Our LIFE journey begins

In April 2001, Angie began working at Applebee's where she immediately hit it off with Matt. After some ups and downs and months of flirting, we began seeing each other here and there. Matt would come up and play games with Angie and her family, and Angie would hang out with Matt after work to wind down and play games with other co-workers.

In August, Matt made the decision that he wanted to follow his friends to Phoenix who had an opportunity to Apprentice for a Real Estate Appraiser.

In October, Angie helped a friend move down and came to visit Matt. It was during this visit that Angie's mom called and said that he friend Cass had an opportunity and to call her. Apparently there was a woman in Cass' ward whose husband had just been put in jail and the wife was having to work and couldn't afford a babysitter, but was offering room and board in exchange for a part time sitter. Angie had nothing much going for her in Cedar and determined that this could just be another adventure in the journey of her life, so she agreed to move down as well.

She came to town on a rainy rainy day in November. She got a job waiting tables at Ruby's Diner in the Chandler mall, and Matt got a job waiting tables at The Olive Garden. As time wore on, the circumstances surrounding Angie's move began to go sour, and she began to spend more and more time at Matt's house to give her a place to be away from "home". Eventually, she determined that the exchange was not working, and moved in with a stranger in February of 2002.

For then next 2 months, we continued to see each other on a more regular basis although complicated by a 45 minute drive between the two homes. Angie got temp work with a title company and eventually moved into an townhouse approximately halfway between her work and Matt's house. Matt got a job a Buca Di Beppo. Angie transferred within the title company to a location less than 10 minutes away from her then townhouse and then learned that a friend was going to move to town and needed someone to move in with. This was one of Angie's first real life lessons. Her friend moved in and convinced her to sign a year lease. They did it under Angie's name only as her friend did not have great credit and they would have had to come up with a $600 deposit. Under Angie's name, no deposit was required. That lasted all of 8 weeks after which said friend declared that she was unable to find a job (probably something to do with lack of looking for a job) and bailed, leaving Angie to pay the entire rent for a 2 bedroom apartment with no obligations on the part of the friend. Fortunately, things were improving with work, and Angie was making a little more money to help cover the extra $400/mo she had to pay of her friend's portion of the rent.

We had talked of marriage, but dated for well over 9 months before we would even admit to anyone that we were exclusive, or boyfriend/girlfriend. All we did know was that we had no interest in NOT being part of each others lives, so we just carried on as we were. At Christmas-time that year, Angie had talked of the need to visit her Grandpa in Provo, UT, and figured if she was that close, she'd like to also meet up with Matt for Dinner in Salt Lake if he could make it work. The plan was made, and it was decided that Matt's whole family would join in on the fun and wanted to meet her. Little did she know that Matt had told them that he was going to marry her. By the end of the night, Matt's mom had indicated that whenever we decided to get married to please just give her 2 months notice so she could be sure and get time off work.

Things were getting progressively busier at work for Angie, and eventually, she came to the realization that the ONLY possible date we could get married was going to have to be over 4th of July weekend, otherwise, it would be sometime late in the fall. While there was no ring, and there was no official proposal, Angie informed Matt that IF they were going to get married, that's when it was going to have to be when, so he had some decisions to make, but it was already near the end of March at this point, so he didn't have long to act and be able to give his mom the necessary notice. His mom was informed, and things jumped into action. It was decided that we would have both the wedding and the reception in Ogden, UT. In April, we found someone who enjoyed doing photography and considered herself an amateur, and she said she'd be willing to take our announcement photos for super cheap. She took us to the Scottsdale Civic Center, which prior to this time was an unknow Oasis treasure in the middle of old town Scottsdale. I think we only ended up paying her $50. She did as well or better than any professional would have. We were quite pleased.

Angie was working until 10:00 on a regular basis just to get the job done that was necessary. Matt was scheduled to work most evenings, so it seemed to work out. On May 18, Matt called Angie at about 5:30 which was pretty typical and asked if she was going to be working late. She assured him that she was, and he said he was just calling to say that he loved her and was on his way into work. At 6:00, he came strolling into office her dressed up and toting Peach roses. He took her to the Scottsdale Civic Center where we strolled around for awhile. Eventually, he tried to steer Angie into a couple of different gazebo's, but unfortunately, they were occupied. Finally, we just came to rest on a bench to the side of the walkway. He got down on one knee and asked her to spend the rest of her life with him. She was quite pleased and surprised as she had not expected an official proposal out of him because of how everything was falling together, and so completely out of order. Matt had been saving his $1 bills every night after work and saved up to be able to completely pay for the ring. He had picked out the size, design, color and clarity entirely on his own, and did a wonderful job! He coordinated all of this as soon as he knew when to expect the ring. We then went to dinner where he had reservations at a place called Bravo Bistro where he had helped his buddies valet for awhile after he had first moved down.

Upon closer inspection of the ring, it was determined that there was a large black flaw that was easily seen, and not nearly the quality he was assured he was getting. The ring was returned for re-fitting with the proper diamond. Matt's family came down for his birthday that year, and she and Angie went dress shopping. It was a great time and a great experience for both of them. The dress Angie chose was a two piece and it was sleevless. We added long flowing sleeves to the dress, and it completed the "princess effect". Two weeks later (mid June-ish) Matt's mom was throwing a bridal shower in northern Utah, and Angie was afraid she wasn't going to have a ring to show off as they still had not gotten it corrected. The jewelry guy was able to put a CZ in the ring so that people got the gist of it and so that Angie actually had a ring on her finger, so all turned out fine.

This same weekend, decorations were chosen and planned on, food was discussed and things were falling into place. Near the end of June, a second shower was had in Cedar City, and then it was time for the wedding...