Our Love Story (From The Very Beginning)

Today is our FIVE YEAR ANNIVERSARY. We’ve known each other 15 years now, we have been best friends for 10 of those and married for 5. Basically we have spent 5 years at every stage of our relationship. Each year just gets better and better. I realize more every day what an amazing man I married. I’m so lucky he didn’t give up on me when I was blind to how obvious it was that we were meant to be together.

I am someone who has always believed in the concept of a soul mate. I had no doubt there was only one person out there for me. For as long as I can remember I felt like I was looking for someone specific. I love looking back and seeing all the subtle signs and coincidences that led me to that someone.

10 years old – When I was 1o I saw him for the first time (that I can remember). To this day the moment is vivid in my memory. My heart skipped a beat when I saw him and my ten year old brain instantly thought, “I have a crush on him…” When he walked up to us and started talking to my best friend, not me, I felt devastated for a minute. Then I just forgot about it.

12 years old – I joined his Sunday School class and started to see a side of him that is so endearing to me now, at the time I found it totally irritating. It was the way he loves to tease and joke. He was always doing little things to drive me insane, like wasting all the bandage in the first aid kit by wrapping it around his arm, just to annoy me. I love his sense of humor and the way he can always make me laugh (even if it is usually at myself).

At the time I started having ‘night mares’ that I married Kris. I remember crying to my sister one time because I had a dream that Kris kissed me and I didn’t try to stop him😂.

13 years old – I continued to complain about Kris teasing me in Sunday School to my mom. I will never forget the day she said to me, “One day, Rachael, he will be one of your best friends.” I was appalled at the thought.

14 years old – I started realizing the playful way we teased each other back and forth was turning into a friendship. But then he left to college and I kind of forgot again.

15 years old – He came back from college to get ready for his mission. I remember the first time I saw him after he got back and the same feeling I had when I was ten years old hit me again. We instantly were very attracted to each other and we started spending every minute together. When we weren’t together we were emailing and msn-ing (remember that?!).

I love this time because I have so many memories of driving places together, cuddling up during scary movies and mostly just laughing constantly. He always made me laugh (and still does).

He picked me up every morning for seminary at around 6AM, even though he didn’t have to go. And I got up extra early just so I could get my makeup on and spend way too much choosing my outfit. I loved the compliments he would give me and the obvious attention from him that was always mine.

16 years old – My first date was with him. We went skating and watched a movie. It was also the first time we held hands so it was doubly unforgettable. Shortly after that Kris left on his mission and I started feeling like things needed to cool down a bit, I wasn’t ready for where are relationship was going. This was very disappointing to Kris, as he always reminds me…

But even still we NEVER stopped writing each other while he was away. To all my friends I referred to him as my best friend, the person I could talk to about anything.

18 years old – Kris asked me if I would be his girlfriend and I said no. I remember hanging up the phone and immediately feeling like I may have made the worst mistake of my life. Kris was my best friend, and I didn’t want anything to jeopardize that friendship ever. I loved him so much, but I somehow knew if we dated it would get serious fast. Although I didn’t totally realize it at the time, I was really scared to make a commitment as big as marriage, and my gut said that is where a relationship with Kris would lead. I was so conflicted. In tears I called my aunt and told her I was so worried that I had just turned down “The One”. She assured me that if he was the one, he would wait till I was ready. That was so comforting to me.

After that was probably the longest time Kris and I had went without talking. But it wasn’t more than a month. Once we started talking again it was like nothing had happened. I immediately felt like we were best friends again.

I don’t want to sound conceited and say I have had soooo many guys like me. But I was no stranger to turning guys down. Kris was the only guy ever that still was my friend after I said I wasn’t interested in a romantic relationship. It always hurt when I realized guys were only friends with me because they wanted something more, and Kris still being there as a friend meant SO much to me.

19 years old – I went through a particularly bad break up. I was manipulated, belittled, emotionally abused and was just so lucky to come out of it before it went too far. It left me in depression for several months and I went home from school that summer in hopes of healing and recovering a little.

Just as I was starting to come out of this heartbreak, I discovered Kris was dating someone. Although I never confessed to liking him, it made me so angry. My brother Reuben was so proud to pass the information along to me and sensing my feelings of jealousy he teased me for the rest the day. He asked me why I would be upset (obviously knowing the answer), he reminded me that I should be happy for him. I ignored him and went into my room and sat at my piano. I wrote a song about realizing that your best friend was the person you were always meant to be with, and about hoping it wasn’t too late.

Then I found out Kris and his family were coming to visit. Queue that same heart rush I felt when I was 10 and 15. I knew he was dating someone, but I also knew we had a history together, and that chances were high that it was stronger than the one he had with his current GF. The timing started to feel right for us. I thought maybe he was ‘the one’.

It seemed to me like I would know the moment I saw him if we should be together or not. And I did. I will never forget that moment. He walked through the door and I just fell head over heels for him all over again, the way I did when I was 15. I was so excited to see him that I hugged him twice (another thing he always reminds me of).

A couple days later we went on a walk late at night. I asked him how serious things were with his GF in Idaho. Without hesitating he said, not serious at all. Then with that knowing, playful, look he asked me why I wanted to know. I told him how I felt and he teased me a little bit of course. After a minute of making me feel like my feelings might be one sided, he told me that he had never stopped liking me since I was 15. My heart. It stops every time I remember the way he said that to me.

And then he told me that the reason none of his other girlfriends had lasted long was because he always compared them to me and stopped liking them. Seriously. How can that not permanently melt your heart?!!?!

He made a call the next morning to break things off with the other girl. And his single status lasted about 5 seconds. Rather than going back to Idaho he came to Hawaii. There we dated, got engaged and lived for the first few months of our marriage.

Things have been so much better than I could have ever imagined.

You know that quote, “Every love story is good, but mine is our favorite”?? It is just so applicable to my life. This is a long post, but there are so many details that I left out. Details like how often he’s called in sick to work, just so he could spend the day with me. I love every piece of our story so much.

I don’t care what anyone else says. Soul mates are real. We were literally born to be together.

Happy five years to us, and a thousand more to come.

On our way to the Halloween Dance!

A street sign Kris found on his mission in California and sent to me. I was so proud when I found a picture of a construction sign that said ‘NO WAY’ and sent it back to him… Oops.

Always painting each others faces.

At his sisters wedding, we were way happier than we look in this picture.

The first engagement ring (of many….)