I don't have a doubt in my mind that Hannah's and my relationship has been divinely orchestrated from the very beginning. From the moment I met Hannah I knew she was someone I could joke around and be myself with. She has the best laugh I've ever heard and it became a personal goal of mine to get her to laugh with me more than with anyone else. It once compelled me to the incredibly childish act of shredding up a sheet of paper and putting all the hundreds of tiny pieces in her hood during English class.
I first realized I had feelings for her when she fell asleep on my arm at a friend's house while we were watching a movie (the first of many times she would do so). Everything seemed to fit, she was my best friend and I couldn't get enough of her. That was a good thing, too, because we both stayed at BYU for a Spring term and spent almost all day every day together. Our first kiss was at the BYU bell tower just after the start of the term 2010.
It was rough being apart during the summer break, but it was only a taste of what the next two years were going to be.
After spending time to write her a letter each week for two years (that's 104 weeks...) I was home and both of us were unsure of how things would turn out. She had dated plenty of other guys and wrote me on and off, but thank goodness no one had matched up! We hit it off again right away and I felt the confirmation that she was the one I wanted to be with forever. She's my best friend and I am more than excited to start our married life together!

There was always some kind of "special" connection I felt with Stephen that I couldn't quite put my finger on. I thought he was attractive, that's for sure ;), but there was something more. Something about him really intrigued me and made me want his approval.
I honestly can't pinpoint when our friendship grew into "like" and then eventually love... I can't even really pinpoint when we became good friends! Meeting him, hanging out with him and talking to him all felt so completely normal and natural that I didn't think anything of it, nor did I have any idea what it would lead to!
Somewhere in the midst of "arguing" over Facebook about important topics such as: toast being better than bread, receiving hundreds of balled up papers in the hood of my jacket during English class, countless inside jokes, talking until my throat was sore and and of course laughing until my eyes watered...I fell hard for this cute blue-eyed boy. I knew I had feelings for him looong before he thought of me as a romantic interest (he recently admitted that until I fell asleep on his shoulder he always thought of me as "bro- status". haha). Luckily for me, those romantic feelings did come for him and being able to spend time together was the highlight of my day every day. During Spring term of 2010, we spent A LOT of time together. I kept expecting that we would eventually get sick of each other- that one day we just wouldn't have fun together any more, but to my surprise, the more time we spent together the more time we WANTED to be together!
In March of 2011 Stephen left on a two year mission for the LDS church. We always knew he would go, and we always knew that I would have to continue moving forward after he left. Saying goodbye to him in the airport as he made his way to Uruguay was surprisingly one of the times in my life that I can clearly identify as feeling, "true joy." I didn't have a clue what the future held, but I knew that no matter what happened I would never regret having Stephen as my best friend.
While he was gone, I tried to live life to the fullest! I kept myself busy with as many things as I could. Even with my busy schedule, and not always writing him letters, Stephen spent hours EVERY SINGLE monday writing me an uplifting handwritten letter. (104 in total!) Though sometimes it felt like he was NEVER going to come back, he fiiiinally did!
Much to my delight, seeing him again for the first time after two years seemed perfectly natural and normal. Within a few hours we were best friends once again and it was as though he'd only been gone a couple of weeks! Marrying my best friend seemed like a no brainer, so when he asked me to marry him just six weeks later, OF course I said yes!
It's crazy to remember the time I first met him August of 2009 - four years ago! Little did I know then that the (really attractive) guy from my ward who I was playing Uno with (who texted throughout the entire game) would one day become my husband and the love of my life!