Week Six ~ Ashley

Her: Ashley

Him: Andrew

Married July 15, 2004 Salt Lake Temple

Children:

Dallin (3.5 yrs)

Claire (6 months)

What is the first thing that attracted you to him?

The first thing that I was attracted to was how well he listened to me when I was talking, good eye contact

How do you like to spend your free time together?

When we have free time we like to do fun outdoor things like camping, and swimming, and late nights after the kids are in bed we like to just watch tv/movies together

What is your best marriage advice?

My best marriage advice would be to realize that you cant ever change your spouses bad habits... just learn to live with them!!!

 

 

 Engagement Story

 

Andy called and invited me to go downtown and eat dinner at "The Garden" restaurant at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. I didnt seem suspicious because it seemed just like any other date we may have gone on. It was February and very snowy outside that night. We headed down and I was excited to eat a yummy meal. As we headed upstairs we noticed it seemed a bit deserted and as we arrived at the restaurant we saw the sign that said "Closed for remodeling". We were sooo bummed (and hungry). We cant believe we had come all this way for nothing.

 

Well since we had such an amazing view of the temple from the window outside of the restaurant we decided to stick around up there for a minute and hang out. We talked for a bit, and then Andy gave me a hug. This is when I noticed him sort of trembling... I started to get a bit nervous myself wondering if what I was thinking in my mind was really about to happen. Andy proceeded to tell me "how much he loved me" and all that good stuff and then he got down on his knee and proposed!!

 

It was beautiful, we were all alone in such a peaceful spiritual setting which made it perfect. I was soo excited to see my ring because he had it custom made for me. I had an idea of what the setting was going to look like, but it was more beautiful than I had imagined.

 

After I got myself composed we headed back to our car. We were obviously still hungry so we talked about what restaurant we wanted to go to. I suggested my favorite.... TGI Fridays, but was quickly rejected. Andy then mentioned Chili's which I wasn't really feeling because we had just gone there the week before... but he was insistant. I was kind of bummed actually that Andy wouldn't let me go where I wanted, but quickly got over it. As we headed to the restaurant I called all my family and friends in the car. We arrived at Chili's after battling the snow storm, around 8:30 PM. Man, I was sure starving by this time, and was so anxious to get in and eat. I was in such a hurry that as I walked in the restaurant I failed to notice the 15 or so closest family and friends waiting in the foyer. It took me a minute and then I realized that they were all obviously there to surprise me and celebrate in this wonderful event. I thought, how did Andy get a hold of all these people to come here.... we werent even supposed to be eating dinner here.... then I figured it out.

 

Andy knew all along that "The Garden" restaurant was closed but he wanted an excuse to bring me down to the Temple without being too suspicious. He made arrangements for our family and friends to meet at Chili's hence why he shot down my TGI Fridays suggestion. Anyway, there was no other way I would have wanted to celebrate our engagement then with all of our amazing friends and family. Andy really thought this one out!! It was perfect!

 

******

 

Ashley, thank you for your Love Story!  All that talk about all those yummy restaurants made me hungry!!  I love how he arranged for your favorite people to celebrate with you!!  I had a tough time choosing which pictures to use off of your blog because your family is SO adorable!! 

 

I've known Ashley for a few years, I used to babysit Mr. Dallin when he & Cam were younger.  Ashley & I share a common love of Cafe Rio and talking nonstop about our cute kids!

 

Our upcoming list of Love Story Sundays is getting longer....leave a comment/email if you want to contribute!  Anyone is welcome!!

Week Five ~ Noelle

him: andrew

her: noelle

married: june.26.2008

salt lake temple

reception: cactus & tropicals

What is the first thing that attracted you to him?
Despite the fact that he initially reminded me of the rapper Eminem, I loved his eyes and his rock solid [8 packed] football body. (Luckily the DrewPac/Eminem-esque gangster in him has evaporated over the years...) I have to give credit to football though, because that is the reason we met in high school.

How do the two of you spend your free time together?:

Watching movies & going to restaurants - we love Tocano's and B&D burgers and of course NETFLIX!

What is your best marriage advice?

Write a list of goals you want to accomplish as a couple - goals that can better your relationship. Writing it down serves as a visual reminder that both parties are trying to improve themselves, and ensures that you never forget what you are striving for.

Love Story:

The {best} and {worst} phone calls from my future husband.

Drew and I started dating halfway through our Senior year of high school. He went to Skyline and I went to Highland, but we met through some mutual friends (who had met at a student government party before one of Drew's football games.) After graduating high school, I ended up going to school at Utah State and he stayed home that first semester to prepare for his mission.

