It was recently brought to my attention that the above phrase is the name of a Justin Bieber song. We will ignore that fact. :]
Over the past few months there have been some epically huge changes in my life.
One refinement is that I became engaged to my love and main squeeze, Tyler Lewis after being home for only 3 months. The second is that we only dated for two months before coming to the conclusion that we were obviously the most perfect companion for each other and that we would never find a better half.
I know it's crazy. Believe me. I know!
Well, I can tell you right now that this is the last place I expected to be after coming home from the mission. Truth be told, I had something like double negative desire for dating when I came home. I was still feeling very lost and confused about life as I tried to make sense of the events that had taken place over the past year and half. During my release interview, an invitation was extended by my very wise stake president to resist the temptation to be in a "comfort zone" of no dating and to start getting out and dating as soon as possible. I reluctantly agreed. Little did I know that this would be very important agreement for the weeks to follow.
Tyler Lewis and I have been friends since before we can remember. How we were ever introduced is still a mystery, but we presume it was through our mutual friend Jacquelyn when were about 13 or 14 years old. We remained good friends throughout high school, ate our lunches together at the same table in the northwest corner of Davis High's cafeteria, and attended a few of the same parties hosted by friends. When we were seniors in high school Tyler asked me on my first date ever; Homecoming! I was excited and nervous and all sorts of awkward. We danced and had marvelous evening. Not much changed after that because we were in high school and all, but we remained friends throughout the duration of our high school experience.
Tyler left for his mission shortly after we graduated from high school. Our mutual friend, Jacquelyn kept me posted on how he was doing along with several other friends who were serving during the same time. I recently found a half written christmas card addressed to Tyler during the time he was serving as a missionary. Apparently I had intentions of writing him, but failed to complete and deliver that letter. It has since been delivered...three years late :)
My first contact with Tyler after he came home was at the Davis High seminary building. We swapped numbers and within a couple of days he called and asked me on our second "first date." We went golfing and learned that we are equally awful golfers. Then we ate the Pizza Factory. By this point I had decided that I was very fond of Tyler Lewis. Unfortunately, we were both in very different phases of our lives and our second first date remained just that. A second "first date."
Time passed, I decided that I needed to serve a mission, and I set out for that roller-coaster of an adventure. Tyler attended my farewell talk. I am grateful for his loyalty. A lot of people have speculated that Tyler and I must have written back and forth while I was serving. We actually didn't write each other. The only letters I received from the male sex were my father, brother, and my friend's ex-boyfriend (which was kind of awkward...) So, our communication at the farewell talk was the last time I heard from him during that year and a half.
How we ever ended up being reunited after the mission is a bit of a miracle itself. I didn't want to invite anyone to my homecoming because I was feeling unsure of how to handle the circumstances of home life and how stable I would be while giving that talk. I decided to keep the group small and only invite people who contacted me first and asked about it.
When I finally (and reluctantly) decided to start using my phone after being home for a few days, I noticed a number that had called a few times. I ignored it at first, but when it kept popping up in my missed calls I decided to call the mystery person back to see what he or she wanted. To my surprise it was Tyler Lewis! He told me that he had received a text message from a number that he didn't know informing him that I was home. He asked about attending the homecoming address and was able to come. I am grateful things worked out the way they did. That led to a series of very fortunate events. I was without work and I don't exactly remember how everything came together, but somehow Tyler lined me up with a job at J&J Garden and Nursery. The day I came for my interview, I talked with Tyler at the front door of the J&J building. I liked Tyler, but still felt apprehensive about all of this dating business. As we were saying goodbye, Tyler asked if we could go to dinner sometime. I was bursting inside and agreed (of course). I was sooooooo nervous and excited all at the same time! We went on our third "first date" two days later. We had plans to eat at a southern BBQ place that night, but a massive snow storm ruined that plan. Our next plan was to go bowling, but the massive snow storm also ruined that plan. So, we decided to go shovel snow off of people's driveways. We talked as we shoveled driveways and something amazing happened, we clicked. Really well. It was kind of bizarre. A good bizarre though. Tyler asked me on another date for the following day and I readily agreed. By the end of the weekend, we discovered our feelings of liking were mutual and that our relationship was more than "just friends."
On March 22 Tyler proposed to me; and it came as quite the surprise! March 22 started out like any other day. After getting home from work I noticed that no one was home. I thought it was odd, but continued to get ready for the date Tyler had planned that evening. When we were getting ready to leave, I was kind of concerned that no one in my family was home or had made any attempt to contact me concerning their whereabouts. I was especially concerned about my 8 year old sister and where she was. I tried calling dad and after a few attempts, Ashlyn called back on his phone and told me that she was with dad at the emergency room. I talked to dad (who knew what Tyler was planning) and he told me not to worry and that I should go on the date. So, we did. Tyler never actually told me where we were going for dinner or what we were doing, but I just attributed it to the fact that it had been kind of hectic at home. After we had been driving on the freeway for a few minutes Tyler told me that we were going to dinner in Salt Lake at Kneaders. When we got to SLC, we parked by the conference center and walked through Temple Square. As we were passing the Joseph Smith Memorial building Tyler asked if I'd like to stop by and play the piano a little bit before dinner. I readily agreed because I hadn't been there for a few weeks. As we walked up the staircase, the lady who takes your ticket for the Joseph Smith movie was very friendly towards us as she vigorously waved her hand at us. I thought that was kind of odd, but then thought, "she must be a very nice worker lady here." (I later found out she had talked with Tyler earlier that day.) When we got to the room with the piano, Tyler went over to the piano and told me he couldn't remember how to lift up the lid on the piano. I thought that seemed a little silly, but then thought, "Well, I struggle with guitars." I went to lift up the lid and noticed that there was a bouquet of flowers inside. Then I blurted out, "Someone left their flowers inside the piano!" Then I noticed there was a picture of Tyler and I and I said, "with a picture of us!" (I still hadn't caught on to what was happening...I'm kind of slow sometimes) Tyler then asked me to sit down on the piano bench and that's when I realized he was proposing and before he had finished asking me to marry him I was nodding my head to say "Yes!"
