it's a love story {part 10}

It all comes to a close today! But if you missed any part along the way, here they are: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9.

Part Ten - The End of the Beginning

So we had just broken up, and it was awful. I loved him. I wanted to be with him. I didn't want him to be with anyone else.

But he had a date with another girl, and we would be broken up at least until then. So we were both miserable.

It was so annoying. He hated being broken up just as much as I did, but he still let the break-up stand. 

I told him that I hoped this whole "feeling that he needed to date this other girl" was just so that he'd realize that he only wanted to be with me. He said he hoped the same.

The Friday that we were broken up, I went out with a bunch of girlfriends, and he went out with his brother and sister. He was talking to Lacey (his sister) about the break-up and she said something along the lines of, "Well if you're having doubts, it's good that you're taking a break." To which he responded, "But that's just it. I'm not having any doubts. I want to be with her." (Or something like that.) Talk about frustrating! He knew he wanted to be with me, and yet he wasn't?! Bah . . . 

Finally, Saturday came. He took her out to lunch, and it was the longest hour or two of my life. 

After the date, he came to my apartment. He wasn't quick to spill any details, but finally, he told me that it had felt like he'd been out with a friend--just a friend. It was nice talking to her, but he didn't feel any romantic feelings toward her.

Soooo . . . we got back together! He had received the answers he needed--he really did want to be with me, and he didn't need to date any more girls to figure that out :)

I was on cloud nine. I was so, so happy that the break-up was over, because I didn't want to spend another minute away from this man. I wanted to marry him.

Six weeks of dating, and I knew that I wanted to marry him. Six weeks up against three years (of dating my missionary) and I still knew that Russ was the one I wanted to be with forever. And now that I had figured that out, I was ready to make it happen.

The very next day, I brought up marriage. I told Russ that it was coming time to make decisions for the summer and for the next year--where to live, whether or not I was going to do a study abroad--so I needed to know what he was thinking about us. He told me that he never wanted to be without me.

And that was that.

I didn't know everything about him. In fact, I still had a lot to learn about who he was, some of which I'm still learning. 

But I didn't need to know everything about him. I knew that I loved him, and I knew he was the man I was willing to give my whole heart to, forever. I was ready for an eternal commitment, and so was he :)

And we've never looked back :)

january 3, 2012
birthday hike

Thanks for reading along this very long series all about our love story. I hope you enjoyed reading what I enjoyed experiencing. In the coming weeks, I'll probably do a few more posts about our love story--detailing the proposal, the reception, and the wedding day--so check back on Wednesdays if you're not sick of my love story yet ;)

**ashleynicole