He was called to serve in the Chicago South Spanish speaking mission and left in October of 2005. It was nice to be up at school while he was gone and at least be somewhat distracted with schoolwork so that I didn't think about him all the time. (Although, he will claim that I was distracted by much more than schoolwork, but we won't get into that.)


About two weeks after he left, I got a phone call around 1am. I was woken up abruptly by my cell phone and jumped out of bed to silence it before my roommates woke up. I [blindly] held the phone right up to my face (since I didn't have my contacts in.) The phone said "Call from: Wojo" my stomach dropped. This call = worst phone moment.


A thousands thoughts ran through my head. He was still in the MTC. Or at least, he was supposed to be. Did he really sneak his cell phone into the MTC? I really bet his mom wouldn't have even noticed that he took it. Is he planning on mailing it back to her as soon as the payment for the month is up? Is he really that rebellious (or in love) that he is calling me from the MTC just to hear my voice? Did he get kicked out and now he's calling to tell me that we can be together? AAAAH!


I was literally sick to my stomach and didn't know what to do. But like every lovesick girl would do - I answered it (duh.)

"Uh....hello?"

Muffles
"Hello!!??"
A TV? [What the...?]
"Hello? Drew??"
Click


I didn't really fall asleep, but kept thinking about it all night long. The next day I got a call from Drew's mom.

"Noelle, I am SO sorry about last night!! I had Andrew's phone in my purse ever since we dropped him off at the MTC and I never turned it off. I must have accidentally dialed you since you were the last person he called."


Me: "Oh..heh heh... uh... no big deal [lie]. I knew it couldn't have been him anyways."

FLASH FORWARD to November 2nd 2007 after two years of weekly emails [never missed a week. Okay, I lied, I did miss one week, but he did too] where we have the best phone moment.

Drew got back from his mission on a Friday afternoon. He was being released at 5pm that day, so I planned it out just right so that I could leave Logan and drive right to his house to see him.  I didn't know exactly when he was going to be getting in at the airport, so I just waited patiently until I heard from him. I was driving down I-15 and I heard my phone beep. I looked at the screen: "New text message from: Wojo." That's right, his parents never de-activated his phone. Same number. Same name in my contact list.


I opened it up... "Hey...." So simple, yet so AMAZING!! We text back and forth for a little bit and he broke the news that the stake president was stuck at work and he couldn't be released until 6. Frustrating, but okay. I had lived two years without him, what was another hour? [I found out later that the reason he text me first, was because he was too scared to actually call and talk.]


I sat at my sister's house in Salt Lake for over an hour waiting to get the "go ahead" to meet up with him. He called me and just said, "Alright...come on over..." It was so....familiar. It really just felt like a normal phone call. Kind of like a "Oh hey, I'm home now, come over whenever" type of normal friendly conversation. Though this was not normal.


I ran through my head exactly how I wanted everything to go. I even sat out in my car for about 5 minutes when I pulled up because I had this dream of him walking down the driveway and I could run up into his arms. Meanwhile, he was spying on me through his front window, and didn't know why I was taking so long, so he decided to come outside and get me.


He walked down the driveway and I got out of my car and walked up to meet him. (I felt like "the run" would be too cheesy.) The smiles on our faces were SO GIGANTIC I cannot even explain. He gave me the biggest hug and we just stood there in each others arms. It was the best feeling in the world. My stomach was floating, my thoughts were on cloud 9, I had goosebumps all over my body and I didn't want to let go. Ever.


Thoughts were running through my head on whether or not I should kiss him. A few weeks prior, I was having a conversation with a RM at my work who advised me NOT to kiss him because he will be "weird" and will need "time to adjust." Not having any brothers/sisters that served missions, I didn't know what this "adjusting period" was supposed to be like. Apparently this period is non-existent for the Wojo family because...


I looked up at him and thought, "eh, what the heck." We kissed. It was glorious! It was like having a second-first kiss - a feeling that I thought could never be recreated with the same person, but here it was happening with this guy that I loved. Drew can attest to this - I was extreme anti-PDA before his mission... but here I was kissing this boy on his very public driveway!


We spent the evening chatting, watched a movie with his family, went for a drive, and played at a park. Later that weekend, my family and all our friends came to hear him speak at his homecoming. This was a much better experience than his farewell! (Which I cried through the entire thing while laying my head on my mom's lap while she attempted to tickle my back and calm me down... even thinking about it right now makes me tear up - it was the worst feeling ever to send him off.)

