it wasn't until the spring of 2010 that things really started to happen. i was coming home from california with my roommates in the middle of spring break. kaitlyn {my best friend and also arika and zachary's cousin} was in st. george and arika and her family were coming down too. i met up with kaitlyn and when arika picked us up, i was pleasantly surprised to see that zachary happened to be with her. he wasn't planning on coming until just a day or two before. he was suppose to be at mcchord afb, but the c-17 he was going to fly there on, was ordered elsewhere by obama. i guess you can say that it was the president that brought our fate together. pretty cool if you ask me.
anyway, we were loading up the car and he was quick to help me with my luggage. that was my first real impression of him - he's a gentleman. the rest of the week was full of hiking zion's national park, playing games, scaring little kids, and lots and lots of laughter.
i was sad to part our ways on the last day, but it was almost worth it for all the butterflies i got when he hugged me good-bye. he says that the five hour drive home for him was the shortest he's ever had because it was spent thinking about me the entire time. i would definitely have to say the same.
a couple weeks later, i went up with kaitlyn and our friend lacey to find an apartment in logan, ut. we were going to utah state university that fall, which happened to also be where zachary was at. i begged kaitlyn to ask him if he wanted to do something while we were there and being the good friend that she is, she did it. we went to his house to play games that night and when we arrived, zachary was standing at the door. he welcomed us in by giving kaitlyn a hug and as i walked up, he stuck out his hand for a handshake. my heart sank a little to be honest. all i could think was, "seriously. you're all i've been able to think about for two weeks and i'm going to be greeted with something as inpersonal as a handshake?" i was super bummed. luckily, at the last minute he pulled it back and laughed at how silly that would be and pulled me in for a hug. that little jokester. he sure saved that situation. man was i crushing majorly on this boy.
it wasn't until another week later that he asked me on my first official date...over facebook. our conversation went like this:
zachary: dear sarah...i hear that you are making another trip up here this weekend...? please confirm or deny this wonderful news... that's all.
me: well..that depends on one important thing zachary. are you going to be there?..
zachary: well...that depends on one important thing sarah, are you going to be here? *zach scratches his head after realizing this conversation is going nowhere.* yes, I'll be here. :) if, with this new-found revelation you decide to make the trek up to loganville, i'd love to plan a get-together of sorts. it might just be easier if i called you...*zach hopes that his sly method of asking for a number works...crossing fingers*
me: haha hmm...I don't give my number out to just anyone, but I would be more than willing to give it to you on one condition...
zachary: oh yeah, and what might that condition be?
me: you have to promise me that i'm not going to be just another number in your phone, that you only talk to when you're sending out your annual 'merry christmas' text. deal?
zachary: ha ha, deal!
i'm pretty sure he called me within minutes of that conversation. ;) we went on our first date the following weekend and i can honestly say that it was one of, if not the best dates i've ever been on in my life. it wasn't even so much of what we did, but the fact that we talked for hours and i felt so comfortable with him that i knew there was something different here.
we talked on the phone every single night and saw each other every weekend after that for four months. a 3-hour distant relationship was not fun, let me tell you, but it sure gave you something to look forward to. he came to my college graduation,
we went to bear lake numerous times,
he took me to my very first real salt lake soccer game for my birthday,
we spent our first holiday {fourth of july} together,
it was all so great. i loved every moment of getting to know this kid.
then august came and it was time to move to logan. that made things ten times better. it helped a lot, that i happened to move in right next door to zachary. we spent the few weeks before school getting in as much together time as possible. zachary had been saying for weeks how bad he wanted to take me flying since he was going to be a pilot after all. we had been talking about the possibility of getting engaged for a few days, so my initial thought was that maybe he would do it on the airplane ride. as we were driving to the airport though, he made note of the wind and said that if it was too bad, we might have to fly another day. his non-chalance about having to wait to fly made me certain that he was not going to ask me. after all, popping the question is one of those things that a little wind could never get in the way of.
i was terrified as we took off, but oh how beautiful and breathtaking it was.
the pilot that was flying us had been in a few of zachary's classes, so when they started talking about their professor's house, i didn't think much of it. zachary pointed it out to be the house of one of my family's friends {the danielsons}. i thought that was weird, but figured he was probably pointing somewhere else and i just had a bad angle. i asked if we could fly over the danielson's house though and they were happy to do it. as we got closer, i could see everybody out on the deck and i thought, "oh, how fun! they must be having a barbecue!" then they all started waving. i thought, "man, they have no idea i'm even in this plane. i can't wait to tell them!"
little did i know.
i looked down and this is what i saw:
{each letter was about the size of a car}
my heart started racing a million miles an hour. i thought this had to be some kind of joke. there was no way he actually pulled this off without me having any idea! i turned to him for some answers and lo and behold, he was holding a ring. a diamond ring!
all i could say was, "oh my gosh, oh my gosh" over and over again. luckily i was able to squeeze in a 'yes'. i was in complete and utter shock. i couldn't wipe the huge grin off my face for the life of me. the entire ride home felt like a dream. it was like an out of body experience and i was watching someone live the perfect life that i'd always wanted. the rest of the night was spent celebrating, eating ice cream with family, and telling the world about our wonderful news.
we were married in the manti lds temple on december 28, 2010. it'll forever be the day that changed my life. i'm the luckiest girl in the world to be able to have this man all to myself for the rest of eternity!
we are now living happily ever after.
