One of my companions and his fiancee made a blog about how they came to be and I thought it was really interesting to see if from both sides. So in order to make sure I remember as many details as I can, I've decided to write my side of how I came to be married to the most incredible woman to ever walk the Earth.
Since I don't remember the first time we actually met (the moment she fell in love with me :), I will start with the first time I remember laying eyes upon that wondrous beauty. My best-good-friend Dev had just switched schools in the middle of her senior year and decided to go see a play back at her old school and visit some friends. She asked if I wanted to come along and I accepted. We sat down on left side of the auditorium and started watching the play. Then, as if descending from on high, an angel took the stage! I couldn't take my eyes off her! So I leaned over to Deverie and asked who she was. She got ALL SORTS of excited and said, "That's Melissa! You've met her before!" She proceeded to tell me a story about me meeting a few summers ago and she was taken by my gorgeous eyes but Deverie messed it all up when she told her they are fake. Apparently Melissa said she didn't like me anymore.
I couldn't take my eyes off her for the rest of the play and afterwards I went up to talk to her. Up until this point, I had NEVER felt nervous around a girl. I strode up all confident and when I got there, Dev introduced us and Melissa started whispering in her ear for a minute. Then she turned to me and said, "Hi Fake-eyes!" Needless to say I was taken off guard and couldn't really get back on track.
I couldn't stop thinking about her for the next couple of days and eventually told Deverie I wanted to ask her out. She was pretty stoked. The thought of two of her best friends together must have been intriguing. I wasn't sure how to go about it since I really didn't know her at all, so Dev suggested I do something creative to ask her out....That is not my thing! I'm more into using my dashing good looks and impeccable smile to get dates. I don't do creative! Needless to say, I was in way over my head so like the Best-Good-Friend that she is, Deverie took care of it. I don't know much about how she asked, all I know is that she said yes if Deverie would come along.
I wanted the date to go really well so I asked as much as I could about her from Deverie. We planned the date together and I was totally putting my trust in her. I picked her up and the drive back to Idaho Falls was pretty quiet. I didn't understand because I'm a very charming and outgoing guy who NEVER gets shy! Something about her had me nervous though. We had Chinese for dinner and she wasn't too impressed. Strike 1. We went to a movie that turned out to be a complete bust and we walked out. Strike 2. Being who I am, I wasn't sure what to do next so we just drove around a bit before I had to take her home. All the while I can't come up with anything to say. Strike 3! I'm out! And I DON'T strike out!
I mulled it over for awhile and couldn't figure out what went wrong. After a few weeks I shrugged it off as a fluke and decided to ask her out again. My parents didn't like the idea of me driving out to Hamer so I told them I wasn't and went anyway. (This girl was worth the trouble) This time would be a little more low key. Just a movie and games at Deverie's. Once again I found myself struggling to know what to say and do. What is this girl doing to me? On the drive back to Hamer I was basically mute and felt ashamed of myself. As I'm driving and wallowing in my self loathing, I somehow ran off the road....Another first in my life! This couldn't possibly get any worse. Her dad had to come pull me out. Not the impression I wanted to leave on my future father-in-law.
After that catastrophic date, I decided to keep what little dignity I had left and not ask her out again. But I couldn't get her out of my mind. Even when I was dating other girls, she was the one I thought about most. I found myself using my 11:11 and shooting star wishes for another chance with Melissa. I went back to my normal routine of taking out lots of girls and dropping them when I got bored. All the while I was trying to explain why I couldn't be myself around the one girl I wanted to the most.
Time went by and I ended up going on my mission. Deverie tried to persuade me for months through her letters to write Melissa and give it one more shot. Eventually, I worked up the courage to write her. I apologized for wasting her time and asked her to give me another chance to be her friend. A few weeks later I got a letter back! We wrote back and forth for the rest of my mission and I was able to show her a little bit of my personality.
About a month after I got back, Deverie invited me to go watch the Grinch at Melissa's apartment. I knew what she was doing but I was still fresh off the mish and didn't truly believe I had a chance. Regardless, I went. Astonishingly, I found it A LOT easier to talk to her and we had a good time. However, I hadn't been on a date since I got home and didn't want her to be the first one... I needed to warm up a bit first.
I started back to school and started dating again. It was all for fun knowing that those girls were never going to lead anywhere. Every date helped me get more and more acclimated to real life. Secretly I hoped all along that the more at ease I felt with other girls, the better chance I had with Melissa.
