This is More Than Reality podcast, where we dive into all things faith, family, and marriage, and share that there is so much more than the reality that you see on the surface. Welcome to More Than Reality with Adam and Danielle Busby. Hey, guys. Welcome back to More Than Reality podcast with Danielle and Adam Busby. Here we are today talking about Adam. We're going back to the story of Adam. So last episode-What?

This isn't the story about me. This is the story of us.

Okay, then I'll redo it.

No, we don't redo it. It's just this is what it is.

What are you talking about? I thought we did that already, how we met, and then we were going to talk about you and then me.

This is the continuation.

Continuation of episode one. So I clearly sped up. So guess what episode three is about?

Episode three is about me.

Dude, we planned this out. I mean, I have it typed up.

You need to share that with me, whatever you're typing.

I did three years ago.

Share it again.

So thank you all for listening. We appreciate it and hope you're enjoying it so far.

Yeah, and as of right now, we have launched the trailer. So far, it's just the trailer right now on all podcast platforms, as well as the More Than Reality podcast YouTube channel. So if you're listening to this on any of the podcast platforms, you can also watch this. And we're recording this on video as well on YouTube. And so you can go there and you can subscribe, and you can see our beautiful faces. Should we describe what we look like right now? Just for the people that are listening.

It doesn't really matter. I don't think so. That's the whole point of podcast. You just listen.

Danielle is in a green pant.

Okay.

With fray edges on the bottom ensemble.

No one cares about what we look like right now.

With a fated black shirt. It's frumpy or flowy.

Keep going. Keep frumpy and flowy.

A gold necklace.

Anyway, so we're going to get on with episode 2. So, yes, you may listen on all the platforms of streaming podcasts, but also watch us on YouTube, More Than Reality podcast. No one cares what we look like because it's a podcast.

But we're filming this on YouTube.

Yeah, but we don't have to describe what we look like. If they want to see us, they'll go watch it.

Maybe I described you and they're like, Oh, I got to see this.

Oh, okay. I bet. So last episode, we talked about how we met, which was a fun going down memory lane and Adam trying to do his best telling the story. And then I had to really tell the story in between and fix it all and give all the real good details because he likes to leave these things out.

It's not that I like to leave anything out. It's just, I don't know, especially with the quints being born. Our life has been a blur, and I forgot a lot. You don't remember before Quints? That's why I like reprocessing and talking through this podcast form, just because... I don't know. Just talking about it jogs some memories, but like...

Those shoes are ugly.

They're very comfortable.

Well, maybe we should talk about what Adam's wearing because those shoes are ugly. They're like, they look dirty, but not like- They're not dirty. They're not like golden goose dirty. They just look dirty and gross.

They're off-white. They're not supposed to be pure white. Look at the Nike check. The Nike check is white. I know that. Everything else is just off-white.

They're just ugly. So, squirrel. Go ahead. I love my shoes. They're so comfortable. Sorry, all. They're ugly.

So anyway, we are talking about... We're continuing on how we met, and then nowProposal story, wedding, dating. We hadn't really hit on much your sisters and brother-in-law and stuff like that. Because just us dating wasn't just us getting to know each other and being good friends. We also developed, or I did, a very close relationship with your sisters, brother-in-law's, over that journey, which we're very close.

So we're talking about dating phase, then to marriage. Then comes the baby in the baby carriage.

Babies.

So let's see. So last episode, the first episode, we talked about how we met and first date drama around that, and Adam's standing me up. And if you didn't listen to it, I recommend going to listen to it to find out how we fell in love. But I think we had to say this multiple times last episode, but we've been married for 18 years, and we do love each other because we We have to pick on each other a lot.

Yeah. I mean, that's... With listening to this podcast, you'll learn. Hopefully, you'll get that more. You're going to learn that. And hopefully, we can convey that. Our relationship is very much so just thrive thrives on sarcasms, thrives on just us poking and picking on each other and stuff. And it's all in good fun. We do it to each other. None of it is out of anger or just being upset.

And it's not even just us. It's dynamics with my side of the family. It's like my sisters and the brother-in-law is like, it's just a dynamic we all have with each other that brings it all out of us. And that's why we laugh the time because we're always... If you can make fun of someone and joke with them, and they joke with you and laugh with you, then it's all good and fun, and it's not real. I think you miss a piece of that a lot in the past with outdawnered episodes and stuff, not really getting the sarcasm.

Our kids have picked up on it. And also, if we notice a weakness or you're not giving it back, you're going to get it 10 times worse. Yeah.

So you better play the game.

Yeah, I know. That's one thing I think nick gets a little upset sometimes because he doesn't I don't know if he's not as quick or he just doesn't care. And so whenever you're not getting a rise out of them, then everybody gets more amplified with, Oh, now we're going to pick on you more. Yeah.

Welcome to Hanging Out with the Busby, Mills, and Mowbray's. We always pick on each other.

We want a reaction. If you're not going to get us that reaction, we're going to go harder.

