Story Time

Well, Since this is one of my all-time favorite stories, and it's about my all-time favorite person, I want to blog about it. Especially since he's currently doing homework, and I, miraculously, am finished with mine for tomorrow.

Where did you and your husband meet?

Well, we met at BYU, just like a large portion of the LDS population in Utah. We, however, did not meet through a FHE group, Singles Ward, Home Teaching Assignment, or living remotely close to each other. We met in Physics 121, freshman year. Nate had apparently noticed me in class and thought I seemed like a good, upstanding citizen, and decided I might be worth a few moments of his time. I saw a group of guys working together in the physics lab one Wednesday, and, being oh-so-shy and terribly sick of working on labs alone, walked up to the group and asked if I could join. As luck would have it, Nate was there in that group. He'd already finished the lab, but hung around just a little bit finishing his calculations so that we could talk.

What was the first thing you said to your husband?

"Can I work with you guys?" Was said to the general group that Nate was a part of. I believe the first brilliant thing I said to him was, "So, what's your name?" Though I can't remember who asked for whose name first.

Where was your first date?

Well, about a week after we met, I was doing homework up by the physics classroom, and I was stuck on a particular problem. As I sat trying to figure it out, Nate walked out of the classroom and turned in his homework in some slots close to where I sat. As luck would have it, I remembered his name, and intelligently said, "It's Nathan, right?" I then asked if he could help me with the homework, he did, and we talked for about 45 minutes after that. At the end of the conversation, which I had thought had gone well, Nate had to take off for a class. Thinking that Nate was a pretty cool kid, I said, "Hey, we should hang out sometime." Nate responded with a quizzical, but encouraging, "yeah?" to which I responded, "yeah." Then, Nate said, "Want to go to homecoming?" I immediately turned bright red due to being totally taken off guard, but said "yes," and gave him my contact information. Then I called my mom to tell her I had my first date at BYU that Friday. We went to homecoming at the Capitol Building in Salt Lake City, and it was great.

Where was your first kiss?

Our first kiss was October 24, 2003 up Rock Canyon...which sounds so scandalous given that neither one of us had ever kissed anyone else.

How long did you date?

We dated for about 7 months freshmen year, and I went home for the summer. We talked and e-mailed and IMed all summer, and then I came back 2 weeks before Nate left on his mission. We wrote for two years, and he came home on August 29, 2006. We then began dating again, and did so for about two months before we officially got engaged. We talked about marriage long before we got engaged though. All told, we dated for about 9 months being in each other's presence, and about 26 months long-distance...if mission writing counts at all.

Did you have a long or short engagement?

We got engaged on November 19th and married on January 12th. We thought it was plenty of time, although I think my mom almost died when she found out she had about two months.

Where did you get engaged?

Well, I got fake proposed to in the parking lot of Mountain View High School about 2 minutes before we were supposed to be in for the play Les Miserables. Nate got a ring that we'd seen while sort of looking, and gotten a bigger diamond for it, and they gave him the old setting that the new diamond had been in. So, clearly, with an empty setting, one needs to fake propose. He pulled out the box, and said, "Nicole, I'm sorry I didn't have enough money for a diamond, will you wear it anyway?" and presents me with the fake setting. I thought briefly of beating him up, and then we laughed and went into the play. Two days later we took a walk up Provo Canyon by Bridal Veil falls, and Nate proposed to me just past the falls. He got down on one knee and everything. As he got down on one knee, I said, "if this is another fake proposal..." It wasn't, and we spent the rest of the night telling people all about how real it was.

Where were you married?

We were married in the Mount Timpanogos Temple, which is gorgeous, and had a reception at my parent's church building afterwards.

How was the Reception?

The reception was nice. We spent the majority of the time...ok, all the time, standing in line, except for the time we took to cut the cake, and to say goodbye to specific family. It was nicely decorated, and tons of people came to show their love and support, which is always nice to have when you're getting married.

How was the honeymoon?

It was lovely, but short. We got married over a three-day weekend, and had to be back for school on Tuesday, and get moved in the rest of the way on Monday. We stayed at a cabin in Ogden, which is only about an hour and a half away. The cabin was really awesome though, and encouraged us both to invest in such a place when we're filthy rich.