10 Years Ago

10 Years Ago......

I was a student at UVSC.
I had just switched my major from Business Management to Art & Visual Communications.
I was a size 7! :(
I worked for JC Penney in the Jr's dept and made $7 and hour + commission on my dress sales.
My greatest stress in life was what to wear.

By some miracle I found a house to rent for $400/mo.
I was in Los Angeles, and had just had the longest and happiest day of my life.
I married my best friend.

I thought it might be fun to post about the way I met Michael, as a tribute to "us." Michael and I met some time in late November or early December 1997. He was roommates with one of my best "guy" friends at the time, Matt Foresythe (affectionately known at the time by some, as Matti fun time). Michael had just gotten back from serving a 2 year LDS mission in Guatemala, and was one of Matt's more recent new additions to his roommates. Michael grew up in Long Beach and decided to go home for Thanksgiving. Apparently he'd invited Matt to go home with him for the holiday. While they were in Long Beach, Michael somehow managed to total his Dad's car in a bad car accident. When they returned they had lots of pictures to accompany their whiplash, and a few injuries to display. I guess Michael asked Matt who they should go show their 'war wounds' to and Matt suggested an apartment full of girls who could give them good 'sympathy.' They came over to my place and that's when I met him! That was just the beginning. When we met we were just friends and weren't immediately attracted to each other. I was chasing after another one of his roommates (Tyson) at the time, and Michael was chasing after our ward pianist, Chelise, at the time; we were a bit preoccupied.

I was going to leave my entry at that, but it leaves so much to tell. So I'm going to keep going for a little bit of the story.

Disclaimer: Before you read any further, this is where my story telling gets kind of long and you have to keep track of various people because I go into tangents. So, read on if you'd like, but this was posted more or less for my kids to be able to read one day.

For the next couple of months we would cross paths occasionally; at ward activities, at church, occasionally at their apartment. Michael ended up dating this girl, Chelise and by February they were already at the "fish or cut bait" point of the relationship. She dumped him because she felt like she was in "someone else's place," (and she was). Thank heaven for Chelise's perceptiveness! My roommate, Brooke also liked this guy Tyson, whom I had my eye on. That got ridiculous; he would call my apartment and chat with me, and then ask in the same conversation to talk to Brooke, and ask her out. It also happened the other way as well, and quickly ended any of my interest in him. (Consequently, Brooke ended her interest in him as well). Here's something most of you don't know either. Michael is quite the volleyball player. He red-shirted for BYU his freshman year and (back to this story) was asked to play in a tournament in Moab, that February (1998). He originally had turned it down, but reconsidered after Chelise broke up with him a week before Valentine's Day. So, Michael was off to the tournament, but still felt like he should get something for Chelise before he left town (poor guy got his heart broken). This is where we start up again. He came over to my house and asked if I'd give him a ride (he didn't have a car, and I did) to the store to get her something like a potted plant (no roses, too serious for just breaking up). So, I did. We drove up to the old Fred Meyer that went out of business years ago, and ran into my Dad at the store. (Side Note: my parents had just moved out here from Los Angeles a few months prior) My Dad saw us in the parking lot, and demonstrated, publicly, the lack of tact that I come from when he said "Hey Kare, how's the dating scene going?" To which I replied "It sucks. There is no one cute in my ward to date." My Dad's next response..."Well, what about this guy?" To which I replied, "Oh this is just Michael Brown. He's my friend." I have to laugh so hard now that this was my future husband! Michael tells me now, that when that happened, he'd also felt similar, like we were just friends and not interested in more until he heard that. Then he says he thought..."Why not? What about me?" So Michael gave Chelise her plant, took off for the tournament (where he killed the competition) and came back. The next couple of months Michael started coming around to my place more often. He'd be sitting on my couch when I'd get home from work at night. We had great time just hanging out and then.....the first kiss! (Not that that wasn't a great time too!)

Happy Anniversary, my love!

P.S. All credit for the pictures is given to my sister Kristine Recalde. Thanks for the memories!
BTW this is "our song" too!