My photo
Eagle Mountain, Utah, United States
My name is Lauren, and I live in the bubble. I am wife to Marshall, the biggest BYU fan in the world; and mother to Carly, our big girl, and Wes, our wild man, and Calvin, our new addition. I graduated BYU with a degree in Social Work, and I went forth to serve at LDS Family Services. I like scrapbooking and going out to eat at nice restaurants. I am fascinated by new cleaning products at the grocery store, so I have to shop in wide circles around the perimeter to avoid the temptation to buy. I love chocolate.

Saturday, April 24, 2010

6 years of 'I love you's"


Today is our 6 year wedding anniversary.

6 years ago at this moment, we were in the temple getting ready to be sealed for time and all eternity.

As this blog is primarily used as our family journal, I realized that I had never recorded the story of our courtship. And I thought our anniversary would be the perfect time to do just that.

We met at BYU because we lived in the same apartment complex, and consequently were also in the same ward. I had just moved in along with Breann, and he had just moved in with his twin, Russ. He was fresh off his mission. Like a week off. And I had just moved out of the freshman dorms. Our first ward prayer of the semester, someone pointed him out to me and mentioned that he was also a social work major, so we should talk. But our very first interaction ended up being during a competitive ward game between apartments. There may or may not have been a little less than ethical play on the part of my apartment, and so his apartment retaliated with guerrilla warfare. During this exchange I threatened him- a stranger at the time- with gross bodily harm. I really didn't like him; he says that this exchange left him intrigued. He had always liked girls who were firecrackers.

Well it turned out that my roommates who had been in the apartment longer knew his roommates. We were in the same FHE family, and the two apartments got to spend a good amount of time with one another. Marshall and I spent more time together, got to talk, and discovered we had quite a bit in common. BUT, he was dating another girl. He moved quickly, only a week off his mission, remember. So I put him out of mind. Or I tried. But we were constantly around each other. And his girlfriend wasn't in the ward, so she wasn't.

One of the traditional activities our apartments did together was going to Del Taco at midnight on Sundays (no longer the Sabbath...lol...bad, I know), and on one such Del Taco night, no one else went. So it was me and him, and we were able to really talk a lot about what we were looking for in a spouse and in life. I liked him even more, but he still had that girlfriend.

A couple weeks later a large group from the ward went to Las Vegas to see the BYU football team play UNLV. One of my roommates decided not to go at the last minute, so there were 2 in my car, and 3 in Marshall's. So I suggested we all ride together to save gas. It was crowded in my little neon, but that was all the better to snuggle with him in the back seat. We spent that whole weekend getting to know each other and holding hands, and snuggling. And I knew we would start dating. The last day in Las Vegas I asked him what we were and what we would be in Utah, and he said that there was only one girl he wanted to date and get to know better, and her name was Lauren.

Side note...I decided while in high school that I would only kiss one man. To me, kissing said 'I love you' and I didn't want to give my heart away to someone I couldn't marry. So I didn't really date in high school. And at BYU I would tell guys early into the dating process that I wouldn't be kissing until they were ready to propose (there is a LOT of kissing to be found at BYU...NCMO anyone?). So I would weed out the ones who weren't ready for marriage right away. All of the guys I actually dated were wonderful...all gentlemen. I'm sure all would have made great husbands (consequently, I don't believe in soul mates...I think any 2 good people who are willing to sacrifice for one another and are committed can make a marriage work and can fall in love). But I was this odd little serious girl who would pray about everything, and made dating and giving my heart away a matter of prayer. I prayed to know if I should kiss and give my heart away.

So we got back to Utah, and he broke it off with the other girl, and we started spending every moment together. We would get together before classes in the morning and read our scriptures and pray together, and get together to watch movies, and go on walks, and go on dates every evening. And talk- a lot of talking. That first weekend to Las Vegas was on October 24th, and by Thanksgiving he told me that he "was falling in love" with me. Well that scared me a little, because I hadn't prayed about it yet, and frankly didn't know what love felt like. So I panicked and told him I'd have to get back to him on that.

I spent the Thanksgiving break at home really praying and thinking. I knew that it was right, I got confirmation that I could marry him and it would work, but I was freaked out that it was so fast. So dang fast. I was second guessing myself because it had been-what- 5 weeks? So I got back and knew he had prayed about it too. But I was still scared and keeping a little bit of distance while I figured it out. He got a little frustrated and I got the feeling he was going to break up with me because his feelings were hurt. I mean the poor guy told me he loved me, and then I avoided him. lol. So one night we went out, and then at home in the parking lot, we were sitting in the car in silence. The night had been tense, and I knew we were going to break up if I didn't get past my fears. So I took a deep breath, leaned over, and kissed him. And he kissed me back.

About a month later, after spending Christmas break with each other's families, we were engaged. 4 months after that, we got married on April 24th. The 6 month anniversary of that first "date" to Las Vegas.

Today we celebrate our love story. Our courtship, but more importantly the 6 years since. And even more importantly the eternity to come.

Happy Anniversary Marsh! I love you.

3 comments:

KarenOjai said...

Just seems like yesterday! How much you two have grown and added to your family! We love you!

Layla said...

I'm a sucker for love stories and loved reading about your courtship! Way to go on not kissing but one person! Very admirable trait!

Congrats on 6 years!

Mars said...

I love you sweetie!

Related Posts with Thumbnails