So let's see. Okay, so this is a long time ago. So we dated for about two and a half years. And through that, I lived out on my own in an apartment. I did live with Crystal for a while. Ashley stayed at home, college years. Ashley was already Ashley and Crystal are my sisters. They're twins. They're a year older than me. And the husbands that they're married to now and have only been married to are the brother-in-law's that we're talking about. So we've got aunt Kiki and uncle Del, and then aunt Lily and uncle nick. And so this is my side of the family that lives by us. We're always together a lot. I think from three sisters at one point falling in love and all having boyfriends and falling in love. And these boys were now having to get to know each other. And it really is just funny stories because they're all three very different in a way, but they all- That is an interesting dynamic that I was just thinking about.

Typically, I think it's more common for whenever a guy and a girl are dating and getting married and stuff like that, the The male, the guy, typically ends up following the wife, right?

What do you mean? Like with friends? Yeah, like with what? Well, I wasn't hanging around your friends for sure. Remember that in episode one?

No, but- Actually, I told you. Do you remember that? With your sisters and stuff, it's just like you're so close with your sisters. And so we always just end up going and doing stuff with them. I mean, that was back whenever we lived in Louisiana. Now it's ten times tenfold because- There's 10 kids in between the three of us couples. One of your sisters lives in our neighborhood. The other lives-Was down the street from us. An adjacent neighborhood. And so, I mean, they're all within less than 10 minutes of our house. And so we see them all the time. And then my family is back in Louisiana, and it's about three-ish hours away, and so it's a lot more difficult just to stay in touch. Yeah.

Well, and just seeing each other. Dynamics are like a weekend or after school or whatever, Sunday meal or Thursday tacos or whatever. It's going to be like with my sisters because they're right down the street, basically. So we do have the opportunity to see them more often. But it's been good. I mean, I grew up with that type of life of just always being with them, the three girls. We were always called the Girls, Michelle and the Girls. We were always the Girls. We were always around our cousins and stuff, and we love that for our kids and my sisters. There's 10 kids out of the three of us and our children because we had six. We love the dynamics of them being so close like they're each other's siblings, too. They're still close to, and they're super close and with your sister's kids and stuff, too. I just wish they all were over here. I wish everybody was over here. I've been trying to get them to come over here multiple times, multiple years. I know. This way, this way, Texas. But Yeah. We dated for two and a half-ish years, live in Louisiana, and on the Gulf Coast, lots of hurricanes, and just we grew up with that.

Like, It was not like when people move from mid of the country or somewhere, and they move down by the Gulf and the hurricanes, and they're like, Oh, my God. We're like, Oh, it's okay. It's just a cat, too. It's fine.

They're like, What are you talking? It's like a way of life.

It's just like we were adjusted to it. Some people talk about how they'll have earthquakes, and I'm like, That would freak me out. At least there's a plan, and we can see the hurricane coming or a random tornado in the middle of Oklahoma.

With us, you see it When you come into the Gulf of Mexico, you have an idea, Okay, we need to-Prep or leave or whatever. Or just keep an eye on this and see which direction it's going to go. And then obviously, once it gets about three, four, five days away, typically you have a path, and that depends on how much you need to prepare, how big this hurricane is and stuff like that. Start getting with family members and start planning what you're going to do.

I don't really know what to say about dating. We dated for two and a half years. And what? Got a dog.

I actually had a dog before we dated.

Yeah, Scooter.

Scooter. I had a male Boston Terrier, and he was like a horse.

But he never barked.

Never barked.

He did not like green beans.

And he was afraid of plates.

Plates, yeah.

If you'd be eating, he would sit right by you and he would gladly take any food that you would hand him. But if you just had a few straps left on a plate, and if you'd grab the plate and hand it down to him, he would freak out and take off from it. He was a rescue, so who knows? I don't know. Maybe the previous owner threw plates at him. I have no clue, but he did not like plates. Yeah.

So when we were dating, I did not grow up with any animals or pets, and we were dating, and we were like, Let's get a dog. And at this time- You had a fish. Oh, we always got weird animals, weird. Something had to be wrong with it. And we're like, Nobody's going to want that one. We'll take that one. The fish swam upside down, and then the eyes were like- It was one of those goldfish where the eyes were super bug-eyeed on each side.

And it was like...

But they were not straight. I was like, Nobody wants that fish.

We're going to take that one. It could not swim straight. Half the time, it swam upside down. It was like... It was funny. But it was hilarious to sit there and watch. Yeah.

But we used to scuba dive, and Adam was always spear-fishing, and he managed and worked at a dive shop and always out in the water and spearfishing. We both got certified, and he certified me to scoop it out and whatnot. We loved the water as far as the coral reef and just all the completely different world it is under there. We got a fish tank, and and tried to put cool things in it, and that lasted for a while. We had this little baby. I don't know. It was some type of sharkfish, but it was a fish. I know a shark is a fish, but it was a fish, meaning it wasn't going to get big like a shark, but it was some type of Do you remember that?

Very good.

Why are you even here? We were always out in the water. Nick and him worked together at the dive shop, and they were good buddies and everything, too. Always going out in the boat and stuff together. It's funny because besides Ashley and nick, Ashley and nick went to high school together. They were like high school sweethearts in a sense, but separate grades.

