Our Love Story :)
On January 15 2010, in the hart I was anxiously waiting to get my ticket for snowboarding, when I glanced across to the other line and there he was. His crystal blue eyes caught my attention and I couldn’t keep my eyes off of him. His smile was captivating and everything about him kept drawing me in. I found myself looking over trying to be conspicuous but I knew it wasn’t working. He was on to me. I wanted to talk to him, I wanted to know him but how…the entire ride up to the resort my mind was going crazy. Who was this young man who captured my attention so easily? When we got up to the resort, I was to put it lightly … lost. I had no idea what I was doing or where I needed to go but he came to my rescue. He found me up by the tables at the base and started talking to me. I was a little surprised because I am not the one who is used to guys just coming up and talking to me out of the blue. He helped me down the little, little bunny hill the first time and then down the little hill. It was nice to have someone there to help me and to “hold my hand”. After our lessons he found me again and we went down a few more times before the buses left to go back to the school. On the drive home I was going crazy again, I wanted to know more about him, besides his name and I didn’t know if I was going to see him again till the next week and I didn’t want to go another week without seeing him or talking to him. So I decided that I was going to ask him for his number if I saw him after I got off the bus. Fortunately I didn’t have to ask. When I got off, he had gotten out both of our snowboards and asked me for my number. I was ecstatic. I asked him what his plans were that night and said if he wasn’t busy that we should get together and do something. When I went home I wasn’t expecting to hear anything but I was wrong. After I got out of the shower he had texted me asking if I had plans and I replied saying no. He asked if I wanted to watch a movie and I said that I would love to J
He picked me up at my apartment and we went to Hollywood video and rented 12 rounds, then went back to his apartment. During the movie we cuddled and held hands and at the end we kissed. We’re not sure who went for it or who initiated it because neither of us intended for it to happen on the first date but it did. I went home that night on cloud nine. I can’t describe how I felt that night. All I know is that there was something different about him.
We decided that the next day if we felt up to it we would go snowboarding and we did. In the morning he texted me to see if I was awake and decided we would take our chances and if it was bad weather then the only thing we wasted was gas. We talked the entire way up about high school and college to this point and I learned more and more about him that made me like him more. I didn’t know how to react to what I was feeling so I kept it in. while we were up there we stayed on the small hill and he helped me again to learn what I was doing. He was such an amazing help to me and he was so patient with me in learning. He never pushed and he would make sure I understood what he was explaining. The drive home was quite but I was tired and he was too, but he also seemed to be in thought. By the time we came back from Targhee I knew I had feelings for him that were more than just friends but I was scared to let myself fall for him. We sat in his truck for an hour or 2 just talking about everything and anything that came to mind. I learned some things that he had experienced when he was first in college and I told him about when I was growing up. I told him I liked him but I was afraid to fall for him because I didn’t want to get hurt. He said that he didn’t want to hurt me but he needed to figure some things out. We learned a lot about each other’s lives and what ambitions we had and what we wanted out of our life.
Sunday night we had “DTR” and decided that we were dating but not official yet. We wanted to get to know each other better before we made it official. Well I dunno how long you all think it takes to get to know someone but by that Thursday it was official. We both agreed we didn’t want to date anyone else. My heart was falling into his hands and it scared me. But I was letting myself fall because I felt safe with him but there was still a sense of fear with that trust. I had had my heart broken so many times that I feared he would do the same but he has been so much more then I thought I deserve.
It was a quick down hill fall from there. He managed to get me to California with him but only after some how hiding in my car to Utah 2 weekends in a row. J
He has gotten my family to fall in love with him. The first time we went to Utah it was a bit of a spur of the moment decision. We didn’t have plans and I missed my family so we headed down. We called my dad on the road and told him we were on our way. He knew we were dating but didn’t expect to meet him so quick. My mom was the next weekend but they had a little more warning.
On February second we knew we needed to be together and that marriage was in the future for us if we decided to pursue it. It felt right to both of us and we couldn’t deny the strength of the spirit we felt. We knew that the road to getting married would be a hard one but it was one we knew would be worth it, and one we could travel together.
