I thought I'd take this opportunity to tell a story I've been wanting to tell for a while, a story in which some people (not me) thought must have taken a lot of bravery. It's my all-time favorite story to tell, and if you've heard it, well, read it again.It's the story of me and Bill. It began almost exactly 7 years ago, in March 2000. One night I was particularly bored and decided to check out this whole chat room thing. I went to LDS chat, and instantly I was chatting with members from all over the globe. It was very cool. It wasn't long before I noticed there was a 21 year old guy from Yakima, Washington. I IM'd him and we sort of chatted about people we both knew and that was about the extent of our first "conversation." The next night I went into the chat room again, not looking for him, just wanting to talk to the same cool people. There he was again, and we started talking again, this time IM'ing the entire few hours I was on. We exchanged e-mail addresses before getting off, and I was already starting to feel the beginnings of something. The next day I got on with that little feeling of butterflies in my stomach, hoping he'd be there, and there he was. Immediately we started talking and pretty soon were only talking to each other. We talked and talked and began learning so much about each other.
The next day Danyelle and I were leaving for a trip to Utah, just me, her, and 3 month old Easton. On the drive there I told her I somehow knew this was the guy I was going to marry. It was scary how doubt-free I was. As soon as we got to my aunt's and uncle's I ran to the computer hoping for an e-mail but thinking I was probably an idiot for expecting one. And there in my inbox was an e-card from him saying he'd hoped I had a good trip and couldn't wait to talk to me that night in the chat room. It was at that moment that I knew this was something.
That whole week I was like a happy fool, just walking around without feeling my feet touch the ground. We chatted every night from 9:00 pm when he got off work til 5:00 am when we decided we probably needed to sleep. Each night the conversations became more and more personal, learning more and more about each other. The scariest moment for me was when he e-mailed me his picture. It wasn't a great picture, but I was so relieved. He had nothing of me, though. Even if my aunt and uncle had the technology to send a picture via e-mail, I sure didn't know how to use it.
Eventually the conversation turned to our futures, and how they might overlap. It wasn't weird, to either of us. We both knew. By Saturday we had both addressed the way we felt and and had started talking about our future together. We hadn't talked on the phone yet, because I wanted him to call me first (I know, how very old-fashioned of me) and I didn't want him to have to call long distance. So on Sunday when I got home, we talked on the phone for the first time. I was worried it would be weird, but it wasn't. We talked for three hours, and it was awesome. We went into the chat room again that night, instant messaging again, and he told me he loved me. I about died.
The next night we talked on the phone again, and I wanted to hear him say it to me, so I was sort of trying to get him to say it, and I found out later he thought I was trying to get him to propose, so he did! I know it was that misunderstanding that was the ONLY way he had courage to do it. I didn't even have to think about my answer and said "yes" right away.
And then we were engaged. Never having met, him not knowing what I looked like at all. We decided to keep it a secret for obvious reasons, until we could meet in person that Friday (conflict in work schedules). But I had to tell Danyelle, and then I had to tell Amy, and it snowballed from there. He ended up telling his dad and siblings, and eventually his mom. Our parents were supportive but skeptical.
That Friday we met for the first time. When I opened my front door and saw a young man with a baby face that made him look even younger holding a rose looking terrified, I freaked out. I could not put this person together with the person I had gotten to know so well online. But we talked (and kissed, his first,) and then he had to leave for work. After he left I freaked out and thought "Oh my gosh, did I act too soon?" I just couldn't look at this strange guy and feel what I'd felt for this online guy. Poor Bill thought I'd taken one look at him and got scared off. But eventually I got over my fears, had him back over two days later for General Conference so the rest of my family could meet him (it was that conference they announced our temple) and they all fell in love with him. Soon I was able to put the two people together, and suddenly we were planning our wedding! In May he moved here and lived at John and Amy's house, who were in Seattle at the Ronald McDonald house, and we were inseparable right up to our wedding in July.
(Our engagement picture)P.S. This is our song.
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