We're Getting Married!

Grayson and I met in a Western Civilization class in high school. Grayson was a junior and I was a sophomore. We sat next to each other and sometimes we would play tic tac toe and the dot game during class to pass the time (Grayson always seemed to win). I remember thinking that he was a know-it-all. He had such a high grade in the class that at the end of the semester, instead of doing a final project, he did a presentation to the class on why the absurd number of escalators in Australia is the reason for the growing obesity rates. It was hilarious. After awhile, we started running together after school with our friends Bailey and Quinn. We were only friends for the first six months we knew each other before we finally started dating.

Tayvia and I were talking about movies that we liked watching and she mentioned a movie that her and her brother used to watch together called "Harold and Maude". She said it was one of the weirdest movies she had ever seen so I invited her over to watch it with me. When Tayvia came over to my house, she wasn't quite sure she was at the right place, but rang the doorbell anyways. I was downstairs and started coming up to answer the door, but before I could get to the door my dad was already answering it. As you all might suspect, he had to do something to embarrass me. He opened the door just enough so Tayvia could see his head and yelled, "You can't come in! I'm naked!", and then slammed the door in her face (He wasn't actually naked). It was a funny way to start off our first date. Later that night, we watched Harold and Maude, and she was right, it was a very strange movie!

Grayson, Jesse, and I had gone to Muscatine to visit a friend. Grayson and I were both expecting that we would have our first kiss that night. On our drive back, we were very excited for the moment when we would finally be alone together. However, there was one problem. My car was parked in the Solon High School parking lot and we would have to go past the high school to get to Jesse's house to drop her off. It would make much more sense to drop me off first before Jesse. As we reached Solon, I wasn't sure what Grayson would do. Without saying anything, he just drove straight past the high school. Jesse immediately got confused and asked, "Why aren't you dropping off Tayvia? Wouldn't it be smarter to drop her off now?" Grayson replied, "No Jesse, it makes much more sense to drop you off first..." Although Jesse couldn't understand the logic, Grayson and I certainly could. So despite her complaints, Jesse was dropped off first. Grayson and I then doubled back to Solon High School to find my car. It was right there in the high school parking lot that we had our first kiss.

As Tayvia and I continued dating, we realized that we wanted a future together. However, there were some differences in our beliefs and values. I told Tayvia that I wanted to learn more about her religion and how it shaped her life. As I started studying the Book of Mormon and attending The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Ames, I started to notice a difference in my life and realized that I believed what I had been learning. After being baptized into the Church, I decided that I wanted to serve a mission and help others to find the same happiness and meaning that I had found. I served a two year mission in Honduras while Tayvia was serving an 18 month mission in Brazil. Although we weren't together during this time, this part of our relationship shaped each of us individually and prepared us for our future together. It was difficult for both of us to be apart, but neither of us would trade the experiences we had.

After our two and a half years of being apart, Grayson and I saw each other for the first time the day after I got home from my mission in Brazil. I had been nervous for months since our only communication had been through weekly emails and I wasn't sure what it would be like to see him in person! When Grayson came to the door to pick me up I remember thinking, "Okay, well, there he is!". Somehow, it didn't seem like much time had passed at all. He looked the same, acted the same, and certainly dressed the same. We went to Lake McBride to walk around and talk. We both felt that it was natural and nothing had changed between us.

For my proposal to Tayvia, I had planned to fly to Rexburg, Idaho, where she went to school. While traveling, however, there was a delay in my flight from Des Moines to Denver. Once I finally got to Denver, I had already missed my connecting flight, meaning I was stuck. That next hour of trying to figure out what to do next was one of the most frustrating experiences I've ever had! I had to spend the night in Denver. The whole time, I was rushing to replan how I would propose to Tayvia with her brother (Skylar) and sister-in-law (Caroline). I was able to catch a flight from Denver to Salt Lake the next day and Skylar made up an excuse to get Tayvia down to Salt Lake. When she got to Salt Lake, Skylar suggested that they walk around the Salt Lake City Temple grounds. This is where we had planned the night before to meet. I waited while they took pictures of the temple. When the perfect moment arrived, I came up behind Tayvia and surprised her with the ring!