♥ My Valentine.

Last Thursday was one of my favorite holiday's of the year.  I like to call it "Love day" because that's what it is: showing the people you care about how much you love them. 

I was, of course, spoiled.  Brooks and I were too anxious to exchange gifts so we opened each others at 12:01 to some movies, flowers, chocolate, and of course, inappropriate Valentine's cards, because it wouldn't be Valentine's day without them.

Is it obvious that I'm kind of obsessed with my dog?

Brooks spoiled me a bit further the next day with chocolate covered strawberries delivered by the girls in our ward, a gift from Forever 21, dinner, and a movie.  I was definitely a happy girl.

My favorite part of the day was when we drove up to Salt Lake City with a baggie full of Valentine's and Dove Chocolates to hand out to the missionaries, including my sister Natalie! 

It was  f r e e z i n g  outside so we ran into the first building we saw on Temple Square and as luck would have it we saw Natalie standing RIGHT at the doorway talking to some people!! I had to stifle my scream and stalk her from a distance until she was finished, and then I ran and tackled her of course.  It was so fun seeing her and bringing her some valentine's!  I am really going through some sisterly withdrawals, and June 12th couldn't come sooner!

Now in honor of  l o v e  I decided to dedicate this post to our "Love Story."

(I love this quote.  I feel like this is exactly how it happened with Brooks & I.  One day I'm claiming I won't date again until I've graduated college and then BAM I meet my brother's roommate.  Life is funny I guess.)

Now, I recently saw on my friend Jamey's blog a Q&A style post on their "Love Story," and although I'm a little behind as it technically isn't "Love Week" anymore, I'm always glad to share some love, and especially remind everyone of how Brooks and I fell for each other.

So basically, what I did was ask Brooks some questions to answer, and answered the same questions on my own, to see our own version of how we fell for each other, and this is how it turned out:

Where and How Did You Meet? 

B: I met Christie at the Carriage Cove apartments in Provo.  We met because she was visiting her brother Brad, who also happened to be my roommate at the time.

C: Ditto.  I had recently graduated High School early, and was in the need of a little "getaway," so my mom suggested I visit my siblings in Provo and check out BYU campus.

Our first pictures together.

What Were You First Attracted To and Why?

B: I was sitting on the couch, minding my own business watching TV when Christie first walked in.  I instantly noticed that she was extremely pretty, but when she smiled and said "Hi" my heart literally skipped a beat.  I don't think I even said anything back, and I'm sure I looked like an idiot just staring at her.  I didn't realize she was Brad's sister at the time, so I assumed she was just a friend, and I remember thinking "Man, I really need to hang out with Brad more."

C: The first thing I was attracted to in Brooks (besides his obvious good looks) was his maturity.  He just seemed so cool and collected, not obnoxious and inappropriate like most guys I'd dated.  Also, he wasn't awkward, a major plus during the "flirting" stages.  He was fun and he paid attention to me, but was respectful and kept his distance, something I wasn't used to.  I was absolutely positive he was out of my league.

How Did You Make Your First "Move"?

B:  Well one night while Christie was visiting, we stayed up all night talking.  One thing we talked about was movies, and we ended up making lists of movies we wanted the other person to see.  The day Christie was to leave back to California, I was upset and nervous.  I didn't want to cross the line, being that I was in college and she was still 17, but I really wanted to pursue her.  I remember we were sitting on the couch and Christie said she was sad to be leaving, and she gave me this look, like she really meant it.  It was then that I decided to go for it, so I asked for her list of movies, pretending I needed to write down another one I had thought of (which I definitely hadn't, I ended up writing down a movie she had already said she loved and owned... whoops) and wrote my number down at the bottom, telling her to let me know if she watched any.  I definitely put the ball in her court, since I really wasn't sure if she wanted to go out with me or not.

 

C: I'd have to say it was the same moment Brooks mentioned.  I had literally had the best weekend of my life, and did not want it to end, but I was so intimidated by him.  I really wanted to just grab him and kiss him, but I honestly didn't even know if he liked me or not, so the best chance I had was to try and "show it."  I sat as close as possible to him on the couch, and looked him straight in the eye, saying "I really wish I didn't have to go," and didn't look away.  It was obvious, sure, but effective.