Drew's homecoming talk 11.4.07


After all the glitz and glam of "being home" wore off, our feelings were the same. It all seemed so normal and so right. I made up my mind right then and there that I wanted to spend forever with this boy.

What you probably don't know about Drew is that he is a hopeless romantic. For our engagement he sent me around Salt Lake on a scavenger hunt to a variety of places that were our "firsts." Of course that is a completely different story of it's own, but some of these places included:


First Date: Century 16 (Phantom of the Opera)

First place we went after his mission: Donner Trail Park
First place we met: A friend's basement
First Kiss: Pete's Rock


There, on top of Pete's Rock overlooking the Salt Lake Valley, Drew asked me to be his wife. I, of course, said yes!

******

Aren't they just the most beautiful couple!!  They live right across the stairwell from us.....I'm sure they just love hearing Cameron's tantrums....and me yelling at him, ha! 

That was so much fun to read!  I LOVE LOVE LOVE the "driveway scene"....where they saw each other after his mission.  SO cute!  Right out of a movie!!  Made me all giddy!!

Thank you Noelle!  You'd better stay in touch after our cinder block life cuz I want to see what your babies look like, haha!

Week Four ~ Meghan

Her: Meghan

Him: Peter

Married: August 10, 2007

Children:  Danielle, age 1 year

Best Marriage Advice:
I would say communicate and tell each other you love one another as much as you can.





Love Story:
I may be biased on this statement, but I think Peter and I have a great love story. It has all kinds of twists and turns that can make a person go crazy.

We met at the end of our junior year in high school. Peter and his friend Bryan has gotten their parking pass revoked from school (which I believe was from skipping) and had to park at the Burger King down the street and walk. After school one day I was walking to my car in the parking lot and Bryan called my name. I turned around and saw him there with some guy (I honestly don’t even remember looking at Peter when I first met him). They wanted a ride to the Burger King so they could get their car. I said sure. Peter hoped in the back seat of my two-door Acura and it was a little tight. He managed. Bryan sat in the front and I honestly can’t remember even acknowledging Peter. What a terrible person I am. Or maybe I was just 17 and going through a stage. Who knows. I was currently dating someone, but a few weeks later…we broke-up. I went to Bryan’s one night to talk about it because I was pretty down. Peter was there. That is the first night I noticed him. Maybe it was because he was so sweet to me and massaged my shoulders. I’m a sucker for a massage. But I think it was because he was so dang cute. To me, Peter is one of those guys you dream of going out with but maybe you don’t because he has some stinkin’ hot girlfriend that is just so much better than you in every way. At least that’s the way I looked at it in high school. But, little did I know, he was new at the Woodlands High that year also. We were new kids so we didn’t have tons of friends like some of the others. It was that night that I really started to like Peter. We continued to hang-out multiple times through the summer. Note: I had about 2 or 3 close friends try to move in on him. One of them tried to kiss him. Turns out she really wasn’t that great of a friend.


We had started our senior year and drove to school together. He didn’t have much luck getting a parking pass considering his past experience with one. On September 3rd, 2003, he asked if I would be his girlfriend. We were hanging out in some parking lot after I had gone to the tanning beds (bad, I know) and he had gotten his Jeep all dirty going off-roading. These were his exact words…dead serious… “Will you be my girlfriend?” Ha! Isn’t he the cutest? We spent the rest of our senior year together and going into college.

Peter introduced me to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (a.k.a. Mormons) and baptized my parents, brother, and I. It was a great day considering it happened September 3rd, 2004. (One year after he so willingly asked me to be his girlfriend) Peter and his family were such a good example to me and my family. Peter and I were on top of the world and so in love! I was going to school at Texas A&M University when Peter was called on a mission for our church. He was going to be serving in San Jose, Costa Rica. It was bittersweet. It was so fun to see him start on this new adventure in life and exciting to know that he would be sharing the gospel with others, but sad at the same time to see my best friend leave. We hugged goodbye and I cried my eyes out as I watched him leave for two whole years. We were allowed to write letters, but no phone calls or e-mails. We were positive that we were going to be getting married when he came home.



