Our Story

I saw this on my friend Liz's blog and thought it was cute. In honor of Valentine's, you are supposed to share your love story. I think this would be fun for everyone else to do, especially those I went to high school with and haven't seen in forever. I have no idea how you met your husbands!

But before I start I have to say that I have been reading lots of blogs about people's Valentine's weekends. I think it's pretty funny that almost everyone had pink heart shaped pancakes for breakfast and heart shaped pizza for dinner. We had pink heart pancakes too. It's a tradition that I got from my mom, only she did green pancakes and milk on St. Patrick's day. Too bad that no one wanted to drink green milk! We didn't have heart shaped pizza though. We had meatball sandwiches because I didn't feel like cooking, and it's a really easy meal. :) We don't like to do a big celebration on Valentine's, but we do always like to spend time together. Our festivities this year included breakfast and love notes, a trip to the bank and Al's sporting goods, and a laundry folding party while we watched a movie after the kids went to bed. (I have had to wash ALL of Halle's clothes with some vinegar in the rinse cycle to see if I can get her rash to go away.)

So, our story: (sorry, this turned out WAY longer than I planned...)

How we met:
After Derrick got home from his mission, he moved to Provo and started working for his cousin making nametags.

After I graduated high school I was working at the Snack Shack at our city pool. Don't laugh, it was my favorite job EVER, seriously. But I needed something during the school year, and my friend Kelsi told me I should call her boss and ask for an interview because she was leaving, and I could take her position. So I got the job in August! YAY! So my boss just happened to be Derrick's cousin, Chris. Derrick was in New York visiting the mish when I first started, so I didn't meet him until a week or two later, but I obviously knew about him because he was coming back. I remember the first thing I noticed about him was that he was tall. He says the first thing he noticed about me was my smile. But I just asked him if he remembers what I was wearing, and he described how my jeans had pockets with flaps on the back, so guess what he really noticed! hehe... He actually described the first time he saw me and how he was rounding corners and I came into the room with a friend laughing. I'm impressed because I don't remember it that well, especially what I was wearing.

Anyway... Our first conversation was in the shipping room and I asked him about his mission. He was kinda quiet. The two of us made up the processing department, so we had a lot of time to talk and become friends. I wasn't interested at first because I was dating someone else. He left on a mission in December, and a couple weeks later Derrick and I started to feel a little different towards each other. We started talking on MSN messenger and would stay up talking into the early morning, sometimes 3 or 4 am. We started dating in January.

Nametag Source crew

Our first date:
Well the first time we went out, it wasn't officially a date. He invited my friend, Kelsi, and I to Salt Lake to look at the lights in Temple Square with a group of his friends. I had decided I kinda liked him by this point, so I was a little nervous, but I had my friend with me. We had a lot of fun. I remember Derrick gave me his beanie to wear because it was cold, but I hate wearing them because I think I look dumb. He told me I looked cute in it anyway. Even though it was just a group of friends, he kept walking with me. We went to the food court to eat. Kelsi and I were the last to come sit at the table with our food, and she made sure that the only seat left for me was right next to Derrick. What a good friend. :)

Temple Square... I look like I'm going out with his friend haha

But our real first date that he actually asked me on was at his apartment. While we were IMing he started talking about some cookies that I had made and brought to work. At the exact same moment we both suggested that we get together and make some. So that's what we did. It was really fun.

Our first kiss:
I hate telling this story because it's embarrassing, and it makes us sound like we were in a bad situation, but I swear we weren't. Don't judge us, k.

This wasn't exactly our first kiss...

We were in Derrick's apartment doing homework. We were actually in his room on his bed. Remember, no judging :) So his back was to the wall and I was facing him, kind of to the side. We were just talking and all the sudden Derrick got this look in his eye, and he put his hand on my shoulder. I thought, "Oh crap, he's going to kiss me. How do I get out of this?" HA I just wasn't quite ready.. So I looked over to the clock and said, "Well it's late. I better get going," and then moved my head the other direction really fast and started getting my stuff together. But he was determined I guess, so he just pulled me in and kissed me. I liked it anyway.

