Tyler and I started dating in September 2008 at the start of Tyler's junior year and my super-senior year of college at BYU. When we first started hanging out I thought it was all fun and games. I mean, I had "dated" (I guess it was more like hanging out and making out) two elders from our mission before and that's just what those relationships were. Plus, Tyler mostly lives his life as one of fun so that's what I thought I was in store for. Honestly, I didn't think it was going anywhere, not because of Tyler or anything, but I wasn't really looking for anything serious, even though I probably should have been. I mean, I was 23 already.
Well, time just kept going on, and I just kept wanting to see Tyler. About six months later I was ready to bust out the "L" word, but Tyler kept me wanting it for a few weeks. Finally it came one late night while I was half-conscious watching a movie. Basically I was asleep and that was the moment Tyler chose. Then I knew I had something a little more than fun and games.
Tyler left about a month after that, at the end of April, to work for the summer in North and South Carolina. My thoughts? We'll keep in contact during the summer. I'll even go out and visit him. When he gets back, maybe after a few months, he'll propose and we'll have a winter wedding. I didn't think things would be too serious over the summer seeing as how he was across the country and he told me to date other guys if I wanted. (Who says that?) Well, I took his permission. I went on three dates while he was gone, one just two days before I went out to visit him in South Carolina.
I was super excited to see him! I really did miss him a lot and I knew I had something good. I visited for just three days and it was awesome. We went to Myrtle Beach, which really exceeded my expectations. The water was really warm, the beach was soft, and there were tons of activities to do. We went mini-golfing, took a scooter ride (I wasn't allowed to drive after I almost killed myself and an old man in a BMW), ate out, went swimming in the beach, and of course took several long walks on the beach at night.
Well, the last night we took our last long walk on the beach. It was a pretty spectacular view. The waves were crashing. The sand was squishing in our toes. The moon was big and orange. And there was a lightning storm in the distance.
We started talking about Tyler living with his friends out there and how different it is for him to hang out with his friends compared to me. Then he started telling me all the things he likes about being with me. It was, honestly, odd to hear him say that because just not that much serious stuff comes out of his mouth. He stopped me and as he continued on I couldn't take him seriously and started making faces at him. He was patient with me. He started talking about the future and I think that's when my faces stopped. He said that there was only one thing left to do...
At this moment I'm thinking, we're going to start talking about marriage! I felt ready for it. What I wasn't ready for was Tyler getting down on one knee. I thought he was joking! I told him to get up and stop playing around.
I realized he wasn't joking when he didn't get up, but rather pulled out a sparkling Walmart ring, and asked me to marry him. I asked him, "Are you serious?" He said, "Yes!" (Maybe a little impatiently.) I said, "Of course!"
