When we first met...

Today while on facebook I came across a link to a blog. The blog belongs to a mother (Joanne) of a friend of mine (Allison). I'm thinking it would probably make for some good reading seeing as how my friend is hilarious and she had to get it from someone. I was so right. I read through the blog for about an hour when I decided I needed to save some reading material for another day. I guess what makes the blog even more interesting to read is that my friend would always tell me stories about her mom, so this blog just reinforced the stories I had heard. One of the blogged inputs was about how Joanne had met her husband. I've decided it would be a good story to share since not every one knows how we meet. And in a strange twist of coincidences, one of Joanne's daughters (Charley) was a helper in how Daniel and I met.

It was the weekend after Valentine's day in 2008. I was already annoyed from the holiday because all of my roommates had received Valentines from boys, some even multiple (Khealynn). On Valentine's day itself I went out to dinner with some friends of mine who were also single and called it an early night since I was under the weather. Amber had come out for the weekend since she liked to visit often, being only four hours away in Rexburg, ID. We went to a play that weekend too, Jungle Book at BYU, which is initially why she came. Sunday came and Amber and I slept through my church time which was 8:30 AM. We decided to hit up church when our cousin, Branden had church which was 1:30 PM.

We got to church a few minutes late and sat in the back. We happened to be sitting on the same row as Charley so after church I said hello and had a quick chat. Daniel was sitting with Charley, she was pretty much one of the only people he got along with at church. While Charley and I were talking, Daniel was trying to get her to introduce us, but she just brushed him aside. After chatting Amber and I went into the lobby to wait for Branden who was running late. About 5 minutes later this guy came up to me and said, "Hey, you're Charley's friend". I said yes and he then introduced himself and his friend Ben. While talking we found out that Ben was going to the same school as Amber so they started talking. Apparently Ben was fulfilling his wingman duties as Daniel explained to me later. Daniel then started chatting with me. My first impression I was just some guy at church who wanted to talk. Amber had to tell me that Daniel was hitting on me because I was so oblivious. He invited me to Sunday dinner, basically just a bunch of coeds hanging out. I told him I'd think about it, but decided to hang out with my sister instead.

A couple of days later Allison gave me a call. She asked me if I remembered Dan from church and if it was ok if Charley gave him my number. I thought about it for a minute, I was a little hesitant because he didn't really catch my eye, but then Allison said something that made me decide to give the ok. She said, "He just got out of a relationship and that he didn't want anything serious". She also said, "Hey if you're not interested you can just tell him you got serious with the guy you are dating". I figured it was worth a shot. I was dating someone, but it was not exclusive and the guy was a little flaky.

A few days later I received a phone call from Dan. I think I let it hit the voicemail first because I didn't recognize the number. I listened to the message and called him back. I was on my way home from tanning. At the time I used a tingler tanning lotion which if anyone has ever used knows it burns. It makes you feel really itchy so I was looking forward to getting home so I could shower and get ready for a date, with the other guy I was dating. We chatted a moment and he invited me to another Sunday dinner at Charley's. I figured, why not, and I accepted. When I walked into Charley's apartment that Sunday and saw Daniel, I realized he was a lot cuter then I had remembered. Dinner was fun and we were able to talk a bit. I remember being bugged that he didn't offer to walk me home (we lived in the same apartment complex), but it was a fun evening none the less. A few days later he called me. I was in the computer lab so I resorted to texting. He then asked me out on a date via text. I was annoyed that he asked me out through text, but seeing as how I lived at school that semester I figured it was probably the only plausible way he could ask me out.

Things went well on our date obviously and here we are 3 years later. Almost to our 2 year anniversary and we even have our our addition to our family...Keif. I guess my story is not as cool as Joanne's who can add in 20 something years later to her blog, but I look forward to being able to share this story with our kids and even grandkids. For now it's a story for the blog.

Good start to a new year.

So far this new year we are experiencing has been good. We just welcomed a new nephew into the family from my sister Anissa on January 9th. This is their last child, and their first son. She already has 3 girls so this birth was pretty exciting. This is also the first grandson for my parents. They named him Noah Thomas Elias Smith. He is named after Noah's grandfather, and after himself. I haven't met the little guy yet but I am looking forward to seeing him for his blessing next month.

Last Friday Daniel and I took a little trip to L.A. My mom and Amber were both flying out of the Long Beach airport so we decided that since we were up there we would make the most of it. We first decided to find the house that was used in the movie "Father of the Bride", and we found it in Pasadena, CA.

It is such a beautiful house! Daniel says that's the kind of house he wants someday. After we walked around the neighborhood we decided to stop by to see the Rose Bowl. After turning around a few times thanks to the ever so reliable directions from google map, we finally found the place.

It was in a pretty open location and it was a popular spot for people to go running and to walk their dogs. After our little driving adventure we decided to go to UCLA's campus. However by the time we got their it was dark so we didn't see very much. Then we went home which took us a total of 3 hours thanks to L.A. traffic. Probably won't take any more trips up their soon, but it was a fun day none the less.

Something pretty exciting is that Daniel and I will be taking a trip out to the East side. I just booked our trip yesterday. We are flying into Raleigh, NC to spend some time in Chapel Hill and Durham, visit his Aunt and Uncle in Greensboro, NC then we will head to Charlotte, NC and Fort Mill, SC so I can see where Daniel grew up. After that we are going to Frederick, MD to spend time with Daniel's family as well as attend his younger sister's, Amanda, baptism. And of course while we are there we will be spending a couple of days in D.C. to enjoy the museums. It will be a very busy trip, but I look forward to spending time with Daniel, seeing his family and meeting new family members. I'm just hoping the weather will cooperate with us the last week of March so that our flights won't get canceled.