Picture from the first time my parents met him.  I was so nervous I couldn't even touch him in front of my dad.

What Was the Hardest Point in Your Relationship?

B: The hardest part was being apart.  We were in a long distance relationship for about 6 months.  She was in California and I was in Utah in school for a couple of months and Arizona at home over the summer. We were only able to visit each other a couple of times, so we had to resort to talking on the phone a few hours every day... and night. It was amazing to finally be able to date in person after such a long period of being apart.

C: I'd say the hardest part for me was my age.  I was still just 17 when I fell for him, and I had always made fun of "those girls" who got married so young, and knew I would be treated the same way.  I would cry about it to my mom, fearing I would miss out on life experiences if I got married so young, but one day I just decided to grow up, and accept it.  I knew I was supposed to marry Brooks, so I decided that instead of worrying about what others would think, I should make myself happy, and I knew I couldn't be happy without him.

One of our reunions at the airport before my Upstage tour.  I was always terrified that he'd see me again and realize he didn't like me anymore.  Haha it was a bit pathetic.

When Did You "Know?" 

B: The first time I really knew I was going to marry Christie was when I went to the temple, just 3 weeks after meeting her.  It was really hard trying to start a relationship over the phone and we were receiving a lot of opposition from Christie's family due to her young age, so I went to the temple hoping for some inspiration and direction.  In the temple I received the strongest prompting of my life NOT to give up, and that I needed her, and she needed me.  I was so shocked and overcome with the forceful answer that I began crying, and it was then that I realized I had met my wife.

C: Honestly, this may sound cheesy, but it really was love at first sight for me.  I'll never get that image out of my mind when I first walked into Brooks' apartment and made eye contact with him.  It was such a strong, immediate connection, and I literally could not stop thinking about him every day after that.  I still can't.

 

How Did You Propose/Get Proposed To?

 B: If any of you know Christie, you'll know she loves anything Disney, especially Disneyland.  When her family invited me to spend Christmas break with them in Anaheim I immediately took the opportunity to plan a proposal at the "Happiest Place on Earth."  I knew Christie wouldn't be expecting a proposal so soon, and that it would be a perfect place to start our lives together.  Now, I knew Christie loved me, and I wasn't worried about her saying yes, but was extremely anxious about how smoothly the proposal would go.  There were over 80,000 people at Disneyland Park that day, being that it was New Year's Eve, and my mother-in-law Connie had spent the entire morning bargaining with the photographer to get him to take pictures of us in front of Sleeping Beauty's castle, something he never did on New Year's Eve just before the firework show.  Luckily, her persuasion skills were successful, (a trait she has passed down to her daughter I've noticed) and we had it all set up.  The only problem was Christie.  She was very oblivious to my desire to stay near the castle and wanted to watch the parade on Main Street.  It was all I could do to not sprint toward the castle the second after the parade finished.  Luckily Connie and the family were all ready to go, and told Christie we were going to take family pictures in front of the castle, but we had to do it FAST, because they weren't going to wait.  We squeezed through crowds of people, and after taking a few quick pictures, I pulled Christie in and told her that she was the love of my life and asked her to marry me.  She screamed "What?!" and said yes and started crying.  The rest of the night was a blur, but I just remember how completely happy we were, and I couldn't stop smiling.

C: Brooks proposed to me on New Year's Eve at Disneyland!  I wasn't expecting a proposal AT ALL yet since it had only been a year of dating, but I of course said yes!! I remember my mom was acting really stressed trying to get us in front of the castle to take pictures, which isn't really out of the norm of something she would do, so I didn't think anything of it.  After the photographer had snapped a few pictures of us Brooks pulled me towards him and began telling me how much he loved me, and I remember thinking "Why are you doing this right now, they're in a hurry," but then he got down on one knee and I screamed in shock, and immediately started laughing/crying and nodded my head yes.  I couldn't believe my whole family was in on it and how natural they had all acted.  Guess I'm not as smart as I thought.

I love our love story.  I love how completely hopeless I was when I was around him, and how nervous and jittery he made me feel, an effect I'd never felt from a guy. He had me from hello.

Alright, well I guess I've had more than my fair share of virtual PDA. Love you guys, or as Brooks would say...

Xoxo.