It all started in Vegas

Where, when and how did you meet?

The first time I met Mike was in the fall of 2002. He was sitting on a couch and doing Math homework. I had a few interactions with him after that but only a few and nothing that really drew either of us to each other. In fact, it took a long time to recognize that the guy I met that night on the couch was the same person I married. Our first meeting was THAT memorable.

In January of 2003 I bore my testimony at church and said something that intrigued Mike (not impressed, intrigued). I had also done my hair all fancy that day and it was the hair that tipped the iceberg. Mike hadn’t dated since returning from Korea where he had left behind a girl he loved. He had finally decided to jump back into the waters of dating. My hair, along with my intriguing testimony, convinced him to ask me out.

I was almost 23 by then and had it with dating. I was working 30 hours a week, going to school full time, and enjoying being single. Boys kept asking me out left and right and it’s funny to write that because I'd had plenty of dating experiences but I wasn’t a hot item or anything. But the minute I decided to be done dating, boys came out of the woodwork—and it annoyed me. Just leave me be!

I saw Mike on his way to ask me out at Ward Prayer and I found a sneaky way to dodge his question. The next day I left my apartment to go to school and saw him coming out his door. I never ran into him on my way to school (maybe he was watching for me out of his window?) and I knew I couldn’t dodge him again. His roommate conveniently slowed his pace and walked behind us so Mike could work his magic. It went like this:

“Hey, I was wondering if you wanted to do something this weekend.”
“Umm, sure. That would be great.”
“Cool. If you think of anything to do, let me know.”
“Ok.”

This is what I was thinking in my head:
“Dang it. Now I have to go on a date with some guy I don’t even know. Wait….did he jut ask me out and then tell me to think of something to do? Can he be more lame?”

I didn’t call him.

He did call me later that week and he had planned a very nice date. We went to the Bombay house in Provo and had delicious Indian food and he spent a lot of money on me at dinner. I was pleasantly surprised at how easy conversation was with him. After the dinner we went back to his apartment to watch a movie and he sat way across the room from me and then he walked me home and gave me a hug. The date had started out very nicely and then was just weird at the end.

I didn’t give him a second thought until Presidents Day weekend when my roommates announced that they had invited him to come with us on our annual trip to Vegas. I had no idea why they would do that and I was kind of annoyed but at the same time I just felt this nagging feeling that I should personally invite him.

When I went over I discovered that he had no intention of going with us but then his roommates pulled him aside and told him to “remember why you started combing your hair.” It doesn’t make sense to me but he says he decided to comb his hair and start dating….(I can’t remember his hair before we started dating so I can’t tell you if he ever combed his hair or not. I guess we’ll have to trust him). His roommates also said, “Do not let this opportunity pass you by.”

With urging from his roommates and my personal invite Mike decided to come with us. I felt I had done my job and didn’t have to worry myself anymore with it but then when we all went to get into our cars for the drive down I discovered that I was being sent to the outcast car. The outcast car included my ex-boyfriend, a girl that liked Mike, and then Mike. It was just an extremely odd group of people and I wasn’t happy to be pushed into riding with them but none of the roommates would ride in the car so it left me alone with all the outcasts.

To be continued...