Because we met. We were first working at Target together. We met, and then I went off to work with nick at the Dive Shop. You left and went to work at a brand new casino that had just opened up.

No, I worked at the DA's office.

Oh, you worked at the DA's office for a little bit, but then ended up going and working for L'Hubert's Dulotte Casino whenever it very first opened. Very first opened. Yeah.

It was the new thing to do. Oh, something else is in Lake Charles. I did that for a couple of months, and it was good tips. That was the only service job ever.

Now, there's like, La Bares du Lac, there's Golden Nugget, and it's like New Orleans has their casinos.

Now, it's embarrassing to say I work there because I go in there and I'm like, Oh, I did that. What? I don't know. It just seems… I'm just going to keep my mouth shut. Why? Anyway.

What's wrong with it?

Anyway. We've jumped around. We're scatterbrained because I thought we were talking about something different today, and we're not. We've backtracked when I was up. But, so we never really talked about getting engaged. I think we were at that level of, we know we want to be together and we want to get married, but it was never really, really talked about it. But my birthday is two days before Christmas, and I remember it was October or something. I was like, Oh, got to start planning my birthday early. What do you want for your birthday? I'm like, I don't know, maybe a necklace or something. Just a piece of jewelry. Nothing fancy. It's not like we had real money. We were just working side jobs and going to school and stuff. And I don't know, we went to the Mall, Lake Charles Mall, which had maybe one jewelry store. So just casually. And I didn't think anything of it. It was just like, Oh, looking. Okay. And that was it. I never really thought anything about it. I do remember trying different rings on, but not as an engagement ring.

It was just- No, we did go through and look at rings. Yes. And you had even talked about what you would want for your engagement ring.

But in my head, it was like a conversation that wasn't like, this is the conversation we need to have. It was just in the moment. It was so imprompt, and it was so in prompt, and it was just like, Oh, yeah. Oh, look, I like this because I can go to a jewelry place right now and be like, Oh, I like that ring. Let me see if it fits. Oh, that looks good on me. I'll tell Adam to give me that when he wants to suck to me. (laughter) So it was not a, Let's go look at engagement rings and talk about what you like. We never did that.

We did that a little bit.

No, we didn't. You told yourself that in your head, and those are the things you don't say a lot. But so, speed up. There is… that was just on a random day. It wasn't like, super close to my birthday or nothing. It was September, October. Hurricane Katrina was coming through the Gulf.

That was the year of Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita.

Yeah. So Hurricane Katrina, I think, came in September, and it impacted Lake Charles, but drastically ripped up New Orleans and whatnot. But then a month later, another hurricane came, and it was Hurricane Rita. And Rita really hit Lake Charles, Louisiana, Louisiana and destroyed Lake Charles, Louisiana. There was not a lot of press extremely about it. I don't know why, but everything was damaged, and it was sad, and it was ugly, and it was It completely changed the face of Lake Charles.

I mean, everything. I mean, it went... I mean, Hurricane Katrina was bad, really bad.

And Lake Charles got a piece of that. And then weeks later, another massive hurricane came and literally So they hit Lake Charles, like Beaumont, Texas.

And so at that time, I mean, Katrina was still in shambles. Our New Orleans and everything was still in shambles. And then all of a sudden, this other massive hurricane comes right up through like Sabine Pass.

Which is like the border of Louisiana and Texas, basically.

And so we ended up evacuating to Baton Rouge, where you had some family members. And so it was your entire family and extended family and everybody staying in one house. I think we lived there for almost a month.

You couldn't go back to Lake Charles because there was no power.

The hurricane hit. My dad had to go back because he worked at-Find me. Conoco Philips, Philips 66 now. But he was on the disaster response team, fire team, stuff like that. And so he had to get locked in or just be in that area. And so my dad went back, but we just stayed because there was no power. There was no anything. There was trees down everywhere. I remember every single road you went through in Lake Charles. You just couldn't. I mean, it was stacked up at least 10 feet high on either side of the road of just tree trunks everywhere. It just completely changed the landscape. It was horrible.

So for that hurricane, it was coming more towards- But we were living in Baton Rouge for a month. In my cousin's house, yeah. Me and nick went and got a job working with our cousin.

He had a furniture delivery business where he contracted with a furniture company. So me and nick, every day, we were just-I need some cash. Start working. We were just working while we were there. We're not just going to sit in the house.

Yeah. But, yeah, we had... At that time, we had the dogs with us. Yeah. We had Scooter, and at that point, we did get a dog together, which was Maggie, which was my very first pet I ever, ever owned.

Back to the story of the weird animals that we get. So we're talking about the goldfish with the weird eyes and stuff. And so whenever we were looking for dogs for Danielle, we were looking at another. We were looking for a female Boston Terrier since I had a male, and we came across Maggie.

And she was Nobody wanted her either because she was the runt.

But we thought she was the cuteest one.