Peter and I went a good year with writing letters steadily. We were still madly in love and couldn’t wait to see each other. We had gotten over the hump and only had one more year left. It was a few months after that year mark when our letters started to dwindle. Peter had been called as an assistant to the mission president and became VERY busy. A new mission president was called and him and his companion were training him. I didn’t hear from him much. For the first ten months of his second year out, I received two letters. I didn’t really know what was going on so I continued to write, but knew I needed to prepare for the worst. I started to date more. I began to date a nice young man who we will call Jeremy. We got very close and over a short 3 months and started discussing marriage. My parents came into town to meet this guy that I spoke of and thought he was very nice, but still wanted me to wait for Peter to come home. They told me I would always wonder about Peter if I didn’t wait. Me, being kind of frustrated with Peter, told them that we were through and that WE ALL needed to move on from that. So, we made plans for Jeremy to come visit my family over Christmas break in Indianapolis. November rolled around. I met my family in Chicago for a long weekend to be sealed as a family in the Chicago Temple. I loved that day. It was PERFECT! Everyone that loved and supported us came to view the sealing. This included Peter’s parents. It was so nice to see them. I hadn’t spoken to them in a long time and when I walked into the sealing room, the first person I saw was Peter (Peter Jr’s father). Even though my Peter looks mainly like his mom, there are strong characteristics of his Dad that shine through all the time. That day in the sealing room, it looked like the same person. Throughout that wonderful day, I thought about Peter a lot. On the plan ride home from Chicago to Texas I couldn’t get him out of my mind. I went back to school and everything returned back to normal. A week or two later, I received an e-mail from Peter. I was in shock when I pulled up my inbox and saw his name sitting in there. I immediately got butterflies in my stomach. He told me he had heard of my family’s sealing from his parents and wanted to congratulate us. (Turns out, his mom had sent him a picture of us from the sealing). I guess he thought that he was the only one growing up out there in Costa Rica and that I was still the same person. Turns out I wasn’t. We e-mailed back and forth for a few weeks. Mind you, Jeremy was still planning to come out to spend time with my family over Christmas break. My roommate asked me if I was going to tell him and the e-mails with Peter. I told her I didn’t need to. Peter was just a friend. Peter actually had a different girl writing him. She was a sister missionary that was in Costa Rica but left to go home when Peter still had a year left (Right about the time I stopped hearing from him).


Later, Peter asked if he could take me out when he got home. I told him I wasn’t sure and that I was dating someone and we might be engaged before he got home. It’s kind of funny that in my mind I was about to be getting engaged but I was telling someone else that I wasn’t sure about a date. Sure looks like I shouldn’t have been getting engaged. We left it at that.


Jeremy came home over Christmas and asked my Dad’s permission for marriage. My dad said yes, even though he wanted to say no. Hmmm…wonder why. My parents wanted me to wait for Peter, but knew they couldn’t make me. They told me they were concerned that if my dad said no, I would be very upset. So we went about life and Jeremy was planning a proposal and I was SO utterly confused. I thought I wanted to marry Jeremy, but I also thought I needed to see Peter. But then I would think about the other girl he had waiting and think about the fact that he stopped writing me and I thought that maybe it was too late. Maybe we just weren’t meant to be together and we were kidding ourselves with the whole fairy tale story we were creating.


Well, it happened. Peter came home. My parents flew out for his homecoming so I of course also needed to go. I wasn’t planning on going until I found out my parents were. I thought, if I am supposed to see Peter, I will, but I wasn’t going to make the effort. Jeremy was surprisingly okay with it. He thought that I was just going to go say hi to an old friend. I drove up to Houston to pick my parents up from the airport and we were on our way to the hotel when Peter’s mom called my mom. (Turns out they were scheming little ways for us to meet up the whole time.) They had planned a big dinner out that night and wanted us to go. My mom asked me if we could. (My mom was asking for my permission because she thought I might flip.) I did, but still said sure. Then, Peter’s mom told my mom that he was going to come to the hotel to see us. OH CRAP! I wasn’t prepared for all this. I thought I was just going to say hi at his homecoming talk and that would be it. I ran upstairs to the hotel bathroom to fix myself up. I was a wreck. Don’t think I’ve ever been so nervous. I went down to the lobby with my little brother because I couldn’t stand it. We ran into his Grandfather Huntsman in the lobby and were chating with him when Peter walked in. He was SO cute and a flood of memories started filling my mind. Since his grandfather can be quite sly also, he somehow got us to leave the hotel together, just the two of us. And took my little brother by the shoulder and escorted him back upstairs so we were alone. (Our families clearly had it all figured out). So there we were, together at last. I was telling Peter that I honestly got to a point thinking I would never see him again. He was gone for so long that I thought he was just going to live forever in Costa Rica. We shared some good memories and Peter tried to flirt with me. He was a little rusty, but it was adorable. Feelings were coming back and I was in heaven. We spent the rest of the day together and had dinner with our families and it was just like old times. We ended the night with a kiss, a kiss that was a long time coming. Oh how wonderful it was to be back in Peter’s arms. Wait a minute, what’s happening here?


