This document is a multigenre life story project created by Sarah Blanton for her husband Chad. It contains poems, letters, narratives and other pieces documenting important moments in their relationship from how they met to their marriage, pets, and hopes for starting a family. The pieces convey Sarah's deep love for Chad and gratitude for their journey together.

1. MULTIGENRE LIFE STORY
PROJECT
For My Amazing Husband,
Chad
With Love From Your Wife,
Sarah

2. AUTHOR
My name is Sarah Blanton. I am 26 years old and a
UNCC student studying Elementary Education with a
concentration in Social Studies. I have always had a love
for children and can’t wait to be a teacher. When I am
not at school or hanging out with children, I love to
spend time with my friends, family, and my wonderful
husband, Chad. I am writing this for my husband to
show him how much I love, adore, and cherish him as a
part of my life. This is a story of our journey together.
This is intended for my husband and I to look at and
reflect on our wonderful life together.

3. CHAD
A P O E M
He is from a big family. He is one of four siblings. He is the second
oldest in his family. He is the glue that holds his family together. He is
strong. He is wise beyond his years. He is a Godly man that loves the
Lord and serves Him daily. He is kind and good to all he knows. He is
a generous man who gives to those in need. He is a hard worker. He is
a provider. He is a comforter and friend. He is a man who loves to
make people happy. He is a loving and caring man.
He is my best friend. He is the one who makes me laugh. He is the
one who holds me when I cry. He is my rock in hard times. He is the
leader of our family. He is my protector. He is the shoulder I lean on.
He is to be an amazing father to our future children. He is my
everything.
HE is my Husband.

4. HOW WE MET AND BEGAN TO
DATE
A N I N F O R M A T I O N A L P I E C E
Chad and I met each other at a church bible study. I was babysitting for the family that was hosting it
and he was attending it. We just were briefly introduced at that time. He was dating someone at the time
and so was I. I saw him on and off at church but never really spoke with him at all. We did not really
see each other until a year later when I attended a bible study. I was not aware it was his house but once
I walked in and met everyone I realized he was there. He for some reason was under the impression that
I was a teenager and did not talk with me a church because he thought I was a lot younger than I really
was. We began to talk and hung out for the first time on his birthday with a bunch of his friends. We did
not get to talk very much during the his birthday party. However, later he called me and asked me on
our first date. On our first date, he made me dinner and we watched a movie at his house. We left the
night with a kiss and went of a few more dates after that. He asked me to be his girlfriend on January
1, 2010 and I said yes. We have been together ever since.!

5. OUR DATING ADVENTURE

6. OUR FIRST BABY
R I L E Y

7. OUR 1 YEAR DATING
ANNIVERSARY
T H E L E T T E R W R I T T E N I N S I D E O U R A N N I V E R S A R Y P H O T O
B O O K
Chad, January, 2011
The very first time I met you, I knew there was something special about you! And over the past year
of dating, I have fallen in love with the amazing man you are. You are my best friend who knows
everything about me. You are the first person I want to talk to in the morning and the last one I
want to talk to before bed. You are always there for me in everyway, good and bad. You are an
amazing man of God and I love your kind and giving heart. You are the love of my life and I am
truly blessed by God to have you as my own! I love you more than you will ever know! Thank you
for loving me always! I made this book so that we can always remember our journey together! I love
you!
Love Always,
Sarah

8. THE PROPOSAL
M A R C H 1 2 , 2 0 1 1

9. The Day That Changed My Life Forever
A Narrative Piece
It was a beautiful spring day when Chad and I arrived in Charleston. We had planned a wonderful weekend to
celebrate my spring break from school and it was finally here! I was so excited to experience Charleston for the first
time with Chad. We were so excited to go and explore that we got up early to get some coffee and walk by the water
front park. Once we had walked the water way, we made our way over to the Marketplace in the center of town. I was
so excited to go shopping and see all the unique knickknacks the market stands offered. We shopped for most of the
day, walking up and down the streets looking at in stores and just enjoying being together. However, while this was all
going on Chad had been constantly on his phone texting all morning and it was starting to drive me nuts. “Who are
you texting so much?” I asked. He responded, “Oh, no one, just one of the guys. They were talking to me about the
game last night.” That answer was fine to me and I paid it no more attention. Later that day, we went back to our
hotel room and relaxed before our carriage tour and dinner reservations. As I was getting ready, Chad asked if I would
want to get dressed up for dinner, like dress and suit dressy. I said yes and we got all dressed up for dinner. As we left
the room, I saw he had a wrapped present with him. I asked him what it was and he said it was a present to celebrate
my spring break. He said we would it at dinner. It was the shape of a book or something like that. So I was interested
to see what it was. We made our way to meet up with our carriage tour. I was so excited. I had never been in
Charleston before and was going to get to see the heart of the city in a carriage at sunset. How luck am I?!