I "broke up" with someone toward the end of April and Deverie thought it was the perfect opportunity to nudge me in Melissa's direction. I hesitated at first because over the years I had convinced myself that I had already screwed up my chances so bad that it wasn't worth the effort. Luckily for me, Deverie was relentless. She took to me to watch Melissa play volleyball and said we weren't leaving until I asked her out. Well, the opportunity to ask her didn't really come up in between the 2 minute breaks she had in between games and I figured it would be a bit awkward seeing as how I hadn't talked to her in months. So I chickened out that night but the idea wouldn't leave my mind. Later that week I called her up and asked her out.
I took her on my regular first date. We did the works, 4-wheeling, BBQ and a movie. (Works EVERY time!) I couldn't believe how much easier it was to be around her. The date went great and I began to wonder if there really was a chance for me. Unfortunately I had already ingrained it in my mind that my chance had come and gone a long time ago so I didn't act immediately. Plus I was still seeing someone else off and on and already had a date planned for that next week. I figured I could end that first and try things with Melissa after that.
Apparently that idea didn't go over so well with Melissa. She enjoyed that date and was expecting me to call her again real soon. I was taking too long. So she arranged for her, Dev and I to go to a movie for her birthday. The whole night I was under the impression that it was Deverie's idea. It took some major convincing to get me to believe that Melissa had instigated the whole thing. The night went well but Melissa had shown NO signs of interest. She didn't bite on any of my tests so I was more confused than ever. Afterward, Deverie had to flat out tell me that Melissa was interested because I just couldn't believe it.
From then on, I got the hint and took the initiative myself to ask her out. We started seeing each other several times a week which quickly turned into everyday. After a few months I started to wonder how to know if you love someone. One night, my buddy asked us to go on a double date with him and this chick. We went out to Rigby Lake at night and walked around a bit. There underneath the stars, I looked into her eyes and I knew that I loved her. I knew then that she was the one I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. It took another few weeks to work up the courage to tell her that. Once she knew and I knew that we loved each other, we left it at that because we both knew that we weren't ready to get married just yet.
Months went by and our relationship got deeper. Melissa was everything I had ever wanted and more. She was so far out of my league it was astonishing! (Especially since it's hard to find girls out of MY league :) After we had been dating 6 months we started talking and decided it was time to figure out if this really was right and if we should take it to the next level. We were going to pray and prepare for a week and then fast to receive an answer. My answer came mid-week and I couldn't wait the rest of the week to tell her. We talked about my answer and she felt the same way so we decided to go for it. We would tell her parents the next day.
That day, she was too overwhelmed and had such horrible feelings that we decided to hold off a bit. I half expected that to happen so I wasn't to surprised when she told me that. Shortly afterward she went to talk to her parents and got a blessing from her dad and instantly felt better. She text me that night saying we needed to talk and asked if I could come out to Hamer. I was worried out of my mind! If her answer was wrong, this was the end of us forever. I didn't think I could handle that! Luckily when I got there, she said she would love to marry me and had no doubts whatsoever!
That meant I had to ask her dad for permission...Talk about intimidating! I'm so glad he didn't try to make me feel uncomfortable at all and he already knew what I was going to ask him. He gave me his permission and best wishes. It was official!
I hadn't gotten the ring yet and its a good thing I didn't because she hated my taste. So we went ring shopping and she picked one out. I picked it up the next day and started making plans as to how I would pop the question. I bought candles and rose pedals and lined the stairs up to her apartment with them. I had our song playing in the background as she followed the pedals through the door and they led her to me. I said my little sch-peal, got down on one knee and asked her if she would marry me. You know what she said? "I guess. " That is so like her! We kissed and hugged and went to watch the Longhorns game. (Of course!)
The rest is history. As you can see, this story doesn't exemplify my most redeeming qualities. In fact most of the things in this story are completely opposite of how I usually am. I had a lot of firsts with this woman. She is the only girl to ever make me shy, nervous, humbled, confused intimidated or baffled. She is also the only girl that I couldn't get out of my mind, would bend over backwards to please, has wrapped me around her finger, and that I have loved more than myself and with all my heart. I don't know why she picked me (or gave me a million chances to redeem myself) but I will forever be grateful. I know she deserves more than I can give her and I hope that throughout our lives together, I can begin to become the man that she truly deserves. Je t'aime infiniment Melissa Anne Bradley. J'espere que tu le sais et qu'un jour je peux te rendre aussi heureux que moi!
