I fell in love with my Milkman... literally...

People have asked how Stewart and I met, and it is a complicated story.. I usually don't want to (or have time to) get into it, but tonight I have a few moments to myself and feel like writing something.. so here it is, for anyone interested..

My aunt got me a job at Smith's Food and Drug when I was 17 years old.. I worked as a bagger at first, then later moved to Customer Service and the Fuel Center. Stewart worked Graveyard shift stocking shelves, so I didn't know him very well. He was married at the time and had 2 kids.. so he was obviously off limits. We were somewhere between acquaintances and friends.. chatting occasionally about meaningless things, and sometimes talking about his family. I do remember one night, he came in with electrical tape wrapped around his hand.. He had cut it pretty badly with glass right before he came to work. I told him it would get infected if it wasn't taken care of properly, and I ended up being the one to bandage it.. (Kinda cool now, cuz years later-he still has that scar, and I have the memory of nursing him back to health:)


I dated one of his friends, and went to a few barbecues at Stewart's house. Morgan was barely a year old, and Gabriel was 2 at the time. While it definitely wasn't "Love at first sight" with us, I always thought highly of him, and you might even say I had a crush on him... but I would never have acted on those feelings. One thing I will admit though, is that I didn't think things were going to work out with his first marriage. I wasn't anticipating failure, but a small part of me questioned whether he was really happy or not. I moved away a few times, but every time I came back to town I would casually ask how things were going with him and his wife... Each time he would say "Good" or "Okay" or something. Then one day inside Subway, I got an answer I wasn't expecting... (By this point he had moved to the Dairy department, and worked a semi-normal schedule)

I remember the day clearly... He came in with his friend Mike after they got back from the lake.. and when I asked the usual question, Mike said, "Didn't you hear? They are getting a divorce.." I truly felt bad for him, but instantly I saw a "Newly Available" sign above his head... I didn't act on anything, as I was planning on moving to Provo soon anyway. BUT in the meantime I made a lot of unnecessary trips to the Dairy Section, just to say hi :)

I dated a few people during this time, and when one relationship ended, I decided to make a trip to Vernal for the weekend.. I went on a date with one guy on Friday night, but it didn't really go great.. The next day, I was in Smith's, and my friend Ashley (who knew how much I liked Stewart-in fact, a lot of the girls at the store liked him..) asked if I had talked to him yet. I told her I didn't see him back there, but it wasn't a big deal. I left the store, and she called me on my cell. She told me he was in the back room, and she would stall until I got there, so I HAD to go back.. I told her I would, and turned around and headed back to the store..

When I got there, I was really embarrassed because I thought she told him about our conversation, but she assured me she hadn't.. We talked for several minutes, and he asked me on a date that night... I was leaving the next day, but decided it would be fun.

Our first date S.U.C.K.E.D... in fact, if it had been anyone else, I might not have gone on another one... Would you like to know what it consisted of?? HALO. And an extra player... Yeah, I spent the majority of my first "date" watching him and his friend play Halo for a few hours. When I finally said I was going to leave, he turned off the game and asked if I wanted to watch a movie, and I agreed to it..

We have literally talked EVERY day since then. I made a LOT of 3 hour trips back and forth (basically every day off I had). He came to visit me in the city, and thats when I decided he was a keeper. Plus, I loved his kids to DEATH and it was so hard watching him raise them by himself.. After nearly 3 months of weekly travel, I finally decided it was worth moving home for. And guess what.. It was. :) 4 years and 5 weeks later (1,496 days to be exact) he is still my best friend..