Then it happened. I realized I had a boy back at school with a ring!!! It suddenly got VERY complicated. Oh, and Peter had that other girl too. Could this be a soap opera or what? I’ll give you the shortened version of this considering I really don’t like to relive the stressful details of this part of my life. This is a SUPER long story, I know. Peter went out with that other girl and realized it wasn’t going to happen with her. One broken heart. I told Jeremy it also wasn’t going to happen. Another broken heart. (And a ring to return). We clearly fell back in love and wanted to spend time and all eternity together. We just had to break a few hearts in order to do it. I think it was totally worth it. We realized awhile ago that Jeremy was just what I needed at that point in my life and that girl he was talking to was just what he needed at that point in his life. We don’t regret anything. It is perfect the way it is. Heck, we got to fall in love all over again. And we’ve been doing it every day ever since.

*******

Yet another awesome Love Story!  Thank you Meghan!  You're so gorgeous. Like just ridiculous beautiful.  I love that you ended up with the same boy who introduced you to the Church!  What a special and eternal blessing you will always share!!  And yeah, that sounds like some fun drama......glad it all worked out in the end.....your fairy tale ending!!

Meghan & I got to know each other towards the end of our pregnancies.  Allie and Danielle are only 1 week apart!!  The baby girls have been cutie little friends out on the playground all last year, but sadly, just like Tiff......people graduate and move on!!  We miss you guys!!

Next week is going to be good.....I haven't read it yet, but I know it'll be a fun one cuz they are an awesome couple!!

Week Three ~ Tiff

Her: Tiffini

Him: Matt

Married in the Salt Lake Temple

Children: Olyvia, age 23 months

What is the first thing that attracted you to your spouse?

His hands, Her eyes.

How do you spend your free time together?

Writing, reading, and playing with our little girl.

What is your best marriage advice?

No matter what, keep your priorities straight.  First the Lord, then your spouse and family. And everything else will find its place after the first two are taken care of. Communicate to make sure both sides feel like they are truly where they need to be when it comes to your priorities.

 

Love Story:

The first time we said I Love You

 

 

From the first time he held the door open for me and I told him 'Uh, I got it." I knew I wanted him to hold every door open for me for the rest of my life. The first time he held my hand and I pulled it away, I knew I would never want to hold any hand but his. The first time he kissed me and I responded with " I really wasn't ready to do that." I knew I would never want kiss anyone but him.

Now you might be reading this and thinking, 'What a fickle silly
girl', and you are right which is why I deserved what comes next.
After all his (in his eyes) failed attempts to woo me, he wasn't sure what I wanted. I however had never been more certain of anything in my life... I loved him. It only took me a few more days after the realization that I loved him to conclude that I would marry him in a heartbeat, if he were to ask me.


Days went by after my realization and I waited and waited for him to express what I obviously was feeling, praying that I wouldn't have to be the first to say it. Minutes passed like hours, hours like days and well you get the point, I'm not a patient person. Finally one day,during one of our many hang out/dates I decided to ask the question all men try to avoid. "Uh Matt" I looked up at him, fluttering my eyelids in an attempt to be adorable. "Um... How do you feel?" A confused look struck his face, followed by "Uh fine I guess." I looked deeper into his eyes, "No um, l I mean about me?" And if I had thought he looked confused before, there was no way to explain his expression now. Silence followed, and once again, seconds passed like minutes and minutes like hours until finally he responded with "Well... I really love... hanging out with you."


Ouch. Not happy with that response I decided to make the situation more awkward and continue sitting in silence. Until finally he spoke again. "I mean I love being with you, I love your laugh, I love your hair, your face, and I mean I think... I might be in love with you." His voice trailed off.


Frustrated that I didn't get the answer I wanted I looked him straight in the eye, sadness distorting my face "You think? You think? Well...I know. That's all I'm saying."


That next Sunday I was awoken from a peaceful nap by a phone call. It was Matt. He had called to tell me that he had just spoken with his Bishop. (What a strange thing to call for, I thought.) He went on to tell me that he went to speak with his Bishop because he was in need of advice. He told his Bishop that he thought he might love this girl, but was afraid to tell her until he knew for sure that he did. He didn't want to say it unless he knew it was absolutely true. His Bishop asked him what his thoughts were of this girl. Matt told him he respected her and thought she was amazing, someone he loved to be with. So how do you feel? The bishop asked.


