danny AND laura: 八月 2008

The Promise Ring and Yorktown Beach

On March 8, 2008, Daniel brought Laura to Yorktown Beach on the pier and told her a short little story. He said that he adored her, that he loved her and that she was someone that he would love to spend the rest of his life with. It was here, in almost a complete surprise that Laura received a ring on her finger, a promise ring, with her birthstone (a sapphire) and two diamonds on either side. The ring was dainty, just perfect for her size four fingers, and he put it on her hand in the windy air. The picture above was taken the day of the promise-proposal

(promosal : )), and when Daniel asked her if she would be willing to wait for him to go on his mission, she said that she would love to. Two weeks later Daniel got his mission call to Frankfurt, Germany and it said that he would enter the MTC in August. Thus, this goodbye was not goodbye once more... happily! The two spent spring break together at Daniel's home and had just the greatest time with his family and friends.
The Last Time We Saw Each Other..

was in May, at the end of Maymester at SVU. Daniel came back to visit me for all of about 7 hours on a Saturday to say goodbye in person. We went to Panther Falls and did some pretty sweet hiking! The day over all was pretty amazing - and it is one of the only dates we don't have pictures from. Mainly because I didn't want to drop my camera in the falls! The one thing I learned that day is that Daniel can totally jump off of high things successfully. That was way interesting. Nonetheless, it was our last day together!

The Last Time We Talked: Our "See you later, not goodbye!"

If you're asking the last time we talked without static that was at the end of July before I left for China. We didn't think that we would be able to communicate in China so we said goodbye then. One of our habits was to talk on the phone about the most random things. It was actually kind of nice to start e-mailing, there was a little less petty bashing! In the end however, we talked the night before he got set apart and he read me D&C 132:18-20 and D&C 42:22 which he read as:

I (Thou) shall (shalt) love thy future wife with all thy heart, and shall(t) cleave unto her and none else.

And that was our last goodbye. As we hung up the phone/computer it mutually ended in our phrase "I'll see you in white," followed by his "you better," and now the waiting/mission/China trip/etc. has began! Daniel was set apart on August 17, left for Utah on the 18th and entered the MTC on August 20!

...IT all started under the MISTLETOE...

His Story:

Yep, sure did. We were sitting in the cafeteria at SVU and she noticed some mistletoe hanging from one of the doorways. She pointed it out to me and I played dumb, not understanding what she was getting at so, eventually, she gave up.
Not too long thereafter we were at a concert that our school put on featuring campus talent. Afterwards she stole my keys and I stole one of her 10 dollar bills from out of her pocket. She ran off with my keys but I was adamant about making her come to me. Eventually she came back, my keys in hand, to claim her 10 dollar bill. She tried to coax it out of me but I refused. We then walked through some of the halls at SVU and found our way into the ballroom where I sat down, she stood (her choice). We argued about how we were going to exchange items for a few minutes but found ourselves at a stalemate, both where we had first started. However, soon thereafter I took them out of her hand by force and returned her money to her.

Of course, it didn't stop there. She had given me some gum earlier that night in place for a bad tasting cookie. She asked if she could have everything back, meaning the money... but I asked if she meant everything. She replied with a simple yes, and I got up, walked over to her, putting my arm around her waist, pulled her in and gave her a simple kiss, sweet and short returning her gum. That's how it began.. Considering it was in the ballroom, we had to leave and we went our separate ways. Later that night, I wanted the gum back, so I texted her and asked her to go on a walk with me. The girl still had the gum, and myself, not dumb enough to stick my fingers in her mouth I asked, her again if I could have it and if she was sure that that's how she wanted me to get it, she replied again with a simple yes. I asked again, she gave me the same answer. I again kissed her, she giving me the gum back in the process. Well, the rest is history both the past, the present, and now :).

So yes, we've been together quite some time and, I have to say, she's wonderful. Annoying at times but, then again, we all are at some points. Not without my faults, I annoy her too no doubt and I say no doubt because she tells me. Oh well, that's how she is and that's how I am. Regardless she's still wonderful and quite an amazing young women whom I love for all she is and all she is to become :).

