Thirty: the age that 20-somethings dread. Thirty: the length of many mortgage loans, which seems like an eternity of a time to be in debt. Thirty gets a bad rap, though, because: Thirty: the number of years John and I have been married. Photo: John, in a grey tux, and I, in a white wedding dress, stand outside the Seattle Temple on our wedding day We met in Provo, Utah, while students at Brigham Young University. We married in Seattle, Washington (the closest temple at the time to my parents' home). We lived for a few months in the basement of John's parents' home in Salt Lake City. A job offer took us to Orange County, California. We lived in a little apartment for a couple of years before purchasing our first home--a little upstairs-unit condo, with a view of the train tracks. Our family doubled while we were in California. With two children in the backseat, we moved to the Seattle area. While in Washington, we added three more children to our family.
Living life with a thankful heart