Amber's Version
I never met Sam before his mission, despite what he says. The first time I remember meeting Sam he came over to my apartment to play Risk. At first sight I thought "Who is this sullen guy?" and "For some reason he is pretty cute." I even remember every detail of what he was wearing that day. Sadly I left to hang out with a total loser that night and Sam started dating a girl who showed up that night. We each had a rough dating experience each ending shortly after it began. My reaction was to search out someone new to flirt with and be interested in, Sam's reaction was to avoid relationships all together.Each week on Thursday our mutual friends would gather together and play games. Mainly I went because Sam was there. I would get all dressed up to go and then ask my roommate Michelle if I looked ok and she would say some silly comment about Sam noticing me. I was obsessed. Each Thursday was a new challenge, a new way to get Sam to notice me. I would sit next to him with my knee/leg pressed against his, then would either get him a card from the table or go to get a card at the same time he did and brush his arm with my hand. Yea –OBVIOUS– I'm pretty sure everyone in the room saw what I was doing but the only one who didn't seem to was Sam. (Come to find out he did notice he just didn't want to get involved with anyone)
After weeks of blatant flirtation Will (my cheerleader) and Sam invited Michelle and I to go get ice cream. I remember Sam paid for my ice cream but was still so reserved. I felt like the night was a failure and was worried. Then one day while working on a huge art project I got a text from Will "Sam likes you," that was all it said. Talk about a catalyst. No more simple flirtations it was time for plan B... invite Sam over! Sam was a busy guy and seemed to be gone or unavailable each time I texted him. Ugh. Three days before his birthday I finally coerced him into watching Arrested Development with me. That night plan B was a success and I enjoyed a lovely evening of cuddling and hand holding.
The next evening our game night friends had planned an end of year bbq (yep this all happened the last week of my senior year at USU). At the bbq Sam paid attention to me and even put his arm around me during a picture **giggle** That night we all saw Spiderman 3 where Sam and I showed our interest in public by holding hands. Hand holding led to a first kiss at my doorstep. Kiss at the doorstep led to dating.
Like Sam said there were some rough spots in our dating history such as my 6 weeks in France doing study abroad, a brief 2 month break in which Sam couldn't stop contacting me (ok so I initiated some of those). After our break we hung out 2 nights and on the second night I looked at him and said "What's not good about this?" pointing to him and then me. We ended up back together of course and for about a month got back into the groove of dating each other. After Christmas we never spent one day apart and on New Year's Eve stayed up and talked all night. I had no idea he had made up his mind to marry me, we had never brought up the "M" word, it was kind of like a swear word in our relationship. Soon after New Years Sam took me to a special spot and got down on one knee (in the snow) and proposed to me. I was so shocked I couldn't even think but I of course said yes!
We were sealed in the Salt Lake temple 5 months later to the day on the best day of my life and I will never forget the smiles we exchanged over the altar. Sam is the love of my life and will one day be an amazing father.
Sam's Version
Oddly enough, we met each other briefly before I left on my mission in 2004. It never occurred to me that I had met my future spouse. We were introduced at a friend's apartment, but never had a conversation. After I came home I returned to Utah State, where Amber, fortunately enough, was still studying. We eventually crossed paths again at her apartment. She had started rooming with a mutual friend that some friends and I went to visit. That night, Amber and I both started relationships with other people. Both relationships ended and we met up again at Ben and Cam's for weekly Thursday night game nights. Amber showed interest, but I didn't want to restart what I had just experienced. Amber was a trooper, she persisted in trying to get me to come around, and eventually I did.
One night she made an offer I couldn't refuse: to watch episodes of Arrested Development. This got the ball rolling and we ended up dating.
We had our obstacles: Amber went on a student abroad to France, we broke up for two months, and more. But eventually we got back together and I didn't want to lose her again. On January 1st 2008, around 3 AM I was looking at her and knew I wanted to marry her. We were out all night for the New Year, her mom was not happy when I dropped her off after 7AM the next morning. I went home, slept, woke up, and instantly went to go find ring options. I knew she would want to choose her own, but I still wanted to surprise her. So, I ordered a diamond and had it put in a temporary setting. It took 6 days. On January 7th, I took her to a park and proposed. We were married 06/07/08 in the Salt Lake Temple and have lived in Riverton, Ut ever since.
We have a baby girl and two dogs that we love very much - which should be apparent by our blog.