Our Story, part 4

Those three months of our engagement flew by. We were busy with school, wedding preparations, and spending all of our free time together. We were ready to get married just so we could get some sleep!

Looking back, there were a lot of things I would've done differently for our wedding celebrations. But, in the end, the dress, the invitations, and the reception didn't really matter. The important thing was that we were married and sealed in the House of the Lord.

Eleven years later, life isn't perfect. We have discovered all of each other's annoying habits. We have gone through some hard stuff. But, 11 years later, we are still best friends. We love each other much more than that day 11 years ago.

Happy Anniversary, E!

Our Story, part 3

That didn't count as a marriage proposal.

But we did talk about getting married. To eachother.

The next night, after dinner, we looked at rings at the mall.

I still wasn't ready to make the marriage decision yet. I was battling a lot of fears and self-esteem issues. Namely, what if Eric is really a psychopath serial killer and that's why he wants to marry me?? He tried to tell me he wasn't, but wouldn't they all say that?

We decided to fast and pray together. The day that I fasted I had the biggest feeling of peace and reassurance that this was the right decision for us to be married. Every other day during our engagement I may have worried and felt scared, but that day I knew it was right. I relied on that answer to my prayer.

My parents and I met Eric at Anzio's Landing one evening. This was the night that Eric was going to ask my dad for permission to marry me. We got to the restaurant before Eric did and sat down at our table. All of the napkins were folded on top of the table. They looked like crowns. My dad remarked that if Eric was really a good guy and worth anything then when he got here he would be very tempted to put the napkin on his head. What's the first thing Eric did when he arrived and sat down at our table? He pretended to put the napkin on his head. We all laughed. Eric had my dad's approval (even though E never asked my dad if he could marry me--he chickened out and decided he didn't need to get permission anyway).

On Aug. 5th, ten days after our first discussion about marriage, I was at home just starting to eat dinner when Eric called. He asked if I wanted to go out to eat. I didn't. I wanted to say no, but I told him that would be ok. He came and picked me up a few minutes later. We had decided where to go eat so I thought we were driving there, but then he turned the car down my parents street. I asked him what we were doing and he told me we hadn't done anything really fun lately so he thought we would. At my parent's house there was a bag of clothes he had bought from a thrift store. We were supposed to wear them. I put on my lunch lady/washer woman dress. He was dressed like an old man, pretty much.Then we went out to eat like that.

Halfway through our dinner, he pulled out a necklace he had made with a key attached to it. I thought it was something sweet he had just to accessorize the weird outfit he bought. I was still a bit confused. Or just trying not to get my hopes up.

We left the restaurant and he asked if I wanted to go to a park. He drove for a long time so I asked him which he park he planned on going to. He said Fountain Hills, and I got excited and a little more suspicious. As we were driving, he told me had another present for me. He pulled out a pan of heart-shaped cornbread from his backseat (so cornbread was my favorite. a big weakness of mine at this point in my life). I was feeling pretty happy and loved.

We stopped along the way to use the bathroom at Wendy's. When we got back to the car, Eric opened the door for me to climb in. I sat down. He told me he had another present for me. He pulled a jewelry box out of the backseat. It's a beautiful wooden box that he bought when he was in Brazil. The key on the necklace opened the jewelry box. Inside was a ring. A cute little ring he had also bought in Brazil. He slipped the ring on my finger, but it slipped right off. He put it onto my thumb. He climbed into the car.

To be honest, I sat there thinking that was all quite unromantic to give me a ring in the wendy's parking lot. Especially when we were just 5 min. from the fountain (of Fountain Hills). I was ok if he didn't have a real ring for me because I didn't know what I wanted, but geez he better get down on one knee if he wants me to say yes.

I was still pretty dazed, in a happy way, though. We drove on. He asked what my answer was. But he hadn't actually asked me anything yet so I had no answer to give until I got a question!

We parked the car and walked to our favorite spot to watch the Fountain go off. Eric must have been really nervous because he started talking in an Indian accent.

We sat and watched, held hands and talked. He started teasing me and took the ring back from my finger. When the fountain finished, he grabbed both of my hands and we stood up. Then he got down on one knee. It's all a blur of happiness, but he told me how much he loved me and asked me to marry him. I said yes. He put a ring on my finger. I thought it was the same ring from Brazil again, but I looked down and there was a real diamond ring!

We were officially engaged to be married in just 3 months time on Nov. 7.

Our Story, part 2

When Eric got back into town, he asked me out on our first official date. He planned an evening that was simply perfect in my opinion. After eating at Dilly's Deli, he took me to the library. I love the library! We went back to his house to make strawberry, mango smoothies. We hung our feet in the pool and sipped our smoothies while we talked. By the pool in the moonlight, we kissed for the first time. It was magical. We went back to his house and ended up painting pictures with our feet. Ha! That was random. He took me home and left me with more kisses by the door.

Two days later, I joined all the Round Valley people on a trip back to Eagar. I drove up with Robin and Lindsey. I spent two nights there. Eric gave me a tour of the town. I met a lot of his friends from high school. We played pool at his house. He took me out to dinner. We went star gazing. Early Sunday morning, Eric drove me home to Mesa so I could teach my Relief Society lesson.

We were pretty inseparable that next week. School was out for the summer so every moment we weren't working was pretty much spent together.

Sunday night, June 1, we met some friends at the Mesa temple. We walked around with them for awhile, but then we went off by ourselves. We then had the talk that made us officially "together".

The next few weeks, we were together as much as we could be. We hiked, went to parties, hung out with my family, went wakeboarding, watched movies, shopped together, cleaned together, visited my grandparents, played games, went to a play, and went to church together. The longest we went without seeing each other was two days.

