A few weeks ago, Brandon and I celebrated not only our daughter's birth, but also our first wedding anniversary! It's amazing to think that we've been married a year already! I'm going to be cliche and say that it seems only yesterday that we were 16, and I was secretly pining over him at the stake dances. Here's our story, as I remember it.
My sister, Carrie, and I always loved the stake dances. They were our monthly date night, with each other. We would spend several hours getting ready, playing music and dancing while we meticulously did our hair and makeup. We were never late, we had to dance to every song they played. When we weren't asked to dance during the slow songs (which was often), we would dance with each other. We never really cared if the boys liked us, we were there to have a good time regardless. The only boy we ever wished would dance with us was Brandon.
Brandon was the heartthrob of every girl in the stake, even some of the older girls. He was tall and mysterious, and the quarterback of the football team. His dark features made him the epitome of "tall, dark, and handsome," and we were all lovestruck. He would walk into the gym at the dances, and our hearts would stop. We would blush and giggle, and congregate together to discuss how beautiful he was. I remember thinking that he was so cute, that he had to have at least 5 or 6 girlfriends at his high school, and would never stoop to think of any of us, especially me. I could never work up the nerve to talk to him.
After we graduated, I went away to BYU, and Brandon went on his mission. When I came home for Christmas and summers, I would pass Brandon's missionary plaque on the wall of the stake center. I'm sure my friends were annoyed with me, because every time I did, I reminded them of how cute he was and how we all loved him. I even thought of writing him a few times, even though we had never spoken, but I talked myself out of it, for fear of being the creepy stalker girl. I often found myself wondering how his mission was going, and hoping he was alright.
Finally in May of 2007, after 2 years at BYU, I moved back home to go to school in Tulsa. I dated a little bit that summer, but nothing ever worked out. One night at institute, I found myself expressing my frustrations with a friend about dating, when one of my old high school friends, Katie, came running to find me. She informed me that Brandon Rawlinson was home from his mission, and was here tonight! Sure enough, there he was, as cute as I remembered, and I immediately fell back into my giggly high school self, turned a deep shade of scarlet, and was suddenly extremely grateful that I had worn something cute that night! I made up my mind then and there that I was going to talk to him. And I did. After the lesson, a group of us stood around chatting, and I found out that he had only been home a few days. We started talking about a dance that following weekend in Stillwater, and Brandon was asked if he would go. He said he would and we all agreed to carpool together.
The weekend came, and we all met for the dance, and crammed ourselves into a tiny car. I was in the backseat next to Brandon, practically sitting in his lap we were so smooshed. I was a little nervous to be sitting by him, but that soon went away. I was so comfortable with him, and we chatted all the way to the dance. When we arrived, I could tell that it was all a bit overwhelming for him. After all, he had been off his mission less than a week, and was suddenly at a crowded dance where he knew no one. I felt like I needed to stay nearby, so that he would feel comfortable. We sat and talked with each other all night, and after years of pining, I finally danced with him! On the way home, I was exhausted. As I fell asleep on Brandon's shoulder, I remember thinking "I should lean to the other side, I'm going to burst his missionary bubble," but sleep won out (that and the fact that I'd had a crush on this boy for over 5 years), and I slept on him the entire way home. As we drove into Tulsa, he held my hand, and as we all left to get into our separite cars, he kissed me.
From that point on, we were an item, and I was thrilled! Within 2 or 3 weeks, I knew that either I would marry this boy, or he would break my heart. Fortunately, he felt the same way. we began to talk about marriage early on, and by Christmas Eve, we were officially engaged. We were married June 13th, 2008, in the Oklahoma City Temple.
I am so grateful that I get to spend eternity with Brandon, he has been a blessing to me in so many ways. The last year has been a little crazy, we've moved 3 times, both started school, and had a baby! But I couldn't ask for a better person to experience it all with!
