How We Met

This December, we'll celebrate our 3rd anniversary. It's fun to look back and remember all that has happened. We haven't really written down much about how we met or our story, so we're going to throw some memories into a few blog posts mainly so that we can remember. If you're at all interested in our story, here it is from both of our perspectives ;)  (More to come)

When/where we met:
T-We met at Dixie State College. We had a class together the Spring semester of 2010, it was Child Development taught by the amazing instructor Prof. Eicher. Bryce was about to graduate with his associate's degree and was already accepted into either BYU or USU. (I'm getting ahead of myself, but that was one thing that really made me fall in love with Bryce, he chose to stay at Dixie after we met even though he was accepted into other great schools.) So at the beginning of the semester, I wanted to switch out of this class because there were a lot of assignments I didn't know if I could do well. After thinking about it, I had a strong feeling that I needed to stick it out and stay in the class. (I'm way glad I did!) There were definitely more girls in that class than boys. Bryce and I sat at different tables and didn't really talk or anything for the first part of the semester. We both had been in complicated and tough relationships, and we were to the point where we didn't want to worry about dating anymore and wanted to just let the Lord guide us to the right one when the time was more right. (We feel like that was an important point for us both to reach before we could actually meet.)
      I noticed Bryce right away, he and his friend were the class clowns and they made every day in that class more fun. They always made everyone laugh, and sometimes needed quieting down from the professor. Bryce and I had a few opportunities to talk out in the hall during class because the professor gave us breaks after we learned about dishabituation. Bryce would always take advantage of the short breaks with his friend Justin and go get a drink. I wanted any reason to cross paths with him, so I would go out in the hall as well to get a drink. I remember Bryce and his friend teasing me about talking to myself when I was leaving a voice message for my dad from my phone. By then, I already had a secret crush on Bryce and he gave me butterflies just by talking to me.

       One day, I was walking to institute from that class and I felt like there was someone walking behind me. I turned around to look real quick and noticed that it was Bryce. I became super giddy and blurted out "Sorry, I was pretending that you weren't behind me!" I meant to say something like, sorry I didn't know you were behind me or I would've stopped to talk to you hahaha.... but yeah foot in mouth moment. Bryce was sweet and just teased me about ignoring him and we talked for a bit before we walked separate ways. I was sooo excited and nervous that he had taken the time to talk to me! He made me feel giddy from that point on. I looked forward to that class just so that I could see him. Ironic story time... I knew his sister Aubree from high school and I had written on her fb wall without even connecting that they were related. Bryce commented on my post saying something like "Be careful Aubree, Tiah will walk in front of you and pretend that you're not behind her." Aubree was super confused and said "I don't know what he's talking about, sorry Tiah." I was confused until I put it together that Bryce was her brother. We became facebook friends and we joked that I was his 300th friend, and he said that he'd bring me a prize the next time we had class. ;) He was super cute to bring me a juice box and I brought him a rice crispy treat. He ate his treat right away and I put mine in my backpack so that I could save it... it stayed in the fridge for a while haha but I liked keeping it because it reminded me of him heehee.

        Anyway, during class the rest of the semester, we had a few opportunities to talk to each other. I thought it was cute that I would catch Bryce looking over at me. I sat across the room, but my seat faced him so I could look over at him any time I wanted. It would make my heart jump when I'd see him looking over at me too. I also remember quite a few times when Bryce would walk past me to staple/hole punch his papers ;) we were definitely becoming interested in each other. I know for sure that I was already interested in Bryce. I thought that he was the most handsome guy I'd ever seen, and I'll always feel that way. :) I was always excited when he'd come to class and whenever he'd talk to me. I was impressed that he would wear his church clothes to class some days, and when the professor would ask why he was dressed up, he wasn't afraid to say that he was going to the temple after class. He's always been a great example to me, and I've always been glad that we have similar beliefs. I also thought it was cute that he would wear bright colored clothes. During the semester, the people at his table asked me why I hadn't sat at their cool table, probably because my table was empty before class started one day. I joked back, and they said "Well someday you're going to have to tell your grandkids why you didn't sit at the cool table in this class." Ironic haha. That was a fun class, and a great place for Bryce and I to get to know each other in a simple way. I've been falling for him since we met and I still fall for him every day. After reading his version, I'm reminded how fast we fell for each other. He has always made me laugh and has always taken the time to make me feel special and needed. I'm so grateful for Bryce and for the amazing person that he is.



