Happy Valentine's Day!

Everyone seems to be doing a story of how they met, so I thought I would do a short shout-out to my wonderful husband!

Meeting:

We met at singles ward in October 2001 but really didn't start talking until January of 2002. We got talking outside of a fireside one night and after about 30 minutes of talking he said, "So are we going out or what?" And my heart melted! I found it charming. I had given him my number a couple of months ago and so I said, "Do you still have my phone number?" and he said, "Well, if I call you, then I still have it." It was the bad boy in him, and I loved every second of it. Well, he called me the next night. We met up at FHE at institute and then hung out afterward with a group of people. The next day, I called him up and told him a bunch of us were going to see a movie and if he wanted to go. He said he would come by after work. Little did he know, no one else was going. I was too nervous to ask him out on a single date, so I lied and said it was a group thing. When he showed up, I told him everyone bailed out. OOPS! We saw Harry Potter and during the movie he held my hand. BUTTERFLIES! After the movie, he dropped me off, walked me to my door and then when I thought he was going to leave, he gave me a kiss at my door! I was smitten! The real reason I wanted to go on a date with him was because I wanted to kiss him. And look, 8 years later, we are married!

(us at a young adult prom night.)

ENGAGEMENT:

We dated for 9 months before he proposed! It was a fun dating period with some bumps in the road but the whole time, I knew he was the one. I didn't want people to think weird about me if I got engaged to quickly so I played it cool. But honestly, I was ready to marry him. He actually tried to propose after 6 weeks of dating but I was too scared and freaked out. Secretly, I knew he was the one. On October 19th, 2002, we went to an activity at his parent's ward, then to my parents (so he could ask my dad), back to his house (so he could get the ring, but I didn't know that. He snuck it in his pocket) and then back to my house. On the way there, he went a different way and I was thinking why is he going this way? About 1/2 mile from my house, he pulled over on the side of the street, took me out of the car and got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. I tackled him to the ground and said yes. Now, you are probably thinking, "a street corner?" Well, it was special because that is where he originally tried to propose 7 1/2 months earlier. We were engaged for almost 6 months before we were married in the Los Angeles Temple.

The Marriage:

We were sealed on April 11th, 2003. It was a beautiful day, I had a beautiful dress (courtesy of my mother in law) and a beautiful husband! Everything went wonderfully! We had some time before the reception, so my parents rented us a limo and we took a beautiful ocean scenic drive around town. We were starving so we pulled off and ate Taco Bell. We arrived at our reception, not hungry and never got to eat the food. We had a wonderful mariachi band and everything was great! We stayed the night in a suite in Buena Park and then left for San Diego for a couple of days. That was our little honeymoon and on our first year anniversary, decided to go to Florida and the Bahamas.

Sal is all I ever wanted in a husband. He is the perfect man and we have so much fun together! He has made me happier than I could have ever imagined. He is a great husband, father and provider! I couldn't have asked for more!