Family

It all started when a friend needed some extra players for a board game. Well, actually, it started a couple years before then, but it REALLY started when I came over to fill the empty spot at Cranium. That's where I met my future wife - Kassi Huff. She was very lovely and really friendly, and as the night ended I hoped I'd see her again.

We saw each other a couple more times before actually getting together, and chatted online every so often. But usually I'd end up giving some message that implied that I didn't like her, so it took us a few too many months of small interactions before we started dating. Then one day, something magical happened: She bought me some Taco Bell. I offered to pay her back by taking her out to dinner. A romance was born.

Our first date was over Labor Day weekend in 2004, where she was beautiful and I was super-chattery and nervous. It went well, so we had a few more dates and established ourselves as a couple very quickly. Seeing as how I hadn't had a girlfriend before, I had quite a bit to learn. She was patient with me, though, and put up with a lot...

We had some good times together - taking little trips out to Tulsa, visiting friends together, going on dates, solving problems and resolving issues, all the stuff that makes a great relationship great. It wasn't long at all before I had moved out of the dorms and into her apartment, and we adopted a cat together (Kiffem). It took less than two years for us to learn that our relationship really could last.

Meanwhile, I was still attending school at the University of Arkansas. In my senior year I landed a job at Acxiom Corp. in November, which required a move to another city. I broke the news to Kassi and immediately asked if we could get married, to which she agreed. Breaking the habit of calling her 'girlfriend' took a few more months. (No engagement ring yet, although I fixed that on Valentine's Day, 2006)

We had a really great wedding, owing to Kassi's laid-back attitude to planning the event. All we really had to do was show up and enjoy the big party. The honeymoon took us to Eureka Springs and then up to Minnesota, and was a ton of fun.

Nine months later, our daughter Anya was born...

Anyway, I can definitively say I've found the perfect wife, for a number of reasons:

• She's really hot.
• She's really smart.
• We have a ton of fun together, and sharing experiences is great.
• We have similar interests and moral views (at least, on the stuff that REALLY counts), so getting along and communicating is easy.
• She takes excellent care of our family, and is an extremely loving wife and mother.
• Did I mention already that she's really hot?

The only thing is, I sometimes question her sanity: not only did she stick it out with me for the whole two years of dating, but she even agreed to keep doing it for as long as we live. (I got the easy end of the deal: staying with her!)

And here we are in the present day. Marrying Kassi was the best decision I ever made in my life, and every day I consider myself quite a lucky man that I ended up with her. She's absolutely the greatest woman I know. I love her with all my heart.