How we first met and how we started dating.
As told from the both of us.
Well it all started back during the summer of 2012 when I was working at EFY (Especially for Youth) as a camp counselor. I worked 7 weeks during the summer and everything started off for me in Florida where I worked my first week of the summer.
(Okay, I guess should give you some background info before getting into the rest of our story. When I first received my contracts, I was going to work 1 week, take 1 week off to see a friend before she left on her mission and then work the remaining 5 weeks along the east coast. Well the big man upstairs had a different plan for me. On the Friday I received my contracts I denied the second week contract [Week 1 in GA] and made plans to visit my friend during that week. Saturday night I had a dream that basically told me to not see my friend and to accept my contract again. So when Monday came around I contacted BYU and was given the contract once again. Now that you know that info I guess I can continue with the summer.)
Sarah's side of the story:
This last summer I had gotten my dream job as a counselor for EFY. I was attending Southern Virginia University and was living in Buena Vista for the summer. I already knew half of the other counselors that would be on the East Coast team since we all went to the same school. My first week wasn't until GA week 1 unlike the rest of the counselors from my school who started in Florida. From GA I would then follow the team to the sessions in Buena Vista, Virginia and Amherst, Mass. So I drove down with my good friend, who was also a counselor starting in GA, at 1:30 am that first Sunday of the GA sessions. We pulled an all-nighter and arrived just an hour before church. We were totally lost and somehow found one of our Field Coordinators who luckily helped us out in moving our stuff to our rooms.
Week 1 in GA then came and I was excited because I always enjoyed the GA youth and plus I've had some really cool experiences in GA. It was Sunday night and so that meant that I would get to meet my co-counselor for the upcoming week. I knew some of the girls but didn't know the majority of them. When I saw Sarah's name on the list I knew that she was someone that I was going to get to know and that was about it. We met up, I grabbed some snacks and then we sat down to start planning for the week. She quickly told me that she had never worked as a counselor before and that she was going to lean upon me for a lot of the week, since I was in my 4th summer as a counselor. (I know, I'm pretty much awesome!) She mentioned that she drove all night, was super tired but excited for the week. We finished up our plans, said a prayer together and then parted ways. After she left the room I met up with my buddy Matt Reynolds, another counselor that was over me for the week.
I told him,
"At least I got one of the cute ones."
He was excited for me. After the planning stuff, all of the counselors create door-tags for their participants and we also rehearse the orientation line-dance. There were a bunch of us hanging out in one of the sorority houses and I just kinda sat back and watched as the counselors learned the dance. I noticed Sarah learning it and I'd be lying if I didn't say that I watched her for the majority of the time.
(What!? She was cute to me and dancing, two things I enjoy. Get off me!)
(I don't actually remember my first meeting with Daniel. I know it happened and I know we planned out the week but I don't remember enough to actually tell that part of the story... You see, I was so tired from driving all night and I never had time for a nap that Sunday with all of our meetings and such.)
I was dead tired... and all I do remember is thinking,
"Aw man... I have the ginger!"
Sunday ended and the week began. I instantly loved my group of boys! They hit it off really well and we all bonded really quickly, before we even met the girls. I took them to meet the girls and the entire group just clicked right off the bat. Sarah and I sat back and just watched as they all interacted with one another, it was great. That day went by really well and then the night came where I had a devotional with my boys. It was great and after I finished they brought up Sarah to me, asking for my thoughts about her. I told them she was cute but that was it because we had just met. They started saying how I needed to "jump on that" and do it fast. I laughed and then we went to bed.
I was a nervous wreck that Monday. It was a "my-first-day-as-an-EFY-counselor-dream-job-since-I-was-fifteen-hope-I-don't-screw-this-up" kind of nervous. My girls were great, I just loved them instantly. Daniel stood next to me and told me he never had a group quite like this. I knew it was going to be a good week and I was lucky to have a pro like him. We started to introduce ourselves to the kids and Daniel talked about how he was a Spanish teacher, and a soccer coach, and in charge of the musical program for the week and etc, etc, etc. I thought to myself,
"This guy is a catch! What chick dumped him?!"
That night after devotional with my girls, they said that Daniel seems like a great guy and how excited they are for the week and the boys. They then asked me if I liked Daniel. I told them no and I just met him yesterday. Which was completely true. My first intentions of being a counselor were for the kids. 150%. I didn't want to date anyone from EFY. (At the time.) My girls totally understood and didn't push anything. They're pretty great.
