Our Love Story: Part 3

The Define the Relationship Talk

David and I sat in the bonus room of my childhood house together. Just a few minutes earlier, I had run downstairs to grab some water and my parents cornered me in the kitchen. They had just met David for the first time, so naturally I was nervous about what they had to say. But surprisingly enough, they said, “We really like him! He seems like such a good guy. Keep him around as long as you can!” What?! That was the first time I had ever heard those words come out of their mouth about a boy they just met. I pondered on what they said, knowing that they were totally right. He was a great guy, but where was this all going to go?

It was my senior year of high school and I was planning on attending Seattle Pacific University in the Fall. My sister went to college there, and from the moment I visited her my Sophomore year of high school, I had determined it was the place for me. I dreamt of all the things that every high school girl does: getting out of the small bubble she grew up in, living in an exciting new city, meeting new people, and going on new adventures. I had even determined that I would study music therapy and knew what dorm I wanted to live in since Junior year of high school. Needless to say, I was pretty set on this plan. I was accepted in the early admission process and even got a substantial academic scholarship.

David, on the other hand, was in his sophomore year of college at Boise State. He was playing golf and doing really well at it. He qualified for every single tournament up to that point–girls can be distracting, but that’s another story for another time! He spent most of his days going to class in the mornings, then golfing from 12-7. When he wasn’t golfing, he was involved in Young Life and hanging out with his friends.

I came back upstairs after being given the stamp of approval by my parents, which is never given lightly. We both knew it was time to figure this out. We knew that we would only have 6 months together before our relationship became long distance, so we had to decide if it was worth really pursuing. I was only 18 and had my entire college experience waiting for me. But, at the same time, I knew that David was someone I could see myself marrying. He had everything I wanted in a potential husband, and I knew that ever since the first day we talked at KTVB cares day when I was 16 years old.  We came to terms with the fact that we could both see our relationship ending in marriage. We decided that alone was worth pursuing, in spite of the fact that I was planning to leave for college.

Because of this decision, our relationship was pretty serious from day one. Dating with the intention of marriage is a lot different than dating for some companionship and kicks and giggles. But it’s that intentionality that made us grow together and become best friends very quickly.

Family Vacation

My dad had an ongoing rule about family vacations and boys. My sister and I both knew that no boy was ever allowed to join us for family vacation until there was a ring on our finger. One evening, David and I were sitting at dinner with my family when my dad said, “So David, are you going to come to the Oregon Coast with us?” I couldn’t believe what I just heard. Was David just invited on our annual family vacation? A vacation we had taken every year since childhood? A vacation where all 20 of my extended family members on my mom’s side were going to be present?! Apparently my dad was going to do some rule bending. My sister had also started dating her now husband around the same time as David and I. Her boyfriend was invited to come along too!

That family vacation changed everything for me. David came along and met all of my family…yes, all 20 or so of them. We walked on the beach that I grew up on. We rode bikes to the town park to play volleyball. We played card games late into the evening. We searched for sand dollars. We pretty much lived a Nicholas Sparks movie coming to life…except without all the tragedy and drama.

David had to leave the trip early to drive back home for a golf tournament. After he left, I was an absolute mess. I wouldn’t see him for another week or so, and I had just lived the best few days ever with him. I had gotten a glimpse into what a life with him was like. It already felt like he was a part of our family. It was on that day that I opened an application to apply to a local college near Boise. It was a school that I SWORE I would never, ever go to. My high school did a college visit to the school one day during senior year, and I stayed home from school because I thought it would be a total waste to go. I did nothing but talk poorly about the school and the people that went to college there. But, love will make you do crazy things, and God has a sense of humor.

I am *never* going to that College!

At this point, I already had my class schedule for Seattle Pacific. I had messaged back and forth with my future roommate and determined who was bringing the microwave and TV. I had everything set, but it just didn’t seem right. I called David and told him what I was thinking. Immediately, he told me that I couldn’t give up my dream college for him. It was too much pressure to place on our relationship and change all of my plans just to be close to him.

He was right.

It took some time to come to this conclusion, but eventually I realized that SPU really wasn’t my dream. I chose it as a Sophomore in high school who just wanted to get out of Idaho. I never researched any other schools–heck, I didn’t even apply to any other schools! It was my own idealized version of what college should be like for me, and I was so set on it, that I never looked at any other options. I had created this plan for myself and my life, but had never asked anyone else for council on it, let alone questioned if it was really the right path for me.

I ended up applying to Northwest Nazarene University literally one week before classes began. I toured the campus just a couple days before Freshman Move-In Day. I remember walking campus balling my eyes out as excited new students unloaded cars and parents waved goodbye to their children. Through a series of doors opening and a sweet old lady named Telva who I believed to be an angel at the time, I signed up for classes and started freshman year at NNU.

You never know just where you may end up. It’s only a small piece, and its continually being written, but that’s the beginning of our love story. Comment below if you’d like to read more blogs about our story!

Thanks for reading along! If you liked this post, you may also like Our Love Story: Part 1, Our Love Story: Part 2, and The Top 10 Things I Learned from Our Wedding Day.