:The Rodericks: : our story

We met the summer of 2011 via church.

I had just started living with my older sister and the singles wards in our area had just redone its boundaries, which basically means nobody knew each other.

No existing social groups.

No cliques.

Nothing.

So my sister and I go to church the first Sunday after this big reorganization takes place and I see a handsome guy in a fitted grey suit.

I was all about that.

But, I wasn't really the see-what-you-guy-you-want-and-snatch-him-up kinda girl, so he was basically just eye candy.

And tons of other girls were taking notice of him as well, which made me think that he was the "I can have any girl I want" type.

And I'm not into those guys.

Turns out, he wasn't one of those guys- he wasn't obnoxiously flirty, wasn't always on the prowl, and wasn't full of himself.

He was actually super nice, down to earth, and out to have a good time. That is something I can dig.

The first time I ever said a word to him was when I was late to Sunday School and the only available seat was next to this guy in the grey suit. Obviously, I had to take it.

So I sat next to him and mustered up my best social skills to get a conversation going. We talked for a bit and I nearly died when I found out his name was Taylor {which so happened to be the name of the guy I dated just prior to him and I really liked, but things just didn't work out}.

It was awkward. Mostly because I couldn't tell this new handsome Taylor the reason for my sudden awkwardness.

Despite that, we ended up in the same circle of friends. I was always trying to find ways to talk with him, lure him in, but he was a little oblivious.
We kept hanging out all summer with our group of friends until the perfect opportunity presented itself.

Our singles ward was going on a campout to Bryce Canyon for a few days and him and I were in the same "group". Score!

I was super excited about this and it gave us a good chance to talk frequently.

A few days before the campout I got switched out of his group and into another so that a few "less social" people who wanted to come could be in his group.

Lame.

But...we ended up spending all of our time out there together anyway.

Hiking. Swimming. Playing games. Star gazing. Together.