Maui Bride

 Our story is a long one so you are forwarned! HOW WE MET: Sean and I met in our very first college class (Bus101 with Joan McBee!) Fall term 2003 at Southern Oregon University. I was the chatterbox girl that sat in front of him and he was the young 17 year old smart guy behind me :) Although we became friends it was not until our sophomore year that we became good friends. Yes, Sean helped me pass accounting but I kept him well fed! (that was our deal, he helped me with homework and I made dinner) I moved from Ashland to Oahu the middle of our sophomore year but we remained close friends by keeping in touch by phone. We saw each other a couple times over the next few years. He came out to Hawaii once and I went to Ashland once. WHEN IT ALL CHANGED: After graduating I moved back to Anchorage Alaska where he came to visit his Aunt Janet and I May of 2008. We both think this is where our feeling for each other started to change. After all, a few weeks later I flew to Boise and surprised Sean at his housewarming party where he closed the door in my face! The real change in our relationship happened when I went to Boise the following September to visit my parents (who moved to Boise from Alaska) and Sean (who had moved to Boise from Oregon for a job opportunity). Both had moved to Boise within a few months of each other and became friends without me ever being there to even introduce them! (Classic Sean right?) A majority of the trip we were with my family but we both wanted to go out one night with just the two of us. We went to sushi at Shiges where we had our fair share of Saki then moved on to Bitter Creek for cocktails and conversation. Something about our conversation that night really changed, we talked for the first time about previous relationships and our hopes for future mates. For some reason those had been taboo in the past. We did the distance thing from September until December when I moved to Boise and have been having the time of our lives and falling more in love! THE PROPOSAL: Sean and my only real disagreement is where to spend Christmas. Both of us are very close with our families, I have always spent Christmas in Texas with my extended family and Sean has always spent Christmas with his family in Lincoln City. This last Christmas was no exception, we were both very bummed to not be spending Christmas together but understood each other's need to be with our family over the Holiday's. My sister Chelsey's boyfriend Jack came to Texas with us this last year and my ENTIRE FAMILY gave me SO MUCH grief about the fact that Jack came but Sean did not. Little did I know they ALL knew about Sean's scheme! The day after Christmas I woke up, got some new super cute dishes on sale with my mom, went to a Dallas Maverick's game with my dad, Jack and sisters then headed to a good BBQ restaurant where my mom was meeting us for dinner . When we arrived my mom said she had something funny to tell me, she brought me to the upstairs of the restaurant where Sean was waiting with the hugest smile on his face! He is such a trickster! I was THRILLED to say the least. We had a great dinner then went and had drinks with my aunt, uncle and some cousins where it just so happened that the subject of wedding rings came up! Sean said he was tired after his day of traveling so we asked my parents to drop us off at my cousins Jake and Melinda's house where we were going to be staying. We walked into their beautifully decorated for Christmas home, I sat on the couch but Sean stayed standing and proceeded to tell me how much he loves me and wants to spend the rest of his life with me. I can't remember all the details but he tells me I forgot to say yes right away because I was too busy jumping up and down! We toasted with champagne that night and had a wonderful engagement dinner with my entire family the next night. Definitely a Christmas to remember! SO that is how Sean and I transitioned from Friends, to good friends, to couple and now together forever :)