How we became the Washburn's

Here is our story: The summer of 2007 Mike moved into the Branbury, where I had been living for about 5 months. Mike was made the Elders quorum president shortly after moving in. One Sunday after ward prayer I decided I was going to get to know Mike and his roommates, so I went up and started talking to all of them. I turned to Mike, who was the newest member of the ward, and asked where he was from. He was wearing a Denver Broncos T-shirt, so all he did was point to his shirt and say nothing to me in return. I was like, "Okay, he is a real keeper." I totally thought he was one of those cocky guys! So I started to talk to his other roommate whose name was also Mike. They lived in the "Mike apartment" because there were 3 Mikes that lived in the apartment. Mike Washburn (aka White Mike), Mike Alvillar (aka Mexi Mike) and Mike Nguyen (aka Asian Mike).

I had been talking to my friend Rachael and we decided to make breakfast for dinner and invite "the Mikes" over for the fun. We started cooking and the boys showed up, but the only one that came into the kitchen to help was White Mike, so that earned him a brownie point! We talked a little more while making the pancakes together, but it was a little awkward because I was still convinced he was a jerk from the T-shirt experience. After we ate we all decided we wanted to watch a movie. 10 min into the movie my friend Rachael asks the guys if any of them would like a back massage. Guess who was the first to sign up? Yes, White Mike. In my head I was subtracting the one brownie point I had given him earlier in the kitchen! I was thinking to myself he really is one of those cocky guys. I was really just mad because deep down I was interested in him and I wanted to be the girl giving him the massage!

A few weeks go by.

I had missed a few weeks of church because of some things with the family. I had not seen or talked to "the Mikes" for quite a while. The week I came back, me and my roommate Hanni went to church together. We were sitting in Sunday School together and in walks Mike. When I saw him, my heart fluttered. He eyed me and I started freaking out. I knew he was coming to sit next to me, even though his roommates were sitting in front of me with several empty seats next to them with another whole row of empty seats behind me. He climbed over two people to sit next to me. I'm sure my face was cherry red. My heart was racing I felt like I was out of breath. We said hello to each other and then it is pretty quiet. I mean we are sitting in Sunday School so we couldn't really say much, ya know? Every time the person teaching would ask a question, Mike would nudge my arm as if I should answer the question, which was not going to happen. I was way too distracted.

After church we had ward choir. I decided to go that week and was pleasantly surprised to see Mike there. After choir practice I was trying to avoid a guy that i had dated just a few months before, so of course I started talking to Mike as we walked outside. I had driven over to the clubhouse because I came straight from dinner at my parents house. When I offered Mike the thirty second ride home, and he accepted the offer. I dropped him off and 20 minutes later he texted me, saying, "Thank you so much for the ride home from choir; it was nice not to walk back to the apartment in the heat." After he sent me the text I knew for sure he was interested in me. We continued to text on and off for a bit.

Then one of the girls apartments texted me and said that they were having a movie night. Perfect! Now I could invite Mike and have a good excuse to see him again! So I texted Mike and told him if he could come over if he wanted. I got there earlier than he did and sat down on the couch. The living room filled up quickly and soon there were no open seats near me. Mike came and ended up sitting on the floor. Part way through the movie one of the girls sitting next to me left and the next thing I knew Mike was sitting right next to me:). I was so happy! We slowly got closer so our arms were touching. ( I know its so silly but I was on cloud nine!)

After the movie Mike offered to walk me home, and of course I was all for that. We talked at the door step for a while. He asked if my roommates and I were planning on going to F.H.E the next night. Our ward was going to an Orem Owls game. I really don't like sports much, but I really wanted another excuse to see him again. I told him I would get back to him after I talked to my roommates. I begged all of my roommates to go but none of them wanted to. Finally my roommate Hanni said she would go with me.

I had to work late that night so I asked Mike to hold our tickets and meet us once we got there. We arrived in the middle of the game. Mike met us at the gate with our tickets. The ward was having ice cream when we got there. Hanni and I had just finished dinner, so we were not up for ice cream. We decided to go lay our blanket near Mike's roommates. Right as we got settled, some lame guy came and sat right next to me. Mike never came to talk to me because of the lame-wad that had ruined everything. We ended up leaving early because we were going to a movie as roommates. I looked for Mike to say goodbye and thank him for holding our tickets, but he had already gone. I decided to text him and tell him thank you, and apologize for not being able to talk to him much. He said that he and his roommates had to leave early to go do homework and he felt bad that he was not able to talk to me more. I texted back and said, "Well, I guess we'll just have to find another time to hang out."

We went out a few days later on our first official date! :) (July 26th, 2007 to be exact!) For our date, we went mini golfing. I almost beat him but as we all know, 'almost' only counts is horseshoes and hand grenades.

And the rest is history...