One month ago was the best day of my life--December 30, 2014. That was the day I married Carson Ralphs. So in recognition of our first monthiversary, I thought I'd publish the long-awaited-for story of how Carson and I met....and then decided to spend the rest of eternity together.
I had arrived home from my mission in October 2013 and headed back to BYU in January 2014. My very first day at BYU after my nearly two-year break, I went to my first class of the semester--Methods of Health Promotion. I couldn't help but notice there was a cute guy in that class, who I learned from over-hearing him that he served his mission in Mesa, Arizona and now taught Spanish at the Missionary Training Center. He caught my eye.
And he continued to catch my eye class after class. By the end of January I was really hoping he'd ask me out. On February 2, 2014 I wrote in my journal, "....and there's this guy Carson in my Health 435 class I like but hardly know. Hoping he'll ask me out soon."
I just knew Carson would ask me out any day.
But he didn't.
So I prayed he would. I prayed for many weeks, just hoping every class period that he would ask for my number. I even sent this email to my sister Hope on her mission, on February 12, with this picture.
"This is Carson Ralphs. Pray he asks me out. Humanitarian heart, former AP of the Mesa AZ mission, humble, MTC teacher, speaks Spanish. Boise ID boy."
Finally, near the end of February, my prayers were answered. He asked for my number. A few days later, he called and invited me to an event at BYU that was on March 21st, nearly a month away! I was ecstatic but didn't know how I was going to wait so long.
So, I prayed he'd ask me out for sooner. Plea heard. He called and asked me out for that very next weekend. I ended up flying home that weekend for my grandmother's funeral, but he let me have a raincheck, and we went on our first date on March 7th. It was a banquet and dance at the Hinckley Center for the Honors Program.
And we went out the next weekend, and the next. Then, after the long-anticipated March 21st date, we were on a walk in Provo, and he held my hand.
Carson got more and more impressive to me. I just kept nervously waiting to learn something about him that would indicate he wasn't the Prince Charming I thought he was, but that never happened, and still hasn't happened. After going to General Conference together on April 6th, he asked if I'd be his girlfriend. We've celebrated every monthiversary on the 6th ever since.
We dated all summer long, even though Carson worked 60 hours a week May-August. He left Provo around 7 a.m. and drove to Salt Lake, worked 8-5, then made it back to Provo to teach at the MTC from 6-9:30 p.m.. He could have gone home and crashed some days, but he visited me every night. He even dropped notes and treats off at my doorstep early in the morning sometimes on his way to work. He has sacrificed so much sleep for me.
It was an amazing summer.
I had arrived home from my mission in October 2013 and headed back to BYU in January 2014. My very first day at BYU after my nearly two-year break, I went to my first class of the semester--Methods of Health Promotion. I couldn't help but notice there was a cute guy in that class, who I learned from over-hearing him that he served his mission in Mesa, Arizona and now taught Spanish at the Missionary Training Center. He caught my eye.
And he continued to catch my eye class after class. By the end of January I was really hoping he'd ask me out. On February 2, 2014 I wrote in my journal, "....and there's this guy Carson in my Health 435 class I like but hardly know. Hoping he'll ask me out soon."
I just knew Carson would ask me out any day.
But he didn't.
So I prayed he would. I prayed for many weeks, just hoping every class period that he would ask for my number. I even sent this email to my sister Hope on her mission, on February 12, with this picture.
"This is Carson Ralphs. Pray he asks me out. Humanitarian heart, former AP of the Mesa AZ mission, humble, MTC teacher, speaks Spanish. Boise ID boy."
Finally, near the end of February, my prayers were answered. He asked for my number. A few days later, he called and invited me to an event at BYU that was on March 21st, nearly a month away! I was ecstatic but didn't know how I was going to wait so long.
So, I prayed he'd ask me out for sooner. Plea heard. He called and asked me out for that very next weekend. I ended up flying home that weekend for my grandmother's funeral, but he let me have a raincheck, and we went on our first date on March 7th. It was a banquet and dance at the Hinckley Center for the Honors Program.
I wrote in my journal,
"I just have to write about the wonderful date I had tonight with the one I've been hoping would ask me out all semester, Carson Ralphs. On man he is a goooood guy. I wouldn't rather have been with anyone else. We went to the Honors Banquet and ball. Carson is so good to open every door ("The thing about this car door of mine is that girls can't open it.") and is just pleasant to be around. Neither of us are very good dancers, but I, for one, had a great time. Gah, I am so happy. I feel like every boy from here on out will disappoint me compared to Carson. I am so thankful to God for answering my prayers that Carson would ask me out."
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| April 6, 2014 |
We dated all summer long, even though Carson worked 60 hours a week May-August. He left Provo around 7 a.m. and drove to Salt Lake, worked 8-5, then made it back to Provo to teach at the MTC from 6-9:30 p.m.. He could have gone home and crashed some days, but he visited me every night. He even dropped notes and treats off at my doorstep early in the morning sometimes on his way to work. He has sacrificed so much sleep for me.
It was an amazing summer.
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| Passover dinner, April 2014 |
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| American Fork Half-Marathon June 21, 2014 (Also one of the only pictures I have of Carson NOT in a white shirt!) |
Something I love about our relationship is that we never broke up, took a break, had a DTR (Define The Relationship) conversation that didn't end in taking the relationship up a notch, or even a dispute. Our relationship has gone swimmingly to this day.
We started talking about getting married in July-ish. I prayed to know if he was the right one to marry, but I felt like God had guided me to him all along, and I had no doubt it was right. We went on a trip to Arizona at the end of August, when Carson met my whole family. Just as I had hoped, he talked to my parents about marrying me. After listening to me gush about him for the past 6 months and feeling his amazing spirit, my parents gave a definite yes.
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| Grand Canyon stop on our way back to Utah from Arizona |
A couple weeks later. on September 1, we got engaged, which was a post in and of itself. All of that led to the start of forever together on December 30, 2014.
But it doesn't end there. The past month has been bliss. And we still get eternity to go. Carson treats me better than gold. He is so helpful. So loving. Works so hard. I didn't know a relationship could be this good. I love him more than I could ever type or say.
Here's to the goodness of marriage, the goodness of God for blessing me with Carson, and an eternal honeymoon.
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