Tag You're It!

So my cousin is doing this thing where if you get tagged you have to tell the story of how you and your spouse met. So I've been trying to think of a way to tell the story without it becoming too complicated, and it turns out its been more difficult than I thought. So that is why it has taken me so long to get to this post. Here it goes.

How did you and your husband meet?
Well, Byron and I remember meeting each other for the first time at different times. I remember meeting him during a weekend where he and his friend Jeff met my family and me(I was probably 14 or 15 at the time) at our condo in Brian Head. I remember one of the nights we all went on a walk at night and he told us about the constellations. I thought he seemed nice and was cute. When I told him this years later he said that it couldn't have been him because he didn't know anything about the stars, and if it was him then he was spewing crap. Anyway, Byron remembers meeting me at the beach while we were vacationing with another family that he came with. Back then the age gap between us seemed so big that he barely noticed me. However, he did notice my older sister and during the summer before his mission he dated my sister. It was during this time that he got to know my family very well, but not really me because I still lived in Vegas and he was living in Provo. So off on his mission he went, all along I thought he would come home and start dating my sister again. That did not happen though and at some point during his mission they decided to stop writing. Shortly after he got home my sister was engaged to his friend (the one he had gone on vacation with). Because my sister married his good friend from high school he was once again hanging out with my family. So around January of 1995 I started to hang out with Byron. But for quite awhile we were just friends.

How we got together:
Around June of 1995 I went down to go to my cousin Brooke's high school graduation in Vegas. Byron and his friend were coming down to Vegas to see a concert, and were staying at my house. One night Byron came to the family room and hung out with me for most of the night, and at one point he kissed me. At first I didn't know what to think and then I thought "It could be awhile before this happens again, so I went for it." O.K. I know this is the point in the story where you are thinking, Wow that is really pathetic Heather, but I prefer not to think of it in that light. I prefer to see it as taking advantage of the present moment and being concerned for my future. Regardless, Byron kissed me (I might point out before we ever dated) and I began wondering if this would work out. So when I got back from my trip I didn't know what to do, and felt like I should decide weather or not I wanted to date Byron before taking it any further. Now here is where Byron would interject and tell everyone that I completely flaked on him. He was doing the gentlemanly thing and actually calling me after kissing me, and I totally dissed him. Although I was really wanting to be sure of us because I didn't want to screw up the great relationship he had with the rest of my family. I am however realizing as I write this that Byron should never have complained because he was in a win win situation. Either we started dating or he got away with a weekend of lovin' scott free! But I digress. Back to the story, shortly after that illicit weekend I went on vacation to the beach where Byron also had been invited. At that point I had decided that I really liked Byron and that we should go for it. So it was there that we decided to date. Things went very well during the rest of the summer.

The Break-up:
After the summer we started school up again and one night Byron took me out and we ended up in his car talking and by the end of the conversation we had broken up. It took me by surprise, but his dad had talked to him earlier that day about some of his concerns. That made Byron question where things were going and I think freaked him out a little, and he decided that we should date other people. I was so taken back by the conversation that I didn't know what to say. So I went home that night and cried. The next day I was talking to my sister on the phone who informed me that he was making a huge mistake, and that I should let him know that (Thanks Emily). So I took her advice and took Byron on a drive up the canyon to talk. I was as gutsy as I had ever been and I told him what I thought. I said his decision was ridiculous, and that I was the best thing that ever happened to him (he later confessed that it was then that he realized that I was right and that he really was making a mistake). Yet, if he felt like he needed to date other people then he should. To make a really long story less painful, two weeks later we were engaged.

How we got together again:
On October 24, 1995 Byron took me up to Sundance and proposed to me. It had taken a couple of weeks after we had found the ring to actually get the ring. I knew the day he was going to be getting it, so of course I was anticipating it. He called me that day and said he wanted to take me out later, after he had finished his homework (classic Byron). He also had bought me porcelain roses so that I would forever have roses from him, So Sweet. I said yes, and we were married on December 30, 1995!

So here we are 12 years, 2 kids, 9 years of schooling, 7 trips across country, 4 major moves, 3 cars, 5 trips to the ER, countless call and sleepless nights, endless tears and laughter later and he's still the one I run to, the one that I belong to, the one I want for life. Oh, oops that is Shania Twain. All I know is that marrying Byron was the best decision I ever made, Love ya Babe!