Our Love Story

This is our story, as told by me, Mrs. Rutland.

Deion & I met through Facebook. Thanks, Facebook! 
I know, I know, it sounds so cliche, but it's true!

I'd been home from my mission for about a week or so when all of a sudden, I got a message on Facebook.

He said, "Welcome home!! :)" not thinking anything would come of it, and I replied, "Oh thanks! That's very kind of you! How have you been?" Honestly, I had NO IDEA who he was or how I knew him... So the Facebook stalking began.

I looked through his pictures, and still didn't know how or why we were "Facebook friends," and after a few days of just sending friendly messages back and forth, he said, "I still can't believe you're still talking to me. ;)" So I said, kind of coldly, "Haha well I don't know why, either, I don't even know you or remember how I know you."

Regardless of my brazen reply, and to my eternal gratitude, he kept the conversation going. We figured out that we'd both run track in High School, but that's kind of when the conversation kind of died down. I was getting busier with a family wedding and what not, so I started to slow down in my replies to his messages, even though we were still just asking each other questions to get to know each other, we both admit that it was a little awkward still talking to each other when we had never actually met up in person.

One day, after not hearing back from me, he said, "If giving you my [phone] number would make this question [asking] thing easier I can... Either way if you text it you're going to be talking to a random guy. :)" OKAY, HOW SMOOTH IS THAT!?! Risky, yes, but smooth. What if I'd never texted him?!

Well, I did, about two days later, and eventually he called me up to ask me on a date.

He came to the door and I held out my hand for a nice, formal handshake. He took it like a man, and then we were on our way!

Trafalga will always hold a special place in my heart because that's where I realized how genuine of a guy I was with. It was easy for us to talk to each other. He was observant, he asked questions, he smelled good, he told me all about his goals, he is driven, he is positive, he laughs at himself... He's real. He's been hurt before, but he wasn't bitter about it, he saw the ways his experiences had helped him grow and was actually grateful for that. He didn't say anything negative at all, and I admired that immediately about him. But what attracted me most was his devotion to God and the gospel. I asked him about his LDS mission. He spoke plainly about it, not trying to talk himself up, but REALLY talking about it, about the people, about the things he loved most about it... and that was refreshing to me, considering the mission I'd just come home from. I could tell just by the humble way he spoke about his mission that he was a successful missionary. We connected in a way I'd never connected with someone so quickly, and I can honestly say it was the best blind date I'd ever been on. By the end of the night, I felt uncertain about him, but comfortable enough to give him an awkward side hug.

We didn't see each other for about two weeks after that. He'd gone up to Idaho and I got really busy with family, and we didn't really text each other at all. I wondered if he wanted to go out again but was too afraid to ask. He's said he couldn't stop thinking about me while he was gone, worrying that I'd meet someone else who would sweep me off my feet. But luckily, he called me up when he got back and we scheduled another date.

I was keeping my options open. I hadn't been single in a long time and it felt good to date around and get to know other people. I love the freedom of meeting new people and wondering what kind of relationships form., but I was also getting tired at this point and feeling a little pressured from a few of the guys I was seeing to be exclusive. I felt a little overwhelmed because although I'd explained to them that I was just dating around, they seemed a little impatient with me about it, which turned me off even more to the idea of settling down at all. So I took it to the Lord in prayer, asking which guy was the right one to DATE for now.

This was his cover photo at the time.

This was his profile picture & I don't think it does him justice at all

The next evening I had my second date with Deion. He let me choose what we did that night after listing a couple options. I chose to go bowling, but before we did that, we went up to Dry Canyon and just watched the sun set for a bit. HIS IDEA. Is this guy a romantic, or what!?? We hiked up the mountain a little bit and sat on the ground and just talked. He told me some jokes that I didn't really get (typical), and by the time the sun went down, we left. I found myself really liking him.

One of the things that stood out the most to me about our relationship is that we were able to talk about a lot of things, even the scary grown-up topics such as marriage, pretty early on. I wasn't afraid to ask him about anything, we were both very clear-headed about everything, so even though we talked about that, we didn't get caught up in the emotion or twitterpation of the idea of it. I told him I could see myself dating him, and that he was the one I wanted to date exclusively at that point in my life. I liked the way I felt about him and when I was with him. I felt excited about our potential, and he felt the same way. I told him I wanted to break things off with the other people I was seeing, but after that, I wanted to be just his. And you know what? He didn't rush me into doing that at all, which I really appreciated.

Deion and I joke about how I was the one who always made all of the "first moves." I told him on our second date that I "wouldn't be offended if [he] held my hand." and I also was the first one to kiss him (just on his neck, people, but still!). But ever since that second date, I felt so strongly that he was the right person to be in my life and I'm so thankful for those impressions and feelings that I had so early on because I know they came from a much Higher source.

We got engaged on January 10th. I didn't see it coming AT ALL even though we'd gone ring shopping together and even designed the ring. He took me up to Park City for a dinner/sleigh ride date that his "grandma had given us the tickets" to. That was a lie, people. He also said that the ring wouldn't be ready for another two weeks. Also a lie. 
So when we got on the sleigh and made it halfway up the mountain and we got out of the sleigh to "take pictures" and when I looked away for a split second, he got down on his knee and popped the question. I was in absolute shock and couldn't even eat the dinner; I couldn't stop staring at the ring, or at him in disbelief that he'd pulled all that off without me having the slightest idea!

Thank you Sierra West! 

WHAT A BABE.

Moments after it happened. 

And so the wedding planning began. We had a 5-month engagement, which turned out to be just long enough for us to plan everything while we both worked. We were married June 3rd, 2015. It was the happiest day of my life to date. 

Emilie Ann Photography

I've started this little blog mostly out of the desire to keep my loved ones updated about or lives, but you're welcome, whoever you are, to read along, too!