Tristi: Matt and I were both attending the same ward (a congregation of our church), and I had a crush on someone else when I met Matt, so I didn’t really pay him a lot of attention at first. I just noticed that he made great comments in Sunday School, and that he had a really nice voice.
Matt: I met Tristi outside the door of our bishop’s (pastor’s) office. I remember enjoying talking to her, and thinking what a great friend she was, and how attractive that was.
Tristi: I stepped into the bishop’s office for a minute and left my scriptures on a chair next to Matt. When I came out, I saw him zipping my scripture case back up. Why was he opening up my case? Then I saw that he had left me a smiley face picture tucked between two of the pages.
Matt: I don’t remember leaving that smiley face, but that is something I would do.
Tristi: Well, of course it’s something you would do … you did it.
Matt: The next step was at an after-church meeting. It was mid-term crunch time for most of the students, and they didn’t look fresh, but Tristi certainly did. I noticed, and brought it to her attention.
Tristi: His exact words were, “You must not be studying too hard, because every time I’ve seen you, you look really good.” Yes, I do remember that, word for word.
Matt: (laughing) My walk down Memory Lane is kind of foggy that way, but I did notice, and I did enjoy complimenting her.
Tristi: And I enjoyed being complimented. I hadn’t dated anyone yet – at the ripe old age of eighteen, I had given up on romance and decided I would be the crazy cat lady on the corner (and I don’t even like cats) and then here was this guy, out of the clear blue sky, saying I “looked really good.” It was a nice, if somewhat unusual, surprise.
Matt: So we started chatting, and we discovered we had some things in common. An interest in Russian language and culture, to be exact. After a few questions, I thought, “Why not? Let’s see if she’ll go on a date.”
Tristi: His exact words were, “What are you doing on Saturday night?” I’d been thinking about work, and not about dating, so it took me a minute to understand that he was asking me out. I told him my work schedule for Saturday, not that he cared, and then I realized what he was really asking. We set up a time for him to come over that night after I got off work to listen to a CD of Russian music I’d mentioned. The next day, I ran out to buy that CD—I didn’t have it yet, but had only said I wanted to get it. Having a date to listen to it sort of forced my hand in that.
We’ll tell you the story of our first date in our next installment. In the meantime, it’s sure been fun to reminisce together.
Related Blogs:
He Said, She Said: Let’s Meet Matt!
Making the Most Out of What You’ve Got
How Do You Show Your Commitment?