1996

It really is a small world after all because back in 1996 a very little girl was born to Jake and Chris Spry - one of the younger couples at the church the Baldridges attended in Richland Center, Wisconsin.

Little was it known to 2-year-old Mark that the 6lb baby would one day become his wife.

2008

Katie:

The highlights that I remeber are when our mothers met again at the speech club. They were talking and comparing ages of their children. My sister Leah and I were standing one one side of the curb and Mark and Ryan were standing on the other. We were giving eachother skeptical looks and sizing up competition.

I didn't spend very much time with Mark at the speech club, but I recall him being surrounded by his fans who were admiring the computer that he had built into a cardboard box and I spitefully thought to myself, "What a tall skinny nerd!"

Mark:

I really have no recollection of Katie on the day I had my cardboard computer.

December, 2012

Mark:

I do remember seeing Katie at a church bowling event on New Year's and thinking to myself that she was quite cute.

Katie:

I remember that I was sitting with the boys and telling jokes, while Mark was sitting with the girls.

2013

Katie:

Mark was bragging about beating his brother in a push-up competition so I chimed in and challenged him to a push-up competition the next time I saw him to avenge his younger brother. Later on I found out that Mark only agreed because he knew the next time he would see me would be after he completed his Basic Training at ALERT. So every day I did the same amount of push-ups that were required to pass Basic Training.

Mark:

I returned from ALERT a good fifteen pounds heavier. So during a truce at one of our airsoft wars, we hit the deck. I regret to admit that the judges declared it... a tie.

2014

Mark:

During the spring semester of 2014 I was in a stage production at the university where I attend college. I found myself looking forward to the delightful moments when Katie would pop in to pick up her sister Leah who often watched our rehersals. Eventually she started watching the rehersals too, and when I wasn't on stage, I enjoied very plesant company.

Katie:

One evening at Culver's with Mark and some other friends I realized that I enjoied sitting close to him very much, and I didn't want to leave. It was at that point that he was no longer a rival.

Mark:

After the theatre production was over, we kept finding excuses to spend to do things together. While looking back at the summer this fall, Katie and I realized that we had hardly gone more than a few days without seeing eachother since spring. The only exceptions being when one of us was traveling for a week or more at a time.