Our Backstory

A little about our history that you may not know...

 

 Thad and I have been best friends for a long time now. We were in the same class in school but didn't really become friends until freshman year of high school. I first took notice of him at one of his soccer games in middle school. I mean how could you not with a nickname like "The Beast"? But he says I wasn't on his radar until high school started, even though we had classes together prior. We started being friends specifically when we were both watching the television show The Amazing Race at our respective houses, and began discussing who would be the one doing which challenges if we were a team. From there it became a habit that we would message each other each night the show was on. Our friendship blossomed and we started getting to be closer friends.
In high school we weren't exactly made for each other. We almost always were in opposing viewpoints for class discussions, usually because Thad chose to play devil’s advocate, and I would think that those were his true feelings. He was darn convincing in his arguments! The timing never quite worked for us to be a couple. Sophomore year I dated a guy for a while before he broke up with me and I sort of fell apart. But Thad was there to help pick me up. Then my 16th birthday came around and he actually asked me out with candy and a card. I turned him down... But just because I didn't want to risk losing the friendship that we had. I needed friends and Thad was the best one around. I didn't want to risk screwing us up... Though he didn't quite like that response. But regardless, we stayed good friends and did a lot of shows together in the drama department.

Our junior year we went to Winterball together as just friends where Thad spent most of the dance avoiding me, especially at the slow songs. We eventually both started dating other people our senior year. We graduated together and after a very fun time at the safe and sober party where we had a caricature of us done, we parted ways for college. He went to George Fox and I headed to Linfield.

After a term I knew Linfield wasn't right for me after hearing how much Thad really liked his college while I didn't care for mine much at all. I looked at transferring to Fox, but ended up going to Western Oregon where my brother and later to be sister-in-law were finishing up their degree. At the end of our sophomore year of college the timing started to seem like it was finally going to work. We both liked each other at the same time and were both available to try it out. But then the night I was going to tell Thad my feelings he told me that he was interested in a girl at school and that she might be "the one". Needless to say I was a little crushed... But I played the good friend and encouraged him to go for it. A week later he told me that he had changed his mind and wasn't as interested in the girl. Quite the turn around, but I didn't mind. :-) I started trying to express interest more in the weeks following. Eventually I had to just flat out tell him my feelings, and that I had them for quite a while but was afraid to act on them. He was shocked, and at first didn't believe me.

Eventually we decided that we should probably give it a shot. I came over to his place one weekend when we were both home and we watched the Aristocats. One of my favorite movies that Thad had never seen. We both knew it was coming so when Thad pulled out a slip of paper out of his pocket and I asked "what's that?" and he said "nothing" I of course wrestled him to get it. On the slip of paper were the words written in his "cute" handwriting "Serez-vous ma copine?" (Will you be my girlfriend in French). I of course said yes. We spent a great summer together and even went to Disneyland together with some friends. It was there that we had our first real one on one date in the Blue Bayou, the restaurant inside the Pirates f the Caribbean ride. We chose this mostly because I wanted one of the light up drinks that changed colors. It was very nice and in a strange turn of events the meal was free and we received special treatment! It was a very memorable first date! :-)

The only problem was that I was already set to study abroad for the fall semester in France. Something that I worried would be a problem for what would be our 3 month old relationship. I was really concerned, but Thad wasn't at all. We knew we could trust each other because of our friendship. Before I left I wrote him little notes to be opened every day I was gone saying something that I loved about him, one for every one of the 116 days. We skyped about once every few days or usually at least once a week. Our schedules didn't usually match up with the 9 hour time difference so he would stay up late and I would get up early to talk or vice versa. He wrote me a letter every month, and it really meant the world to me. It was great knowing that we could be there (emotionally) for each other even when our experiences were nothing alike. Also on a cute side note my host family in France asked if we were serious once and I replied that I thought we would someday get married. They then always referred to him as my fiancé.

When I got home from the airport I was thrilled that he was there. He brought me roses and he held my hand all the way home. We were thrilled to be back together to spend the holidays. I got back and started looking at the possibility of transferring to Fox the next school year while I continued at Western Oregon. I volunteered at a theatre in Newberg so I would have an excuse to be in Newberg to see Thad at least once a week. The school year began to draw to a close and Thad got ready to go to Israel and Jordan for a month which we looked at as a no sweat situation compared to the four months apart when I was abroad. During that time was our one year anniversary and on that day Thad called me for a few minutes using a friend’s phone. I of course not expecting it, didn’t realize who I was talking to until he flat out asked if I knew who it was. “Uhhh… no…? OH! HI!!!!” He told me how happy he was to be together for a year already and how short that time has seemed. And of course he told me how much he missed me.

We spent all our weekends together in the summer as he worked with Intel on an internship and I did a few summer gigs. Then as fall rolled around, I started going to George Fox to finish up my last year.  Being at the same school has been great and we have really enjoyed being able to see each other every day and most days having lunch.  

And then…. One day we got engaged!