Everything happens...for a reason: January 2012

Married life so far...

Daniel took me to Sea World for our honeymoon! LOVED it!

We took my grandma to see her favorite singer, Alan Jackson!

First Christmas as Mr. and Mrs. Wilks

Snow ball fights with the boys

Finally we made a snowman!

Daniel took me to a Redhawks baseball game for my birthday.

Daniel and Preston while we were camping

Preston with Andie while we watched the fireworks.

Ashlynn and Preston waiting for fireworks.

Tate and Carson at the Redhawks game we took them to.

Cooper and Ashton at the game.

Cooper and I at the game.

We made it one year!!!

Baby Madden was born and what a blessing he has been for Lauren!

I got to love on these precious babies everyday for a year!

Carson watching tv with Andie

Preston's Birthday!!

We got a new sister in law, Abbey

Our neice, Bethanie graduated high school and started college!

We celebrated Wes and Ape getting married!

Wes and Daniel at the reception..any time Daniel is with his siblings or Wes he acts strange :-)

First Nascar race in Texas!! Awesome!!

Daniel at Texas Motor Speedway.

Cookout for Daniel and Rebecca's birthday

We got a kitten!!! Lilly

We said goodbye to my grandma, 1-7-11

I joined Premier in March 2011!

Nascar in Kansas!

We made it two years!!!

My baptism! A new beginning!!!

My amazing church family at my baptism! I love all of them!!

Rebecca and Daniel's birthday celebration. (They are a day apart)

Daniel opening his gift that Preston picked out!

Daniel and I camping with our friends.

Preston and I on the boat!

Preston's hermit crabs we got him for his birthday! :-)

Christmas 2011

Preston opening his gift.

Me holding baby Caden (Melissa's new baby) Happy New Year!!!

Marriage has been great. We have certainly had quite an adventure so far. We've gained new family members and said goodbye to others, had awesome time with friends, celebrated birthdays, welcomed new babies to the world, quit my job as the preschool teacher, working on two bachelor degrees, took two Nascar vacations, found a church that we LOVE, we had a few baptisms in our pool (including mine), and struggled to get pregnant. We've probably gone through one of the hardest things that we will ever go through that has made us stronger and closer as a couple...trying to have a family, which will lead me to my next blog.

Well, I’ve decided to give blogging a shot. It’s something I’ve thought about for awhile but I’m not a very good writer. When I have to write a paper for school or an email for my Premier business it takes me f-o-r-e-v-e-r just to get out what I want to say! I’m not the best speller (thank God for spell check), not the best with grammar, or getting my thoughts out so that they make sense to others. So we’ll see how this turns out.

One of the main reasons I’ve wanted to start blogging has to do with Daniel and I wanting to adopt a child in the near feature. (Vanessa, you are my inspiration for starting my blog-I’ve enjoyed reading about your journey in your blog and hope that maybe one day I can inspire a young woman with my story.) Before I give all the details and let you know why we have come to that decision I want to tell you a little about me and Daniel.

Fall 2004

Daniel and I met when we worked at Head Country BBQ Restaurant while we were in high school. I actually worked with his brother (Matthew) first. When Matthew went off to college Daniel started at Head Country. If someone were to ask me back then if I liked Daniel, thought I would date him, or even marry him- I would have told them they were crazy! Heck, I did tell people that. I even told Daniel that. Boy was I wrong! He has been the only guy I’ve ever dated and I would change nothing about our journey together! When we worked together we argued, I went home every night and would complain about him to my best friend Rebecca. Rebecca would say “you are going to marry him one day”. I would say “you are crazy, no way” “he drives me crazy”. But my grandma always told me the boy that likes you the most will pick on you and drive you crazy. She was right! A few months after he had been there we started dating. Two weeks into dating, Daniel told me he loved me. Believe it or not I didn’t say it back and broke up with him the next day…L I didn’t think I was ready for a serious relationship or ready for the “love” word. I thought he was crazy, only two weeks of dating and he loves me?? No way. But the next day he asked to come over so we could talk. We ended up talking all night and were dating again. Over the next four years we dated off and on, me being the one to break up with him. I still didn’t think I was ready for a serious relationship-I wanted to be independent. It never failed, every time we dated both our moms would say you are going to marry each other-even Daniel started saying it. My answer to that was “you are crazy”! I was in college; I didn’t want to think about getting married. Once I entered my second year of college my whole life changed. Daniel and I were not dating or really talking, I moved back in with my mom, I was not speaking to my dad anymore, and my grandpa had passed away in the spring (which was very hard on me). I had never lost anyone so close to me before; I had just been at his house the day before and he was his happy self giving me a hard time. I remember leaving his house and listening to the voice mail he had left me and as I hit delete I remember thinking, Chelsey you should have saved that. To this day I wish I had so that I could hear his voice one more time. During this time all I could think about was how I wanted to call Daniel and wanted him to be there with me. Less than a month after my grandpa passed away Daniel and I started talking again. At the time he traveled for work and was gone all the time so we just communicated on the phone and by email. Once he was in town for a couple of days he took me to Oklahoma City to eat at Toby Keith’s Restaurant for my birthday. The whole evening felt different. Talking with each other, my feelings for him…just all seemed different. I remember thinking all I wanted him to do when we got back to town was to kiss me, instead I settled for a hug and “I’ll call you tomorrow”. Ever since that evening we’ve been together. I think that losing my grandpa changed me in some ways. For the first time I felt like I knew what I wanted, I wanted to spend the rest of my life with Daniel. Ten months into talking and dating we were engaged. Two years later I married my high school sweetheart. Sometimes I think that if I had not lost my grandpa when I did…things might be different. I thank God everyday for Daniel. Everything happens…for a reason.