The phone went silent when he reached this point in the conversation. "Tiff, I was really just calling to tell you, I love you. I really do. I just love you."


The first time my husband (not at the time) said he loved me was over the phone! And it was the most romantic thing in the world to me. We were married and sealed three months later in the Salt Lake Temple for time and all eternity. We have since had a beautiful baby girl and will be celebrating our 5 year anniversary this June. I'm so grateful for a husband who I know loves me. And I am grateful for the knowledge that we both have, that as we draw closer to our Savior and Father in Heaven we can draw closer together as a family.

*******

Aww....true love!!!!!  Thank you Tiff!  You're a really good writer!!  That was one of those stories that made my heart flutter and gave me goosebumps......like a really good love scene in a movie!!   And that top wedding photo......gorgeous.....I love how happy you look!!!  And I love your marriage advice.  It's so true.  And it's obvious that you and Matt are true to that. 

I met Tiff when we were both serving in the Primary Presidency awhile back.  I just love her to pieces....and that adorable little girl of hers!  I miss you, Tiff!  That's the sad thing about living in student housing......people move on. 

Thanks for yet another great Love Story!!  Stay tuned for next week's story.....and be sure to let me know if you have one to share!!!  This is turning out to be so much fun......I just might have to print this up into a book at the end of the year.  52 Love Stories!!!

Week Two ~ Emilie

Her: Emilie

Him: Bryan

Married October 7, 2005

Salt Lake Temple

Children: Kiernan, age 13 months

What is the first thing that attracted you to him?

His smile, eyes and height. (I'm tall!)

How do you like to spend your free time together?

Relaxing and watching movies/tv shows.

What is your best marriage advice?

Communication is the key to everything.

Engagement Story:

It was the night of Thursday, March 23, 2005. Bryan lived in Salt Lake City, and was going to the U of U. I was living in Provo and going to BYU (how we met is a different story :) ). We basically only saw each other on the weekends because of our school/work schedules, and took every opportunity we could to see each other. Before that night, Bryan and I had just had a fight, so I was mad at him (to this day, we did the majority of our fighting when we were engaged than any other time together....I'm pretty sure it will always be that way). I was in Salt Lake City for a work related thing, and was supposed to go see him that night. Since I was pretty darn mad at him, I had called to let him know that I was going straight home, and to let him know that I was still mad at him. He begged and begged me to come to his place that night. I finally gave in, and went over to his place. I went up the stairs to his room with my arms folded, and he was on the phone with either his mom or his best friend. After about five minutes, he got off the phone, and said "let's go for a walk." Keep in mind, this is Utah, and it's now 10:30 at night. I thought he was insane, but still tried to be such a girl and did anything I could to not say a word.

So we went down the stairs and out the door. I walk past his car in the driveway, and start walking. I go a few feet before realizing he was no longer by my side (this is mostly due to my hearing loss :) ). I turn around, and he's getting in the car, and we had the following brief conversation: "What are you doing? (me)" "(Bryan) Getting in the car." "Why?" "Because I'm going to drive.....?" "But I thought you said we were going for a walk? "We are, we just need to drive there first." I let out a huge exasperated sigh to make sure he knew I was very annoyed by this. I get into his side of the car and climb over to the passenger side because the passenger door is broken. As we're driving, I'm sitting there, with my arms still folded and refused to talk. This was very difficult to do because I hate surprises, and proved to be too difficult towards the end of the drive. I asked where we were going, and when he parked he said "you don't know where we're going?" "no, why else would I ask?" "You don't recognize this place?" "No" "good." Insert another annoyed sigh here.

So we get out of the car, and we start hiking up the side of a mountain. It's cold, 11:00 at night, in Utah, the day after it had just snowed. All the snow had melted and the ground was *very* muddy. Towards the end of the hike, our shoes looked like this:

This did not help my mood at all because I had happened to be wearing my favorite shoes. I never did wear them again after that hike, they were too muddy. The mud even went all the way up to my knees because it was splashing everywhere.

We get to the top, and I *really* do not want to talk to him. I ask him where we are, he tells me that it's Ensign peak.

At the top, there's a railing where you can lean against it and take a look at Salt Lake valley. I went straight to the railing, and did my best to ignore him, and looked out for awhile at the beautiful sight.

After about five minutes, I finally turn around, even more annoyed that he hasn't come to put his arms around me yet or tried to resolve this major issues I was having. I turn around, and find him on the ground, on one knee. The following conversation ensues:

"(me) What are you doing?"


"What do you think I'm doing?"

"I don't know, why are you down on your knee?"