She was so cute, but she had like, half of her face was white and half of it was like a black brindle. And then she had a brown eye. And then on the white side, she had a blue eye, so she looked scary, especially as she got older. But she was so tiny, and she looked like one of those bobblehead things because her head was way bigger than her body, and she looked like she would just fall over. But we're like, We want that one.

I was like, Are you sure?

They're like, Here, have her.

We like weird animals. Yeah.

So that hurricane, we went out to Baton Rouge. We brought the dogs I mean, this house was... My cousin's house was just packed with everybody there. But one day, we're letting the dogs out, go potty or whatever, and they got through the fence, and Scooter was just a runner, and Maggie learned boundaries. And Scooter was a rescue dog.

But also because family was all staying in the same house.

There were so many people.

I mean, there's probably 25 people there. And dogs running around, and their collars making noises and stuff, and people were trying to sleep at different times, whatever. And one of your aunts had taken their collars off.

Yeah, that's right.

And so Scooter was a runner. And whenever his collar was off, which has all his identification, how to contact me, everything was not on him. And he's in a strange town.

He just took off. And Maggie did, too. They both went through there, the fence. But Maggie was obedient and came back, and Scooter, he just goes. Yeah. So we never, ever, ever found him. We actually put signs up. I mean, it was- That was tough.

It was so hard. We ended up having to come back home to Lake Charles after that whole ordeal without a scooter. Yeah.

And we really do We think that we found where we thought he was by some people saying they saw him, and we think that those people just kept him. And that's where we're going with.

Yeah. He was in a good home. Yeah.

But it was really hard and devastating, leaving Baton Rouge.

It didn't get me until we made it all the way to Lake Charles.

Yeah, and you're like, We don't have a doll.

We were unloading at my house, and I just completely lost it. Yeah. Like, Puppy.

So we get back to Louisiana.

I'm starting to tear up right now.

Jeez. Uh-oh. Emotional. Don't start. You can't stop once you start. It stinks. I'm just kidding.

My eyes are red.

Well, you're really crying. I miss that guy. We're laughing together as I'm laughing. So that was about October. We probably come to Lake Charles, a month later, and we are trying to figure out what we're going to do in this town and how to build this town back up, everything that's been lost. And speed that up. There is no restaurant open. Nothing is available. People are going hours away to just go grocery shop. I mean, it was for months. It was just like a town of nothing. But for my birthday, on the 23rd of December, Olive Garden opened up, and we were like, Everybody, we're going to Olive Garden, which in hindsight is one of my favorite places to eat. I love Olive Garden, and so do all six of our girls. Adam is not a fan, but we all love it.

I don't have anything against Olive Garden. I actually enjoy Olive Garden. It's just whenever I choose, whenever I'm thinking, I want to go out to eat somewhere. I never- I want pasta. I never think of pasta or Italian food. That's just not my go-to. But whenever we go there, I enjoy it. I like it. But I mean, one chicken Alfredo is like 1,500 calories or something like that. It's outrageous.

Don't eat it all. That's why we share. I share with Blake. So we are so excited. It's my birthday, and you tell my family and his family, and we're like, We're going to go to Olive Garden, celebrate my birthday. And we did go to Olive Garden, and it was a good time. It was a couple of other people there. And then next day is Christmas Eve, and we have plans to go to his side of the family to do some Christmas things, and then my side of the family towards the end of the evening, and all traditions and things that we do over the holiday of Christmas. We're going to go to his grandparents house for Christmas Eve, and we're going to go there for a while, and then we're going to go to my side of the family at my… I think we were at my aunt's house at that point. I think we're at My aunt's house. My aunt's house for our game night and the things that we do every year. So Adam and his mischievousness, I have zero… Are you about to cry? No. I have zero idea of what's going on in his head.

He doesn't verbalize anything. All I know is that we're going to grandma and grandpa's house for Christmas Eve. We're going to go. I think everybody's having a meal, and I don't know if I did a present or whatever. I can't remember. I honestly don't even know if we even went there. Oh, yeah, we did.

Then we're going to go back to Mom and dad's house to open up some other gifts, and then me and you were going to go on to your aunt's house. Okay.

I don't think I ever knew that, but I knew we were going to Grandma and Grandpa's house, and then we were going to go to my side of the family. Adam, we're in the car, and we're driving to his Grandma and grandpa's, but yet now he's going to his parents' house, and I'm like, What are we doing? And he was just acting so weird. Do you remember this?

Well, yeah. I mean, he's been...

Why don't you tell it?

I mean, there's not really much to tell. It was just I was nervous, and I was about to propose I was to my future wife. And it was a big deal. And so I went... Just to elaborate on just me in general, whenever I'm either dealing with stress, anxiety, anything like that. I shut down. I don't talk. I just stay laser-focused. And that's just how I was acting.

He was acting so weird.

But then, obviously, I didn't want to in on what we were doing.

