Some of you may or may not know how Keith and I met. Well, today is the day FIVE YEARS AGO that we met. It's the exact same date too, April 29th, but it was 2007. I had just started my sophomore year at Byu-Idaho, I was living in the same apartment complex but on the other side and with new roommates (I knew all of them but one, but we had never roomed together before.) Camille, Krystin and I were all pretty excited to say the least, about going to the new ward to scout out the boys, since all of us were single. It was there, in the ward, that I saw him....Keith, my future husband. He was on the stand giving a talk that day. I remember Krystin and I both thought he was cute. He gave an a wonderful talk, he always does, he has this ability to speak so naturally and make everything so personal. It was quite interesting because after church I really wanted to talk to him, I was drawn to him for some reason, but I was so scared to talk to him and to this day I'm still not sure why I was so scared, maybe intimidation? I had never really been afraid to talk to boys either, so it was quite odd. Krystin and I couldn't manage to get up the courage to talk to him, but fearless Camille could and she did. She also offered him a ride home. So he rode home with a car full of girls, I remember I got to sit by him too! I was happy about that. Krystin had drawn a little design on my hand earlier in Relief Society and later when we were dating Keith told me that he thought the design on my hand was a tattoo haha. He thought I was "mysterious" for having a tattoo and it intrigued him, but my little "fake tattoo" was gone the next time he saw me....anyway....Our apartments starting hanging out together a lot, he invited our apt to a cinco de mayo party, bonfire, shooting, ultimate frizbee and other things.
It was around the middle of May that he stopped by my apt w/a friend to visit. He invited our apartment to a Special Olympics Carnival in Rigby that he was volunteering at, none of my roommates could go but I told him I could. So he picked me up and it was just us. We hung out that whole day at the carnival and had a blast getting to know each other. Earlier on in the week he had his roommate Jared ask me if I would go to a dance with him (Keith) since the dance was GYRAD (get your roommate a date) so of course I said "yes" and was so excited! The dance was after the carnival so we went back to our apartments and got ready. Jared and my roommate Jamie went together and my roommate Jenny also came with us with her date. Let me just say that GYRAD was probably the best date I ever had, no seriously. We had SO MUCH FUN dancing crazy, latin dancing and just letting loose. We had an incredible time, I hadn't danced that hard, like ever! After GYRAD I didn't hear much from him and figured that he was busy with school and maybe wasn't interested, but kept thinking "We had so much fun, did he not have as much fun as me? "Does he like me?- yes/no?" So many questions swirled but I didn't really hear from him and this guy Luke kept calling me so I decided maybe I would give him a chance. I was walking through the MC one day and saw Keith and Stacey (a mutual friend) talking, they stopped me and we talked awhile and Keith invited both of us to come to UT for Memorial Day weekend. I said that I might be going to Boise, but I'd think about it. So the weekend gets closer and he calls to ask if I'm coming, I decide to go, and he tells me Stacey can't go anymore, I'm thinking- "Ahhh...is it just going to be us?"He then tells me that his roommate Helio and his sister Catherine are going to come. So he picks me up Friday, and we head to UT. We had such, I mean such, a fun time down there. We hung out with his family in SLC, went hiking to find a lake that we never found, Keith got stuck in the snow, Catherine and I played "Fishin' in the Dark" over and over again until the boys were sick of it, Helio played Oasis- "Wonderwall" over and over again until us girls were sick of it, we went to panda (they didn't have one yet in I.F.), and went shopping at the Gateway mall. I really got to know Keith so much more and had an entertaining time w/him and Catherine & Helio. So we headed back Sunday and on the way back Keith gets this call from a girl Jessica, in our ward and she invites him to Mesa Falls the next day w/her friends, I'm thinking "Oh well there goes my chance." I found out later before Keith and I started being b/f & g/f he was dating Jessica, but decided to go w/me!! He thought we fit better. ANyway....so Monday comes and Catherine and I decided to go to I.F. to go shopping, Keith calls in the middle of our lunch and asks if we want to go shooting and have a BBQ, I say "yes" of course and we head to hang out....we hung out the whole rest of the week together. Side note: after we went on our first date (gyrad) I get a calling the next day---Activities Committee, Keith was the head of it and I was now on it too! A little divine intervention?--maybe. Anyway....so Friday we had a ward activity that we were planning--Karaoke night in the La Jolla lounge, Keith and I went and picked up the pizzas and got everything set up. We had so much fun w/the ward and singing even though most of us couldn't really sing hahaha ok maybe it was just me? I remember thinking most of the night....hmmmm does he like me or just see me as a friend? Well that night I got my answer, after most everybody left a few of us decided to watch Pirates on the big screen, about halfway into the movie he slides his hand into mine :). I went home with a smile on my face that night.