"Because......"


"Well, get up, it's dirty down there"


"No, I'm fine"


I go to try and pull him up.

"no seriously, get up, it's muddy"

"No, I'm fine" as he gives a really big smile as I'm the cutest thing in the world.

"No bryan, get uh........oh."

I quickly realize what he was doing, and finally shut my mouth. I think by this point, he was trying his best not to laugh as he knew I might just blow my top if he did laugh. He then proposes and says something along the lines of the following:

"Emilie, this is the spot where Brigham Young came up here and started planning Salt Lake city. Emilie, this is where I would like to start my life with you, will you marry me?" I, of course, said yes, and every ounce of my anger had disappeared and was very happy. In all the excitement, I stuck out my right hand for him to put the ring on. He smiles, and tells me to give him my other hand. I do so, quickly, and pull him off the ground and give him a big old kiss. Needless to say, he was forgiven for whatever had made me so angry that night. I do not have a picture of us from that night because by then it was probably close to 11:30 and I still needed to drive back to Provo and get some sleep before my classes the next day. He then drops me off back at his place, and I called my parents. I drove back home and woke up my roommates and showed them my ring.

 

 

The next day, I think I let just about the whole world know I was engaged. It was awesome :)

 

I later found out that he was actually planning on proposing the next day over dinner at Samba Grill, but when I had called, he could not wait. I don't blame him, as I had been waiting 3 months for him to propose! He had asked for my parent's permission the week before right before my harp concert, and had gotten the ring shortly after. Everyone did a great job of keeping that from me so that I would be surprised when he did finally propose.

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Emilie & Bryan are one of our most favorite couples to hang out with here at the U.  I have been babysitting little (big) Kiernan for about 8 months now, and we just love him.  Thank you for sharing your story!!  So funny.....I can't picture you two being mad at each other!!  And I love how you gave him your right hand for the ring!  I remember when Nate proposed, I had to pause for 2 seconds to think about which hand to give him!!  Maybe you can share the story of how you met in another Love Story Sunday! 

Week One ~ Laura

So here we go with Week One of Love Story Sunday!  It was an easy choice because this might be my most favorite story ever!!  I love it!!

Be uplifted & enjoy!

Her: Laura O'Hearon
Him: Jeremy Dunford

Current Status: 

Engaged!!

Where do you currently live?

I live in Halifax and he lives in Ogden, Utah (lame!)

Children/Pets?

(Kind of a pointless question for our engaged couple, but still fun to see the response!!)

We have no kids but we will someday, but they will be no-name brand kids. We don't agree on any names, ever. I doubt we'll have pets. We think they are an expensive nuisance. We'll see though.

When/Where did you get married?

It will be hopefully sometime in August 2011 but we haven't set a date yet! We will get sealed for time and all eternity in the Portland, Oregon temple. It's so beautiful.

How did you meet?

He was a missionary here and we met right before he got transferred out of here. It wasn't until after his mission that we got to know each other better. He thought I was full of it when we first met and I thought he was nerdy looking. So nice.

What was the first thing that attracted you to him?

He ate at our house twice while he was a missionary and he always played the piano for my Mom. She loves it and so did I. He is incredible and it always put me in a reflective, spiritual mood. His music is beautiful.

How do you like to spend your free time together?

Just together, holding hands or cuddling; being close to each other because we are so far apart most of the time.

What is your best marriage advice?

Do it in the temple so it lasts forever :)

Engagement Story:
December 24th at like ..3am, Jeremy finally gets here. After waiting almost 5 months and being delayed by 4 hours at the airport we were finally together again :)  Despite how late/early it was, Jeremy told me he wanted me to set my alarm on my phone for him so he would wake up at 7:30am. At 7:30, the alarm went off and he came to the room I was sleeping in with this card in hand. Waking me with a kiss, he said good morning and I sort of rolled back over thinking he was crazy. Then, after much persuasion he got me to read the card. Inside was a note telling me how happy he is to be with me and that he loves me and why. Just cute stuff :) Then he wished me a happy '12 days of Christmas Eve' and went back to bed.


Not thinking much of it, I got up, ate some breaky and showered. A little while later he got up and Kathy showed up at the house. In her hand was a card (a Karen card as I could tell by the design, just like the first one) but all over the front was stuff related to Kathy and her family. Inside her card/envelope thing was a note to me with a memory and reasons why she loves/why I'm important to her. I'll admit, my eyes got a little watery but no tears.