Meeting his parents was a little more difficult seeing as he is from Chino California. But he decided he wanted me to come home with him over presidents day weekend. He flew his brother home and had me drive with him and his roommate and old friend from home. When we got there we were exhausted from the long drive in his truck. The next morning, we went to breakfast with his parents and shared a little of our story, but not leading on to too much. We didn’t want to overload them. After breakfast we drove around and he showed me his high school, some of the places he would go with his friends. When we went back to his house we told his parents the rest of the story and they were very supportive and explained to us that they had a similar experience.
That evening we went to dinner with his parents and to the New
Port temple. It was gorgeous and I loved the feeling of being on those grounds with him and picturing what it would be like walking out of the temple doors after being married and sealed to him for time and all eternity. There was such a peace there.
I don’t know how he does it but he captivates me everyday and I'm not putting up a fight. I guess somewhere between that first day of snowboarding, our first kiss and now I fell in love to all the things I never thought I'd know. I am finding myself thinking about him more and more but not in the little girl butterfly sense. I still get butterflies but it is different. I don’t know how to explain it. I just love being with him and around him. He makes me want to be better but he makes me want to be everything that he needs. I want to make him happy but not just happy for the moment. I want to make him happy for eternity. I want to be the one he wants to be next to for the rest of his life.
The Man He is Becoming
Hm... How to even describe him though is a challenge. He is everything I've ever wanted and so much more. A lot of people might say because he hasn’t lead the picture perfect life he is just trouble but I beg and plead to differ. For you see that is what makes him all the better. He knows and appreciates so many things I took for granted and has shown me what it truly means to have a change of heart. He is becoming the man I saw in him the day I first met him before I knew anything from his past. That day up at the resort was a glimpse of who he really was and who he has the capacity to become and I have never lost sight of that. There is a light and spirit about him that I think he doesn't see all the time but I see it and I feel it! He has changed so much since we started dating and it has only made my love for him grow deeper and stronger. In some ways he isn’t the same person, he is someone better and stronger. He is trying to get his brother on a mission and make it so he doesn’t follow in his footsteps. He is concerned about my brother and always asks how he is doing. When I have struggles with my mom, he is there to support me. Two things I think that affected him was watching “Charly” together then a little later coming with me to get a blessing after a family emergency back at home. After the blessing the priesthood holder who gave it to me talked to us a bit about how the priesthood worked and a blessing. We learned a bunch of things, or at least I did. He has rethought things for the future and is changing his priorities. I wonder if he even notices how he has changed because he has in so many ways that I can’t explain. He has grown spiritually and I know he cares and loves me more then anyone has before. He makes sure my needs are met but he also tries makes sure that we don’t cross lines that we aren’t able to right now. We aren’t perfect though so we have our challenges. As tempting as it may be sometimes, it isn’t worth it to him to do anything right now because he wants it to happen the right way. I do to and he knows that but there are days he could get away with anything and I would most likely not stop him, but he doesn’t. There is one time in particularly that stands out. He told me that he didn’t feel comfortable and that we needed to stop what we were doing. On the drive home I asked why he felt that way and if it had happened before and he said that it had happened before but he would ignore it. So I asked him what made this time different and he said that it was because it was me. He didn’t want it to be that way with me, he loved me too much to let it happen. He wanted to be married.
Another day we were messaging back and forth and he asked what I meant in a text and I told him sometimes it is hard to wait but I knew we had to and he said he was going to say that same thing. He wasn’t going to throw away everything that he had worked so hard to get to again. He wanted this to be the last time and to be permanent.
He is changing in so many ways and I love him for it. He is changing for him, not just for me. I know I am part of it but I am not the big reason anymore. At the beginning I think I played a much larger part then I do now. I have fallen for him and I am still falling but I know he is always going to be there to catch me. He won’t let me fall without him there waiting for me. And now I have him for the rest of eternity!
I love you Ryan Shawn Pickett!
