Sara & Bruce: Married!
[intro]Sara & Bruce are such a great couple! It was so fun to get to know them. We asked them to share a bit about their love story so you can get to know them too. Enjoy![/intro]
How did you guys meet?
We met doing martial arts at USSD.
First thoughts about one another after you met?
Bruce: “She’s kinda cute. Definitely smart. Maybe she’ll make a good friend.”
Sara: “Ouch, that kick was solid. He’s pretty good.”
Who said “I love you” first?
Sara did. We had agreed not to say we loved each other until after graduating from high school… But I’m (Sara) not sure why. Whatever the reason, that’s not when it happened.
Tell us about your first date:
Bruce: I picked her up and drove back to my house to watch a movie. We started with a game (Dilbert: The Board Game) with m dad and my brother. We ate some pizza. Then we watched The Prestige. Just a little bit before the big reveal, her mom called to ask why she wasn’t home yet (it was already past her curfew, apparently). I apologized, let her know that he movie was almost done, and then we finished. Just as we walked out the door to go back, her mom called again wondering why she still wasn’t home. That date–and our fourth together–are the only times I have ever brought a girl home late.
Sara: Not long before our first date, I was the one to ask for his number. But he was the one that asked me out (that time). Our first date almost didn’t happen. It was meant to be a triple date, but three of the six canceled. Nevertheless, Bruce picked me up on time. We played Dilbert: The Board Game. I lost badly, but it was great fun. Then we watched The Prestige. It’s a fascinating movie, but it was also a first-date movie-date (and I’m not a movie lover). I sat awkwardly on his couch about a foot away from him the whole time, especially since on the way there I’d wondered what it would be like to kiss him. We discussed the movie as he drove me home. I was more than a half an hour past my curfew.
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Tell us about your first kiss:
Bruce: It was our third date. We had finished our activity and got back to her house. She asked if I would like to come inside and talk for a bit. We talked for a while about various things, but eventually we got to talking circles around the fact that we liked each other. Trying to get her to say it, but not being brave enough to say it first, I suggested we tell each other our thoughts at the same time–writing them down on a piece of paper and then letting the other read it. She told me that there was an easier way, which confused me until she leaned down and gave me a long, wonderful first kiss.
Sara: I’m not sure, but I think I’d decided to kiss Bruce before our third date even started. That night, I invited him in to chat for a while when he dropped me off. We had a long, wonderful conversation during which I REALLY wanted to kiss him, but wasn’t going to. Clearly my plans changed, because I did.
How did you know he/she was the one?
Bruce: I didn’t KNOW for a long time. But I suspected near when we first started dating. We started praying together very early in our relationship. One time that I was praying (she tells me it was the first time we prayed, but I don’t remember) I got the feeling to pray for any children we might have together. And I was like “No, that’s creepy.” Well, the prompting came again more strongly, I gave in, and then apologized to her for my creepiness. She told me she didn’t mind, that it had felt okay when I said it.
Sara: I said earlier that my plans changed from ‘not kissing’ to ‘kissing’ on the night of our third date. In a moment of silence, I looked into Bruce’s eyes and felt a WOOSH and I knew, without doubt, I would marry him. So I kissed him. Later there were times when I was confused or uncertain, but every time I remembered that moment I was sure.
How did he propose?
Sara: After we had already gotten our marriage license (we were… non-traditional, to say the least), Bruce blindfolded me and directed my mom (who had driven with me up to Logan to pick him up for our wedding) as she drove to the place of his choosing. He helped me out of the car and led me by the hand for a while. We came to some narrow stairs, which he directed me down step-by-step. There was a step that wobbled every time I tried to move forward, and I refused to move because I thought I would fall. So Bruce stepped down, swept me off my feet, and set me at the base of the stairs. When I removed my blindfold, he was on one knee in front of me in possibly the most beautiful place I’d ever seen. A deep mulch path led through an arbor of trees, with flowering groundcover underfoot on either side of the path. He seemed to glow from the light through the trees. He said, “I can’t promise you everything if you marry me, but I can promise you this,” and then he got up and stood behind me, directing my attention to my left. The Logan Temple was visible through the trees. “I can promise you that we will come here – not now, but soon – and that we will have an eternal family.” Then he got down on one knee again and asked, “So… Will you marry me?” I hugged him as I said yes, and we were married less than eighteen hours later.
What are the top 5 things you love about each other?
Bruce: In no particular order, I love her smile, her hair, her intelligence and wit; I love how she gets my sense of humor, how she likes playing games with me. I love the color of her eyes–a blue I still haven’t found anywhere else. I love the way she stares at me in adoration. She says I have to stop now…
Sara: He can tell me the rest of the things he loves about me later. 🙂 I love how gentle he is with me, both when he touches me and with my emotions. His gentleness makes me feel very loved. I love that he has a strong faith and testimony in God, with which he has persevered through severe trials and mistakes alike. This is important to me because I also have a strong testimony, and I always knew I wanted to marry a man who shares my faith and is steadfast in it. I love that he is intelligent in ways I am not (and vise versa). While sometimes this makes overlapping interests hard, in others it makes our conversations dynamic and interesting and even often educational. I love that he accepts where I’m at but still expects me to grow and become better, and that he has always forgiven me when I’ve fallen short of his expectations. I love especially that he is open and honest with me, and that he has willingly learned to communicate with me effectively so that we can prevent miscommunication.
photos taken: Heber, Utah
