Believe it or not, I really am a princess! I have a tiara and everything! I grew up reading fairy tales and eating up every single dream filled phrase. All I have ever wanted was for my turn to have MY fairy tale ending.
My life has been a very different style of the typical "fairy tale" that we are all familiar with. However, it is just as charming, if not MORE charming and amazing than any of the others. (just my personal opinion anyway). But seriously, It has been my family and friends that have been there every single time some nasty dragon decided to rear it's ugly head. (Do dragons rear their heads?) Well, it's my fairy tale, so we'll say yes. They do! Okay, back to the story at hand......So I'm the princess that's usually causing problems and getting into distress because well frankly, that's a princess' job, right? But don't worry, sometimes I even fix things! (Life is full of surprises, and my story is no exception)
He is always teaching me about life, sometimes really weird things, that I didn't really need or want to know, but I learn them anyway. For example, the other day I learned that the 9-banded armadillo is a daisy-pod-a-day in science geek talk. I don't know when I will ever need to know that, but if they bust that out in a job interview I will nail it. Basically, I always look forward to his "did you know..." moments every day. Now that you know a little background on the 2 of us, I guess it's time for me to begin telling you OUR story.
Once upon a time, about three and a half years ago to be exact, I met this boy in my country western dance class at BYU (yes, in case you were wondering, it WAS a total blast!). I was tall, he was tall, we could both keep a beat, so naturally, we danced together often in class and practiced together occasionally. Eventually that cute little frog prince got up enough courage to ask me out on a date. So on a date we went. It was a french-themed date. We went to the international cinema and watched a French film and then afterward we made french toast. Then he took me home. It was fun enough and clever since I was working on a French minor at the time. I think it might have gone over a little better though if I hadn't of fallen asleep during the movie and drooled all over his favorite jacket. Ok, kidding about the drooling, but I did fall asleep during the movie. Can you blame me though? I had already seen that particular French flick about 4 times. And it had been a long week. College is hard...
Well after that super fabulous first date, he didn't ask me out again.... So we finished out the semester as dance partners and then went our separate ways. No big deal. No broken hearts. Besides, he had JUST gotten back from his mission and was still pretty weird. Bless his heart. As the days and months passed through the rest of the school year, we talked occasionally, he would invite me to things, I would already have plans and shut him down, we'd run into each other awkwardly on campus and catch up for a bit. Nothing ever Earth shattering.
Well, after about a year after our first date, I guess he decided he would attempt to overcome my narcoleptic tendencies and asked me out on a second date. (Brave soul). He picked me up and we went to an all you can eat pizza, salad and pasta buffet. Smart man. I was thrilled. The conversation was interesting and I found myself wondering why we hadn't hung out more often over the past year. I was sad to see the date come to a close so I knew I needed to do something quickly to ensure he wouldn't try and ask me out again. So, when he dropped me off, I smiled said "I really had a great time tonight" and then stuck my hand out for him to shake it. I don't think I've seen a more confused face.....ever.
Well, my plan worked and he didn't ask me out again. However, he was the president of a club on campus and invited me to those events regularly, we'd bump into each other on occasion or send the random text/im message saying "hey let's catch up." The time we spent together was always enjoyable but I was wary of him because he was looking for a wife and I was on a man-hating streak....again. (hence the hand shake. He seemed like a decent guy so I didn't want to have him waste his time on me). I even went so far as to set him up with another girl friend of mine within this timeframe. We were good friends and I liked it that way.
Well, December 2011 rolled around and I was in Alaska and he was still in Utah. For some reason I decided to read his blog. I laughed until I cried - it was making fun of dating and basically expressing his frustration at the whole dating situation. I was thrilled when I read that he was done with his crazy date-o-rama attitude. This is when I knew we could become better friends because I didn't have to worry about him thinking I was interested. All I wanted was a friend. And that's what I knew I could find in Spencer. At this point in time (December) he had had knee surgery. Something about a torn meniscus or ACL or some other minor thing like that.
We'd go on dates on the weekends (with other people of course) and then when we were done, we'd call each other and go talk for a few more hours. It was perfect. We were best friends. I could be in sweats all the time, he didn't think I was pretty and it was all completely platonic.
Well, that was until about April, when the big dummy decided that he was moving to North Carolina for the summer. Who ups and leaves their best friend like that?! Well, he did. But, that didn't really stop us. We texted and talked on the phone and skyped whenever possible. The day after he left I bawled my eyes out because I realized that I missed my best friend. He would tell me about the girls there. I would tell him about the boys here. Still just friends. I may or may not have had a girl friend of mine tell me to stop being stupid and realize that I liked him and that he liked me, but seriously, what did she know?! And just to prove her wrong, I ended up dating a boy in June shortly before I went back home to Alaska for the summer months to work. Well, that lasted about a whole 2 weeks.
Ok, before I go any further I would just like to say that I am not perfect and I do make mistakes...and get in slightly sticky situations. So where was I? Right, so obviously Spencer and I talked a LOT less the few weeks that I was dating this other boy....and then I was single again so we started talking more. Actually, let me correct that....I started talking more. He talked still fairly sparsely. (This could be largely due to that fact that I sorta let him think I was still dating this other boy because I was panicking because I realized I might like him a little more than just as my friend).
But people, hear me out here. He was my best friend! Best friends don't fall in love. If they do, it's only ever one of the friends and then...friendship over. I was NOT having that. So, having a boyfriend seemed like the reasonable thing to do. Well, that was until we only talked like maybe twice a week and then a couple weeks before I came back to Utah he wasn't hardly saying anything but one word answers. Talk about horrific!! I had no idea what had happened, but I could tell he was mad. I knew I had to figure out what was wrong with him, so I eagerly awaited my flight back to the lower 48 to run and jump into the huge hug I was sure would be waiting for me in his nicely toned arms. Then I could fix whatever was wrong in his life.
Well, after all the drama and what not, we came to the conclusion that sure, why not, let's give this thing a shot. So, we started dating - casually, while still dating other people, because frankly, I don't really do commitment. However, it didn't take long and we were going steady. Cute right? Yep, he was pretty excited about getting a real chance, and I have to admit, I was pretty okay with it too.
Multiple panic attacks, date nights, homework parties, heartaches, road trips, late night gallivants, walks, family gatherings, wedding receptions and game nights later, he asked me that question. He took me up the canyon trail where we have gone hiking often, the place where he kissed me for the first time, the place where we would sit and talk for hours and he gave me my Christmas present. I opened it up and inside was....a book. Definitely not a ring. However, it was no ordinary book. It was our fairy tale! He had written OUR fairy tale, complete with pictures from the past years. (I'm telling you, he is seriously the best boyfriend EVER!!) Well, he made me stand on the trail, in the snow, and read it out loud. There was a certain point in the book that just left a blank. That's when he took the book away, got down on one knee and asked if I'd help him finish the fairy tale. Well obviously, I said yes and, ta da!! We are now engaged. And I could NOT be happier.
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| Oh....and he really loves having his picture taken.... |