Then as we were going outside to say hi to the kids in the van before she left, Michelle shows up at my house. I clearly wasn't expecting to see her but in her hand is another card. I found out later she wasn't expecting me to be outside, so I understand now why she was so like 'ahhh' when she saw me out there. She handed me her card and went on her way, declining my invite to come inside. In the kitchen, I read the notes inside her envelope from her and Vanessa.. and I cried, being so overwhelmed with love from so many people.. and I was only at 4.


Then, I knew Karen was coming over and when she arrived I wondered if she also had a card. She visited for a bit before handing me a card and heading on her way. Karen, I later learned was the biggest secret keeper on this whole scheme. On her card again, was things that relate to her, things I think of when I think of Karen. Macbooks and ribbon. At this point, I clued in that 2 weeks before she had asked me questions about what reminded me of each person in our family. She said it was for the family video. So much for that.

Then, Jeremy and I went out to do some errands for my mom and to work so I could do show and tell with all the girls who have heard so much about him. When we got home, Mom proceeded to hand me her card and I went in the living room to read it. My eyes again got watery but I held back the tears. All I could think was "when did I become so soft?" I hadn't cried so easily for happy reason in a long, long time.


Jeremy has this minor obsession with asking me to play piano with him even though he knows I don't like to. He is so amazing and talented where as I pretend I have piano talent. I just don't like to play with him because he's so good and would just make me look bad. Anyway, when he asked me to play with him that afternoon, I declined his offer as usual and disappeared upstairs to my room. On my computer was another card, from Dad. Thats when things got messy. My Dad isn't one who ever shows affection towards me like some Dads do. I don't remember a time where he's ever told me in those 3 simple words that he loves me. Not only did Dad tell me how happy he was the day I was born because he knew he had another beautiful baby girl (I can feel my eyes watering again as I recall this note..) but he told me he loved me and just wants whats best for me. It was like my heart burst with tears because it was one of the best things I could ever get. If I died right now, I would die happy just because my Dad told me he loved me. So, yeah, I cried by myself for a good 5 minutes before Jeremy came upstairs. He hugged me and then we just played some mariokart together.

For anyone who knows my family well, you can probably guess who this card is from. Mike and Keah arrived part way through the afternoon and joined us in the living room while we were building. When we were all finished Mike handed me his card. X-box. So Mike. With everyone around, the tears fell down my face (gah, so embarrassing) being touched by the words of Mike.


Then after a much needed nap, Dad ordered some chinese food and the 6 of us (Mike, Keah, Mom, Dad, Jeremy and I) gathered around the table and ate up the goodness. When supper was done we went upstairs to get ready to go to the nativity show over at the Stake Center. I was checking some stuff on here when Jeremy told me he wanted me to listen to a song. The song was Canon by Dax Johnson and he told me to come sit on my bed while I listened. That seemed weird to me but I did it anyway, laying down with a blanket partly covering my face. He told me to listen to the song and think about all the nice notes I got from people today and how I felt. I didn't quite do that though, because I was too busy thinking 'I hope he proposes, BUT DON'T BE DISAPPOINTED IF HE DOESN'T.' When the song was over he pulled me to the end of my bed so I was sitting across from him and he asked me how the song and all the things people said to me today made me feel. I was a little choked up managed to say 'loved and important' and that I was told things that I don't get told often enough that mean a lot to me. Then Jeremy proceeded to hand me this envelope.

Inside on the piece of note paper all it said was LAURA. . . Feeling a little anxious at this point (because what else could I feel?!! seriously!) I break the silence and say "oh sweet, it says my name." He then proceed to tell me that the people who gave me notes all throughout the day are people who love and have brought me to this point of my life, and that he wants to take me from here. Then he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him.


It was one of those moments that I have never been able to imagine in all my day dreams.
When I day dream, often times I get so lost in my thoughts that I can actually feel what it would feel like to be in the moment. It's nice when you miss people and want to imagine giving them a big hug, because when I dream of it I can feel it too. Not quite as good as the real thing, but a good feeling none the less. Anyway, I could never imagine how I would respond either. Obviously I would say yes, but how would I say it. Would I say something dumb? Would I say something smart? or would I just say yes?


I just said yes.

I am glad that we are going to get married for eternity!


- The Future Mrs. Dunford :)

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Sigh....wasn't that adorable??  Laura, thank you for sharing your story with us!  That'll be a tough one to follow!!  I'd been thinking about doing this Love Story thing on my blog for awhile now, and when I read yours, I just knew it was the perfect one to start with!  I love you to pieces, and I can't wait to give you a big hug on your wedding day!!

Stay tuned for next week's Sunday Love Story........