Bradleys Meet World : love

Fast forward a few months to the proposal:

I had no idea when it would happen. The day started out like any other, with cute texts. I went over to his place and he told me he was going to cook me my favorite meal, Yakisoba (a Japanese noodle dish). It was deliciousss as always.

Then we went to Chili’s to get my favorite molten lava cake. (This dessert seems to have played a pivotal role throughout our dating life...). While we were driving to Chili’s he played “Tonight’s gonna be a good night” by Black Eyed Peas and kept saying it was gonna be a good night. I kinda knew he was gonna propose at that point.

After that we went to a bridge in Provo canyon. It was a beautiful night and we were surrounded by mountains. He pulled out his phone and earplugs, put on music, and asked me to slow dance with him. My heart was beating rather fast because I knew what was coming. After a few songs, he suddenly he got down on one knee and said “Will you marry me?” I obviously said yes! It was very romantic slow dancing on a bridge and having the love of your life ask you to marry him. What a sweet way to propose.

I took these pics of my ring recently and just realized how badly it needs to be cleaned!

(My hands look so aged cause I took this pic in winter when they were dry and peeling, whoops!)

And of course some engagement photos! The only thing I don't like is how red my hair looks in some of the barn shots. I'm a brunette through and through.

Our Japanese side always eventually comes out...

I guess next I will have to post all of our wedding pics!

So let me pick up where we left off before...

Oh right, Kolby said "I guess I'll see you around" after we met, which in my mind meant he was just not that into me.

My first impressions of him that night? He was very good looking, so naturally he must be a player and dating 10 other girls. This would also explain all the texting he was doing. He was cool and had good music taste. I liked that he played guitar. He was the first guy I found to be attractive for a long time.

His impressions of me that night: "She's cute, but she seems to like all the attention she's getting from all these "Provo bros" at the concert. And if she's into those kind of guys, I ain't into her."

Let me clear that one up...I was definitely NOT liking the attention I was getting. I was talking to a guy I had zero interest to fill up time because I didn't know what to say to Kolby.

Later hat night, Nikki texted me and was asking about Kolby. I told her I liked him, but he didn't really seem that into me. She said she had been texting him and that he was in fact interested. A few minutes later, I got a text from him. I don't remember what it said, but I remember being frustrated that I had spent the last 3 hours feeling rejected. Kolby tells me now that he actually had my number the whole time (from Nikki) and that's why he didn't ask for it.

boys i tell ya....

Anyways, he told me he learned "Constellations" by Jack Johnson on the guitar as promised. Wow that was fast.

The next 2 days were pretty busy for me, since I was preparing to take the NCLEX, my nursing board exam that would determine if I could practice as a nurse for the rest of my life. I think he texted me and said something like what are you gonna do to celebrate if you pass? To which I replied, go eat Chili's molten lava cake! He then said how about I take you? And then I didn't reply for 2 days because I wanted to play hard to get. Ugh, I know. But I was also extremely focused on my exam and that was my first priority. I had a strict "school before tools" policy in college. (But let's be honest, Kolby was definitely not a tool.)

Anyways, after my exam I texted Kolby and told him I had finished. I remember that day because it was Valentines Day, but of course he already had a date. We made plans to go out a few days later on Friday night to Chilis. I was volunteering at the MTC that night so he picked me up in the parking lot there. It felt like a while since I had seen him, and he looked cuter than ever. We went to Chilis and ate a delicious meal and chatted. He told me he was planning on doing summer sales with Vivint on the East coast. Once again, in my mind, we were over.

Picture from our first date! Wish he was in it though.

After dinner we called our friend Nikki (who set us up) and met up with her and her date to go hot tubbing. I was slightly nervous about being in a swimsuit on our first date...What was this guy's agenda? I was under 100 lbs recovering from my back injury so I knew I couldn't look too terrible in a swimsuit...maybe just too thin. Whatevs.

At the end of the date he asked what my plans were for Memorial Day on Monday, and I told him I didn't know. He said something like "ok well we'll be in touch." WE'LL BE IN TOUCH? Ok this guy definitely wasn't into me. Could he be any clearer? I pretty much crossed him off the list and planned on never hearing from him again after that.

Sunday evening around 6:00pm I get a phone call from WHO? Kolby. I racked my brain to figure out what I must have left in his car. Because obviously that's the only reason he would be calling me. I think I actually ignored the phone call in an attempt to appear busy. Guys, don't even start. I know I had the worst dating stratagem EVER.

He invited me up the next day, a Monday holiday, to meet and hang out with his family. I was a little nervous about meeting his family so early in the game (our second date), but I'm a pretty go with the flow girl so it sounded fun to me. We went to a natural hot spring for a swim with his family, ate homemade Cafe Rio burritos, and I listened while all of his brothers played acoustic guitar and sang. I had a great time and I loved meeting his 7 siblings! Such a cute big family. I also loved the cute little small town in the mountains where his family lived. It was beautiful.

Anyways, there you have it. Our first dates. After that, we hung out almost everyday.

One of our first times hanging out, I went to watch him play basketball. Within 10 minutes he sprained his ankle and I, being a Registered Nurse, took it upon myself to nurse him back to health. That was definitely some good bonding for us :)

I think the first time I felt like I was falling for him was while watching The Sandlot, which was our favorite movie. He was laying on the floor and looked up and smiled and I thought wow this guy is just so so cute. We had a fun few months of cooking for eachother, hiking, visiting where The Sandlot was filmed, spending time with his family, watching our favorite movies (like Hook), making "scookies," BYU baseball games, service activities, and riding around Provo on his scooter.

Here's some photos and memories of our dating months: (sadly, Kolby isn't in a lot of these photos, as he was the man behind the camera. Why didn't we take more selfies?!)

Visiting different temples together :)