Tuesday came around we set a company goal to eat breakfast together every morning. The kids did that but they didn't leave room for Sarah or me and so we sat at the "grown-up" table. It was really cool though because it gave Sarah and I a chance to chat about the day and also our kids. We ended up doing this every morning for the rest of the week. I don't know if Sarah noticed, but my boys kept giving me the look of "Come on man! Do it!" Tuesday went great and that night we had the first dance of the week. Sarah and I danced, although I don't really remember it, but it was a fun dance. After the nightly devotional my boys continued with the prodding questions about Sarah. I just sorta brushed them off and didn't say much about it. When they went to bed though Sarah and I started our small talk via text. I also knew that night, after our conversation, that I wanted to ask her out on a date for Saturday. I thought she was pretty cool, attractive and we were getting along. I didn't know, or care, if she had a boyfriend or not.
I was going to ask her out Friday night at the dance.
Tuesday flowed pretty great. I was pretty much a single mom with Daniel gone, doing the musical program. I had no idea where anything was but the kids did. I was extremely pumped for the dance. (I'm a dancer. I love dances. Dance is pretty much one of the greatest things ever.) The dance was really fun, our company danced with each other and stayed together the majority of the time. it was a blast. Our company bonded even better that night. When it became a counselor dance, Daniel firmly told them that they do not ask counselors to dance, we won't dance with them. I danced with many kids and counselors that night. Daniel asked me to dance and I just thought it was what co-counselors do. It was fun. That night after lights out, Daniel texted me and we chatted for a bit. I didn't think anything of it. I just thought he was a fun conversation and ended it at that.
Wednesday comes along and we have a good day. I end up talking with just my boys at some point that morning and they make a bet with me that if they win both the banner and cheer competition at Games Night, I have to ask Sarah out on a date. I agree to the bet but little did they know, I was already planning on asking her out. Well for the rest of the day the boys are super pumped about Games Night and they kept hinting about the bet. I just smiled and laughed about it all every time that they brought it up. Games Night finally comes and we participate in everything.
All day Wednesday the boys kept winking at me and dropping weird clues about how they were going to win and I needed to be excited. Which I told them I would be, I expected them to win. They would then counter with that I should be really excited. Then mumble under their breathe about a date or how they were making a saddle for Daniel. I had no clue what was going on with them. I didn't care, I just wanted them pumped for Games night.
They make a great looking banner and an AMAZING cheer. We end up winning just the cheer competition (the coordinators didn't wanna give us all of the glory that night) and so the boys rushed me saying that I cheated them on the bet. We end up agreeing that even though they didn't win both, I would still follow through on the bet. Well that just got them super excited and they kept giving me winks and little comments about it for the remainder of the week. They even got the girls involved in it and so I knew that I couldn't let them down.
(It was gonna happen regardless if they won or not.)
Wednesday ended with a fun pizza night where the boys were trying to find stuff out about Sarah and I both and then Thursday came around.
Pizza night with my girls was ridiculously fun. We hung out in the hallway and chatted it up. The girls told me about the bet the boys made with Daniel. They asked me if I would ever go on a date with him. I responded with, "Yeah, it'd be fun."
Through the entire pizza night, the boys kept texting the girls and asking them what my favorite song was, favorite slow song, favorite this and that. We just gave them awful answers that weren't even close to right. I just laughed at all the chaos. I didn't think anything would develop between Daniel and I.
I didn't even think he would actually ask me out.
Thursday is the really spiritual day during the week and it was a spiritual day for all of us. That night in our testimony meeting Daniel led and shared his testimony. I'm not sure what happened or what he exactly said but when he closed all I could think was how suddenly attractive he was to me.
Friday was another great with the company. We got together as a company to take pictures and it was fun. I took pictures with my boys, the girls and then our kids wanted pictures of the two of us. The dance which was super fun. Towards the end of the dance our kids ran up to the DJ, convinced him to let them do a shout-out to us and then dedicate a song. After the song was dedicated and started playing, our company formed a circle around the both of us and so we started dancing. As we danced, I leaned in and whispered to Sarah. I asked her out on a date for the next day to which she replied that she would love to go out with me. She then got a big grin on her face.
I was embarrassed by our kids and the attention we were getting. They made a Kumbaya circle around us. It was an odd experience.
I told her about the bet but that I had wanted to ask her out before making the bet with the boys. Our kids all got super excited after I told them that she had said yes to the date. The night ended with lots of joy and sadness but the kids had enjoyed a great week together. We then had the boys escort the girls and as we were lining up to go, everyone was saying that I needed to escort Sarah. I finally gave in to their wishes and escorted her. When we first started on our way I noticed that Sarah was feeling my bicep as we walked. I didn't really know why she was doing it but I liked it because I just assumed she was trying to flirt or something.
