WC #1

#1: how it all began: how you met, first date, first kiss, how long did you date? first picture together.....etc.

When I was 16,

my parents decided to build a house just a mile a way from where we were living before.

During the building process,

my dad would bring us to the house to see it being updated and we would look around and get all excited about moving there.

During this process,

there was a house being built next to ours.

The man that was building it,

actually lived in the neighborhood already.

One day in particular,

my dad was showing us the house and we went onto the deck in the back.

The man that was building the house next to us,

had his two sons (his foster sons at the time, but he'd always considered them his sons)

there helping him.

I didn't know it at the time,

but this was the first time his oldest son,

his name was Ernesto at the time (hehe),

noticed me.

He never said anything to me.

so I never noticed him.

(sometimes I'm oblivious to other people)

Fastforward a few months to when we moved in.

The first few times we went to our new ward,

I was pouting and feeling sorry for myself because I missed all of my friends from our old ward.

SO,

I didn't pay much attention to the people,

particularly the male gender,

for a while.

In the meantime,

I kept hearing my little sister Emilee talk about Marcos,

Ernestos younger brother.

She mentioned Ernesto a few times too,

and so did my Dad.

My dad loved those two and mentioned them a few times around the dinner table after church.

Now fastforward about six months.

We went to McDonalds for breakfast one day as a young womens group.

I don't remember why we were all together, 

but that was where Ernesto worked.

(he probably would be mad at me for mentioning that. He doesn't like to talk about how he once worked at mcdonalds. haha)

We all ordered our food,

and my sister and some other girls immediately started talking to him.

When they said "Hi Ernesto!" I looked over.

I'd always heard about the guy,

but I'd never actually met him.

This was the first time he caught my attention.

This was the first time that I actually realized what a studly man he was.

BUT,

I didn't say anything.

We made eye contact that day,

but after ordering my food,

I sat down and that was that...

at least for a while.

maybe a little more than 6 months after that,

we had a mutual activity.

We were learning how to ballroom dance,

so it was combined with the men.

I was paired with Ernesto's friend Parker.

I had secretly been hoping that I would be paired with Ernesto, because every time I saw him after that McDonalds trip, I wanted to meet him more.

So nothing against Parker,

but needless to say, I was super bummed when I was paired with him.

Luckily,

we got a break and I saw Ernesto walk out to get a drink.

So I,

being the sly awesome person that I am,

decided that I was thirsty too!

When I went out there,

we spoke with each other for the first time.

I was the one that started the conversation.

he makes it sound really pathetic,

but I simply asked him if he was Marcos' brother :)

From there,

we started talking more and more.

I really wanted to go out with him,

but he wasn't asking!

Now,

USUALLY,

I'm not the one to make the first move.

But I didn't feel like our relationship was going any further and I wanted to change that.

because I KNEW that he was interested.

I could just TELL.... ;)

The Sweethearts dance was coming up for school,

so I asked him to the dance...

He said yes and that was our first date.

We went to the Aquarium for a day activity and we got pictures together in the little booth.

(I don't know how to make it any bigger than this...so sorry it's so small!)

(By the way, you have no idea how happy I am that I still have this picture! Thanks to my cool high school memories box)

Then,

of course we got our pictures together at the dance.

I don't know where the single picture is, but I have the group picture...I HATED the way they turned out. I look really bad so no judging this picture! haha

we're the cool couple in the very front

a couple of weeks after the dance,

his friend Parker (the guy I had been paired to dance with at the mutual activity)

decided to pass along what my big mouthed sister told him...
(sometimes it's a good thing she has a big mouth ;) ha love you Em)

he told Ernesto that I was frustrated because I couldn't tell if he was serious about our relationship

(let me stop for a moment and let you all know that my lovely husband just told me that I was creeping him out.  Apparantly I'm so sucked in to this story, that I look like a creep when I'm focusing on the computer. He said I looked like the girl on the ring. haha isn't he nice?? I guess it doesn't help that my hair is wet from just getting out of the shower and it's flailing all over the place...)

