team secret.

first of all, i guess it's important to know who secret is. years ago, not long after i had scoped out my future husband, i was telling a friend about him and because of his last name (which is very similar to "secret") we decided to call him "secret". ever since that day, i haven't called him anything different!

after deciding to take a break from school, i moved to LA to be a nanny. it was amazing! can you imagine as an 18 year old moving to los angeles and spending weekends at the house of blues and the grove with your best friend? it was such a dream! my first week in my singles ward, i looked over the crowd and i spotted this stud of a guy with his arms around 2 other girls and although many girls would've thought "ugh, what a tool...", the true thought that came to my mind was "i'm going to date him".

it took 8 months for this to happen.....

and this is how it happened:

a good friend of mine is having a birthday party at a local restaurant in town, and she invites me! so i show up, after a day of work, hair in a pony, rain boots on, mascara under my eyes and jelly on my t-shirt (yeah, whole package). i round the corner to the restaurant and see through the window my group, and in the group was <<SECRET>>. you can imagine my startle and worry as i reassesed my situation-- 1: why do i look like this??? 2: why do i look like this?? 3: why can't you pull yourself together????!

so i sat outside, called my fellow LA nanny bf. no answer. no answer. no answer. WHEREareYOU!?!? call my mom: is no one else concerned that i look like POOP?!?!? whereAREyou!!

so i had to brave it. i walked in like a champ. sat down across from secret. i think i peed a little.

i was trying to play it cool though. so i talked to his roommate and other people and talked very little to him, but hey it's all good! what starts fast, fizzles out fast. after a lovely dinner, i head home only to see a facebook request by... drumroll... "Secret". BOWchickaWOWwow!! winner, winner, chicken dinner! i'm jumpin all over my bed, doing all sorts of moves i didn't know i had. NOW my bf answers!!!

a week later, we're dining at a super nice sushi restaurant overlooking hollywood. charmer!! a week after that, we're at disneyland.

well, we had a couple months of just pure bliss as this funky, young, LA livin couple... and then: girl has to go home to finish school and boy has to go to england to have fun. SOOOooooo we part. BUTttt not for long:)

after a request or two, i went to visit secret in england. my first adventure abroad with my super cute bf. he is a rom-e-o. he took me all over london:

 and... it was freezing.... but totally do-able as it gave me a good excuse to snuggle up to him ALL-day-LONG.

not only did he take me to london, but then he whisked me across the channel and on over to paris. oh-la-la... i know;) we can blame him 100% for my obsession (everyday i tell him i want to move to paris...).

after 2 weeks in europe, i was convinced that this relationship needs to become a "union." and i guess secret felt the same way. the morning i left to go home, it started snowing buckets in oxford and secret says he went home and thought "i miss her. i really miss her. i want to marry her."

a month later, secret came home for a week and i met him in LA. one day we were walking on the beach and we were having a conversation about where our relationship was going (more like i was having a conversation... haha). i said "ya know, secret, i just don't know about this. the long distance thing is way hard and if we're not going to get married, i think i need to move on..." blah, blah, blah. and all he said back to my huge, deep, thought was, "okay". i was furious. i had no idea this beautiful ring was in his pocket.

an hour later we were engaged..

3 months later we were married..

and what a joy it has been!