10. Our carriage tour started just as the sun began to set. The guide told us all the history of
Charleston and what the buildings were. When we came up to the water front park, the guide
stopped the carriage and said that people usually like to get out and walk around for a minute.
So we got out and walked around the park. While we walked, Chad said that he wanted me to
have my spring break present now, so we sat down on a bench in front of a pineapple
fountain. Chad gave me the present and asked me to open it. As I unwrapped it, I saw that it
was a book. It was a picture book of all of our photos we have taken together while we had
been dating. As I turned the pages, some of the pages had bible verses that talked about
marriage. I thought it was so sweet of him to make me this book and felt bad because I had
made something similar for him for Valentine’s Day and his was much better than mine. I
truly did not click with me that this was a proposal book until I reached the last page. And
there on the last page was a picture of Chad holding a ring and it said, “Will you marry me?”
When I went to look at Chad, he was on one knee and holding the very same ring in the
picture and asked me to marry him. I was honestly so shocked, I was crying and shaking. I
couldn’t even talk. I had no idea.

11. I of course said yes and we kissed and hugged. The people around us cheered and took picture by
the fountain for us. As we made our way back to the carriage to be on time for our dinner
reservations, I told him I wanted to call my mom and dad. I told him surely my mom does not
know because otherwise I would have known the proposal was coming. She can’t keep a secret!
Chad told me she knew and he just wanted to wait to call everyone until after dinner so we could
enjoy our time together. So I agreed and we hopped back in the carriage and went to eat dinner.
When we arrived at the restaurant, Chad gave them our name and the hostess looked puzzled by it
for some reason. I told Chad, “Do you think they don’t have our reservation?” He said, “No, they
do.” So we wait a minute and the hostess said, “Blanton for 2, oh yes, right this way.” I thought she
was a bit weird, but whatever. So we followed her to our table. She took us past all of these tables
and then past the kitchen. I told Chad, “Where is she taking us?” And just as I said that, we turn
the corner into a small room. There in the room were both Chad and I’s whole families waiting for
us. I was so shocked. I immediately started to cry. In fact I cried for almost a half an hour. I could
not believe it! Now it all made sense, Chad was texting all day to our families to tell them where we
were so we wouldn’t run into to them. What an amazing man I get to married I thought! With
both our families there, we had an engagement party right there and celebrated long into the night.

12. THE WEDDING
O C T O B E R 1 5 , 2 0 1 1

13. OUR VOWS TO EACH OTHER
W R I T T E N T O G E T H E R
I, take you, to be my wedded husband/wife, knowing in my heart that you will be my
constant friend, my faithful partner on life, and my one true love. I will cherish our friendship
and love you today, tomorrow, and forever. God has prepared me for you and I promise to
love you without reservation. Comfort you in times of distress, encourage you to achieve all
your goals, laugh with you and cry with you, grow with you in mind and spirit, always be open
and honest with you, and cherish you always. I promise to live a life of faith and hope in
Christ Jesus. As I have given you my hand to hold, so I give you my life to keep. Throughout
life, no matter what may lie ahead of us, I pledge to you my life as a loving a faithful
husband/wife, as long as we both shall live.

14. THE MARRIAGE

15. I THINK I AM READY. ARE YOU?
A P E R S U A S I V E P I E C E
We have been married a little over a year and feel it is time to talk about babies. I want to talk about having
children and think I am ready. I feel I am a very responsible adult and have a lot of experience with children
which would make me a great mom. I also think since we have been married over a year and we are in our mid-
twenties it is the perfect time to be thinking about having children. Now I know that you are not so found of the
idea happening right this moment in our lives, because I need to finish school and we need a bigger house. I can
understand all of those things but think there will never be the right time to have a baby and we could always
find something that we need to fix or do before we think about having children. I feel like I need something little
to take care of that is my own and needs me. And just think, the baby might look like you and cool would it be
to have a little Chad walking around! I know you are so great with children and I am just so ready to start a
family of our own. I know we can be good parents. You know how much I love children and I truly just want
one of my own that looks like us and that we can pour our love into. Please consider the thought of us starting a
family soon!

16. NO BABIES YET, BUT A PUPPY
WE CAN DO!
After much talking about whether or not to
have children, we decided to wait until next
year and got a baby puppy instead! So I did
get a baby, just a puppy baby which was fine
by me!.Lacie Lou Blanton is the newest
member of the Blanton family. She came to
us on Christmas morning when you
surprised me with her sitting in a basket
under the Christmas tree. She is our baby
dog and I love her! Thank you sweetheart!

17. DEAR CHADLY,
A L E T T E R
I have had an amazing journey with you of the past year and half marriage. I have learned so much about myself in
being with you. You bring out the best in me and push me to accomplish all my goals in life and I love you for it. We are
been through so much in this short time we have been married. You have been all the things you promised to me in ours
vows and more! I am so very grateful and thankful for you in my life. We are have had mostly really great times and have
been blessed beyond belief with the things God has given us in our lives. We have also had hard times in our marriage.
The loss of first baby dog Riley rocked our world. It was a terrible time in our family and so very hard to over come. But
together we did. That experience helped us to grow stronger as a couple and benefitted our marriage greatly. We are
stronger than before and I know that we can together face anything that may come our way. I want to thank you for
loving as you do. I don’t know how I am so blessed to have you as my best friend and husband, but I am forever grateful!
Thank you for supporting in me in all I do and for providing me with a great home and w wonderful life. I am so excited
for what lies ahead for us. We are getting ready to move into a new stage in our life, :a move to a bigger house and
planning for future Blanton babies. I cannot wait to share all of this with you and I am excited for many more years of
sharing life together. I love you more than you will ever know.! Love your wife , Sarah