“Every love story is beautiful, but ours is my favorite.”

(EFY 2008, worst picture ever, but had to share)

Our love story began six years ago in Tacoma Washington at an EFY camp. Scott and I still can’t believe that we met at EFY and ended up getting married, we would have never guessed. But here we are starting a blog together. We met on the very last day during free time (cutting it pretty close), both our groups of friends were hanging out in the same room which is when I noticed Scott who was playing away on the piano. I remember telling my cousin whom I went to EFY with that I thought he was pretty cute. Later that night there was a closing dance that was held in the gymnasium. Without me knowing my cousin told Scott that he should ask me to dance, and he did. We were inseparable the rest of the night. After exchanging numbers we parted ways once the dance ended. The next morning everybody was packing up and leaving. We wanted to see each other one last time, Scott admits he was going to give me a kiss…but unfortunately we never got the chance. We didn’t know if we would see each other again, after all I lived in the small town of Prosser and he in Vancouver. So our little romance continued through texting for the next month until we were able to see each other again.

Fortunately my oldest sister Kim was living in Vancouver at this time so I made the plan to see Scott while I was there visiting. He picked me up and brought me to his house where we just watched a movie. That is when we had our first kiss and our last kiss for a while. After that night for some reason or another the texting back and forth gradually came to a stop. We didn’t communicate again until four years later.

One day as I was browsing through Facebook I noticed a post that Scott’s mom posted on his behalf informing his friends about his Birthday, giving his current address on the mission, and stating that he would love a letter. Until that moment I didn’t even realize I was a friend with him on Facebook nor did I know that he was serving a mission. EFY seemed so long ago and what I remembered of him was a cocky 17 year old boy who I had a crush on many years ago. Right then and there I felt like I should write him a letter. Although, I didn’t write him right away. I figured he probably wouldn’t even remember me and had too many other close friends and family to write. A couple days later the thought to write him came to me once again, this time I listened. I typed up a letter and sent it to him that day. I wasn’t even expecting a letter back from him, but a week later I received one. Scott says the day he received my first letter was actually on his half mark, he had been on his mission for one year.

We reconnected right away and began to write each other weekly. We wrote once sometimes twice a week. My one letter turned into a big collection very quickly. It started out with just simple questions to get to know each other and to catch up on what the other had been doing for the last four years, to making plans to see each other after the mission. In a nutshell, we fell in love and became best friends through letters. Any one who knows me knows that I am really shy with people I don’t know. So writing letters to Scott for a year was the perfect way to get comfortable and to really get to know each other. We were able to connect emotionally before physically. I couldn’t have written a better love story. That year of writing was one of the best years of my life. I loved loved loved getting letters from Scott. It was always the highlight of my day receiveing a letter from Elder Lindquist. I never checked the mail box so much in my life than I did in that year. I will always cherish those letters and never take for granted the simple act of writing down feelings and thoughts to another person.

Soon after Scott returned home on August 14th I took a trip to Vancouver to see him and attend his homecoming talk. We were both so anxious yet sooo extremely nervous to see one another again. It had been such a long time. The night before seeing Scott I remember not being able to get any sleep. I was so nervous to finally see the man I fell in love with through letters. At that point he seemed to only exist in photographs and letters, but in less than 24 hours we would be in each others arms. It's crazy how quick and how slow a year can go by. I will never forget those butterflies in my stomach when I made eye contact with Scott as he walked out of his house, and the overwhelming joy that overtook me when he put his arms around me and held me tight. We had a couple awkward/nervous moments but I was surprised how fast we were able to click. What we hoped would happen happened. We started dating right away on August 19^th. It was such an amazing feeling finally being able to be with each other. We had to get used to actually being able to talk to each other whenever we wanted rather than having to wait a week for an answer to a question ha ha. It was great. Scott attended school at BYU Idaho while I went to UVU, we each made trips on the weekends to see each other. Luckily we were used to long distance from writing that being in two different states wasn’t AS terrible. It didn’t take much time for us to know we were going to get married. Only two months passed until we got engaged on October 26^th. It was a long engagement so that Scott and I could complete both our years at school. We were sealed in the Columbia River Temple on May 11^th, 2013. I am so grateful for everything that has happened in my life that has led me to marry Scott. Writing that first letter to Scott was one of the best decisions I have ever made. The wait was definitely worth it. There is no one else I would rather be with. For time and all eternity. Scott, I am so thankful for your decision to serve a mission and for dedicating 2 years to serve the lord.