It's like I would be talking to him in the car, and he's just like, If I don't say anything, she won't see me. I'm sitting next to you. Are you listening to me? I'm trying to argue with him on the car, and I have no idea what's that this is about to happen. Zero, zero. So we get to his parents' house. We get in the living room, and I thought we were just running in real quick, and he was just going to grab something. And he's like, No, come inside. And I'm like, Why? We need to go. We're already late. Let's get to your grandparents' house. He's like, No, just come in a minute. And I'm like, Okay. So we're walking in, and he's just fidgeting around. I'm like, What are you doing? You're getting on my nerves. What did we come here for?

I turned the TV on. Or no, you turned the TV on.

And then I- Then disappears.

And then I walk up and just turned the TV off. And you're like, What are you doing?

From the car ride to here, he's not saying a word to me, and I'm getting pissed. I'm literally like, This is annoying. Just bring me home. So we get there, and he then disappears, and I'm like, If he had to go poop, why didn't you just say so? I didn't go poop. But that's what it was. You just disappeared, and I'm like, Okay, I guess he had to go to the bathroom really bad. Didn't want to do it at grandparent's house. I sit on the couch, and I turned the TV on, and I'm just flipping through channels, and I put something on. I'm just sitting there, and then here Adam comes, and he comes out once again, doesn't say anything, and just picks up the remote off the coffee table and just turns it off. I'm ready to go, and he's just standing there. He's thinking to me, What were you thinking that moment? What am I doing? How do I do this? This is it. Oh, crap. This is it?

What do I do? And I had zero idea. And you were sitting down. And so it's like, you just imagine.

Oh, I was sitting on the couch, so you were like...

You imagine the girl standing up, and then you get on your knee, and she's standing above you, but you were already sitting down. So I'm like, Crap, I didn't factor this in. I didn't think this through. And so- I think you told me to stand up. Maybe so. Turn the TV on. Stand up. Get out of here. We need to talk.

So, yeah, I don't remember what you said, but I remember when I stood up and I just looked at your face. I was like, I had no idea that this was happening. I stood up, pissed.

Not pissed, you're just confused.

Just annoyed and just What the heck is going on? You're not talking to me. You're acting weird. And I was like, Why are you being weird? This is weird. Why are you being weird? And then when he... I think you told me to stand up, and then you grabbed my hand. I'm like, Then I thought I was like, What? What is happening?

Because then you get really awkward in moments like that.

And then I was like, Oh, this is happening? This is why we came here.

Then we're both standing there, awkward, both of us. Awkwardly in love. In my parents' living room. And what? I think-It was a game of awkward chicken. We're going to see who.

I should just pushed you over. Yeah, so I guess next thing you know... Did your parents know or something?

Yeah, they knew. And then I went through the whole spiel and asked you to marry me. And I mean, of course, you said, yes, here we are. And then not long after, my parents showed up with my sister and stuff because they even had a little gift for you that was a Christmas tournament. There was a diamond ring.

Yeah, I still have that.

Yeah.

And some bridal magazine or something.

So they knew about it. So I think they were stalling a little bit, trying to give us some time because they knew that- But did you tell them? Yeah.

You told them that we're going to their house? Mm-hmm. To do that? Yeah. So that's why they weren't there? Yeah. And then they appeared? Yeah. Eighteen years later, guys, getting all the details on the podcast. I didn't know that. I always thought it was weird. They were supposed to be going to grandparents house, and then we're here. Then they showed up and had this gift, and then I was like, take pictures. The funnier part of the story is Adam... So we go to grandparents house, then my family afterwards, and tell everybody, blah, blah, blah. And the story Adam is telling is he was going to do it the day before- At Olive Garden. At Olive Garden at my birthday. And I was like, there is absolutely no way this man would stand up in front of other people and do that. There's no way.

And so then- Was that your favorite place?

Then When we all started thinking how awkward the day was at Olive Garden. He looked super pale. He looked like he was ill and quiet the whole- Eel? Eel? Eel? Not Eel. Eel. An animal. Ill. Whatever.

Ill. I don't think I had no legs and slimy.

But we had a photo, and so then we looked at the photo and we were like, Adam, what was I'm like, You did. You were so nervous. It was making you sick.

Because the ring wasn't ready. It was supposed to be ready, and I was calling because I was literally-Oh, you kept going... That's what-because Olive Garden wasn't very far from the mall. And so I was going to run and pick it up, and I was going to do it then. I don't think he was. And they weren't ready.

But that was another thing. You kept going out of... I'm like, We're at birthday dinner. He's kept going in and out, and I'm just like, Whatever. This is my birthday. And then he was just awkward and weird and quiet. And then the next day, I'm even more annoyed because he's not talking to me in the car because he's apparently still nervous. And I have no I have no idea what's going on. And so I was just oblivious to it until the moment he was like, stand up because I'm supposed to be on my knees and you're not supposed to be sitting down. So, yeah, we were I'm engaged for seven months or something.

They run it six months.

