Our Love Story♥

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I have never written down our story because well I have no idea where to begin or how to go about writing it. How do you condense 7 years of dating history into a blog post! It's pretty long so read on at your own risk!

I had just barely started my seventh grade year. Tyler was in eighth grade. 

School year 2002-2003. 

I saw Tyler a few times in the halls but he was always with a group of people or girls making them laugh. Pretty much being the center of attention. Tyler was quite the comedian and everyone automatically liked him. 

Especially all the girls it seemed{to me}.

{Tyler is the seductive fellow in red..in case it wasn't obvious}

He was about my height but had the cutest most attractive features. Everything about him I immediately loved. I told myself it was love at first sight. 

 Cute 13 year old Tyler in 8th grade

13 year old me in 7th grade

My best friend {Cami} played the violin in band and I would walk with her to put it away before school started nearly every single morning. And nearly every single morning without fail...there was Tyler...practicing with the Honors band playing the trumpet. We would always make eye contact and my heart would do a few flips =)
I just couldn't keep my mind off him.

Let me dedicate a part to my best friend Cami real quick..
If it weren't for her I never would have noticed Tyler playing his trumpet in honor band. She has been my constant best friend for as long as I can remember. The above L pic was taken while Tyler was gone and the two below were in 8th and 9th grade. I have dozens of pictures of Cams and myself but I will spare you =)

Cami, Celeste(who you will see below also played a big part in mine and Tyler's relationship) and I were the three musketeers in jr. high.

{back to the story}

Things didn't actually pick up for us until the school play.

THE MUSIC MAN.

{if any of you are familiar with the play}Tyler landed the part of Winthrop.

Me? Oh, ya know...just another member of girls chorus. Awesome. Just the part I wanted to catch the attention of this mystery guy of mine. Haha. I coveted the role of Amaryliss. {Winthrop's sort of love interest.}

We flirted{if you could call it that} a little here and there and it didn't take long to hear from a friend who heard from a friend who heard from a friend who heard that Tyler had told them that 
he liked me.
{{insert me on cloud nine.}}

Ecstatic, I immediately told that friend who told their friend who told their friend that told a friend that told Tyler that I liked him right back =)

We were always together talking backstage, playing "Egyptian rat screw" and "knuckles," and he showed me his trumpet and the story behind it(it was his dad's trumpet who had passed away when he was 5). We played this toothpick game together at a cast party once and I wanted to die.
From happiness.

Both our mom's drove the exact same car. A blue Chrysler Voyager mini van and together we'd wait for them to pick us up everyday after play practice.

I wish SO badly that we had more photos taken of us together during this time...but back in 2003 cameras were not a popular possession for 13 year olds.

Unless they were disposable ones and who knows where those pictures ended up.
Sadly not in my possession.

Things were heavenly and I didn't think life could get any better. Really.

I thought we were perfect for each other.
I went to his house every weekend for "night games." {Remember those?}
His house was THE HOUSE to be at. It was a big house that had a basement exit to a huge backyard with a tramp, and it was in the heart of a very popular neighborhood where there were a lot of kids the same age.
I was instantly accepted into his circle of friends and found myself feeling really popular for being Tyler's "girlfriend."
I was loving life.

Tyler's side of the story however is a tad different..
(I found all this out much later after we'd started for realsies dating.)

He told me his guy friends gave him such a hard time about me because I was a "sevie" and we weren't 16 yet. Tyler didn't know what to do with all the attention and teasing. He already struggled with his own insecurities and didn't need one more thing to have to deal with.

He said he'd never liked a girl so much and that he was so incredibly nervous to be around me that he almost couldn't enjoy it.

He didn't know what to do with his strong feelings towards me and didn't want to worry about it at that age. Also, he knew his mom would not be okay with it and had to hide it from her.
I mean...we'd say i love you when we hugged to say goodbye. {It was mostly because of peer pressure from friends telling us when we hugged to say I love you which now that i'm looking back on it, they were probably mocking us. "Say i love you. Awe how precious" but not really...}

Here is what we wrote in each other's yearbooks. It's embarrassing but we were young...

