Well well well......where to begin? I guess from the beginning, yeah? Okay, this is a little long so grab a strawberry lemonade, a blue symphony candy bar and enjoy the ride.....
Sometime in 2003 (yes we didn't even know each other then but this applies), My mother started dating my stepdad, he proposed, and they decided to move us to P.G. I was greatly opposed to this move but little did I know it would change my life. I started 8th grade in a new school, new town, and with no friends. Derek happened to be in 9th grade at the same school but we didn't know each other.
When we had lived in P-town, my sister S had joined Color Guard. No not the military Guard, the kind of guard the performs with the Marching Band, spinning flags, sabers and rifles while dancing....it's not dorky or anything. Anyway, since S had participated in guard in P-town, she decided to continue it in P.G. The summer before 9th grade, my bestie A and I decided to try out for guard and we of course made the team. Meanwhile, Derek was entering 10th grade and had joined the Marching Band.
I didn't really notice Derek my freshman year but he noticed me. He says he loved the way I had so much fun on the field and how my red hair shone in the sun. When we went on band tour that fall, I flirted with Derek's friend and noticed him but didn't really think anything of it. This was the Fall of 2004.
In the summer of 2005, I finally REALLY noticed Derek. I thought he was just so dang cute and I wanted him to be my boyfriend right away! I was about to tell a fellow guard member that I was into him, but as soon as I pointed him out, she told me she was interested! Being an insecure 15 year old, I thought I couldn't compete with her so I agreed to set them up. That worked out well.....not. They broke up, Derek and I were forming our friendship. I felt like I could make my move.
Again I tried to tell another guard member that I liked him (you'd think I'd learn), and the same thing happened again. I was stuck watching Derek date another girl and still being his best friend, all the while just wanting to date him. Eventually it didn't work out with them and on November 17, 2005 Derek and I had our first kiss and became a couple.
It was crazy for us. Yes I was 15, he was 16 but young love is great! After 4 days, Derek asked me to wait for him when he went on a mission. I agreed without a second thought. We dated for about a year, always saying we were going to get married and be together forever but again....young love, need I say more?
Break up was awful, lots of drama, still ended as friends. Fast forward to 2008, I was graduating high school, Derek was preparing to go on a mission. About a week before Derek's mission, he told me he was still in love with me. I was dating someone else and he took back his statement. Derek left for his mission on September 3, 2008. My other relationship ended a few days later. I was writing Derek as just a friend but I kept having a nagging feeling I wanted more.
Around November, I decided to wait and without going into all those details, I told Derek my plan and he agreed. I waited faithfully for the whole 2 years. He came home September 6,2010, proposed on the 16th, and 4 months later, on January 21,2011, we were sealed for all time and eternity in the Oquirrh Mountain Temple.
Wow....like I said, it was going to be long. So here we are now, enjoying being married, being dorks, and seeing what else life has in store for us!