Six, seven months. And so I think after the holiday season, January rolls around and I'm like, Okay, so we got to plan this? What do we do? At this time, I support myself, pretty much always have, pretty much. And Adam is working, too. I I live in an apartment. Everything is like, I have my own bills, job, school, all the things. And we got engaged, and the one thing I wanted to do was get married. I wanted an outside wedding, small, intimate wedding. And if you know me, more quality time is one of my love languages. And so I want it just a small, small thing. But it's really hard because my family and my mama knew everybody and everybody. But you had a big family, too, and cousins and all that, and so did I. Then I wanted to get married at pops and Moms' Backyard, but Hurricane Rita demolished the beauty that was back there. He was a gardener and farmer, and so it was just a beautiful backyard. It would be like getting married in your parents' house. It's just always beautiful. But it was just destroyed. And that made me really sad.

And then my grandpa got really sick and whatnot. He passed away that January, and he was going to be the one walking me down the aisle. So that was a bit rough. And there was just so much Still recovering from a hurricane. And it was a hard season, but exciting, but really hard, and went through a lot of hard things that phase. But we had to pick a date. So talk to some photographers. I'm paying for my wedding. My mom financially did not have money to pay for a wedding or whatever. And so we knew that there was a budget for this. So Adam and I paid for things. His parents helped pay for some stuff, and it was what it was. And we looked at the calendar and I talked to a photographer, and 22 has always been my number. And I looked to see where the 22nd fell on a Saturday or Sunday, and it became July. So I was like, That's the date. It's six months away. Well, let's do this. I never really felt the wedding hype of all that. I think if I could go back as being like... I mean, we were young.

I had just turned 22, and then he reposed the next day. So I wanted to get married when I was 22, which is probably something I always talked about, so you probably knew that. So I always when he married, I was 22, and I wanted to get married on the 22nd, whatever with the numbers, but I love numbers. And so it just... I don't know. We were young. We were young and in love. And now that I know people that are 22, and I'm like, I I can't believe I got married at that age. That's young. That's young. Got married, had a small little wedding. At this time, we pick a date. We've gone 9, 10 months of still about seven, eight months, I guess, after Hurricane Rita has destroyed Lake Charles, and there is no church available. There's nowhere to get married. I'm not getting married outside where I wanted to.

A lot of places were still being rebuilt.

Nothing was open.

A lot of outdoor venues were just completely wrecked. It just looked terrible.

Just so much construction needed everywhere. It was getting close. I think we're about this six-week mark, and we're like, We have a date and a photographer, but we don't have nowhere to get married, and we need to send some invitations out. So we ended up... His aunt helped us out with this little chapel that used to be her church's old church that now is just this little chapel.

It was just like a little wedding, an event chapel.

A little wedding event chapel, which makes me laugh when I look at our photos because I'm like, wow, I clearly didn't care because there was a green carpet in there.

It was like carpet that looked like an astro-turf or something like that to simulate being outside. I don't know. I don't know why they did that.

Yeah, it was bright. We had an intimate little wedding and then a little reception. I'm trying to think of what details to get into because I don't know how long this is.

There was a little drama at the reception.

Yeah, but that drama might come up in further stories when we talk about drama.

I mean, Our wedding.

Okay, good. Which drama are you talking about?

I mean, just because- Just no one, if you're listening to this, no one knows even the back story. You got to know, it's so... There's a lot to the stories and stuff because-So just be patient with this and everything will slowly start to make sense. How should we have done this? We did how we met, but then of how we got married or how we proposed and got married. But then we're going to eventually have to go back to just like, origin stories, like how we were brought up, like our family life, parents, how we were raised. So you can understand a lot of the other aspects of our story.

So there's really no point- Yeah, there's no point of talking about those drama points and whatnot right now because no one's going to understand.

And we're definitely going to get into that.

No one's going to understand. So I think if we just leave it here with just- There's probably more with your story that is left unknown that everybody is most curious about. I'm sure. But we'll get there. This ain't always easy talking in a mic or being vulnerable and sharing. But we're going to do this, and we're just taking you through the exciting phase of this life together and meeting. And we got married, and then we went to Cozimel and went scuba diving for our honeymoon, and that was Adam's-That was your very first.

We had just gotten you certified to scuba dive. That was my first real-Right before we went, right before we got married, and then went on our honeymoon to... Cozimel. It was Hotel Cosmo, where this resort that we would always send dive crews and stuff for vacations and stuff through our dive shop. And so we went there for our honeymoon, and it was your very first open water experience after just getting certified out in a lake.

Like, Oh, this is I'm really going diving.

So we get there, and they have free unlimited shore dives. Right whenever we get there, we're like, Okay, we unloaded and stuff, and we brought our stuff down. And you can go to the little... Go across the street, go down to the little dive shop right on the water towards where you can just grab a tank and then just get immediately right into the water. That was pretty. It's protected right there. It's super easy diving. That's where you can just get comfortable and stuff like that. We saw some cool stuff right there.

So that next day, breakfast and whatnot, and that was like we're going on our first dive, like my first dive. So we suited up all the stuff, got on a boat, go miles out or whatever. It was beautiful, and it was beautiful. And it was like, made me fall in love with just a whole new world. Shall we sing?

If you're going to go diving- Shall we sing a whole new world? If you're going to go diving for the very first time, if you want to go to the Caribbean, like Cozimel is-Easy dives.the best. It's all mostly all drift dives. You have to kick very little. Typically, the boat, you go down, and the current just takes you. And so you pretty much just have to control your fluency and just kick very little. And the boat just follows above you. And then whenever it's time to come up, you just come up, and the boat's right there. And so it's super, super easy.