We mostly just hung out and did regular things with our friends and such, just always together. However, Eric did plan a romantic night out. It was June 12, the Valentine's day of Brazil. He took me to eat at a brazilian restaurant, a Churrascaria. We ended the night out at Fountain Hills-- a favorite spot of ours and a beautiful place to walk around.

About a week later, we were talking late one night and Eric told me he loved me. I didn't say it back at first (I will probably never live that down either). I was scared--those seemed like such strong words. I dd eventually tell him I love him, too. And I meant it.

On the 4th of July, I drove up to Eagar with Kiri and we spent the day with Tona and Eric and his family.  I drove home late that night and left two hours later for my trip to the Dominican Republic.

I spent a week with my good friend Danielle serving at an orphanage in the Dominican Republic. No contact with Eric, but a lot of time to reflect. I learned so much during that week, but I was excited to go home and see Eric.

Things didn't go as I imagined. I got home, and Eric was acting super distant. We saw each other a little, but he didn't sit by me at church and he didn't make an effort to see me on my 19th birthday. I was sad and hurt. I knew we needed to talk.

We went out to dinner the night after my birthday. After eating, we ended up at the Hole in the Rock and then Tempe Town lake. That's where we had a serious talk. We talked about taking a break and dating other people, or if there would be a point to that. We talked about if we were each ready to be married to someone. Eric was scared of where we were headed. We both were.

We didn't break up that night.

In fact, about a week later, after Robin's birthday party, we were up late talking and Eric whispered "I think I want to marry you . . ."

Our Story, part 1

Friday will mark 11 years. Eleven years since that morning Eric and I walked into the Mesa Arizona temple together to be married and sealed for time and all eternity.

Our story began about 9 months before that.

I take that back, maybe it goes back to about a year before that day. It was my first semester at ASU. I had a full-ride scholarship, but I was living at home to save money. I started feeling really unsettled and made the decision that it was time to move out and try my hand at this growing up, living on my own, and paying bills thing.

I had a friend from work who was also ready to move out of her parents house. She had a cousin with an open room and was looking for another roommate. I thought it sounded good to move in with those girls, but when it came time to make the decision there was no good reason not to, except it didn't feel right. That guidance from the Spirit helped me to end up in the right place.

Soon after I found another place with an open spot just a few minutes from ASU campus. In January, I moved into that little house in The Oaks with four other girls. Three of those girls were from Eagar, Arizona. I had never heard of Eagar, AZ before. Yet, that little town became very significant to this story.

me, Robin, Kiri, Tona, and Lisa

me, Tona, and Robin

me, Kiri, Robin, and Tona

Two months-ish later,in February, the boy I had been dating left on his mission.

That same month Eric Allred returned home from his mission, though I didn't meet him until March.

Sometime in March I came home from visiting my grandma to find my roommates hanging out with two of their old friends from high school. I was introduced to Eric and Devon.

Eric says he remembers that day perfectly because I showed them the crazy, cool old orange shirt that my grandma gave me. He says that it was this moment that he became interested in me because I seemed like a cool, cute girl.

Eric started coming to our house to use our computer and stuff. Really he was just coming over because he was chasing after my roommate, Robin, because they had been good friends in high school. So I saw him a little bit.

One night at the beginning of April we all went over to Devon and Eric's house to play games. I wrote in my journal that night two important things. 1) I won at monopoly! even when the boys conspired against me. 2) "I think I kinda like Eric." It was the first time I mentioned Eric in my journal.

It was a week later before I saw Eric again. My roommate, Kiri, invited me to go with her to an Easter party. I had a big paper to write for my Japanese history class so I was going to stay home and work on it. But then I found out that Robin was going to go with Kiri. And that Eric was going, too. I decided the paper could wait.

I had a lot of fun with Eric that night. We talked a lot and got along well. I remember he still had this cute accent from speaking Portuguese in Brazil. But I also remember that was the night that Tona told me that Devon told her that Eric likes Robin.

That's how it went for a few weeks. Eric would come over to hang out with Robin. Or Robin would invite Eric to come with us to the Easter pageant or whatever we were doing. And I would come home and write in my journal about how Eric wrote his name on my foot, I saw Eric at church, Eric is cute, Eric tells funny stories, Eric died his hair black (what was he thinking?!), I need to get over Eric, Eric came with me and Lisa to wal-mart and he didn't make fun of my ghetto car, I really like Eric, Eric probably doesn't like me, Tona and I watched McClintock with Devon and Eric, I need to avoid Eric for awhile so I can get over him, I came home from work and guess who was there? Eric!, I just don't care about eating when Eric's around, I sat by Eric at church, Devon and Eric invited me to the lake with them, I'm glad Eric and I are friends, etc. etc. From April until the middle of May, Eric was mentioned in almost all of journal entries. By that time, anything between Robin and Eric had fizzled out.They were just friends.

Then in the middle of May, Eric and I both received a boost of confidence/push in the right direction/kick in the pants (whatever you want to call it). I was riding in the car with my roommate, Lisa. We were talking about different boys and she told me I should go for Eric. Because he liked me. Likewise, Lisa had planted that seed in Eric's head telling him that I liked him, without me telling her so, encouraging him to date me.

Lisa, Tona, and me

The next day, I was doing my statistics homework when Eric called Lisa to see if she could go shopping with him for some clothes. Lisa couldn't go. So she said to him "I can't go, but Laura can. Here you go." And hands me the phone. I felt so awkward, but Eric played it cool. I went with him on our first unofficial date. We went shopping, he bought me frozen yogurt, we came back to my house and played games, made dinner together, and then went to his house to watch a movie. He held my hand that night while watching "Strange Brew".

And he held my hand again when we hung out the next night.

Then he went out of town.