A Tag of our LOVE Story!

I liked this tag abour our love story...so I decided to it myself. It's fun to reflect on the beginning our relationship :)

Where did you meet your husband?

The first time we met was outside the Harold B. Lee Library on Campus. My roommates and I were in the middle of trauma with one of our roommates. Rich happened to walk by and waved to my roommates. He was on the phone, so I don't know if we can really count this as the first time we officially met. A few weeks later (April 6, 2002 to be exact), I actuallly decided to stay in Provo for the weekend. (This was very uncommon because I was dating a boy in Salt Lake). My roommates had invited Rich's roommates over for breakfast and to watch General Conference. We immediately played the "do you know" game and made some interesting connections. We hung out that weekend and became good friends....but just friends for now :)

What was the first thing that you said to him?

I probably asked him where he was from, where he went to high school, etc. Somehow in all of this we made the connection that he grew up in my brother-in-laws ward. Such a small world. The next day (Sunday), we all went to his roommates parents' house for dinner. People were teasing us that neither of us stayed in Provo that much. Rich worked in Sandy and had to go up to see his boys...plus he couldn't miss out on basketball. I, was in Salt Lake because of my boyfriend...So, in all of this we started joking around that the real reason we went to Salt Lake was because we were secretly dating. Ha ha - little did we know that we actually would date (eventually!)

Where was your first date?

For this, we need to skip ahead a few months. The last few weeks before the semester ended, we hung out a lot with our roommates. We would go to the "grassy knoll" as we liked to call it, study on campus, play tricks with walkie talkies, go shopping...just casual hanging out in a group. Then the semester ended and we both moved home for the summer. I stayed in Salt Lake for about 1 1/2 months and worked for my dad. During this time, we talked on the phone a few times and e-mailed. Rich was a good FRIEND and a listening ear when I needed. This was exactly what I needed at the time because of everything I was going through. I then disappeared to New York for 3 months to go live with my sister. I must have talked about Rich a lot over the Summer because my sister Wendy told me that she wouldn't buy me my plane ticket home unless I PROMISED to call Rich the day I got back...so the first date. I called Rich the day after I got home from New York (anyone who knows me knows that this is a HUGE step for me to make a phone call...especially since we hadn't talked all Summer. Luckily, we had e-mailed - s0 it wasn't completely out of the blue!) We set up to go buy BYU season tickets together the next Tuesday. So, on Tuesday (August 27, 2002), we drove down to Provo with Rich's friend Ashley and bought tickets. When the idea of lunch came up, she casually backed out (now I know it probably wasn't as casual as I thought) and we went to P.F.Chang's. We spent the rest fo the day running errands in Provo and talking.

Where was your first kiss?

Should I be admitting this?! Two days later (August 29th), we went to BYU's season opener. We had a great time at dinner, watching the football game, and getting ice cream after. Ashley was quick to invite me to her birthday party that weekend - so she helped inititate the next time we'd see each other - the pressure was off. By this point, one of Rich's friends needed to get going and he had driven with us, so we drove him to his car. We then drove back to my parents' house and talked for a few hours. In the end, we kissed :) So, our first kiss was the cliche kiss...in the driveway. The rest was history...from that day on, we spent all of our free time together!

I guess that you could say it was good timing for the first kiss. It was enough to convince me to pack up all of my belongings and find a place to live in Provo. Up to this point, I wasn't going to live in Provo because I would be working at a school in Salt Lake for a month during the Semester. Rich just needed to come and sweep me off my feet quick so that I would move back to P-town. The kiss changed everything :)

Did you have a long or a short engagement?

The actual engagement was pretty short. We got engaged on April 28, 2003. We were married 3 months later on July 30, 2003. That is a little deceiving to say that, however, because the temple and reception center had been reserved since January. I spent from January to April in New Zealand on a study abroad program, so this delayed our actually getting engaged.

Where did you get engaged?

On April 28, 2003, We went up to the cabin under the pretense that we needed to check the snow level for his mom. We had to hike in because there was still snow. When we got to the cabin, there was a fire going and candles lining the stairs and room. (Thanks Lance for staying long enough to avoid a fire!) There was music playing, the table set for two, and a dozen roses. The ring was sitting on the mantle. He walked 0ver and picked it up and asked me to marry him. I, of course, said YES! He even made me dinner :) I loved the ring. He picked it out all by himself and did a great job. We always tease him that he proposed that day because he wanted to make sure that I would take care of him when he had surgery the next day...he wanted me committed! It was a wonderful day!

Where were you married?

We were married on Wednesday, July 30, 2003 in the Salt Lake Temple. My relative, Elder Dellenbach performed the ceremony. This was very special to me because I had spent a lot of time with him and his wife in New Zealand. They had been a huge support when I was hospitalized there. I was so happy that they happened to be in Utah for our Wedding day! We had a luncheon at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building and a reception that night at Seven Oaks Reception Center. It was a perfect day. I loved that my WHOLE family was able to come into town for it. This is a miracle in and of itself!

How did the reception go?

We absolutely LOVED our reception. It was an absolute party. Some people can't wait to get it over with or are the first to leave. NOT us! We stayed longer than most of our guests because we were having such a great time. Our colors were red with bright flowers to accent. I loved seeing my whole family in the colors! We had fun dancing, singing with my sisters, having my cute nieces perform, watching our video, talking with friends, smashing cake, and simply enjoying every moment of it.

How was your Honeymoon?

We had a great Honeymoon. We spent about a week in San Diego. We enjoyed shopping, going to Old Town, going to the temple, going in to Mexico, going to the beach, swimming, and relaxing. I think that we should be able to go on a getaway like this more often!

Who's turn next?

For all of you who haven't done this tag before...it is kinda fun to hear about your LOVE story. Can't wait to hear what you have in store :)