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While we have you, we wanted to share our courtship story with you.
So we decided to take you on our journey through pictures!
Enjoy!
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Griffin and I met in early October and very soon after, my birthday was just around the corner. We, along with our two other friends, went on a double date on my birthday to the grocery store to play "the shopping cart game." We had a blast, even though we lost... Here is a picture of the two items that cost us the game.
Griffin and I and a few other friends started watching the old Batman movies in mid-October and got really excited about all the awesome villains (especially when we realized we all had something in common with each one). So when we heard there was going to be an amazing dance held in Logan for Halloween, we all decided to dress up as a crew of villains. Griffin was the Riddler and I was Catwoman.
In December, right after finals were done for the semester, Griffin invited me to a concert. At this point, we were still just friends, but I knew going to a concert was a big deal as music is a large part of who he is. I was excited the whole day about spending time with him in his element. Needless to say, I passed the music/concert test, and this artist is still a wonderful addition to our friendship and relationship.
After our great date in December, we still felt it best to remain friends as we got to know each other better. At this point we had become best friends. That's right. Best friends :) So we went on our first official date. After a perfect movie, we went to dinner at Denny's. Here is each of us with our awesome plates of fish!
I had the seared tilapia; Griffin had a very large fried piece of fish. :)
After having a perfectly wonderful time at the movie "New Years Eve," we were on cloud nine. It was the perfect movie that spoke to our souls and touched our hearts as we began this journey towards becoming a couple. We walked outside of the theatre and it was just barely snowing, lightly dusting the ground. We stopped to admire the beauty and then took this tender picture together. :)
About a week later, we decided to take a trip to Las Vegas together. Still not officially dating, and still just holding hands, we made the 6-hour trip to Nevada. We enjoyed the car ride a great deal, savoring the time we had to just talk with one another. This was our stop on the way there at the Arizona sign. :)
After only spending about 36 hours in Vegas together at concerts and visiting the culinary school I would eventually decide to attend, we spent out last few hours before returning to Provo at the Bellagio fountains. We were lucky enough to have a nice woman stop and offer to take this picture for us.
Another gorgeous picture of the Strip that night.
After having a wonderful time at the Bellagio fountains, Griffin and I had a beautiful moment together where we realized our love for each other and decided it was finally time to seal that love with a real kiss. So we headed up to the beautiful temple, 20 minutes east, atop a hill where we could see the whole city. The view was breathtaking. We shared a blissful kiss and then headed back to Provo, a six-hour drive, which we made through the night.
Upon returning from Las Vegas, we decided to become an official couple. After one week we attended a mission reunion with all of Griffin's buddies from the time he spent in Mongolia. While there, Jon Horan asked us how long we had been "holding hands." We told him and he subsequently told others as we all mingled for the rest of the evening.
In May we decided it would be wonderful for my family to meet Griffin and for him to meet them, so we decided to plan a weekend trip up to Portland, Oregon. It was an amazing trip. Smiles all around. Here is us one day at the beach.
One of the fun activities we did with Mom was ride these awesome bikes on the sand. Here is Griffin, Melissa, and Melissa's brother, Kevin. Griffin particularly loved the wind in his face. :)
One of the things that Griffin and I have always loved doing is playing piano together. We have had several dates where we do this. Being home was an opportunity to show my mom this common interest we share.
We were lucky enough to have a delightful Sunday with Mom and Kevin on this trip. We went to my home ward (which was a breath of fresh air, since it wasn't a student ward) had a delectable lunch, played games, and made dinner together. This was us after church.
We also were able to spend time with my Dad in Portland. We had dinner together as a family twice, played several different games, and went on a walk near his home.
This was our last morning at home. We snapped this shot at the airport before heading back to Provo. After this trip we were all super close, and Griffin already felt like part of the family. :)
In early June, we had one last date before our second trip to Vegas. We had both come to love the music of a band called Nickelback. This was also significant for me as I had performed in a Winterguard show in high school to one of their songs ("Photograph"). It was a wonderful evening together. And as you can see, we had a pretty good time! ;)
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So this was our courtship!! Yay!
Click here to see pictures from our exciting trip to Las Vegas in June.
Click here to see some of our favorite engagement pictures.
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