Yeah. So we had a blast doing that, and it was super exciting. So we're done diving, we get back on the boat, and the guy's like, Anybody want to go in for a night dive? And Adam's like, Yeah, we'll I'm like…

I've done it many times before that.

Okay.

And I'm like, okay. This is literally going to be her third dive.

I was like, It's okay. We got flashlights. It'll be fine. It'll be cool. And I'm like, I'm not doing that. I'm not doing that. So guess what? We do it. First time out on a real dive, scuba dive. First day. First day, in the same night on our honeymoon, this man's like, Let's go night diving, which This explains our adventure life. We love adventure, and we love seeing and discovering and having a thrill and whatnot. I think a lot has changed since, obviously, we have six kids and stuff, so our adventures are a little bit different, but we still, to this day-We don't take quite as many risks. Yeah, we still, to this day, love to have adventure and see something new or go to a new place and blah, blah, blah. So all I I wanted to see was sea turtles. Sea turtles has always been my favorite things, but I did see sea horses that day, and I thought that was the coolest thing underwater. But Gus is staring at me over here. That's our dog. Sorry, that's the dog that's obsessed with me that I love. But we have two dogs.

And he gets mad because I lock him out of the office.

So he sits here and stares at me out the window. So we get on this boat. It's night. I mean, it's night. And if you ever get on a boat at night- It wasn't at night when we got on the boat. Yes, but you're right. It wasn't yet. But it was dusk, right? So we get to a spot and you're just like, Okay, we get to where we're going to anchor. Guess what we see out in the water?

So everybody, we're on the boat. Sun's going down. I mean, it's super picturesque. Sun's going down. Everybody's starting to gear up on their boat, checking all their gear, stuff like that. And somebody goes, Whoa, what is that? And literally right behind us, right behind the boat, shark fin.

Just sharks, just shark swimming around the boat.

So that's the last thing that you see.

Before it's literally pitch dark.

As the sun's going down and everything in the water is pitch black, except for what your light is going to shine on. So that's all you see is where your light is. And the last thing we saw- I'm not going to talk about the light.was a shark.

And literally, half of the boat didn't even get in the water. Half the boat didn't get in the water because of the sharks. I think there was two or three shark fins at some point around.

Circling the boat.

And I was like, I'm not getting in there. And I was like, We're doing it. We're doing it. We're doing it.

And you got to understand my backstory. I've been working at a dive shop, going to spear fishing tournaments.

Free dives, all this stuff.

Advanced diver, certified I had rescue diver, all this stuff. So this was like nothing to me. I had gone offshore, I mean, dozens and dozens and dozens of times where we just stayed out offshore all weekend, done night dives, been just floating out in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico, and like, Shards have been present in the water. I mean, it's just like no big deal. And even to the point where we were out on a trip, a guy's trip, and there was one our friends that was terrified of sharks. And there was a group of-Pro star. There was a group of guys fishing on top of the boat, and then we were diving. So we all jumped in. Well, as we were jumping in, the guys on the top of the boat hooked a shark. And so we're floating on top of the water as the shark's fighting the line or whatever, weaving in and out of us. And so we were just going to wait until-That's pretty cool. They brought the shark on the boat so that we could down. We were just going to wait for them to get the shark up out the water.

Well, as soon as they get the shark out the water, they turn to our friend that's terrified of sharks and throw the shark at him and hit them square in the chest. It's a live shark. It's funny. That's pretty funny. Here we are, very first night dive for Danielle. I'm super proud of her because for someone that's never done this before. But you never gave me your flashlight. Seeing a shark right before we jump in and then going through with it and actually jumping in the water and actually did it. I was blown away that you actually jumped in.

So when you go scuba diving, you have a buddy system, so you always stay with your buddy. So let's just talk about when you're out in the middle of nowhere in the water on a boat, and it's nighttime, there's no water means it's sky. It's just all black. And the only light you see are if the sun, if the moon is out, but really just what the stars are out there. And it's really pretty. So when you jump in the water, the only thing that you see is whatever your light is shining at. So if you know Adam, Adam has the best of the best with every type of gadget, anything. He's always been that way. So We had all of our gear. We had great products and lights. Well, my light was not working.

So the light- Well, I had my gear. Just months prior, right before we came on this trip, that's whenever the HID lights just came onto the market for actual dive stuff. And so it was literally the brightest light out there. And I was so happy to be able to use this light for the first time because it was like, this is my very first opportunity to actually use this light.

I don't know if I need to give my opinion about this story.

And then so for the other light, just because I knew that there was a possibility that we'd be going on a night dive. I had borrowed, I think it was Nick's light or something.