So,

Ernesto calls me and says we need to talk.

We go for a drive and he seems really frustrated.

He told me that if I couldn't tell by now, then he only had one other way to prove to me that he was definitely interested...and he KISSED ME!

I was so excited about it!

Our relationship became exclusive after this and we looked for any excuse we could find to be together.

We were together for the rest of our high school careers,

and went to one more dance together,

Prom:

We graduated together and were together until October of 2007.

At that point,

I knew he was supposed to go on a mission.

I felt like I was distracting him from that.

We had kept trying to break up,

but couldn't stay apart for more than a couple of days.

It was the only thing I could do...

I finally sent him an email telling him that we needed to break things off.

Tyson saved the email and he still has it.

It was sent on October 23rd of 2007.

Tyson told me I could put it on here..even though reading it makes me want to cry.

I remember the way I felt while I wrote this email...it sucked.

Anyway,

here it is:

 Ernesto,

You know that I care about you and that I appreciate the way you have treated me and made me feel about myself while we have been together. I will always have good memories about the time we have spent together. I hope that the memories you have of our relationship will always be good.

I have prayed a lot and very hard about this relationship and where its going. I have received a STRONG ANSWER that we have become too close and this relationship is not right. I know this email is going to be very upsetting for you and you may be very angry, but I want you to know that in time you will understand.

I hope this will help you focus 100% on your mission and that you will be able to put all your effort in becoming the great missionary I know you will be. since our relationship has been so close, we cant just go back to being "friends". its either all or nothing. Right now it needs to be nothing. I want you to know that this decision has been incredibly hard for me and I have prayed for how I am going to tell you this. I wasn't happy with this answer either, but I know with all my heart that it is the right one.

I really hope that you will respect me enough to not push this or ask questions. we should not communicate anymore until your mission. I wont answer your texts, emails, or calls anymore because it will only make things worse. Please respect my decision. after your mission we will talk about this with more detail, but until then please just respect my decision and focus on your mission. I will avoid you at church. PLEASE don't be offended, this just needs to be a clean break. It will make things easier for both of us.

Forever,

Andee

I cried. a lot. after this email.

and Tyson will tell you too...he was NOT happy.

He never lets me forget it!

He always brings up how much I hurt him...yeah. I guess I deserve it.

He was pretty depressed.

We were in love,

but neither of us were sure that's what it was since we were just young high school children :)

3 and a half months after I sent this email,

I found out I was pregnant.

Yeah.

That makes me sound like a gigantic sleeze...

but I knew Avery's birthfather before we started dating...

Tyson left on his mission on April 16th, 2008

he wrote me through his entire mission.

Whether I responded or not.

He sent me birthday cards.

He treated me like gold even after that email and while I was pregnant...

while he was hundreds of miles away!

I didn't respond to his letters as much as I should have.

I had convinced myself that he wasn't right for me so much,

that I didn't want anything to do with him.

Fastforward to April 22nd 2010.

Two days after he came home from his mission.

I was at lunch with an old young women leader and close friend to us both.

we went to Chili's.

As we were walking out, we saw Tyson.

He was there for lunch with my young women leaders parents.

I didn't know how to react.

I actually wanted to hide and was terrified to see him!

But when I walked up to say hi,

the butterflies came back.

I couldn't stop smiling.

He stood up and hugged me and his smell brought back SO many memories.

I just wanted to hold on to him and run!

haha

a week later,

we went on our first date:

and...

well,

I think I'll wait for the next few questions to go on with the story.

This story is long,

but our story IS long!

So the last question is how long did we date.

Well,

all together is was probably almost 2 years.

but there was a 2 year break in the middle... :)

(BTW, I'm not just doing one of these a day. I'm doing as many as I can, whenever I can! :))