seven Years - Happy Anniversary to Us!

27 May 2001

Today, seven years ago... I married Joshua Caleb Sisson.

Or he married me, however you want to look at it.
We got married at Grace Lutheran Church, in Clarksville, TN.
I was 23 and Josh was 20. Of course, we had no idea what we were getting into - except eachother.

So, in memory of this special day - I've been waiting to share a fun and crazy "Josh and Heidi Story" - something I haven't done in a long time. I hope you enjoy this bit of our history.

The Pre-Event:

It was probably 1998. I was in the Army. Near Ft. Campbell is this place called the Eagle's Nest. It is a place for soldiers to go - hang out and attend Bible Studies, enjoy homemade pizza on Friday nights, and fellowship on Sunday's after Church.

About four months after I became a "regular" at the Eagle's Nest - along came Josh.

This is where I typically tell people that my first impression of Josh was that of a "Alex P. Keaton" from Family Ties - sort of guy. He was funny, very friendly, a bit hyper (o.k. - a lot hyper), liked to tease girls, sorta cute..., but had a caring and polite side to him as well. Mostly, he really knew how to make people laugh. I also remember that in one of the first days Josh came to the E.N. I thought in the back of my mind, "I need to find this kid a girlfriend." I am not a very good matchmaker and why this thought entered my mind is beyond me, and futhermore it never even dawned on me that the girlfriend I would be looking for was ... ME. (Mind you, I had only known him for two days... I didn't even know what wedding bells were!!)

So... fast forward a couple weeks...

The Story:

My roomate (Lambo - no, not Rambo, Lambo, short for Lamboglia) and I walked into the chow hall for supper one night.

First, let me paint a picture of Lambo - she is Italian/Puerto Rican - she is very slim and extremely fit... she has gorgeous, long, black hair... she wore heals whenever she wasn't wearing her uniform... and had a tan year round without going to the tanning salon.

And then there' s me... midwesterner, from MN, white as a chicken, hair pulled back in a bun, still in my uniform, really just wanted to eat and go home and go to bed...

And then there was Josh - sitting at a table full of other young Infantrymen (all of whom were gawking at Lambo) whispering in a huddle about that girl that just walked in.

Apparently, at this point Josh tells all these drooling pots of testosterone that he knows me...

Lambo and I filled our trays, walk past Josh's table, and sit down across the way...

I explain to Lambo that I know Josh and wanted to invite him to sit with us. So, I turn around and every guy at that table was staring at us... I wave Josh over...

He did the little "Me?" (gulp.) gesture - and I did the little "yeah, YOU!" gesture back.

He froze....

All the guys at his table were like, "GO!!!"

So, Josh stood up, picked up his tray and walked on over...

And then....

Just as Josh opened his mouth to say "Hi Heidi!" - he nailed the corner of his tray against the table and literally spilled two large glasses of water all over the table, my roomate, and myself.

***SILENCE IN THE CHOW HALL!!!***

Josh probably felt about this . big.

Poor guy. Everyone shifted their attention from my roomate to him. I felt sooooo bad. I tried my best to tell him not to worry about it... it was just water, no big deal... but he pretty much shut down for the rest of the meal. He didn't want to eat and I'm sure he dreaded going back to the barracks to hear all the remarks from the other guys at his table.

However... seven years of wedded bliss and two amazing little kiddos! That's a pretty good darn recovery don't ya think??

So for all you guys out there trying to land that special girl, forget the cheezy pick up lines... just spill water all over her, it might work like a charm!