Greg has been cleaning out our storage shed and discovered a box of old pictures. Many of them were from our dating days and it brought back some fabulous memories. Considering that today is the day of love, I think I will share my very own LOVE STORY with you. I hope you're excited!
It all started in the year 2002. I was a junior at "The College" and was living in Provo in the luxurious Glenwood Aparment #14 with these foxy ladies.
Mr. Gregory had just moved down the hall into Apartment 26 with these studs.
It was "move-in" Saturday in Provo. This is a CRAZY day--all the students return from summer jobs and move into their new apartments and the entire town is pretty much insane. I had lived in the Glenwood the previous year and had gone home for the summer and had just moved back. Greg had moved in during the summer. The summer months in Provo are pretty chill--especially at the Glenhole. The population shrinks to about 1/3 of what it is during the school year and there are always plenty of parking spots. Greg had left early that Saturday morning to go hunting and arrived home later that evening to madness. There were students carrying boxes everywhere, cars were parked illegally all over the place, and he couldn't find a parking spot anywhere. He ended up parking down the block and was grumbling to himself about how much he hated the place as he was walking into our aparment building.
As luck (or fate) would have it, I just happened to be walking out the door with my BFF Megan Jane Howard just as Greg was walking in (cursing) with his arms fully loaded with his hunting gear. Being the kind person I am, I sweetly opened the door for him and asked if he needed help. He pretty much ignored me, murmured "No, I've got it," and made a beeline for the stairs. I could see he was about to drop something, so I walked over and said, "Really, let me help you." He responded curtly, "No, really, I don't need your help," and proceeded to walk down the stairs. At this point, either Megan or I (I can't remember which one) said something to the effect of, "Oh cool. You live on the bottom floor? That means you're in our ward." Greg said something like, "That's great," and walked into his apartment. At that point, (according to his roommates), he slammed the door, dropped his stuff on the table, and said, "It's going to be a long year." They asked him why, and he replied, "I just met a couple of Elementary Ed majors looking for marriage." (I swear this is true!)
Megan and I were like, "He's cute, but kind of grumpy," and went on our way. I saw Greg occasionally over the next few weeks but didn't really think much of him. He thought a lot about me, but mostly just about how ditzy and stupid he thought I was. The bishop had asked me and another guy in the ward to go visit all of the apartments and welcome the new people to the ward, and Apartment 26 was on our list of places to visit. We knocked on the door and Greg answered. He was thinking, "Oh great, it's the dumb girl," but his gentleman training from his mother kicked in at that point and he invited us in and offered us a seat. We had visited about 20 apartments that day, and most of the people just looked at us like we were stupid, so I thought it was really nice that the guys in this apartment had actually invited us in and taken the time to visit with us. We had a nice chat and went on our way. After we left, Greg decided that maybe I wasn't so bad after all and he had probably harshly misjudged me.
A few days later, Megan and I were walking into the apartment building and walked by the windows to Greg's apartment. The windows were open and Greg's brother/roommate Mike and friend Nate were singing "Barbecue Stain" by Tim McGraw and dancing around. Megan and I stopped at the window and started singing with them. They laughed when they saw us and invited us in. Greg came out to see what was going on and we ended up staying and hanging out until midnight when we had to leave their apartment (compliments of the BYU Honor Code). At that point, we pulled some chairs into the hall and just chatted and laughed until about 2 AM. I remember thinking how funny these guys were and how excited I was to have some new guy friends. As we were leaving, one of them called out, "Hey, what time are we coming over for Sunday dinner tomorrow?"
We saw them at Church the next morning and they told us they were still planning on coming over for dinner, so we scrounged up what we could and threw together a feast. We had a great time and all became really good friends. We all hung out a lot together over the next couple of months and had lots of fun. They came over often on Sundays for dinner and we always ended up having such a great time.
Greg, Mike, and Nate had all gone to high school together at Granger High in West Valley and they were pretty much obsessed with it. They talked about Granger all the time and had this stupid Granger blanket they thought was about the coolest thing ever. One day, some of my roommates and I went over to visit them and nobody answered the door. We poked our heads in and noticed the coveted Granger blanket sitting unattended on the couch. We stole it and took it back to our apartment and put it on the bed in my bedroom and left to do something else. While we were gone, Greg and Nate decided they were going to serenade us with a guitar number and came to the window of our apartment. They looked in and saw the blanket sitting on the bed and realized we had stolen it, so they came in and stole a bunch of stuff from us (including our phone, my Church binder with all the ward info in it, and our friend's purse). This went on for a week or so and we kept breaking into each other's aparments and stealing items and then exchanging them for ransom. Finally we called a truce and took this picture with the blasted Granger blanket.
