Laura's Strengthening Marriage Blog

Jamie and Tara’s Story (According to Tara)

Married 2 Years

It was a warm Saturday night and the Salt Lake Valley was alive with barbecues and college parties. The date was May 20th, 2005 and I was with the ultimate party girl, my cousin — Kristen Miasnik, making appearances at each of the parties. I must admit…I was NOT in the best mood. I wasn’t feeling that great. I was tired, and I wanted to go home.

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Gary and Valerie

Married 18 Years

She’s #1 out of 139

Gary was doing his best to get married by dating a lot. In fact, being the nerd that he is, Gary kept track of all the girls he took out. He dated 139 different girls during his dating years from high school until he got married. Read the rest of this entry »

Rod and Angela

Married 11 1/2 years

Rod and I first met in Boise, Idaho at a church institute student ward activity where he was teaching the group how to country dance. We were both dating other people at the time, so we thought nothing of each other until we saw each other again at church and realized we had some very significant things in common. Read the rest of this entry »

Matthew and Jia

Married 5 years

HAPPY 5th ANNIVERSARY!

It was December 1998, and my best friend Molly had spent the previous week telling me, in great detail, about her new crush. “He’s charming, brilliant, gorgeous and funny!” Read the rest of this entry »

Dave and Heidi

Dave and I briefly met around the Holidays in 2001. We made no impression on each other, and in fact, he was at my house because my roommate liked him. Read the rest of this entry »

Ed and Margaret

Married 47 years

How We Met

Margaret was just a young 15-year-old girl in my church congregation up in Calgary, Alberta when I first joined the LDS Church back in 1956 at the age of 19. Several years later Margaret was back in Calgary after a year at BYU, and I was just back from my three-year mission to Europe for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

My friend Sam Longbotham and I were walking into a church youth dance late, and encountered a now grown up Margaret, just home from her freshman year at BYU. Read the rest of this entry »

Josef and Krista

It all began when I was 16 and dating this guy. One day this guy introduced me to his best friend, Joe (whom he called his “brother”). Over the next couple months I got to know Josef more, and he quickly became one of my best friends too.

Josef didn’t like the way that his “brother” was treating me. (Josef had a secret crush on me …) He told his “brother” that he needed to either start treating me better or he needed to break up with me. Josef was told “Well, you’ll see her before I will. Why don’t you just tell her I don’t want to date her anymore.” Read the rest of this entry »

Brian and Deby

Brian and I met in the Harris Fine Arts Center on the campus of Brigham Young University. I was studying there with a friend when Brian walked down the stairs and waved to my friend. I was immediately drawn to Brian’s gorgeous eyes. He tells me that he thought I was pretty darn cute too. Read the rest of this entry »

Chris and Heidie

Married 12 years

Chris and I met at church; during a time I least expected to marry.

After years of childhood abuse and an abusive marriage that ended with unanswered questions, my heart was battered and scarred, with little room to trust. It was a struggle to take care of myself and my toddler and anything else was too much to handle in my already overwhelmed existence. Read the rest of this entry »

David and Darcy

Married 8 Years

David and I met while working at a call center. I had been working at this company for a few months when he started working there. We instantly disliked each other. Read the rest of this entry »