B: As I was finishing my associate's degree at Dixie State, I planned to go to USU to get my degree in family studies. In preparation for that, I took as many classes as I could from the family sciences department at Dixie. Child Development was one of these classes. I was in a class full of all girls except for Justin Gish and myself. Justin and I sat at the same table and were always having a great time in class. We joked and laughed almost nonstop, which at times called for correction from the teacher, Tim Eicher. At the time, I was slowly coming out of a period of discouragement and frustration caused by a bad relationship. I remember often walking across campus and noting the lack of desire to pursue any kind of relationship with any girl. Due to my dwindling relationship and the lack of any tempting prospects, I remember feeling content with taking a break from girls. This feeling was confirmed as I continued to watch for any girl to cross my path to whom I was attracted and day after day found none.
     It was during this time of daily reaffirmation that there was no girl around worth pursuing that I enrolled in the child development class. I don't know how long I had been in the class at the time, but I do remember one day seeing her for the first time. What I remember about the first time I saw Tiah was that she was walking out of the room at the end of class in a crowd of people, her long brown hair curled to the middle of her back, she wore a blue hooded sweater and a headband, and I was smitten. I remember wondering how I had never seen her in class before and where she had come from. I left class with new hope that there was at least one woman in the world who I could see myself loving. From that point on, this poor young lady must have been suspicious of my no less than one zillion "sneaky" glances in her direction every class. Unfortunately, my seat at my table faced the opposite way of where she was sitting and her seat directly faced my back, so there was virtually no way of sneaking a peak of her without her noticing. Recognizing this fact, however, was still not enough to keep me from trying to keep my repeated glances as discrete as possible. I began to wonder whether she had discovered my obsession as I often found that when I looked at her, she was looking right back at me!
     During the initial period of twitterpation, the days between child development class seemed eternally long. Weekends nearly killed me. No disappointment could compare with the days she or I missed class. I counted all my time in terms of when I would get to see her again. I hoped on the weekends to somehow bump into her somewhere. We had occasions here or there for a brief exchanges, any longer than brief would have been too impossibly long to conceal from her how absolutely crazy I was about her. 
     I had an institute on the other side of campus right after our class together. I would try different routes of getting there hoping to pass by her on her way to wherever she was going. One day as I climbed the stairs of the institute to attend my class, she came around the corner at the top of the stairs with some classmates. I don't know if she could sense what kind of excitement this chance encounter had caused in my heart. If she couldn't tell, I am not sure how, because I felt as if my attraction to her (borderline obsession) was bursting from every inch of me. I think I somehow managed to attempt a play-it-cool attitude in spite of the twirly whirlies going on inside me. Although I had always enjoyed institute, I now attended with I heightened level of anticipation, that maybe I would see her.
     One day after child development I came out of the building from the opposite side and saw her walking down a set of stairs. With my brisk-but-hopefully-not-too-obvious speed walking, I caught up to her. Hearing my footsteps, she turned and teased that she had been pretending not to know who was following her and we talked for a short section of sidewalk. From this point on, I always parked in the lower parking lot so that I could have the chance of running into her after class.
     After we separated at the end of our walk, I instantly missed her. A secret crush was no longer good enough, I needed a plan. And what better place to start than Facebook. I went home and searched every form of the name Tiah I could think of with no success. What a disappointment. I couldn't find her! I then saw a link to my sister Aubree's wall. One of the top posts was a message from a Tiah Marie telling Aubree she missed her. I clicked on the comment and saw that the picture was of her! Happy day! With the added courage Facebook seems to give, I commented on the post. Before I knew it, she had accepted my friend request and become friend #300 on my friends list. I congratulated her on being #300 and assured her that this accomplishment deserved a reward. The next time I saw her in class I brought her a juice box treat and she brought me a rice crispy treat. I consider this to be one of our earliest direct flirts. After that, interaction became more regular.
     One morning before class, she was sitting alone at her table while my table was all having a good time. We teased across the room that she had chosen the wrong table to sit at. We told her table choice was so important that one day she would have to tell her grandchildren that she sat at the wrong table in college. Ironically, that will probably come true, although we didn't know at the time that her grandchildren would also be mine.
    Another fortunate happening of the class was that her table was between me and the three hole punch. So whenever I got new papers, I would get the chance to walk past her table to punch holes in them. This allowed me to take extended gazes without arousing extreme suspicion on her part (although still some). This pattern of occasional interaction and uncontrollable glance sneaking continued throughout the semester. I don't think Tiah knew or I admitted just how much I had already fallen in love with her. It's a little embarrassing even now to admit how soon after first seeing Tiah that I could no longer picture living my life without her.

We want to write more of our story, but we realized that we will need to write different topics in different posts to come. It's amazing what details you can remember when you stop and think. :) If you're interested in more posts, check back later for more eh? Again, we're mostly writing these posts so that we can remember our story. Try it out, it's fun to remember positive stuff about life! Love, Us