How we Met:
Race and I were {and still are} both going to school in Flagstaff, AZ. I had seen Race around at institute activities and knew that we had mutual friends. I remember seeing him at the beginning of the 2009 school year and thinking he was really cute but at the time he had a girlfriend. Later I remember seeing him at a mutual friends' Sunday make-your-own pizza dinner party. He did not have a girlfriend with him and I remember that he was wearing the ugliest pants I have ever seen...but I still thought he was really cute. A few months later he was leading the meeting surrounding a convert baptism that I went to. I was wearing a bright yellow dress and was SURE that I had caught his eye. I was especially sure when just a short time later he added me as a friend on Facebook. {He doesn't remember seeing me at the baptism or adding me as a Facebook friend--to this day we have no idea why he added me} He never said anything to me on Facebook so I mostly forgot about him.
A couple of weeks later I heard quite a few stories about Race and how he would ask lots of girls on dates, lead them on, and then just never have it go anywhere. At the time I kind of just wanted to bug some of my roommates by getting a date with this guy they were all so annoyed with {...sorry ladies}. And I also wanted to see if I could get him to commit to me and not lead me on like he did with so many other girls. {I know, I know I did not have the best of intentions when I started going after Race...in fact they were pretty awful intentions originally} I started talking to Race on Facebook and we hit it off right away. He asked me out on a date that night and I said no mostly just because we hadn't met in person yet. The next night he got online and we started talking again. He invited himself over with ice cream! Of course I said he could come over--who says no to free Cold Stone Creamery ice cream? He came over that night and I was in a really goofy mood. I was wearing footie pajamas and was being really weird with my best friend. Luckily he didn't run away. Instead of that he kept bringing up how he didn't have to work the next day and he would be free all evening. FINALLY instead of hinting that we should hang out he officially asked me on a date.
First Date/First Kiss:
The next evening Race picked me up for our first date. He didn't tell me what we were going to do right away but drove two minutes down the road to Michaels Arts and Crafts. There we picked up crayons and candles. I still had no idea what we would be doing. Then we headed to Target to get two corked bottles of sparkling cider. Finally we headed to WalMart to get lighters {we forgot to buy them at Target} and dinner at Subway.
We headed back to his place {he lived with his sister and cousin at the time} with our food and supplies. Before eating we popped the corks off of our sparkling cider {this was a first for me} and drank as much as we could. After eating we began making pirate candles. {Those are bottles with candles put on top and then you melt crayons over them so that they have colorful awesome looking wax dripping down the bottle. They are a super fun activity to do and would look cool for Halloween decorations or something.} After finishing our nifty looking candles we sat on the couch to watch Avatar. The date had gone great so far. We had not stopped talking at all and he had made me laugh lots and I already felt like I knew lots about him. Sitting on the couch was admittedly awkward at first. It was a small couch but we still sat about as far apart as we could. Throughout the movie we inched closer to each other and then ended up cuddling. Eventually some cheesy, romantic things were said and Race kissed me and I kissed him right back. :] Let's be honest, I had kissed a lot of guys before Race but his was an AMAZING first kiss! And all the kisses following that first kiss have only gotten more amazing. So, our first date ended very well and I was blissfully happy to have gone after this guy--and this is where all my ridiculous reasons for chasing after him fell away.
How Long Did You Date:
Race and I did not date for very long. We fell in love fast and were engaged within four months of our first date and we got married within four months of getting engaged. I never thought that I would meet someone and fall in love so fast. I was planning on going on a mission when I turned 21 in a year--instead I spent my 21st birthday married to an amazing man. :]
Race and I did not date for very long. We fell in love fast and were engaged within four months of our first date and we got married within four months of getting engaged. I never thought that I would meet someone and fall in love so fast. I was planning on going on a mission when I turned 21 in a year--instead I spent my 21st birthday married to an amazing man. :]
How I knew that Race was The One:
I THOUGHT that Race was the one pretty soon on in our relationship. I was PRETTY SURE he was the one when we went to Vegas. While we were there Race went to the temple sealing of one of his companions from his mission. I had not yet been through the temple so I sat in the waiting room of the Las Vegas Temple . While I was sitting there a cute little old lady was leaving the temple. I imagined her walking up to me and asking me who I was waiting for. In my head my answer immediately was "My husband." And then I backtracked and said "I mean my fiancee." And then I backtracked again and said "I mean my boyfriend!" This conversation did all happen in my head but it really let me know that Race was someone I truly loved and wanted to be with for forever. This was still of course pretty early on in our relationship so after a lot more praying I did come to KNOW that he was the one I was going to choose to be with for eternity.