No comment.
Saturday came around and the big first-date happened. After taking care of EFY stuff, I went to my room to start washing clothes and to take a nap. Sarah and I were going to meet up later for our date. As I sat down to eat lunch, Sarah calls me and tells me that she may be a little late for our date because she had gotten into a car accident.
Here's the conversation:
"Hey Daniel. I, uh, I'm going to be a little late for our date.."
"Okay. That's fine. What happened?"
"I, um, I got in a-a car accident?"
"Are you okay?"
"I'm fine."
"Where are you?"
"You don't have to come and get me. I'm fine."
"Shut up! You aren't from around here. You don't have anyone else. I'm coming to get you. Now where are you?"
I didn't want to be inconvenient. Though, I didn't have much of a choice. He rescued me, like my own personal superhero.
I picked her up and took her back to her place on campus. We ended up meeting a few hours later and then started our date.
It was nice to actually do something where I didn't have to drive and it would get my mind off my car accident and what I was going to do now that I was car-less.
We went to Atlanta to see the World of Coke museum. After that we ate lunch at The Varsity and then headed over to Stone Mountain Park to watch the laser show. It was a great day! We flirted and chatted the entire time. We even held hands some and took some pictures together. I was really enjoying the date! We met up with some of the other EFY counselors after the show and had to take some of them back to campus with us because of an incident at the park. The car ride home was funny, awkward and just good. When I took Sarah back home at the end of the night we were chatting outside of her apartment when we hugged goodnight. As I stepped back though she gave me the "go-for-it" look-
(I gave no such look. I don't know where he got that idea from.)
-and so I leaned in and kissed her.
(And boy, am I glad he did.)
It was a really GOOD (heart skipping a beat, fireworks, music playing in the background, spinning in circles like a Disney character) kiss.
I went home happy that night.
The kiss 'bout knocked me off my feet, you know from the back flip my stomach did. I went inside my room grinning ear to ear but totally unsure of what to do next.
The next day we got together and for the next 6 weeks we traveled together, worked together, continued to talk via text and phone calls at night, took a walk every Sunday and just continued to get to know one another better.
I had no idea what was going to happen with us back during our first week together, but let me just say, I'm glad it all worked out even if I did wreck my car. I don't know what I'd do with out my best friend.
We've been talking every day since and getting together as often as we can. It's been some of the best times of my life falling in love with the girl that has become my best friend, my everything.
(Okay, I guess should give you some background info before getting into the rest of our story. When I first received my contracts, I was going to work 1 week, take 1 week off to see a friend before she left on her mission and then work the remaining 5 weeks along the east coast. Well the big man upstairs had a different plan for me. On the Friday I received my contracts I denied the second week contract [Week 1 in GA] and made plans to visit my friend during that week. Saturday night I had a dream that basically told me to not see my friend and to accept my contract again. So when Monday came around I contacted BYU and was given the contract once again. Now that you know that info I guess I can continue with the summer.)
Sarah's side of the story:
This last summer I had gotten my dream job as a counselor for EFY. I was attending Southern Virginia University and was living in Buena Vista for the summer. I already knew half of the other counselors that would be on the East Coast team since we all went to the same school. My first week wasn't until GA week 1 unlike the rest of the counselors from my school who started in Florida. From GA I would then follow the team to the sessions in Buena Vista, Virginia and Amherst, Mass. So I drove down with my good friend, who was also a counselor starting in GA, at 1:30 am that first Sunday of the GA sessions. We pulled an all-nighter and arrived just an hour before church. We were totally lost and somehow found one of our Field Coordinators who luckily helped us out in moving our stuff to our rooms.
Week 1 in GA then came and I was excited because I always enjoyed the GA youth and plus I've had some really cool experiences in GA. It was Sunday night and so that meant that I would get to meet my co-counselor for the upcoming week. I knew some of the girls but didn't know the majority of them. When I saw Sarah's name on the list I knew that she was someone that I was going to get to know and that was about it. We met up, I grabbed some snacks and then we sat down to start planning for the week. She quickly told me that she had never worked as a counselor before and that she was going to lean upon me for a lot of the week, since I was in my 4th summer as a counselor. (I know, I'm pretty much awesome!) She mentioned that she drove all night, was super tired but excited for the week. We finished up our plans, said a prayer together and then parted ways. After she left the room I met up with my buddy Matt Reynolds, another counselor that was over me for the week.
I told him,
"At least I got one of the cute ones."
