Once upon a time.

I just read my dear friend Emily's blog where she wrote up her and her hubby's love story. With Valentines Day approaching next month (and I really love that holiday), I thought it'd be fun to share our story too...for those of you who don't already know it:)

Our story starts long before we even met each other (and not in a weird leggings and scrubs Saturday's Warriors kind of way)...
I hope you like soap operas, because here it is.

January 2003
I was at BYU and had just gotten out of a crazy relationship, so I was looking for a way to change things up and move on. I remembered a BYU magazine article I had read several years earlier about BYU's Semester in Nauvoo and knew immediately that it was just the thing I was looking for. I started making plans that day.
Brian had just returned from his 2 year mission in Brazil. One night while he had been away, his mom had trouble sleeping and switched on the TV. She saw a commercial about BYU's Semester in Nauvoo and felt immediately that Brian needed to go when he got home. So when he got home, he found a job and started saving his moola for the big semester.

August - December 2003
Brian and I met on a tour of the Nauvoo flats our second day there and hit it off as friends immediately. [Something you should be aware of, BYU Nauvoo had a "no pairing off" rule - serious. If you're curious as to the reason, I can fill you in later. But just for the record, we SO kept that rule.]
Brian and I soon found out that we could talk to eachother like we had never been able to talk with anyone before. We had several classes together and became quick study buddies because we had so much fun talking to each other. Our study sessions usually went like this: a big group of us started studying for a class, after a few hours of studying the group would dissipate, but Brian and I would still be there - HOURS later - just visiting and talking about anything and everything.


It was so refreshing, to each of us, to be able to have a "just a friend-friend" to hang out with. We both had significant others back home and loved being able to hang out without any pressure, or worries, that the other person was getting the wrong idea. Funny to think about now, eh?
Anywho. The semester went on and our friendship continued. The day that we had to leave Nauvoo, Brian offered to carry my suitcases out to the bus (we were leaving on seperate buses) and when we hugged goodbye, he "leaned" (tell me you know what I'm talking about) and told me that he felt like he was saying goodbye to his best friend. WHAT?! That definitely caught me off guard and of course, gave me plenty to think about (and lose sleep over) for the entire trip home.
That's when things started for me.

January 2004
I went back to BYU and broke up with the guy I had been dating prior to and throughout Nauvoo (for reasons totally unrelated to Brian). He went back to Ogden (where he was living and going to school) and broke off his pre-Nauvoo relationship and started dating someone else.
I was in the process of applying to my major's program at school and part of the application involved a number of observatory hours in an elementary classroom. I had an aunt who taught 4th grade in Ogden, so I called him up and we got together for lunch while I was up there.

February 2004
My older sister and I were planning a trip to visit our younger sister in Rexburg, ID over Valentines Day. I knew that the girl he was dating went to school there, so I called him up and offered a ride so he could spend Valentine's Day with her (I know, I know, I was such an enabler). He actually turned me down as they had other plans, but we ended up talking for a while (as we so easily could) and he told me his concerns about the relationship he was in and asked for my opinions on the matter. I told him that it was totally his thing and that he would have to do what he felt was best, but that if he wasn't feeling it in the relationship, he shouldn't feel obligated to stay in it. (I know...dangerous to ask the girl who's crushing on you for girl advice, but I was pretty proud of myself for handling it so well and being so unbiased).
Anyway, he called me the day after Valentines Day to tell me he had broken up with the girl and then proceeded to tell me all sorts of things I won't post - suffice it to say, our relationship really took off from that point.

March - April 2004
We were still over and hour away from each other, but made a point to call each other atleast every other day and actually ended up seeing eachother for "some 'convenient' reason or another" every week for 6 weeks.


At the end of April, we were talking on the phone as I was packing to go home after finals and he asked when he'd be able to come and visit me that summer (mind you, I lived in the Bay Area). I was pleasantly surprised (FREAKING OUT with BUTTERFLIES!) and we planned a trip for him to come down in August.

May - July 2004
I was in California and he was in Utah, but we talked on the phone pretty much once a day. He decided to apply to BYU for the Fall and asked me to help him find housing, so we were planning for him to live in my complex so we could be in the same ward. This whole time, I was falling wrecklessly head over heels more and more everyday. Unbeknowst to me, however, at the same time, an old Nauvoo buddy called Brian and asked if he'd be interested in going to BYU-Hawaii for a semester as roommates.
Now I can't blame the guy for wanting to go to Hawaii for 4 months, but I felt his timing was a bit off. You can imagine how I felt when he told me of his potential change in plans for the fall semester. I decided that as we had never openly talked about our feelings for eachother, it'd be best to get it out in the open now so he could have all the information in making his Hawaii decision. I'll skip the results of that phone call. Let's just say, I wasn't happy and very seriously considered asking him to cancel his August trip to see me.

August 2004
I cooled off and decided to be a big girl about everything. He came for the week long trip we had planned and it was amazing. We had SO much fun and I couldn't believe how quickly I was able to move past my feelings and just have fun with Brian - my Nauvoo friend.

Surprisingly for me, I didn't need to worry about moving on for too long because he kissed me the night before he left to go home (I know - HORRIBLE timing). From there everything changed.
It felt so natural to be romantically involved with Brian - more so than I had ever experienced before - it almost felt like we'd always been together. I could just tell that it was right. Very right. Too bad he was leaving to go to Hawaii for 4 months, 4 days later.
The airport drop-off the next day was HORRIBLE. Think "Leaving on a Jet Plane." We both cried. Alot.

Kind of funny that we'd been apart for most of our friendship up to that point, but only when he went to Hawaii did I miss him more than I'd ever missed anybody. I felt a piece of my heart fall out and go with him...for FOUR MONTHS.

Late August-December 2004
I went back to Provo for my senior year at BYU. I dated alot that semester, but through all of it, I ached for Brian and cried all too often as we would talk for hours on the phone. I was in love. Period.
Unfortunately, things got pretty rocky between Brian and I with some monsterous miscommunications around November and after a while, it seemed that things were over.
Enter heart break.
But I just couldn't get over him. Like I said, he had taken a piece of my heart with him.

December 13, 2004
It was the first day of finals for me and the day Brian was flying home from Hawaii. We had planned MONTHS before that I would pick him up and while I was tempted to call him and tell him to find another ride, I decided (once again) to be a big girl. So I got gussied up and headed to the airport.
I will spare you all of the details (because this post is long enough already), but we spent the day together and I was pretty cold to him. At the end of the day, I asked him if he was even interested anymore so that I could just move on, if necessary. Apparently, that opened a door for him - there was still a chance.
Here is where things got really interesting.

Christmas 2004 - July 2005
That was a rough Christmas break. I won't go into to much detail, but I basically spent the time trying to talk myself out of loving Brian.
I broke up with Brian in January and while I tried to convince myself that it was the right thing to do, he proved me wrong as he wooed me, hard core.
From there, things flew. We were back together by the end of January (I was a tough nut to crack, I know), talking marriage in March, engaged by April, and married in July. It was a whirlwind dream! And a dream come true, at that.

August -December 2005
I finished my student teaching semester at BYU while Brian worked to put me through school.

January 2006 - June 2008
I taught first grade and put Brian through school (he graduated December 2007).

June 2008 - Present
We moved to LA for Brian's job at Goldman Sachs, Charlie was born, and we are loving life!

All I can say is, thank goodness for the powers of love and persistence.
And thank goodness for Nauvoo.

I love you Brian! Thank you for giving me my own special happily ever after!