We would change our MSN statuss' to "I love Tyler Andersen" and "I love Annie Clawson."
My favorite song was "Ignition" by R. Kelly because it says "It's the freakin' weekend baby i'm about to have me some fun." And weekends during this time were what I lived for. 
We exchanged school pictures and framed them =) 

And we kissed them every night before bed. Of course we never told this to each others faces. We would just tell it to each others friends who would then tell us.
So pathetic.
So naturally as most 14 year old love stories go, whatever Tyler and I had going on only lasted until school was out for the summer. After that last day of school things just kinda fell apart between us. I know that sounds dumb because we were 13. What could we really have had going? Haha.
Well in my 13 year old self's mind, we had it all!

Every time I would come home from night games at his house I would be all twitterpated and counting down the hours until I could see Tyler again.
 OBSESSED MUCH?


the play cast picture. I guess I thought smiling was overrated..

Then one day on MSN my world came crashing down.
I was chatting with a girlfriend and asked her who else she was talking to. When she told me "Tyler Andersen" I was immediately confused.. because Tyler wasn't showing up as online for me. There was only one explanation: He must have blocked me. BLOCKED! WHAT?! I was shocked and asked her to ask him why. She said "He said he sent you an email so you should know why." I frantically started checking my inbox, spam box, everything! Not there. Never got it. No idea why. Stupid mstar.net.
My stomach was in knots and let's be honest, I probably started crying. 

I got the hint pretty quick that he wanted nothing to do with me at the end of the school year party we were both at where he totally shunned me.

I was desperate to know what he had said to me in the email but I didn't dare ask him. He was being a bit of a jerk and against what my heart felt, I made a resolution that summer day to just forget him all together.
I stopped going to night games at his house or even in his neighborhood, stopped hanging out with most of his group of friends and told all my best friends never to mention his name again.

I grew pretty bitter at the name Tyler Andersen.

And I stayed bitter for years haha.

Dramatic right?

Embarrassing that I had this little girl crush on the same guy for so long? Um yes.
I kept tabs on Tyler well mostly all the time.
Cried after I saw him perform amazingly in a band at the school talent show by playing the trumpet while doing the moon walk.
I got butterflies and nervous shakes whenever we were in the same room/hall/class together, and
turned the deepest shade of red when as I was passing Tyler in the hallways, one of our mutual friends made a joke about how we used to "like each other." And I had to pretend to be okay when I found out my two best friends had kissed him in a game of "spin the bottle."
(I later found out that one of them was his first kiss! Tyler's first kiss was with one of my best friends at the time! Go figure!)

We didn't talk directly to each other for 3 years.
I was about to enter sophomore year and my mom said this to me:
"Maybe that Tyler Andersen will ask you to a school dance?"
"MoooOM!" was my reaction but she had read my mind.
I secretly really did hope that.

 Once sophomore year was underway, one of my best friends{Celeste} and other friend{Mikella} started hanging out{against my wishes} and then he and Mikella started dating!! I remember thinking to myself: I definitely didn't have a chance since he's dating/kissing all my friends
{{remember how he kissed multiple friends of mine during a game of spin the bottle in which I was not invited to}}
They only dated for a couple months and once that ended was when Tyler broke the ice.

It was April.
After school one day, I was talking to Celeste{and maybe a few other people I don't remember} and Tyler just walked right up and joined in on the conversation. I was so incredibly taken a back and awkward I tried not to notice him but I wasn't doing a very good job. I guess I was swinging back and forth with my side back pack hitting my legs and then Tyler started obviously mimicking me and said something like:

"This is fun, do you always do this with your back pack?"

"yep! sure do!"

"Haha why don't we ever hang out?"

"I don't know why don't we?"

"well lets hang out!"

"okay when?"

"this weekend?"

