The Story of the Bishops

Tim and I met in the Spring of 2004. I had moved in with Erika into Chatsworth and Tim was in the ward. We were walking home from Church one day and Tim was walking nearby, so Erika introduced us to each other (thanks Erika!). I asked Tim where he lived and he said he lived in Miller Apartments. I then told him that my sister had said not to bother with those boys (which Erika had said). That's what I remember from that conversation.

We got to know each other a few other times at ward things and just passings. Then Tim conveniently (I only learned this after we were dating) would save our place for last when he would be handing out fliers for ward activities (he was the head of the friend shipping and service council). I started to like him, but it was about the same time that Jordan was going on his mission so I wasn't really sure what to think about things.

For the rest of Spring Term we hung out quite a bit and did little random things together (like Tim helped me clean our apartment for cleaning checks). Then I went home to Indiana. One of the first nights back I hung out with Aaron and Kevin Anema and their dad. Their dad used to be a member but no longer is. It came up how I had turned in my roommate for cheating and he started on how self-righteous most of the BYU Students (including me) are. I was really hurt and I missed Tim. So I went home and wrote an email to Tim about how bummed I was. He wrote back and thus started our summer of emails. We wrote back and forth a lot! A few weeks after I left Provo, Tim also left and went home to Arizona. He didn't have a job, so my emails were kind of the highlight of his days (at least I tell myself that). I would receive his email when I would get home from work (I was working at Cub Scout Camp) and then I would write him back that night. We talked a few times on the phone over the summer but it was mostly emails.

Yes, I did start dating another boy that summer. This is the part of the story I like to forget. I wasn't interested in this boy a whole lot, but he sure did pursue me and I was very flattered. I had never had any pursue me that much before. But every time I would think about anything long term with this guy, my mind would turn to Tim and I wanted to be "available" just to see if anything would work with him.

So we both returned to Provo for the Fall semester. We were no longer in the same ward, but we live within a block of each other. I called things off with the other boy and Tim and I "hung out" A LOT. I think this is where Tim and I differ on what was our first date. I considered a lot of our things just hanging out but he considered them dates. Finally I asked him on a date and I made it clear that it was a date and we went and saw You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown with Erika and Mason. Unfortunately, rough times were ahead (okay, looking back they weren't so rough, but at the time they were).

There was a girl in Tim's ward who all the guys liked, but she liked Tim. From what I've gathered from Tim, he liked us both, but he liked me a little more, but he didn't want to risk not getting me? Does that make sense? Anyways, he started to do more with this girl and I was crushed. I started to pray to Heavenly Father that I could stop liking Tim, but it wasn't working. We still hung out but not as much and nothing was really an official date, and he was going on dates with this other girl.

So I had an intramural soccer game one night that Tim came to. I was driving and afterwards I dropped a friend off at her house. Becca Pike (my roomie) wanted to see her place so she went inside for a little bit, which left Tim and I in the car just talking. I don't remember how it came up, but I started telling him about a girl in our ward who would pretend to rip her heart out and stop on it every time a boy would make her feel anything but happy. I told Tim how I had started doing that sometimes as well. He asked if he had ever made me want to do that and the honest answer was yes, so I told him so. He wanted a further explanation and so our DTR began!

At some point Becca came back and we went back to BDA. Tim and I stood outside talking for maybe an hour or two and we both admitted that we liked each other and that we were going to start dating. We both had dates that weekend with other people, but we decided after that that was it. This was all the night before Erika's wedding.

So we started dating and I was in the clouds! Sometime around the middle of November the m word (marriage) came up. Tim said he had always wanted to get married in February, but that was way too quick. We decided that we would start thinking and praying about each other in an eternal sense.

We got engaged about a week before Christmas. Tim was in Indiana visiting and we had gone caroling. Apparently he wanted to propose while we were caroling but it never really worked out. On the car ride home I could tell something was bothering him but he kept saying that it was nothing. So I started to get frustrated with him. Some time after we got home we went to finish a chess game we had started earlier. Tim said it was my turn and I told him I really didn't want to play because I was upset that he wouldn't be honest with me. Then he proposed. Turns out he had the matter of popping the question on his mind and that's what was bothering him. I was no longer frustrated (if I could go back in time though, I would change getting upset - I hate that part of this story).

Then it was time to decide when to get married. I didn't want to get married right after the semester because I thought that I would be too excited to take finals and because EVERYONE does that. Tim and I both preferred not to wait until June, so we decided it would be February! We went upstairs and told Mom and Dad and then called people and that was that!

I love you Tim!