Once upon a time...

Once upon a time there was a little girl named Nicole. She loved to play house and imagine the time that she would get married to her very own prince. One Sunday when she was nine, Nicole went to church with her family. She was talking to her friends about how fun it was to play the day before and about all of the extremely important things that little girls talk about. All of a sudden, something caught her eye. A NEW BOY and he was walking her way. His name was Paul Adams, he was in her primary class and he was SOOO CUTE. That very day, Nicole went home and wrote in her journal about "the cute new boy" who was in her primary class. He was "tall" and he was "left handed."

Nicole and Paul went to school together from that day on. They would even walk home sometimes in elementary. One day Nicole was so frustrated because Paul was telling her that he didn't know if he should "break up" with his girlfriend cuz he liked another girl or if he should stay with the one that he already had. (They were in 5th grade.) Nicole just wanted Paul to like her and was getting sick of being the "go to girl" for advice and wanted to be the girl that everyone liked. In explaining her frustrations to her very wise mother, she was always told this "Nicole, those girls will be the ones that boys want to date but YOU will be the one that boys want to marry."

Years went by....and I mean years. Paul and Nicole never hung out in the same group. She was the choir girl and he was the class clown. They occasionally said "hi" to each other at church but that was the extent of their relationship. Paul got ready to leave on his mission and Nicole got ready to send off her high school sweetheart. Nicole went to college and started on her way to getting a degree in nursing. When Paul got home from his mission he wanted to ask Nicole to go out with him but found out that she had a pretty serious boyfriend. So more time went by. Paul decided that he wanted to help people and thought that going into the Navy was the best way to do it. So he enlisted and got the training to be one of the medics in the Navy. He got stationed out in California.

One day, Paul noticed that Nicole was on Facebook at the same time that he was. He thought to himself "I haven't talked to her in a while, I will just say 'Hi'. She is probably married and will tell me to stop talking to her but I will write her anyway." So he did. It kinda went like this:
Paul "Hey, hows it goin?"
Nicole (what the heck?) "Good hows it goin with you?" (Paul Adams? Writing me?)
Paul "Good" ........
(a few lines later)
Nicole "So what have you been up to?"
Paul "I am a medic in the navy and I leave for Iraq in two weeks"
(a few lines later)
Paul "I thought you were married"
Nicole "No, it didn't work out."
Paul "I'm sorry. You have always been so nice. You deserve the best."
Nicole (are you kiddin me?) "Who are you and what have you done with the Paul Adams I know?" (someone is playin a game with me. There is no way this is Paul)
Paul "What do you mean?"
Nicole "I mean this is not the same Paul I knew in high school"
Paul "I know. I changed a lot. Especially on my mission"
(a few lines later)
Paul "Do you think when I get home we could go out sometime?"
Nicole (my heart sounds like Thumper on BAMBI) "I think I might be able to pencil you in sometime." (play it cool)

That is where it all started. Of course I am the Nicole in the story. Now Paul is serving in Iraq and will hopefully be home in April. We want to get married next August. I cannot wait. I have never been so HAPPY in my entire life. Paul is my BEST FRIEND. My HAPPILY EVER AFTER is just beginning....and I LOVE it!!!