"okay wanna go see ICE AGE 2?"

and that's how it started. 

It's in agreement that my best friend Celeste played a huge role in getting us back together.

Celeste had been telling me over and over that he didn't hate me, that he in fact still thought I was attractive, that I needed to get over whatever I had against him and just talk to him again.

Because in Celeste's words: "we were both her favorite people and it was a shame we had this stupid, juvenile thing still hanging between us."

Celeste later told me that during this time, she'd told Tyler that he needed to talk to me again because she could see us getting together and things really working out. Tyler said he agreed but still wasn't sure how I felt about how he'd treated me in jr. high.
He had every right to think that too!
But I had already forgiven him.

We went to see Ice Age 2.

I don't remember a single thing from that movie.

And NO not because of what you are thinking!

I was just so nervous! And I found out later that Tyler was too. The whole time he was debating whether to put his arm around me or to hold my hand etc.
 He did neither.
We ate at Mimi's Cafe which was where I worked at the time.
During the dinner I decided I deserved an answer and took the opportunity to ask him:

"so what did that so called "break up email" say anyways since you know, I never did get it."

"Ah-ha! I knew you were going to ask me this question! I'm sorry I was such a jerk and i've been avoiding you this whole time because I was afraid you were going to ask me this question! The truth is I don't remember! But it was something to do with not being 16 and needing to wait until we were old enough and if we could just be friends."

"Oh okay that makes sense but geez you didn't need to block me!"

Haha.

We clicked really well that whole night and my nerves melted away as we talked afterwards at my house. I found out during that chat that he had never stopped noticing me and admitted he was so stupid and young in 8th grade and was glad that I forgave him.
{I was jumping up and down inside hearing this!}

This was happening right around the girls choice Spring Fling dance and so I decided to ask Tyler {duh} =)

I remember going to his house with Celeste and meeting his mom and brothers for the first time. I was soo nervous decorating his room with helium balloons with this sign:

I had a bunch of balloons with air heads attached and in the balloons on folded paper was my name. My plan was he had to pop them to find it but he told me later that his brother told him right off the bat haha. NO fun.

I don't know what it was about Tyler that made me so dang nervous but it took weeks to feel 100% comfortable around him.

We went on a second date April 12, 2006 which ended with us having our first kiss. I think if Tyler had known we would be spending the rest of eternity together he would've made our first kiss a little more oh i don't know, memorable? Haha.
So I was volunteering at the hospital after school with Celeste and Tyler called me asking if I wanted to go on a hike after I was done.
 UMM YES!!!
{funny now but not so funny at the time story: I raced home so fast that I dented my parents garage
wall while parking because I didn't stop soon enough! Oops!}
We went up Neff's canyon and we both remember the moon being so high and bright that night it seemed to be hanging right above our heads! We cuddled and talked and held hands, it was perfect! I kept looking up at him waiting for a kiss that never came!!
 I was extremely bummed once we got in the car thinking maybe he wasn't all the interested after all?
Then Celeste called inviting us over to her house to watch a movie with her boyfriend who was also Tyler's friend at the time. Sweet!
We got there and were having a grand 'ole time sitting on the couch all together in the dark watching a scary movie. I was cuddled up under Tyler's arm, holding his hand, entwined in each other thinking what on earth is going on. Why won't he kiss me?
I found out later that Tyler was dying to kiss me but didn't want to rush things and lose me for a second time. Cute right? I guess ;)
So halfway through the movie there was a part that made me laugh and I leaned forward to say something and laugh with Celeste and turned back to cuddle with Tyler and then suddenly we were kissing. I don't really remember how it happened but we kissed for a long while. Tyler jokes with me that we didn't really have a first kiss, we had a first make out. He said he saw an opportunity to kiss me once I leaned back towards him and he took it. I was extremely pleased until I realized our first kiss was on a couch while watching a scary movie. Haha how cliche! Oh well =)

I was so so ecstatic and giddy after that night with anticipation of what was to come.

