Our Story

My version of the story.. One day in March of 2010 the Stake presidency of the 21st stake decided there were WAY too many old singles in one area and decided to form a new ward.  The next day we had an FHE activity at our Bishopric Counselor's house.. after a quick skim around the room I spotted the cutest boy in our whole stake.  After a 10 min conversation (where he told me all about his "Cosmo" days at BYU)  I knew I wasn't interested, too cocky and arrogant.   That sunday my roommate convinced me that I needed to date this boy and  made me go to his sunday school class to hear his lesson (she must have seen the prideful similarities) It just took one lesson for me to see how I couldn't have been more wrong.  He was humble, considerate and so talented. I knew I wanted to date this boy! Too bad every girl in the ward thought the same thing. After fighting many girls off (really, true story) and plenty of work and effort on my part, I finally convinced this amazing guy that he should marry me. July 2 we were sealed in the Manti temple and I truly am the luckiest girl in the world!

Nate's Version: First of all, I have NO IDEA what would lead someone to think I am, and I quote, "cocky and arrogant"...  Confident, yes. :)

My version starts a lot earlier than Kristen's.  I was living in Lehi with my buddy Jake, but I knew I was going to move back to Provo when he got married, so I started going to institute on Wednesday nights after work.  I kept noticing a really cute girl who would come in right before institute started and then get mobbed by all the desperate guys immediately following class.  I'm not exactly the aggressive type, so I never talked to her.

Finally March 2010 rolled around and I was back living in Provo.  I sat next to Holly ( my brother Jon's fiancee at the time - now wife :) ) at our Stake Conference, and lo and behold, we were right behind cute institute girl.  As the meeting progressed and the stake was reorganized, each new ward was asked to stand and sustain the changes.  Imagine my surprise when they called for the 216th ward to stand and I stood up along with a wall of girls in front of me, including institute girl!

We met officially at our first ward FHE, where I found out she had just won the Moab Half Marathon.  I was so intimidated that the only thing I thought might give me a chance with this girl was the Cosmo angle...  Turns out, she tells me, she had gone on a date with another Cosmo and was NOT impressed - great!

Anyway, the next time I saw her was the next Sunday when I was asked to teach Sunday School.  I was already nervous when she walked in and sat down with Carli (bless her heart!).  Talk about pressure!  I guess it went okay, because Kristen came up after class and told me I'd done a nice job.

And the rest, as they say, is history.  Just kidding - I'm just getting started, but you probably don't want to read the three hour version.  Let's just say that every time I talked to her, I felt better and better about the whole prospect and was more and more impressed.  She is incredible!  I fell hard.