Oh How the Time Flies!

It occurred to me today that it was five years ago last week that I took James home to MT to meet my family for the first time, and that we'll be celebrating five years of marriage in August. While I was reminiscing, I realized that I don't have a written copy anywhere of how we met and got engaged, and that some of you may have never heard the story, either. (For those of you that have, you'll just have to indulge me or skip this post). I further realized that I don't know how most of the married people I know met and got engaged, and I think those are fun stories, so for those of you that have blogs, you should post your stories, too.

James first saw me on a rainy day in April when my friend, Rebecca, was helping me move from Stonebridge Apts. to Monticello Apts. in Provo, between my sophomore and junior year at BYU. He already lived at Monticello, in a third floor apartment, and he, along with his roommates, were watching us move in. Instead of offering to help us, they stood up there, commenting on how young I looked, and gave me the nickname of Yikes! (I had no idea, until we were dating). In James' defense, he claims, though it can't be verified, that when he saw me at Church the next day, he admitted to his roommates that he thought I was pretty.

The first time that I saw James was about a week later, when my new roommates invited some friends over for games so that I could meet some of the people that lived in the apartments. After everyone left, I mentioned to my roommate that I thought James was cute, and she told me not to get my hopes up. She said that James was really picky and that a lot of girls had been interested in him, but he hardly dated anyone. After that, I continued to harbor a secret crush on him, but had no hope of him ever asking me out.

Our paths continued to cross over the following few months, ending up on the same group dates, but never there with each other. I won't say that we knew each other really well, but we knew each other well enough that if we bumped into each other on campus, we would stop and say hi. I also have to admit that at one point, James starting dating a girl from the ward, and I found myself really jealous. I thought it was weird, because though I still found him attractive, I really wasn't holding out hope that he would ever ask me out...it's not like I was waiting around for him to call me or anything. That being said, one of the happiest days of that Fall semester was when I found out that they had broken up, and again, I thought it was weird that I would be so affected by the news.

Well, the Fall semester ended, and after Christmas, the Winter semester started. On President's Day, my roommates convinced me to go roller-blading with them, and I agreed, even though I'd never really been on roller blades before. Not surprisingly, I wiped out and had to go to the ER to get stitches in my chin (not my proudest moment). The following weekend, our stake hosted an activity and dance. I wasn't planning on going since I still had the stitches in my chin, and a little bit of a scraped cheek, and was feeling less than beautiful. But, after talking to my mom on the phone, I decided to go (I should also mention that James almost didn't go, either but did, at the last minute). Once there, James asked me to dance. I didn't really think much of it, because everyone in our ward was dancing with everyone else. However, I think that was the first time that James and I really said more than two words to each other, and things just kind of clicked. My interest in him was renewed after that night, and a few days later, he called and finally asked me out (ten months after I moved into the ward!). As it turned out, he had been interested in me from the beginning, but thought that I didn't want anything to do with him. I guess that's what happens when two people who are a little on the quiet side are interested in each other...nothing, for a LONG time!

For our first date, we doubled with another couple, and went out for Chinese food, followed by miniature golfing at Trafalga, and then went back to his friend's apartment to watch Ghostbusters. It was the best first date that I ever had. I felt totally relaxed around him, like I had known him for years, and I could really be myself, it was a good feeling.

After that, things just fell into place. We had a smooth, non-dramatic relationship, and things were great. After visiting my family in April, we flew to CA at the end of May to meet his family. While there, on June 3 (my 21st birthday), he took me to Fashion Island to eat at The Cheesecake Factory for lunch, then we watched Holes, and did some window shopping. After that, we drove out to Crescent Bay, where we walked along the beach, and at sunset, he took me up to an overlook, and it was there, watching the sun set beyond the ocean, that he proposed to me.

He didn't have a ring, because he wanted us to pick it out together, so when we got back to Provo, we both took the day off work and went ring shopping. I had to wait for the longest week of my life for the ring to come, and when it did, he couldn't wait, and he came to my work (the MTC bookstore), pulled me out into the hall, and proposed to me with the ring. We were trying not to draw attention to ourselves, but we ended up having an audience of missionaries to congratulate us...it was fun.

On August 14, 2003, we were sealed in the Salt Lake Temple. It was the happiest day of my life. Five years (almost) and three boys later, it's hard to believe how far we've come. These have been the most incredible years of my life, and I'm so happy to have spent them with my best friend and husband. I love him so much, and I can't wait for all the years of happiness and memories that we have ahead of us!!

ps The picture of the two of us with me in the purple shirt and James in the blue one is the picture that we used for our announcements. I was so mad that my hair was messed up, so James fixed the picture in photoshop for me before we printed them out for the announcements. Unfortunately, we lost the disc with the fixed picture on it, and all we have now is the messed up one.