Tyler told me that it was a very happy night for him too and during his drive home he was cheering and hitting the steering wheel in excitement haha.

We decided the night of the spring fling dance{April 29th 2006} that we were officially a couple.

The activity for the dance was a pudding fight.

(Side note of interesting information: in our group was Mikella on the second from

 the left who Ty had dated before me and then there was Morgan who was his first kiss in the center next to Mikella. Surprisingly, it wasn't awkward just kinda funny when you think about it)

Spring fling  April 29th 2006

We are babies!!!!

We hiked Neffs Canyon one Saturday and I took some random videos without sound

I loved Tyler's long hair. Not sure why i'm not smiling...

his hair cut and i would dye it =)

homecoming 2006. My battery died right after this picture and we couldn't find anymore!

Homecoming 2006

Our first Halloween

New Years 2006-07

Tyler's senior ball =)

Valentine's Day 2007

 Tyler's 18th birthday

 I'm sad this picture didn't turn out but that's Celeste, the one who played match maker in getting Tyler and I back together =)

Tyler played lacrosse in high school

And here we are trying not to be bored at Tyler's lacrosse games ;P

Morgan, on the far right, was Tyler's first kiss. Told ya he was kissing all my friends before me! Haha.

My junior prom

15 couples and two hummer limos=)

 Celeste, Tyler and I. Oh you don't see Tyler? Look closer =) 

Video of my junior prom that I spliced together. (It pauses for a few seconds but it's not frozen.) Now before you watch it, you should know that I had broken my pinky toe earlier that morning. For the group activity we ate breakfast at our friend's cabin in Park City and then sledding at Soldier Hollow. But no I didn't break it sledding....I stubbed it on a stupid box getting ready for sledding that morning. My pinky and half my foot was black and blue and did not feel great. I had to change my shoes and walk with a limp. I may look annoyed but I am not, I just hurt and wish my toe wasn't broken. Also, my mom did not know how to work the camcorder but it's fine =) I love the way Tyler looks at me near the end of the video =)

This is Maddie. She was also our best friend during high school =)

Tyler took this picture of us.

Tyler's graduation.

Tyler's graduation with Celeste and Maddie.

My 18th birthday

We had a lot of fun together =)

A school dance where we went with each other's friends haha. 

One of Tyler's favorite pictures of us.

New Years 2007-08

Valentine's Day 2008

Tyler's 19th birthday at Cheesecake Factory. A month before he left on his mission. 

for his birthday i reserved a tumbling gym with a bunch of our closest friends. it was so fun. Tyler's happy place because he does stuff like this and it's second nature to him:

We payed a game where someone rammed you into the foam pit while holding a pad.

eating at The Pie on pie day 3.14 =) 

Celeste candidly took our picture and you can tell we had both had too much pizza!!

Tyler's farewell. He got called to San Fernando California Spanish speaking.

Our last day together. I was a crying mess all day and for weeks after.

We dated all through high school and eventually faced the big giant fact that he was going on a mission and leaving for two years. I obviously supported him 100% but cried every time I thought about it. It was a complicated time of many emotions and discussions.
It was the hardest thing to send him off not knowing for sure what would happen.
He had told me that he wanted to marry me multiple times before he left.
We(and our parents) both agreed that I needed to not be a hermit and go on dates. So I told him I would be single when he got home. Obviously, I kept my word =) 

A week before he left we had to put my dog to sleep.  My dog, Penelope, was my 5th birthday present. SO I honestly had no idea how to do life without her by my side. It was one of the hardest weeks of my life combining her death with Tyler's absence.

I wrote him every week. I can count on one hand how many weeks I missed a letter. While we was in California I would write him every Friday so that he would get my letter on his P-day.

I spent a lot of time with his family and his mom was always including me. For that I am forever thankful! She is my second mother and i'm thankful for those two years we had to grow closer!

Our only pic together while he was on his mission. 

