Aly & Andrew

We met at the beginning of the Fall 2013 semester at BYU. We were both living at the Foreign Language Student Residence on campus for German. One morning I answered the door and my neighbor (another apartment of German speaking girls) opened her door and she was dressed as an anime character, my own roommate was dressed as Spock, and Andrew was dressed as a Pokemon trainer (they were going to Comic Con). I myself was wearing Pjs. We talked a few times after that, but we did not start hanging out more until October/November.

At first I thought Andrew was a total dork and he thought I was a little lazy for still being in my pjs at 10am on a Saturday morning. After we really started hanging out, I still thought he was a bit of a dork, but dressing up was not the norm.

Andrew said “I love you first,” but I said it right afterwards. He had been on a business trip one weekend in Vegas, so we talked on the phone everyday. However, when we were about the hang up I always hesitated because I wanted to tell him, and I could sense it in his voice too. After he came back we took a walk to the Provo temple, sat in the grass, and talked. He mentioned that he kept wanting to say something on the phone, but since he had never said it before, he wanted the first time to be in person. We talked about the L-word and danced around it until we were sure both of us were feeling that way and then we said it to each other.

Our first “friend” date, or our first “real” date?

First friend date was Andrew asking me to a date I had already planed. We went bowling on campus, went to the planetarium and then got milkshakes afterwards. (It was my first time I shared food like that with a boy btw). I liked Andrew at the time, but he had just broken up with his ex, so we were just keeping it as friends.

Fast forward about four months: Andrew asks me out on our first “real” date. We went to the MOA on campus, walked around, we ate pizza, and then spur of the moment decided to go to the movies. The whole time Andrew was debating whether or not to hold my hand, but that came a week or so later. After the movie he took me home where my roommates were watching some movie, so we joined them. He then proceed to sit really close to me and rested his head on my shoulder, in front of everyone! It was a pretty awesome night.

It was the Sunday after we decided to become exclusive. Andrew had just left for the night, but I quickly texted him to come back because he had left something at my apartment, this was just a lie to get him to come back. When he came back, knowing full well he didn’t leave anything (at this point he decided he would kiss me the following week), I told him I had fun spending time with him and wished him a goodnight with a kiss on the cheek. With that “signal” he changed his plans to kiss me to that night. We stood by the door, both feeling nervous and actually shaking a little. We talked, sat down and talked some more. Eventually we were back at the door with him trying to kiss me and me avoiding it, although I really wanted to kiss him, I was just super nervous. For another hour we stood there talking, until we finally kissed! It was sweet, tender, and truly perfect. It was not awkward, wet, or too much, it was just perfect. Andrew later told me that he thought it was cute how nervous I was, which helped him become more confident in kissing me that night and not another time.

I knew Andrew was the one after we had been friends for a while and then started dating. Before we dated we had talked about a lot of things and had some wonderful conversations without ever trying to impress each other or put our best side forward. I would listen to what he had to say and watched how he acted when he thought no one was watching. Once we started dating everything just got better. We had to talk about a lot of things, but once I felt I truly knew him, I prayed and told Heavenly Father I would continue to date Andrew unless He had a different plan for me. I never feel weird about dating Andrew or had regrets about not dating other guys. Eventually I could not imagine my life far in the future without him. There were little moments that just spoke to my heart telling me that he is a good, honest, loving, trying, caring, and respectful man.

I could talk with Aly about anything and didn’t feel awkward at all around her. One time my friend asked me which of two girls I was debating on dating I could imagine myself married to. I immediately said “Aly!” though I wasn’t even romantically interested in her at the time. That really got me thinking. There were a lot of small confirmations along the way. Nothing huge, nothing extraordinary, just a growing desire to be with her forever. I think I wanted to marry her after we’d been dating for about two months (we’d known each other quite a bit longer than that).

The proposal was a long time coming between trying to think of the perfect way to propose to the leaks I had heard from friends telling me when it would be. Twice people had told me when it would be, which really upset both Andrew and I because he had been working so hard to make is special. After that had blown over, Andrew kept it a super secret. We had gone to the MOA, which is where we went on our first real date. Afterwards we went to the store to buy food for a picnic. During the whole car ride he kept saying we had a schedule to follow because of his best friend’s birthday party that night. I was convinced it was not happening that night. We drove to Rock Canyon Park and set up at a picnic table. Before I could even lay out the food, Andrew told me to close my eyes, at this point I thought, but still part of me was saying it wasn’t happening. He moved me a little bit, which later I found was due to his sister laying under a tree to take pictures, and started talking about how wonderful the last six months had been. He loved being with me, but no longer wanted to call me his girlfriend. He told me to open my eyes, so I did. He was kneeling in front of me with a ring and asked me to marry him. I said “yeah” (not even a yes) and we hugged! We ate food while he talked about how nervous he had been all evening. He had prepared a speech, but got so nervous he forgot it once he started. We then went to his friend’s house, where most of them knew he was thinking of proposing. On the way there I called my mom and those were the only people I told that night.

The top five things I love about Andrew…it is rather hard to narrow them down to five things. In no particular order, I admire the love Andrew has for his family and how much he wants to know my family across the country. He has a wonderful relationship with his parents and siblings and tries hard to keep in touch. He talks of childhood memories so fondly and always shows respect to his family. Andrew’s love and devotion to the gospel was an important factor for me. He is trying just like everyone else, he has mistakes just like me, but he remembers the Lord and seeks to know more. He is extremely knowledgeable about the gospel and other religions. He is respectful and thoughtful of others in their situations. I love that Andrew is a nerd. Not only is he just super smart, he likes to have fun. We can play board games and video games together, which were things my family would do together. He has showed me some new games and I have taught him some as well. Andrew is also very ambitious and driven. He always works hard at what he is doing. In fact, his motto is “work hard, play hard,” which reflects well his attitude towards life. Finally, I love how Andrew supports me. Whether it is geeking out about something, or holding me when I am sad, he is always there for me. I am grateful for his gentle heart that reaches out to to mine, and even others in their time of need.