Our Story

Samuel and Stephanie

We both lived in the same apartment complex and the same church ward and we were also assigned to the same dinner group(in our complex, those who were interested participated in a dinner group where we rotated each day who cooked and so you got a nice meal every night but only had to cook once every two weeks). I met Samuel on September 12 which was a Sunday night when he came over to our apartment to meet the girls that would be in his group and make sure everything was on for dinner group the next day. He later told me that he had come over because he felt like he hadn't been very social in the ward so far and so he wanted to meet some new people and decided to go by our apartment. And I, of course, am very glad that he did :). He stayed over at the apartment talking to us for a little while and, as I wrote in my journal, I thought he was really cute and seemed really cool as well. I found myself really looking forward to dinner group the next night and the rest of the nights of the week and I was very thankful for the excuse to see him and talk to him every night.

On Saturday mornings Jeff and I would always play basketball at the court at our complex along with several other people in the ward. When we found out that Samuel liked playing basketball we invited him. He was excited about it and came that first Saturday after I met him. All through the week I definitely knew I was liking Samuel and playing basketball with him that morning only strengthened it. He was really good, easily one of the best, but he was also humble. He was never talking other people down or talking himself up. He would compliment other people, pass the ball to everyone(including me, the girl and definitely not one of the best) and always had a good attitude. As I found out later, it was also the time that Samuel started becoming interested in me.

The next Tuesday(so a week and two days after we met) was when he asked me on our first date. After dinner group I had left my apartment with Samuel and his brother(who was also in our dinner group) because Samuel had a ball pump that he was going to fill my soccer ball with. After filling it and thanking them I left, but as I was walking back to my apartment he came after me and asked me on a date for that Thursday to go to a concert at BYU along with his best friend and wife. When he was getting my phone number his hand was shaking a little and it was really cute to see him nervous and I think that, to this day, it is the only time I have seen him get nervous. Right after he asked me I went back to my apartment and was SO excited, basically dancing around telling my roommates. Jeff was there also and he commented that he had never seen me so excited about a date(and he was right....that is not normal behavior for me).

So that Thursday, September 23 was our first date. It went really well and I had a great time. The biggest things that struck me were how natural everything was with him and how easy it was for me to talk to him. We could talk about all kinds of things, both serious and funny. After the concert we went to his friend and wife's house for dessert. I had been having a really great time with him and really hoped that he had been too. And so I was thrilled at the end of the date when he asked me on another date for two weeks from then.

We ended up doing something together(outside of dinner group) every day after that. We played games, went shopping, went to the library several times, made cookies, and played basketball with just the two of us. It always felt so natural to be with him and everything just progressed so easily and so well. On Wednesday night after we had gone to the BYU soccer game together he had walked me to the door and we talked for a long time at my doorstep before finally saying goodnight. People from our complex had kept walking past, coming and going from things and were commenting on how long we had been out there, but I didn't realize how long it actually had been until I went inside to look at the clock. It had been 2 hours!

Then on Friday night, October 1 Samuel invited me to go to a haunted house and haunted forest with him and his siblings and cousins. During a particularly confusing part of the haunted forest Samuel very smoothly held my hand and kept holding it the rest of the night. After his brother dropped us off back at our complex he asked me if I wanted to go on a walk and on the walk he told me that he liked me and wanted to date me in his own sweet and unique way. So that was the time we officially began dating exclusively.

Through the next weeks and months I had many great times with him and we grew in our relationship...

We carved pumpkins with Samuel's brother and girlfriend(now wife)

We were Calvin and Hobbes for Halloween

At the midnight showing of Harry Potter

We went to Temple Square for the David Archuleta and Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas concert

Over Thanksgiving break I went home with Samuel and met his family and then over Christmas break he came home with me to meet my family. I really liked his family, they were a lot of fun and very nice. And my family loved Samuel and missed him as soon as he left.

On the ferry from Seattle

Overlook and the science museum

Then Friday night, January 14, Samuel proposed. We had already decided to get married and had already been ring shopping so it was not a surprise, but it was still very sweet. We started the evening by going out to eat at Olive Garden(which he knew was my favorite restaurant). After the meal we went to a park that we have been to several times on our frequent walks. He had a wrapped present for me. After unwrapping it I found a box with a note taped on top. I opened the box and inside was a tea kettle. We have had an ongoing joke about tea kettles because he always thought I was not experiencing hot chocolate the right way by merely heating in the microwave and he often joked about buying me one. A rolled up piece of paper was stuck through the lid which had a nice note on it and poem telling me to open the pot. The teapot was full of Dove chocolates(my favorite) and the ring inside the open ring box. He asked me to marry him and I of course said yes :).

With the tea kettle he gave me

The ring...I love it

We are planning on getting married May 25 in the Seattle LDS temple

To be Continued...