Maddie worked at The Mail Center in Midvale and helped me send many packages to Tyler. We would often take pics like this one above to send to him. 

He had this mirror made for me by one of his investigators and it is still a treasured possession!

It says my love my friend my life my only.

He made me a blanket for Christmas and sprayed it with his cologne. I slept with that thing for months.

My niece and I enjoying the blanket =)

A constant companion of mine: the tape recorder. We recorded over a dozen tapes for each other!!

We would send each other scented letters and here I am enjoying one =)

All my roommates felt like they already knew him and couldn't wait to meet him. They would also let me know if they thought a guy I was dating didn't meet up to Tyler's standards of attractiveness haha. They were very pro Tyler but very anti me being a hermit and not dating. goo figure.

One of my favorite pictures of us that I had on display in my college room.

I used that piggy bank for a special purpose =) Every letter I would get I would put 25 cents in and a package would be a dollar or something like that I don't remember but I eventually just started putting my spare change in there and by the end of the two years I had enough money to take us out to Tucanos after he got back!

He gave me a promise ring our first Christmas together and also another promise ring for my 19th birthday which was my first birthday with him gone. I was obsessed with wearing it and would often wear it on my left hand.
This is the ring Tyler gave me on our first Christmas together 2006 =)
It's from Zales. NBG ☺

Here is the ring from my 19th birthday just a few months after he left =) I would often wear it with a CZ diamond band under it or next to it.

Here is a pic he took before he sent it. 

 Here are some of my favorite pics from his mission:

with the pillow I gave him before he left. It's from Brookestone and he still sleeps with it =)

That was my single's ward home teacher!!! Small small world.

Tyler's best guy friend Spencer(pictured below) also had a girl waiting for him, Nicole, who happened to be my friend from high school! We have a group of friends consisting of about five couples and they all married their high school sweethearts =) But here we are scrapbooking for our missionaries. 

Spencer and Tyler in the MTC together. 

I don't think i've ever taken a picture of or talked about the scrapbook I made Tyler of his mission. Well here it is with a few random pages:

Elder Lifferth was Tyler's favorite companion =)

Somebody in California loves me

   
this is from my spring break 2009 in California. It was torture knowing I was just a couple hours away from where Tyler was serving!

Tyler came up with this phrase on his mission and it was so cute. He is not particularly the mushy type so this especially sweet of him.

It stands for Tyer Annie for eternity =)

I bought my wedding dress the summer before he got home because my sister was in town and I knew what dress I wanted. So it was my only chance to go dress shopping with her and my mom.

 Sadly we didn't get a pic all together. Just reflections in the mirror.

picking up the dress.

I also had the date set in the temple a couple months before he got home. August 8th was the soonest my sister and her family could fly in and the number 12(April 12th was our first kiss) meant something to Tyler and I so August 12th it was!

He got home April 7th and I didn't sleep the night before. I am not kidding. I literally could not sleep. I don't think i've ever been more excited in my entire life. Even more excited than the night before our wedding(which is a close second)!!
There aren't really a lot of words for what it's like to wait for a missionary. It's a complicated thing but one that I am so grateful we went through. I cherish our letters, tapes, packages, the way we grew closer through words. Because I moved away to college, I made some of my closest friends and grew up so much! I went on dates and had relationships but guys always knew about Tyler and I never had any intention of even the possibility of getting married while he was gone. If the guy I was dating cared enough about me, he would wait until Tyler got home so that I could make the choice for myself. Truth be told it took me a couple weeks to fall back into place with our relationship and where he fit into my college life. (When he left I hadn't even graduated high school. Two years is so long and it was strange being moved out with him home.)  It didn't help that he left barely a week after he got home to go back to California with his brothers to visit families. During that time I was able to really solidify what I wanted and by the time he got back I was 100% ready to marry him. We looked for rings and officially got engaged two weeks after he returned from his trip =)

Read about him coming home here.
Read about us getting engaged here.
Read about our wedding day and honeymoon here.


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