The rest of evening was quite the adventure.
We decided to cut our date short to make sure dad was okay. When we came back home, no one else was home still. I called my brother who told me dad had been life-flighted to the U of U medical center in SLC. I found out that a few days earlier dad had hit his head pretty hard and it resulted in bleeding on the brain. Tyler and I drove back to SLC and fortunately, dad was stable and no surgery was needed. Dad told me he knew Tyler was going to propose and didn't want to postpone him proposing. I'm thankful that dad was okay in the end. I was upset that they hadn't called me about the life-flight, but they said, "we knew what was happening and didn't want to ruin your evening!" (sigh)
So, that is the story of how things came to be.
Never say never. Your plan isn't always what God's plan for you is.
We are getting married on July 10th and I am ready to be done with wedding plans FOREVER.
Life is full of wonderful surprises. I have been greatly blessed in so many ways this year. I'm thankful for the hand of the Lord in everything. It's amazing. I am sure that he is very mindful of us and what we need to experience and learn at various points of our lives.
Our love story won't have a happy ending...because real love stories never have an end! :)
That's all. Hope you made it through this beast of a post without any casualties.
Lots of love!!!
On March 22 Tyler proposed to me; and it came as quite the surprise! March 22 started out like any other day. After getting home from work I noticed that no one was home. I thought it was odd, but continued to get ready for the date Tyler had planned that evening. When we were getting ready to leave, I was kind of concerned that no one in my family was home or had made any attempt to contact me concerning their whereabouts. I was especially concerned about my 8 year old sister and where she was. I tried calling dad and after a few attempts, Ashlyn called back on his phone and told me that she was with dad at the emergency room. I talked to dad (who knew what Tyler was planning) and he told me not to worry and that I should go on the date. So, we did. Tyler never actually told me where we were going for dinner or what we were doing, but I just attributed it to the fact that it had been kind of hectic at home. After we had been driving on the freeway for a few minutes Tyler told me that we were going to dinner in Salt Lake at Kneaders. When we got to SLC, we parked by the conference center and walked through Temple Square. As we were passing the Joseph Smith Memorial building Tyler asked if I'd like to stop by and play the piano a little bit before dinner. I readily agreed because I hadn't been there for a few weeks. As we walked up the staircase, the lady who takes your ticket for the Joseph Smith movie was very friendly towards us as she vigorously waved her hand at us. I thought that was kind of odd, but then thought, "she must be a very nice worker lady here." (I later found out she had talked with Tyler earlier that day.) When we got to the room with the piano, Tyler went over to the piano and told me he couldn't remember how to lift up the lid on the piano. I thought that seemed a little silly, but then thought, "Well, I struggle with guitars." I went to lift up the lid and noticed that there was a bouquet of flowers inside. Then I blurted out, "Someone left their flowers inside the piano!" Then I noticed there was a picture of Tyler and I and I said, "with a picture of us!" (I still hadn't caught on to what was happening...I'm kind of slow sometimes) Tyler then asked me to sit down on the piano bench and that's when I realized he was proposing and before he had finished asking me to marry him I was nodding my head to say "Yes!"
The rest of evening was quite the adventure.
We decided to cut our date short to make sure dad was okay. When we came back home, no one else was home still. I called my brother who told me dad had been life-flighted to the U of U medical center in SLC. I found out that a few days earlier dad had hit his head pretty hard and it resulted in bleeding on the brain. Tyler and I drove back to SLC and fortunately, dad was stable and no surgery was needed. Dad told me he knew Tyler was going to propose and didn't want to postpone him proposing. I'm thankful that dad was okay in the end. I was upset that they hadn't called me about the life-flight, but they said, "we knew what was happening and didn't want to ruin your evening!" (sigh)
So, that is the story of how things came to be.
Never say never. Your plan isn't always what God's plan for you is.
We are getting married on July 10th and I am ready to be done with wedding plans FOREVER.
Life is full of wonderful surprises. I have been greatly blessed in so many ways this year. I'm thankful for the hand of the Lord in everything. It's amazing. I am sure that he is very mindful of us and what we need to experience and learn at various points of our lives.
Our love story won't have a happy ending...because real love stories never have an end! :)
That's all. Hope you made it through this beast of a post without any casualties.
Lots of love!!!