I do believe that we choose who we are going to marry and decide to commit to them for eternity. There may be more than one person out there that we could be happy with but there is one person that we choose to be with. President Gordon B. Hinckley said, "Be worthy of the mate you CHOOSE. Respect him or her. Give encouragement to him or her. Love your companion with all your heart. This will be the most important decision of your life, the individual whom you marry."
I chose to respect, encourage and love Race with all my heart and I KNOW that was the best decision I have made in my life.Proposal Story:
The day before the proposal:
On May 26th, 2010 Race and I spent a wonderful day at the Grand Canyon. It was the second time I had ever gone to the Grand Canyon. It was a gorgeous day and I loved spending the time with Race in the car talking on the way there and the way back. While we were there we took lots of cute pictures and enjoyed the gorgeous nature. On the way home from the Grand Canyon I put my hand on Race's leg. I felt something in his pocket...the exact size of a ring box! I asked him what it was. He said it was his camera battery. This was funny because we had talked about how his camera took double A batteries on our way to the Grand Canyon. I pointed that out and then he said it was his wallet. Of course this was silly because no one's wallets are that size...that I know of. I ended up dropping it because I didn't want to ruin anything but I called my mom right when I got home and told her all about it. I could not believe that he had the ring with him and DIDN'T PROPOSE!!! The next day was our official three month dating anniversary and I was going to be shocked if he didn't propose then either. I was pretty sure that he was going to propose because he kept telling me that he was taking me on a date the next day and that I should "dress cute". Also that night my best friend told me that Race had asked her for my home phone number. With all these clues and the fact that I now knew he had a ring for me I was pretty sure the next day was going to be it.
Race and I at the Grand Canyon the day before we got engaged--if you look closely at his right pocket you can kind of see the outline of the ring box.
The Day of the Proposal:
Race picked me up at noon the next day and we headed out to the mall. We ate a delicious lunch at Ruby Tuesday's and Race's hands were shaking the entire time {this is only somewhat noteworthy because Race's hands almost always shake}. After lunch we headed into the mall and right towards the photo booth {we had gone to this photo booth on one of our very first dates}. We went in and Race pulled out a HUGE wad of dollar bills. I would say there were between 30 and 50 dollars {FYI: we did not use nearly that much money}. We got into the photo booth and took our first set of photos. Race says that he was fully planning on proposing during the first set of photos but he was just so nervous that he couldn't get the ring out of his pocket and get down on his knee before the fourth picture was taken. Race said that he wanted to take some more pictures and made up some silly reason like there was a face he really wanted to do still or something like that. We had to get out of the photo booth because there were some girls in line waiting to take pictures. We sat nearby and waited for them to finish and then headed back into the photo booth. This time Race got the ring out and was down on his knee in the first picture. He asked me to marry him and I said yes! It was the perfect proposal and I am so glad that we have it captured in these photo booth photos! :]
Pictures from left to right:
1. One of our first dates. In the same photo booth Race proposed in.
2. While Race was getting up the guts to propose and figuring out the logistics of proposing in a little tiny photo booth.
3. Race proposing to me, me saying yes, and us showing off the gorgeous ring.
4. More of us showing off the ring and being oh so happy to be engaged!!!
We were engaged on May 27th, 2010 and were married on September 3rd, 2010. We had a short engagement and that is just the way we wanted it! :]
To read more about our story you can find more under posts labeled "Me & My Husband" or "Our Story"