The next day was his birthday, his sister and I had planned a surprise party for later that evening, but during the day he wanted to go to Yellowstone. He told me he just wanted it to be me and him--no one else. So we spent the day together in Yellowstone then he came back to my apt for a surprise party. By now I figured we were dating by some of the signs I was given. We hung out the whole following week and had a relay race for our ward where we went and got dressed up all funky for it. I remember he kept making fun of me being from Boise--saying it's such a "big" city and all. I told him he couldn't make fun of it till he'd been, and he hadn't. So we planned a trip to Boise, I told my family I was bringing him and they flippped! In a good way of course. But they really thought it was more than it was but we had just started dating. Anyway...the weekend comes, we head to Boise, listening to U2 (our fav band) the whole time, he'd gotten the cd for his b-day of their greatest hits) We get to Boise, hang out w/my bestie Kathryn for her 19th b-day at Merritts w/some scones, go to Eagle Fun Days parade the next day, had a BBQ w/the family, went Ice Blocking down Simplot hill, and then end the day with dinner and a movie at my sis's house. That saturday night- June 9th....he kissed me, my first kiss....in my room....shhhhh don't tell my mom! Misti was the first one I told, I ran downstairs where I was sleeping and told her, she didn't seem as excited as me lol. Two side notes: the moment Keith walked in my house my mom told us later her thought was "OH NO!" in a good way, she knew Keith was the one right when he walked in, there was something about him, and the no part was because she knew she was going to "lose" me. Side note two: Keith told me later that he made a pact w/himself that after his mission the next girl he would kiss would be his wife....and it was. Ok this is getting really long and you can stop any moment I understand. After we got back to Rexburg we were with each other everyday, every moment when we weren't in class or studying well even when we were "studying" haha he was my biology tutor. The end of the semester came and we talked about me going out East to meet his family, so we hopped on a plane together and out we went! I met his family-which I love, we went to the beach- (which I also love), NYC, Philly, Atlantic City, he even took me on a romantic date to Seaside Heights (where Jersey Shore was filmed but this was before the show even existed), I had a beyond amazing time. We really had some fun adventures together, but I had to head back home two weeks later and he headed to UT.
We were apart five weeks total (I was in Alaska some and Boise some), got my wisdom teeth out, and then headed to UT to visit him since Kathryn was moving down there. We got to see each other for about a week then were apart again until school started. When I was in Alaska he told me he had something to tell me when we got back to Rexburg, I kept pressuring him to tell me what it was, he gave me a hint with a song and I figured it out---but wasn't totally sure (the song ended up being our wedding song), in the song it talks about "me and you, and forever" so when we talked one night he told me I had figured it out and then proceeds to tell me "I love you," I kinda sat in shock/excitement/bewilderment for a few minutes then told him the same thing. Over the course of a week we talked about things, marriage and what not and on September 21st, 2007 he proposed, and on December 28th, 2007 we were married. I still can't believe it's been five years exactly to this day, that I met my incredible husband. I love reflecting on our early dating days, engagement and marriage. I really do love that man.
I really wish I had a picture from the first day we met but this one will have to do...it's our first date...the gyrad dance.
CUTE CUTE CUTE!!! I love your story!
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