"Hey, I just met you, and this is crazy...but here's my number. So call me maybe."

[WARNING: long post...but cute story.  I promise.]

About two and a half years ago, I kinda did that.  I was at Cherry Hill with two of my friends and I saw the most attractive lifeguard I've ever seen in my life!  He was obviously a big deal, because he wasn't sitting on a chair at the top of slides or pushing people down the slides, but he was walking around patrolling people and picking up trash.  I was too chicken to talk to him, so I occasionally smiled and he would smile back.  When we went on Cardiac Canyon, he jumped into the slide to push us down with his knee (you know the part).  He was too cute.  So I wrote down my number on a receipt and we went to try to find him picking up the trash around Pirates Cove but we couldn't find him.  So I put the paper in a vending machine for safe keeping and we were going to get our tubes when he started walking up the stairs towards us.  So I casually walked up to him and told him to look in the vending machine.  He gave me a weird look and said, "I should?" Umm yes.  He should.  So he did and texted me the next day.  

We went on a pretty weird first date at Bountiful Bowl with my brother and his wife, but it was fun and even though I felt weird for picking him up at Cherry Hill, he was actually a really great guy.  That night I came home and knew I was going to marry him.  Two months later he left on his mission to Campinas, Brazil.  We wrote letters a lot while he was in the MTC and continued writing when he was in the field.  It was hard to send letters since they took forever, but I got a letter from him almost every week and I sent him an email (mostly) every week.  About 6 months before he came home, he sent me a beautiful bouquet of flowers.  Flowers?!  Seriously?  This guy is too good!!  So after that I went into countdown mode and could not wait for him to get home.  I had no idea what he was thinking or if he'd even want to date when he got home, but there was not a day that he was gone that I didn't miss him.  And how long had I known him? 2 months?  Yeah, you could say I was a little obsessed.

The Monday before he came home, I sent a package to his house with a Utah Football hoodie, my number, and some other small things.  He got home late Tuesday night and all day Wednesday my stomach was in knots waiting for a text or call from him!  At about 4, I was at work and saw a text from an unknown number, and this was our conversation:

"When do you get off work today?" 

"5 who is this??" 

"Just someone who would love to see you. :)"

Ahh I about died!  I was so excited!  So that night he came over and when I opened the door he was standing there in the hoodie I sent him and he was holding a bouquet of flowers.  Cutest thing ever?  Heck yeah!  So we talked for a long time that night and he had the cutest accent I've ever heard.  Ever since then, we've pretty much spent almost every day together...and to make a long story short, we're getting married!! 

(Cutest part of the story: He still has the paper I wrote my number on)

Fast forward to March 17th...Austin had told me that we were going to spend the day together and he had reservations that night for a cool restaurant.  So he picked me up super early (early to me, late to him :), and we headed down to Provo so he could take a Portuguese test at BYU.  While he was there, I went to my sisters house and got myself all ready.  We then came back to Salt Lake and had a delicious lunch.  After stuffing ourselves, we went to Color Me Mine in Salt Lake and made the cutest plate I've ever seen with our future name, "the Facers" and our established date of June 2012.  Austin isn't a huge fan of the arts, so seeing him paint was the greatest thing ever.  After creating our masterpiece, we went to Coffee Break (no, we aren't coffee drinkers, it just has couches and it's kind of our hang out place) to change into nice clothes.  As we were driving to wherever we were going (he didn't tell me) I felt a ring box in his pocket..... :)  So I got really excited. We went to the Joseph Smith Memorial building and looked around.  Then went up to the top to eat at the Roof.  He was hilarious because he was eating so fast!  I was eating at a normal pace and when he was done I still had a plate full of food. 

(Side story...when he first got home from his mission, he didn't like that I wore rings, so he took them away from me. He's so funny.)

As we were eating dessert, our waitress brings us this cute plate with a doily and one of my rings on it.  Throughout the night she brings out three different plates with my old rings on them.  Then she brings this plate with the ring box and 4 chocolate covered strawberries.  Austin said to me, "This is the last plate...can I give it to you?" Uh yes please!!  So he comes over and gets on his knee and proposes :)  Everybody in the restaurant was cheering and taking pictures.  Especially this lady across from us who we had been talking with...she and her date had asked us earlier if we were there for any special occasion.  We both knew what was coming that night, but we awkwardly replied with, "Uhh....spring break?" So she took pictures with her phone and sent them to us later.  It was perfect and the ring we found is beautiful.  I am so lucky to be marrying the greatest guy I have ever met and the cutest lifeguard in the history of Cherry Hill.  I can't wait to start our adventure!