Saturday, August 16, 2014

Our Story





















































This post is loooooong over due, but better late than never, right? Especially since I get many questions about our story :) So here we go.

When I was in high school, my older sister was in Korea serving a mission for our church. While she was gone, my parents & I always kept our eyes open for any potential suitors for her (we had to do something to keep ourselves occupied without her). One night during dinner, my dad told us he had met a lawyer who just moved to town and was attending our church's congregation that met on campus.  He sounded perfect for her. I found out his name and flat-out Facebook stalked him. Hard core. And he was beautiful. This was the picture I saw of him:

At that moment, I fell in love with him. On Facebook. From a picture. Especially because of his beautiful ice-blue eyes. I knew that there was something about him that I was drawn to, but at the time I was kinda sorta dating someone (I say kinda sorta because we never saw each other, we weren't happy, and we both kept trying to end things multiple times) so I wouldn't let myself acknowledge those feelings I had for this guy I had never even met. But he was always in the back of my mind. (Side note, know the song "Enchanted" by Taylor Swift? Nope? Listen to this. I can distinctly remember singing this song in the shower after I found out about this guy and wistfully thinking about dating him. I consider it our song now, in a way.)

A few months later in November, my parents had a lot of the young single adults from our church over for a game night. I secretly hoped this handsome man would show up, but I had noooo idea if he would. About 15 minutes after people started arriving, the doorbell rang and I optimistically went to the front door to answer it, hoping desperately that he would be there. I opened the door and lo and behold, there he was. I don't even remember the other two people who were at the door with him, but he was there and that was all that mattered. I stared into those beautiful blue eyes and quite literally wanted to melt into a puddle. Right there. But I held myself together, tried to look intriguing and mature (I was only 18, him 29), and let him in. A little later on, he approached me and started talking to me about the colleges I was applying to. Me, being the good sister I am, tried my best to direct the conversation to my sister who was coming home in just a few months. They seemed to have a lot in common, so I was hopeful that they would hit it off when they met. And I tried to hide my disappointment that realistically, I could never be with this man. Later on, I would come to find out that during our conversation that night, he thought to himself whoever would get to marry me, would be incredibly lucky. But he also dismissed the idea of us dating because of our age difference and the fact that I'd also be leaving for college in less than a year.

Finally in February, my sister came home. We started attending activities with the young single adults and I made sure to introduce her to this much-talked about guy. They chatted casually for a few minutes, but they weren't terribly interested in each other. Especially since my sister was only going to be in Indiana for a few months before going back to school in Utah. Handsome man ended up talking to me a lot though, which I told myself meant nothing. He was a friendly guy and would talk to anyone so I just chalked it up to politeness. I even wondered if he suspected I had a little crush on him and he thought he'd at least humor me by talking to me every once in a while.

After graduating high school in May, my boyfriend and I finally ended things. It was hard, but I knew I made the right decision. I started attending church on campus where the handsome man went and we started casually talking a little bit. I found out he was having the same surgery on his knee that I had had on my hip several years earlier, even by the same doctor. Later that week, I asked him if he needed any help getting back from the hospital or anything since he didn't have any family members who lived close by. He told me that if I was offering to drive him home, he wouldn't say no. So I said I would. A couple of days later, one of his friends and myself took him back to his apartment after his surgery. His friend had to leave for a date, so there I was. On the couch. With a half-awake, highly drugged, but incredibly adorable post-surgery man who needed tending to. And who was I to leave someone helpless and to their own devices? So I sat on the couch all afternoon with him while he napped and napped. And occasionally woke up to laugh at the movie we were watching, then fall asleep again. Eventually his roommate came home for the evening so I said I'd get out of his hair. He thanked me for taking such good care of him and off I was. I told myself that we had had our moment in the sun together and that I was content with nothing more coming of our friendship. Even though I DESPERATELY wanted to date him. In that afternoon I spent in his apartment, I could tell what a great guy he truly was. I knew any girl would be more than lucky to date him, but I knew I would not be that girl. The dream was over, and I was ok with that.

That night, my parents were in Indy for a business dinner and most of my friends were out of town or busy so I sat at home. Alone. Desperately wanting ice cream but too self-conscious to drive my pitiful self over to get some. So I posted on Facebook that anyone who would go bring me ice cream would be my best friend forever. Right before going to bed, handsome man texted me saying that after everything I did for him that day, the least he could do for me was take me out for some ice cream. I was giddy with excitement, but I reminded myself that he was probably just being nice and repaying me for my service and that it meant nothing. We made plans to go the following week. That weekend before our ice cream plans, I texted him to see how his knee was feeling. We ended up making plans to meet up at a food festival that night. His roommate tagged along too so it wasn't exactly a date, but it gave us a chance to talk more without him being heavily sedated. Which was nice.

A few days later, we went for a ride in his new car and ate ice cream together. The more I got to know him, the more I fell for him. And the more I knew I was in deep deep trouble. We kept making plans together and hanging out all that summer. I didn't know what I was going to do though because I was leaving for school in Utah in a month, but I knew that I would be an idiot if I let this guy get away. The night before I left, he told me that he could see us being together. Like, getting married. We hadn't even told each other that we loved each other yet. But we both knew that we had something incredibly special.

We dated long-distance for my entire first semester of college (Side note: I went on a few casual dates while I was there, but no one even compared to this guy back in Indiana so I stopped that pretty quickly). We skyped each other for several hours each day and became more obsessed with each other. When I was home from school over winter break, he proposed to me in front of the LOVE statue at the IMA. I nearly started crying, which I expected of myself considering the fact that even mushy commercials can make me sob, but as my eyes started to well up and I stared into those perfect ice-blue eyes that I had loved from the moment I first saw them, he almost slipped on the ice while getting down on one knee. I reached out to catch him and make sure he was fine, which he was, and that stopped the crying. After pulling out a gorgeous & perfect silver version of my mother's engagement ring, he said to me, "Annie, I am in love with you and I never want to be without you, will you marry me?"

You can probably guess what I said next :)



We then endured yet another semester of long-distance, but this time our Skype sessions were filled with intense wedding planning. Time seemed to drag on FOREVER, but when our wedding day on May 31st finally came, it was completely and 100% worth it.

Our wedding day at the Salt Lake City Temple (where my parents were married) was perfect in literally every way. I was so happy to finally be marrying my best friend and to start our life, together. In the same place. I cried quite a bit, but my new husband SOBBED. I would have cried a lot harder than I did, but I was trying oh so very hard not to mess up my perfect eye makeup that my friend had done. The whole day was so peaceful and beautiful, and we have lived happily ever after ever since. And plan on continuing to do so forever :)


Our first photo as husband & wife
















I mean, we're pretty happy :)



5 comments :

  1. loved this! I just remember talking to Brooke at TA meetings and hearing she had a little sister in the class who was getting married....who was a freshman... to a guy that was a decade older than Brooke was.... nice to finally read the whole story!

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    1. Hahahah Brooke would sum it up like that. I'm glad you enjoyed it!!

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  2. What a very sweet story, Annie. I know that love is no respecter of persons - neither age, height, financial status, race, and even religion, I'm very happy that Chris found his someone special, and that the someone special is you ❤️����

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    1. Aww thank you so much!! You're so sweet to say that, I'm happy it was me too :)

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  3. wow love your story, so beautiful. you are so lucky.
    best wishes to you both.

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