The Story of Ten, now Eleven Years ago!

It seems that ideas flutter in and out of my brain. Some materialize. Others burn up and float away. I am reminded of my friends Katie and Bethany (I'm not sure who originated the thought, but I have heard both tell it this way) who have an accurate description of thoughts. Thoughts are like birds. Sometimes they show up in a flock and then something startles them and they scatter. Yes, that rings true for my thoughts. (I know I didn't do the full explanation justice, but hey I have other things to tell and I would hate to butcher it more than I did.)

At any rate, our ten year anniversary was this summer. I had tossed around the idea of sharing our story to commemorate the event. It was tossed out the window I guess since it came and went with no post. So, this is me attempting to share the story of us just in time for Veteran's Day. It seems fitting since we were engaged 11 years ago on Friday. I figure I will post this story in between pictures and such. I'm not sure if anyone will read. Well, I am sure that my mom will. So here it goes.

Part One:
We have no idea when we met. It was sometime in the fall of 1994 through mutual friends. There is speculation that it was at a Cal Poly soccer game, but the truth is, we just don't know. He was a freshman in Trinity Hall who attended a bible study led by my friend, Matt. We just hung out with mutual friends. I suppose we ate meals together, went to hang out with Matt and his roommate, Eric, and just spent time in similar circles. Well, mostly I spent time in his circle. I am not certain when I first started to notice him, in particular. However, he is a quiet one; I figured out some where along the way to sit in close proximity to him to hear his wit.

I was a sophomore living in Sierra Madre. (A little walk up the hill from Trinity Hall.) Every time I hung out with friends in Trinity past dark, one of the guys or a group of them would walk me home. (Safety first, you know.) These walks were always an opportunity to learn more about the person. It's kind of funny that somehow there were usually more than one person walking me home. One night he walked me home-just us. We had a great two or three hour discussion in the stairwell of my dorm about life. He asked me tons of questions and I was honest about how I felt. Somewhere along the line he asked me about an ongoing argument I was having with my friend, Matt, about relationships. I felt more comfortable with him than anyone before; I trusted him. I decided that I would pursue getting to know him better. At this point, it wasn't really a matter of romance, I was just convinced he was someone I wanted to hang out with more often.

There were signs that each of us was interested in the other:
I was sad when he dyed his hair green and shaved it off during a skit at our Friday night fellowship meeting. His hair was grass and they "mowed" it off to encourage everyone to participate in work day.
He left me a note on my door that said he was just coming by to say hello on his way to class or something. (My dorm was not on the way to anything)
I would ask him to study with me.
He would ask if I wanted to have breakfast before our early classes.
I would constantly ask my roommate, Wendy, what she thought about him and about me spending time with him.
He would walk me home more frequently.

That fall and winter blend together. By spring break, there was definitely something going on. We were friends. Just friends. Good friends. I really didn't know how to explain it. I didn't really feel like I needed to. So then, he invited me (and two cars of other folks) to spend some time down at his house in San Diego before we went to camp with InterVarsity on Catalina Island. I couldn't leave as early as he could due to finals, but he arranged that I could ride with some other folks leaving later so that I could come. We talked all spring quarter about what God was teaching us and how things were going with everything; we didn't ever talk about "us." Finally, he helped me move out of my dorm room with my dad until one in the morning. Dedication and commitment, I tell you. Then, the next morning we went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium for the day before I headed home for the summer.

Okay, that sets the stage. I won't be as detailed about every event over the next several years before November 1998, but you get the picture. I'm actually glad I am writing all of this for the record even if it's boring to all of you. There are funny moments to come, I promise.