Today is a Very Special Day

Today is the anniversary of the day that Christian and I met for the very first time. Ever since that day chin and i have been inseparable; something just clicked. So I thought since today is a very special day for us, I would share with you the story of how we met since it's fun to tell and fun to hear (I think).

I will title this short story:

The Day We Met 

(I'm so original I can't stand it)

Every Tuesday at BYU there is a devotional or forum where a religious or secular speaker comes and speaks to the students and staff of BYU. The devotional is held in the Marriot Center on the North end of campus, and ends around 11:50. 

This particular Tuesday, being the crazy and exhausted freshman that I was, I decided to take a nap instead of staying on campus for the devotional. I had class at noon, so I took a quick power nap until about 11:45, ate a pb sandwich, and headed off to class, scurrying to get there on time.

Not only did I smell like the peanut butter sandwich I had just eaten, but I looked awful. My hair was frizzy, curly, and disheveled from my nap, and I had thrown on a strange assortment of clothes. My makeup was smeared and pretty much off from tossing and turning on my pillow. in short: I looked extremely unkempt.

So I hurried up the hill towards campus, distraught about being late to class (I get anxious about being on time). As I went to cross the crosswalk into campus, I met eyes with the one and only Christian Pingree. 

side note: Chin: The guy who I had had a serious crush on 3 years previous at the 2006 Hill Cumorah Pageant. Since his sister Claire and I became friends at the 2007 HCP, I had been telling her how i would marry her brother one day (seriously!). When Christian was on his mission in Siberia, I would constantly tell his sister how I would marry Christian when he came home someday. I was always mostly joking, but I thought chin was the best thing since sliced bread. Earlier that semester I had begged Claire to set me up with him, claiming he was the only older boy i would go on a date with my freshman year. (I had an extreme no older-guy policy, I even turned down an older guy who asked me out... twice.)

Claire had shown Chin a picture of me, and although he claims he thought I was very cute, he wasn't interested in dating a freshman. looks like we both had strict age policies. End of side note.

We quickly looked away from each other and I felt my hands get clammy, my heart start to race, and my mind was going a mile a minute. I had only seen him one other time on campus from far away and this time, he was so much closer! I could not breathe. not one bit.

I crossed the street and headed down the walkway towards my class. Chin was walking with his friend Andrew about 20 feet ahead of me. The only problem was, he was walking at a horrifically slow pace. I was in such a rush! I was walking at a very fast pace... so inevitably I had to pass him. Can you say awkward? I knew him and he knew who I was, but I had no intention of speaking to him because if I did, I would probably blurt out "I love you" or "marry me." Bad idea.

So I passed him and all I could think was, "how does my butt look in these jeans?" Apparently they looked good enough because after I had rushed past and walked about 15 feet, a low voice called, "Hayley?"

I knew it was him. A million thoughts rushed to my head: "what do I do? what do I say? how do I look? what if he hates me?" If you couldn't tell before, I don't do well when put on the spot. So I slowly turned around and said, "Hi Christian!" as if I was completely cool and under control. We talked for a couple minutes, and I asked him dumbbbbb questions like "how was your mission?" (who asks that?)

We parted at the library, me being about 5 minutes late to the class that I had forgot existed. 

As soon as he walked away I whipped out my phone and first: called Claire. I left her a ridiculous voicemail in a high pitch, out of breath voice about how i had just talked to Christian and i was IN LOVE! At the same time, Chin walked in the library, whipped out his phone, and texted Claire saying, "I changed my mind, pleaseee set me up with Hayley!"

The rest is history. That thursday we hung out for the first time with Claire and Chin's roomate Devin.

That Friday we ate dinner at the Cannon Center together.

That Saturday we went on our first date (a group date) up to temple square to see the lights.

We spent the whole next week of finals together and I couldn’t wait until he would call me every night over break. The days of that Christmas break dragged on until I could see Christian again.

And there you have it; that’s how we met. Who knew it would turn into this?

I was certainly not expecting it. But this past year with Christian has been the absolute best year of my life.

chin and I, engagement pictures, April 2010