Whatever light I had did not work. So the captain or whoever on the boat gave me a light that looked like a pencil. It It was literally one of those tight… I'm like, This is my light? He's got a freaking spotlight, and I have a pencil? I have no idea, guys, from the very beginning of our story, of our relationship, of him standing me up, and now we're all the way at our honeymoon. My flashlight doesn't work. I'm going on a night dive with this guy. Clearly, I'm in love and trusting him, whatever, right? But I get in the water. I got in the water. And my thought process was, whatever the light doesn't see, it's not there.

It's true.

And so my beam of light was literally, if you took a pencil, here's my lip gloss, if you're watching this, It was about this big. It was about the one that fell on the floor. And it was one of those ones that you twist and it just shines. I bet you my phone light is brighter than the light I had in the open ocean. And it literally I mean, it was so small, and there's so much current down there. And so you get like, you have to stay together. Well, Mr. Drifter over here with his beam light, I'm like, I was like, I don't know if it's best to stay with everybody because everybody who actually jumped in the water was still scared. But Adam's so comfortable because he's done this before with his spotlight, too. And so here he is. And I'm just making sure I'm with people around.

I think you were trying to stay close to the dive master.

I think I was just trying to stay close to the boat.

And so I started going down.

And all I do is look, and I just see this huge beam of light.

And before I know it, I look up, and Danielle was nowhere to be found. She was somewhere to be found. I could see all the other flashlights or whatever, and one of those was Danielle.

One of those little speckled lights.

I look up and she was way away from me.

I was so mad.

But you knew exactly where I was, and you just couldn't keep up. Thanks.

Says the newly weds on their honeymoon.

So guys, if you go on a honeymoon with your wife or whatever-Give her your flash light.don't do what I did.

No, just give her your flash light.

Give her your flash light. Die to yourself. Do the right thing.

Don't take her on a night dive. Leave her stranded with a pencil light.

Trust me, she keeps bringing this up for the last 18 years. It's not worth it.

It's not my fault, it's yours.

I did the wrong thing. I was wrong.

Gosh, you finally admitted. Shut up. Thank you, podcast. Just kidding. But it did hurt me for a while.

She She had trauma for quite some time.

Yeah, I mean, that... Honey Moon did all these little adventures and whatnot, get back, and nick and Adam were working together. Well, nick got a new job, moved Houston. And months later, now we're towards the end of 2006. We got married in July 2006. So towards the end of the year, nick wanted to bring Adam on for this job in Texas. And so And so by that time, I had tons and tons of just sales experience.

And we had turned this little dive shop in Lake Charles, Louisiana, into one of the top scuba pro dealers in all of North America. Just really Good. Just people person selling and stuff like that. And so nick goes over there for a year or so, and then ultimately they ended up needing some help. And they're like, Hey, you want to come and try petrochemical cells? Man, we just got married six months ago. Let's do it. We're starting a new life.

So we're married for six months. January 2007, we moved to Texas, and we became Texans. I don't think we'll ever not be a Texan. But I have Louisiana in my blood.

Maybe one day we'll go to Tennessee.

Well, Tennessee would be my...

Texas and Tennessee. The only thing... We love Texas. We absolutely love Texas. We absolutely I love Texas. But right here where we live, super hot, super humid, super flat.

Our girls love outdoors. They love adventure, hiking, and it's just hard to do that stuff around here.

And so we We'd love to live somewhere where we actually had scenery and a mountain backdrop or at least hills and stuff like that. If we ever had the opportunity to do that-And move our families there, they would have to follow us. We would never really want to leave our family. That's the problem. We'd even-We need everybody to go. We had explored that one time before, and we're like, We just can't leave everyone. Yeah.

I think now it would possibly be a little bit easier because the girls are... Our kids are just more independent and can do more for themselves. But back then, for sure, there was no way I could leave our community of people and support system around here and hands helping out and whatnot. But yeah, so 2007, January, moved to Texas, and that's all. That's all we got.

That's all we got. And then we can get into a little bit of what life was like once we moved to Texas. And we'll probably get into that a little bit more as we start talking about- The drama. Married life. Yeah.

And marriage and whatnot.

But I think next episode, we'll probably start diving intoback story in each of us, and each of us, and our own story, in our own journey. Just because...

You need to start it from-We have to do that in order to further understand just who we are in our relationship and family dynamics and everything else.

You have to go all the way back to us.

And these are... I think we need to wrap this one up, but it's going to hopefully open some eyes and ears, I guess, because it's a podcast, to understanding who we are a little bit more. The purpose of this podcast is to share life, to get real more than reality than what you know from the Busby's. But share our hearts, tell you our stories, our love for Jesus, to the struggles, to the parenting, to infertility, to marriage, to all of it, friendships, everything. And so to get on that, that's going to be a long road. But from the beginning, we want to set the tone of this is who we are, this is how we met, this is why we are the way that we are and what God's done in our lives as we've come together and all the things. So it's going to be a long road, but it's going to be good for both of us to share this.

So that concludes episode episode. Two. Two.

Two.

So thank you guys for tuning in to More Than Reality. Sorry, that was a bit long. Thank you guys for tuning in to More Than Reality podcast. And if you haven't already, go and like and subscribe and follow us on all the things just to stay updated with our life and our family. And we'll see you in the next one.

Peace out.