Greg's birthday was approaching, so our aparment decided to throw him a Barbie birthday party. We hadn't ever met a man as "manly" as Greg, so we thought he needed a little more pink in his life. We even delivered individual Barbie invitations to each member of their apartment. They thought we were crazy (and rightfully so), but the party was a smashing success. (I love this picture of Greg--so handsome--even back then!)
Nate and I discovered we had an equal love for Zach Morris, Kelly Kapowski, and the rest of the crew, so we would get together every day after school to watch "Saved by the Bell." Greg would get home from school right as SBTB was ending and Nate was leaving for football practice, so we would usually end up visiting for awhile while we did homework. Greg and I became really good friends and always seemed to end up by each other when our apartments were hanging out.
One Friday he asked me if I wanted to go elk hunting with him the next day. I thought it sounded much more fun than spending the day at the library like I had planned, so I agreed to go along. He called me that morning and said he had something he had to do during the day, but would pick me up later that afternoon. He also mentioned that we probably wouldn't be doing much hunting, so I could dress nicer if I wanted to. I remember getting off the phone and thinking, "Is this a date? That's kind of weird." He picked me up that afternoon and asked me if I would mind if we stopped at Lowe's and picked up a new hammer. We got the hammer and headed up Provo Canyon to look for elk. We took some backroads and ended up dropping down into Heber and ate dinner at "The Dairy Keen." (Great little place!) He bought my dinner and at that point, I was still thinking, "Is this a date?" We drove around some more and headed for home. We had a great chat and the whole day was just really comfortable and fun. I remember thinking to myself, "Greg is such a great guy. I'm so lucky to have him as a friend." We got home and watched "Harold and Maude" (DUMBEST movie ever) at his aparment with his roommates. When I got home, my roommates were all over me asking all about Greg and if it was a date and if I liked him. I can honestly say I had no romantic feelings for him at the time and was totally dumbfounded when they suggested he might like me. I was like, "No way. Not Greg. We're just really good friends." And we were, and still are. :)
We spent the next couple of months just hanging out and getting to know each other. Greg and I are both night owls and would often sit out in the halls, chatting and studying. I was planning on going on a mission and hadn't really thought of Greg at all romantically. He talked to me a lot about his mission and really encouraged me to go and told me I would be a great missionary. We met each other's families (good stories for another day) and really enjoyed spending time together, but it really wasn't romantic. He was (and still is) so easy to talk to and totally non-judgmental and I felt like I could tell him anything and he would still be nice to me.
I went home for Thanksgiving and Greg drove up to visit me during the break. We were sitting visiting with my parents and siblings when my little brother Brett (who was about 17 at the time) walked in, looked at Greg and I, and said, "Have you two come to terms with the fact that you're more than just friends yet?" He then smirked at us and walked into the bathroom. I turned bright red and thought I was going to die, my parents were mortified, and Greg burst out laughing. Apparently it worked though, because Greg kissed me for the first time that night and it's been happily ever after (or something really close) ever since. To make a very long story short, I obviously decided not to go on a mission and we ended up dating for about another year and half after that before we decided to get married.
I had to include this picture of Brett, Greg, and I.
After all, if it wasn't for Brett, we probably never would have been able to come to terms with the fact that we're more than just friends! And, we wouldn't have this little redheaded horse rider to melt our hearts and make us smile. Thanks little bro for helping us out! We owe all of our happiness in life to you.
(As if I could do a blog post this long without including just one picture of my Little G!)
We joined Brian, Mal, and Eric for a little lunch at the Brick Oven. (Love that place!)
Garrett was having a blast playing with Uncle Eric. I'm not exactly sure what Garrett's doing...
Prince Charming and his Wild Honeymoon Stallion
Garrett had crawled into the corner and brought a few "toys" to play with. Something about the look on his face and the way his hair is sticking up reminds me of a little boy named Dennis who also used to like to stir up a little mischief... 
He enjoyed some quality time with Brooklyn. He thinks she hung the moon and pretty much anything she does is HILARIOUS (in his opinion). All she has to do is look at him and he starts giggling. 