Our first break up:
Well, this isn't usually part of most love stories, but it was kind of an important time in our relationship.

I actually broke up with him a few weeks after we started dating because I was just freaked out that things were too serious. I was so young and had only dated one other person. I just wanted to be free and date around for a while. Not to mention the fact that I just wanted to have fun and not get serious because I had a missionary. I remember the day it happened. We went on a double date (with Kelsi and her now husband) to a movie and then split and just the two of us ate dinner. I was acting funny the whole night and he could tell. Afterwards we went back to my dad's house where I was living. I showed him some scrapbooks and we just sat and talked. Things were a lot less awkward at this point, and I was just too chicken to tell him what I was thinking. Finally he said that he needed to get home, and I said, "Wait... We need to talk." I told him I wanted to be friends but this was just going to fast for me. I needed to slow down and be friends. I will never forget his sad face as he left that night. I still feel so awful that I hurt him so bad. But it was good for us I guess.

The next day I was painting a room at my dad's (who knew I would never get to live in that room because I would be too busy planning a wedding to finish it) and I just kept thinking about him all day. I was so worried that he misunderstood what I was trying to say. I did want to date him, just not exclusively yet. So we texted and eventually decided to get together and talk. When we did I told him how I felt, but he said that he didn't want to date anyone else. He said I basically had to choose because it would be too hard for him to watch me go on dates with other guys. So did I want to date him or not? I told him I needed time to think about it.

The next morning I woke up and Derrick was the first thing that popped into my head. I had my answer. How could I think about someone this much and not be with him? I just had to take a chance. He was obviously pretty happy, and from that day on we were together almost every day.

At Derrick's parents'... this may or may not have been during General Conference

The engagement:
Even though I wanted to date him, the M word stayed far out of our vocabulary for a long time. I was still freaked out. He did tell me that he would never ask a girl to marry him unless he knew she would say yes, so I thought I was safe.

Eventually we started talking about our summer plans. Derrick was going to finish his last semester at UVSC and then go to Alaska. In the fall he was planning on transferring to USU. I was going to do a semester in Nauvoo with Kelsi, and then stay in Provo. So basically, we would be separated for the rest of the year at least. We didn't really like the idea, and knew it would be hard for a relationship to survive, so we basically had a choice. Do we go our separate ways, or get married instead? We decided to fast about it that Sunday. As we were talking later that night he asked how I felt. I told him I felt peaceful and calm whenever I thought about marrying him. I felt like it was right. So we decided to get married! It was so exciting!

the night we got engaged

Derrick proposed to me at FHE with my family. He secretly told my mom two weeks before to ask him to teach the lesson one week. She did and I told her how rude she was and to leave him alone. But he said he didn't mind. He gave the lesson on Easter and the resurrection. He had an object wrapped up for each member of my family that had something to do with the story (picture of Christ's baptism, plait of thorns, nail, etc.). My object was a tomb. After I opened it he pulled the ring out of it and proposed. Can't really remember what he said because I was too busy staring at my ring. KIDDING! He didn't say a lot though. Just that he loved me and wanted to spend forever with me, so would I marry him?

Why I love him:
I can't even describe this. He is an amazing man. From the beginning I felt comfortable being myself around him. He always accepts me as I am. We are best friends and have so much fun together. He is so sweet and senstive to me. It's the little things that make us love each other. He locks the door every day when he leaves for school to make sure me and the kids are safe. He knows when I need a break from the kids adn he takes them. He makes me chocolate milk and always brings me water when I ask him. He does the dishes for me. He gives our babies blessings when they need it. He makes sure we have family scripture study and prayer. He tells me that he loves me and that I look cute. He always says thanks for cleaning and taking care of the kids, even though it's kinda my job. He always takes me out for dinner on my birthday because he knows it's my favorite. He says nice things about me to other people, even if he thinks I will never know about it. He tells me when people say nice things about me because he knows it will make me feel better. When he comes home everyday he give him a hug and a kiss, first thing. He makes me laugh everyday. He always likes to surprise me with gifts, even though I complain that I hate waiting for surprises. We can talk for hours, even when we are together 24/7. I never get sick of him. There is no doubt that I married a good man.