Our story (at least Amanda's side of the story):
If someone were to ask us where we met we'd say in college - that is what we'd say if we didn't really know the person, or didn't really have time to tell the whole thing - and it is true. But if you were going to be my friend and had a few minutes to hear the whole truth, this is what I would tell you.
After I graduated from BYU I served a mission for our church - it was an 18 month mission in Northern California. Ten months into my mission I got sick - super sick. After going to several doctors and getting lots of tests with no firm diagnosis I was sent home to get well. I was home for 3 and half months before I got well enough to go back. But during that time my two younger sisters were at BYU so I went to visit them a few times.
While visiting, my youngest sister, Maggi, told me about a few guys she had crushes on - Ryan was one of them. When we went to church a couple days later, Ryan was there, so Maggi introduced us. We only talked for a few minutes, maybe 5, and I was definitely still in missionary mode, but those 5 minutes ended up being kind of important for us. For various reasons it would not have been appropriate for me to pursue a relationship with Ryan at that time, and so I didn't even consider it. But there was something about Ryan that made me want him in my family, in my life, forever. So I did what any rational person would do - I told Maggi she should marry him. Ryan is over 7 years older than Maggi (who was 17 at the time) so she just laughed and told me that he was too old.
After I got home from my mission I had a year before I could start graduate school so I decided to go back to BYU, spend a year living with Maggi and taking classes that would help me prepare for grad school. On our way to school Maggi and I started talking about Ryan, and I was instantly excited about the possibility of getting to know him better. The first day of school Ryan and Maggi ended up walking home together (he lived across the street from us). So the next evening we took our roommates and went over to his apartment to visit him. He wasn't there; we did get to meet his new roommate, which was fun, but disappointing for me.
Ryan may not have been as smitten with me as I was with him, but he did remember me. He remembered Maggi's sister would be at school that year. So the day after I tried to visit him, he came to visit our apartment (even though he didn't know that we had tried the night before to visit them). I was in the basement when he and his roommate got there. But I could hear them talking. Even though we had only talked those 5 minutes six months earlier I knew right away it was him - and I was excited!
And that was it - we've seen each other pretty much every day since then. We went on our first date a month later, kissed a month after that, decided we wanted to get married about 2 months after that, got engaged 2 and a half months later, and then married 3 months after that. There were a few bumps along the way, but mostly it was fairly smooth. We never broke up or anything. It did take Ryan a little longer to fall in love with me than it did for me to fall in love with him - but that is understandable, he is much more lovable than I am.
We got married June 13th, 2003 (it was a Friday - but that is okay because we aren't superstitious) in St. George, Utah. You may be wondering why we got married in St. George. Well, I'll tell you. My grandparents, my parents, and all 6 of my sisters have all been married in the same room, the east room in the St. George Temple. I grew up going to that temple, my grandparents lived down the street. I think it is one of the most beautiful buildings in the world, and I wanted to get married there my entire life. We had our reception in my parents' backyard in Las Vegas the next night. Then we headed off for a honeymoon in San Diego. The day after we got back we moved to Texas, and have been here over 10 years. Some people say the first year of marriage is tough - it wasn't. Some people talk about a 7-year-itch. We never got too itchy. We have a great marriage, fall in love more each year, and are so grateful for our lives together. And we are loving our current lives together, being parents and raising our family!
This is a video we had playing at our reception. It contains pictures of us from the time we were born until we got married. It is rather long - 20 minutes - so feel free to scan through it. The pictures of us when we were dating are in the last 4 minutes or so. You can make the video full-screen by clicking on the little icon in the bottom right corner.
The building behind us is the St. George Temple - where all of Amanda's family has been married.
Thanksgiving 2011
On our 10 year anniversary - June 13, 2013