Her Story Continuation:
I had to convince him that he was the one giving the gum in the first place, because he didn't remember the story correctly. Luckily I have a journal, that I gave to him to proove myself! Nonetheless, that's pretty much how we met. Though it sounds a little crazy, the whole thing was rated G and didn't last more than a few seconds, but those few seconds felt like a lifetime -- a very wonderful lifetime. The next day he took me out to the railroad tracks overlook between Buena Vista and Lynchburg. We went on a short walk, for it was freezing that night. We'd only known each other for 3 consecutive days at this point, not counting our 2 days that we had prior talked at Halloween (the candy throwing) and Crayola Palooza. That night at overlook on December 4th, 2007, it was pretty cloudy. He asked me if I wanted to look at the stars, and I was kinda like "it's cloudy!" It was ironic though for there was a patch of stars that you could see from the area. We were leaning up against his car and he was holding me lightly when we saw a shooting star. Of course this means, "make a wish." I asked him what his wish was, and though it took me a second to get it out of him, he told me the absolute cutest thing. He said that he wished he was an RM so he could have the time to get to know me better. At this moment he explained to me that he was preparing for his mission and almost had his papers done. (These are usually the things you're supposed to know before hand, but the first time I met him I thought he was older. That time was interesting, because he said that he hadn't gone on a mission yet - then he recited D&C 4 for some reason...) but nonetheless, out there on the overlook looking at our shooting star - was just a great moment. I was enthralled. It was actually at this moment that I had the crazy idea that I wanted to wait for him. We barely even knew each other, but it just felt so right. Crazy that I'm actually, 8 months later, planning on doing that. At the time it was just one of those crazy 19-year old girl momentary dreams, but now it has become a reality.

In short, we spent everyday of the last 2 weeks of school together. This was 11 days of straight dates, we saw a lot of the county's sights that week. Rockbridge County is such a scenic place and has everything from river walks to hiking trails and overlooks. We went down to the river a lot just to talk to each other about everything, and we were talking about everything! It was just such a fun time.
On December 7, I officially became his girlfriend. It was an interesting choice to make considering the facts. He and I would only have 7 days left together before break, and he wasn't returning to SVU because of his mission. But it was well worth and we both agree probably one of the best decisions we've ever made. On December 14, he said I love you. It was absolutely perfect. The song I Can't Tell You Why, by the Eagles was on in the background and he said it syncronized with the line "I love you" in the song. This was probably the most romantic way of using a Greatest Hits CD possible. We danced by the river that night, and it was just great.
The next day, I left to go home. I introduced him to my mother and sister who had travelled to pick me up. We ate at Lee Hi's, our all time favorite date restaurant and then said our goodbyes. It was interesting at this point, because we weren't even sure if we would get to see each other again. Daniel actually didn't get his mission papers in until March, so we did get to meet again. It was absolutely a blast.
After Christmas break, I went to stay with my friend Anna, who introduced Daniel and I. She is thus a wonderful angel for this! She lives in Richmond, only about an hour from Danny. Danny decided to come visit me at her house and just hang out. We will always be so grateful for Anna just for this reason! (Anna was also featured in many of our photoshoots! She is just amazing!) The three of us hung out that day on January 7, and then that night, during the OSU football Championship game, he told me, on this gazebo near Anna's house that he wanted to stay with me forever. (He actually wrote it down in a letter later.) We danced by the quacking ducks and he promised to stay by my side, go on his mission, serve it faithfully and be the best to me as he could possibly be. Since that moment we have been best friends.

He came to the Valentine's Dance that I planned (because I was Freshmen Class Senator), and I made sure that I Can't Tell You Why was the last song, and I discretely dedicated it to him. It was perfect. He blew up all of these balloons for the event with his own air! He's my cute little swimmer-lunged balloon boy. After the dance we went out to eat pancakes with some friends, and then we didn't see each other until I saw him again at spring break! That's how it all began, up to the beautiful ring that is still on my finger.. it was surprising for sure that a piece of herbish mistletoe, some crayons, and rebound relationships could bring us this far, but nevertheless, it's been the best ride he and I have ever been on, and we're not planning to get off it anytime soon!