Nov. 10, 2018 - We first met at St. George during The Great Creampuff Ball. I only knew him as "green-shirt-guy" at the time, but that didn't stop 15-year-old me from having a crush on him. He didn't remember me at all.

We didn't meet again until May 2021.

Aug. 2022 - Liam started coming to St. George more regularly, though neither of us knew eachother very well. At this point we were just friends.

May-July 2023 - Unbeknownst to me though obvious to everyone else, Liam had grown to like me and began a silent pursuit. At the time I was set on being single for awhile and moving out to Spokane, so when I discovered the news from my brother Joe, I urgently felt the need to turn Liam down. He hadn't openly expressed his intentions yet, so I felt awkward rejecting him prematurely. Shortly after, I alluded that I was not ready for a relationship (I thought I was being subtle). Liam naturally picked up on this so respectfully and patiently he deliberated on how to win me over.

Aug. 2023 - I was moving to Spokane right after the upcoming church Pilgrimage, so Liam offered to take me out on his sailboat under the pretense that he would be taking all of my siblings out afterwards. An unconvincing excuse for most people, but I fell for it nonetheless.

Over the course of that weekend, we spent a lot of time with each other helping with the various activities at the Pilgrimage, singing together, and eventually ending the day dancing underneath the stars. Before I even knew it, I was falling for him.

Pictured below is Liam wooing me with a motorcycle ride on the beach.

Sept. 2023 - As I was settling into life in Spokane, I struggled with sorting through my uncertain feelings. I was more open to the possibility of a relationship with Liam than I was previously, but now we were across the state from eachother and he still hadn't said anything to me. I convinced myself that although I enjoyed our friendship, we would ultimately not be compatible as a couple.

Sept. 30, 2023 - While he was visiting Spokane, I pulled Liam aside for a quick chat on a determined mission to reject him. What was meant to be 5 minutes turned into 3-4 hours of talking under a full moon and a clear night sky. For the first time ever I heard dirctly from him how he truely felt. I was blown away by how much he had noticed about me and the exceeding thought he had put into his words. Needless to say I was incredibly flattered. Even so, I listened to my conscience and followed through with my original plan.

Initially I thought Liam took the rejection well and I was delighted that we were able to go back to being friends, though as the night progressed and after some gin, it was clear he was not over it and would not be giving up that easily. We smoothed things over on the phone a couple of days later joking about that night and ended on good terms, though we were both left feeling depressed and unsettled afterwards. Liam gave me distance after that, but he still held onto hope.

As the days went by, we rarely saw and talked with each other as our "friendship" was never the same. After the night we talked, all I could think about was Liam and the things that he had said to me - I couldn't get him off of my mind.

Several weeks later, I woke up at 3am one morning and had a sudden sinking realization that I in fact did love Liam and deeply regretted my decision. I kept this to myself however and accepted that there was no chance for us to work out, convincing myself that Liam now hated my guts. I figured that I just missed our friendship and my feelings would fade with time.

After 3 long months and as my feelings grew for Liam, I eventually I couldn't keep it to myself anymore and told some close friends. My brother Joe promptly passed the word on to Liam, who was so happy that he quickly began making progress on his house again.

Dec. 2023 - I came back to visit the Westside for Christmas and after some convincing, I decided to tell Liam how I felt despite my crippling fear that he would reject me.

Christmas Eve night, once everyone had left the church, Liam and I walked and talked underneath the full moon and stars as I awkwardly tried to muster up the courage to confess. After an hour of beating around the bush and walking around all of the church property, we sat down by the end of a big tree in silence until Liam eventually initiated by saying "I'll wait." I told him how I felt, and after another long silence I turned to look at him to see a smile I will never forget. The night ended with us exchanging a handmade knife he welded and me giving him cookies I made of us (pretty homeschooled, right?).

Aug. 16, 2024 - After 8 months together, Liam proposed to me down by the church creek ♡