Love Story- Part 3

December 17th came. After 18 months/2 years of serving, we were going home. Back to our families and back to a "normal" life. We were both excited- we were both terrified.

I came home and seeing my family there at the airport for the first time in 18 months was the best feeling in the world- there are not words to describe the emotion and excitement. As soon as we grabbed my bags, we rushed out of the airport and headed to our stake center. I was released that night by our wonderful new Stake President. It was a bittersweet experience. That night I obviously could not sleep- even though I was completely exhausted. My incredible mom stayed up the whole night with me. Our first time to really talk in 18 months. I told her all about the revelation I received about Zach- and she already knew. It is that 6th sense that mothers have. She listened, she asked questions, but mostly she was just there as she always has been to support and love.

Zach went home and had much the same experience. Just such an amazing time finally seeing and catching up with family. He, however, was not released until the next day. He was released at 11 am. At 11:35 am I had a facebook friend request from his mom. I was freaking out. Then, just seconds into my freak-out, he sent me a message. He had forgotten his password to his account and so he was using his moms to get in touch with me. We sent messages back and forth until he went and got a phone. We then exchanged numbers. We texted that whole day until about 6 pm. He called me for the first time as a normal person. We stayed up talking on the phone all through the night- until 7:30 am the next day. That is when I knew. I knew that life was never going to be the same and I knew I couldn't live without him.

This went on for the next week. Talking all day and all night. We could hardly spend a minute without talking to each other. We made plans for him to come and spend a little over a week down at my house. One of his mission buddies was getting married and he was invited to the sealing. He came down on December 26th. He pulled up and there was a knock at the door.... I was freaking out, my family was freaking out, and our dog Nellie was freaking out. As much as my family loves to tease, they were kind enough to stay in the family room while I went to answer the door. He instantly went in for a hug. Best. Hug. Ever! That is when Zach says that he knew that we were meant to be together without question.

We went out to lunch and had a great time that day. We went to the Bountiful Temple as our first official date that night and it was the most incredible experience. We made plans to go to Carter's sealing the next day.....