He was excited for me. After the planning stuff, all of the counselors create door-tags for their participants and we also rehearse the orientation line-dance. There were a bunch of us hanging out in one of the sorority houses and I just kinda sat back and watched as the counselors learned the dance. I noticed Sarah learning it and I'd be lying if I didn't say that I watched her for the majority of the time.
(What!? She was cute to me and dancing, two things I enjoy. Get off me!)
(I don't actually remember my first meeting with Daniel. I know it happened and I know we planned out the week but I don't remember enough to actually tell that part of the story... You see, I was so tired from driving all night and I never had time for a nap that Sunday with all of our meetings and such.)
I was dead tired... and all I do remember is thinking,
"Aw man... I have the ginger!"
Sunday ended and the week began. I instantly loved my group of boys! They hit it off really well and we all bonded really quickly, before we even met the girls. I took them to meet the girls and the entire group just clicked right off the bat. Sarah and I sat back and just watched as they all interacted with one another, it was great. That day went by really well and then the night came where I had a devotional with my boys. It was great and after I finished they brought up Sarah to me, asking for my thoughts about her. I told them she was cute but that was it because we had just met. They started saying how I needed to "jump on that" and do it fast. I laughed and then we went to bed.
I was a nervous wreck that Monday. It was a "my-first-day-as-an-EFY-counselor-dream-job-since-I-was-fifteen-hope-I-don't-screw-this-up" kind of nervous. My girls were great, I just loved them instantly. Daniel stood next to me and told me he never had a group quite like this. I knew it was going to be a good week and I was lucky to have a pro like him. We started to introduce ourselves to the kids and Daniel talked about how he was a Spanish teacher, and a soccer coach, and in charge of the musical program for the week and etc, etc, etc. I thought to myself,
"This guy is a catch! What chick dumped him?!"
That night after devotional with my girls, they said that Daniel seems like a great guy and how excited they are for the week and the boys. They then asked me if I liked Daniel. I told them no and I just met him yesterday. Which was completely true. My first intentions of being a counselor were for the kids. 150%. I didn't want to date anyone from EFY. (At the time.) My girls totally understood and didn't push anything. They're pretty great.
Tuesday came around we set a company goal to eat breakfast together every morning. The kids did that but they didn't leave room for Sarah or me and so we sat at the "grown-up" table. It was really cool though because it gave Sarah and I a chance to chat about the day and also our kids. We ended up doing this every morning for the rest of the week. I don't know if Sarah noticed, but my boys kept giving me the look of "Come on man! Do it!" Tuesday went great and that night we had the first dance of the week. Sarah and I danced, although I don't really remember it, but it was a fun dance. After the nightly devotional my boys continued with the prodding questions about Sarah. I just sorta brushed them off and didn't say much about it. When they went to bed though Sarah and I started our small talk via text. I also knew that night, after our conversation, that I wanted to ask her out on a date for Saturday. I thought she was pretty cool, attractive and we were getting along. I didn't know, or care, if she had a boyfriend or not.
I was going to ask her out Friday night at the dance.
Tuesday flowed pretty great. I was pretty much a single mom with Daniel gone, doing the musical program. I had no idea where anything was but the kids did. I was extremely pumped for the dance. (I'm a dancer. I love dances. Dance is pretty much one of the greatest things ever.) The dance was really fun, our company danced with each other and stayed together the majority of the time. it was a blast. Our company bonded even better that night. When it became a counselor dance, Daniel firmly told them that they do not ask counselors to dance, we won't dance with them. I danced with many kids and counselors that night. Daniel asked me to dance and I just thought it was what co-counselors do. It was fun. That night after lights out, Daniel texted me and we chatted for a bit. I didn't think anything of it. I just thought he was a fun conversation and ended it at that.
Wednesday comes along and we have a good day. I end up talking with just my boys at some point that morning and they make a bet with me that if they win both the banner and cheer competition at Games Night, I have to ask Sarah out on a date. I agree to the bet but little did they know, I was already planning on asking her out. Well for the rest of the day the boys are super pumped about Games Night and they kept hinting about the bet. I just smiled and laughed about it all every time that they brought it up. Games Night finally comes and we participate in everything.
All day Wednesday the boys kept winking at me and dropping weird clues about how they were going to win and I needed to be excited. Which I told them I would be, I expected them to win. They would then counter with that I should be really excited. Then mumble under their breathe about a date or how they were making a saddle for Daniel. I had no clue what was going on with them. I didn't care, I just wanted them pumped for Games night.
They make a great looking banner and an AMAZING cheer. We end up winning just the cheer competition (the coordinators didn't wanna give us all of the glory that night) and so the boys rushed me saying that I cheated them on the bet. We end up agreeing that even though they didn't win both, I would still follow through on the bet. Well that just got them super excited and they kept giving me winks and little comments about it for the remainder of the week. They even got the girls involved in it and so I knew that I couldn't let them down.
(It was gonna happen regardless if they won or not.)
Wednesday ended with a fun pizza night where the boys were trying to find stuff out about Sarah and I both and then Thursday came around.
Pizza night with my girls was ridiculously fun. We hung out in the hallway and chatted it up. The girls told me about the bet the boys made with Daniel. They asked me if I would ever go on a date with him. I responded with, "Yeah, it'd be fun."
Through the entire pizza night, the boys kept texting the girls and asking them what my favorite song was, favorite slow song, favorite this and that. We just gave them awful answers that weren't even close to right. I just laughed at all the chaos. I didn't think anything would develop between Daniel and I.
I didn't even think he would actually ask me out.
Thursday is the really spiritual day during the week and it was a spiritual day for all of us. That night in our testimony meeting Daniel led and shared his testimony. I'm not sure what happened or what he exactly said but when he closed all I could think was how suddenly attractive he was to me.
Friday was another great with the company. We got together as a company to take pictures and it was fun. I took pictures with my boys, the girls and then our kids wanted pictures of the two of us. The dance which was super fun. Towards the end of the dance our kids ran up to the DJ, convinced him to let them do a shout-out to us and then dedicate a song. After the song was dedicated and started playing, our company formed a circle around the both of us and so we started dancing. As we danced, I leaned in and whispered to Sarah. I asked her out on a date for the next day to which she replied that she would love to go out with me. She then got a big grin on her face.
I was embarrassed by our kids and the attention we were getting. They made a Kumbaya circle around us. It was an odd experience.
I told her about the bet but that I had wanted to ask her out before making the bet with the boys. Our kids all got super excited after I told them that she had said yes to the date. The night ended with lots of joy and sadness but the kids had enjoyed a great week together. We then had the boys escort the girls and as we were lining up to go, everyone was saying that I needed to escort Sarah. I finally gave in to their wishes and escorted her. When we first started on our way I noticed that Sarah was feeling my bicep as we walked. I didn't really know why she was doing it but I liked it because I just assumed she was trying to flirt or something.
No comment.
Saturday came around and the big first-date happened. After taking care of EFY stuff, I went to my room to start washing clothes and to take a nap. Sarah and I were going to meet up later for our date. As I sat down to eat lunch, Sarah calls me and tells me that she may be a little late for our date because she had gotten into a car accident.
Here's the conversation:
"Hey Daniel. I, uh, I'm going to be a little late for our date.."
"Okay. That's fine. What happened?"
"I, um, I got in a-a car accident?"
"Are you okay?"
"I'm fine."
"Where are you?"
"You don't have to come and get me. I'm fine."
"Shut up! You aren't from around here. You don't have anyone else. I'm coming to get you. Now where are you?"
I didn't want to be inconvenient. Though, I didn't have much of a choice. He rescued me, like my own personal superhero.
I picked her up and took her back to her place on campus. We ended up meeting a few hours later and then started our date.
It was nice to actually do something where I didn't have to drive and it would get my mind off my car accident and what I was going to do now that I was car-less.
We went to Atlanta to see the World of Coke museum. After that we ate lunch at The Varsity and then headed over to Stone Mountain Park to watch the laser show. It was a great day! We flirted and chatted the entire time. We even held hands some and took some pictures together. I was really enjoying the date! We met up with some of the other EFY counselors after the show and had to take some of them back to campus with us because of an incident at the park. The car ride home was funny, awkward and just good. When I took Sarah back home at the end of the night we were chatting outside of her apartment when we hugged goodnight. As I stepped back though she gave me the "go-for-it" look-
(I gave no such look. I don't know where he got that idea from.)
-and so I leaned in and kissed her.
(And boy, am I glad he did.)
It was a really GOOD (heart skipping a beat, fireworks, music playing in the background, spinning in circles like a Disney character) kiss.
I went home happy that night.
The kiss 'bout knocked me off my feet, you know from the back flip my stomach did. I went inside my room grinning ear to ear but totally unsure of what to do next.
The next day we got together and for the next 6 weeks we traveled together, worked together, continued to talk via text and phone calls at night, took a walk every Sunday and just continued to get to know one another better.
I had no idea what was going to happen with us back during our first week together, but let me just say, I'm glad it all worked out even if I did wreck my car. I don't know what I'd do with out my best friend.
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaand you're welcome ;p (supa cute btw mom and dad;)
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