Wednesday, August 27, 2008

2 Years!!!... and the Shoes that Started it ALL!

It is INCREDIBLE to think that Eric and I have been married for 2 years now! We celebrated our anniversary yesterday... and it doesn't seem that it has been a whole year since the last time we reminisced and walked down marriage memory lane! Wow, we've had some good times!
Since I did a 'top 10 things I love about Eric' post on his birthday, I think I'll just share a tiny tidbit of our story for those of you who may not already know it. I'd like to talk about the shoes that started it all.
Eric and I were "just friends" and REALLY that's all we were from August 2001 til April 2006! We were in the same ward, went on friendly dates, wrote each other consistently as we each served missions, came home and took an awesome class together, and continued to go on dates just to keep up with each other and have a good time together. But it was always clear in both of our minds that it was only friendship we were cultivating here. We dated other people, crushed on other people, and shared those details openly. Until I had a dilemma.
I had my first big crush since my mission. He was handsome, witty, and popular (apparently), and he was giving me mixed signals. Finally I came to the conclusion that he was struggling to make up his mind because we worked together (at the MTC)... and he only saw me in missionary attire... and couldn't disassociate me from Sister Missionaries who are definitely not "pursuable". So when he invited me to a party, I determined that I was going to look HOT so that he would get over his mental speed bump and decide I would make an awesome love interest in addition to friend and coworker. My roommate and I went to the mall and found the perfect outfit... complete with 4 inch black heels. These heels had a black strap that wrapped around the ankle and a slender band that went across the top of my foot. They were AWESOME and I felt GORGEOUS in them! Well, I'll leave out the details, but this guy made it clear that night that he wasn't interested. I was pretty frustrated. Afterall, I'd hoped that when he finally made up his mind, he would be deciding to date me, not discard me.
The next weekend was General Conference. (There's more story there about how Eric and I ended up going together, but I'll leave it for another post.) Suffice it to say, I talked his ear off on the way up to Salt Lake about this 'dufus' and how could he decide he wasn't interested when I looked THAT good? I think I planned to wear the shoes that day JUST so I could look really good walking around at General Conference just to spite him. Eric is a very good listener. So by the time we got to conference, I was already feeling very validated and supported. Since I was driving, I wore other shoes on the way up (4 inch strappy heels are tough) and stopped to change when we arrived. Of course I pointed out to Eric that these very strappy sandals were the ones I was wearing and asked "aren't they hot?" to which he could only reply "yeah, they are!"...
So the story goes from here that he looked at the shoes at my request... and then had to look again... and then couldn't stop looking the entire time we were out at Salt Lake. Somehow these sassy black sandals helped Eric to see me in a different light. I felt the change too... somehow indescribable, but flirtatious in a way we had never been before. The day was wonderful, and I knew something had changed. (I would only find out later the important role the shoes played in it all. :) He later told his roommates and described the shoes as "bikinis for feet" and determined he had to ask me out again when I WASN'T wearing the shoes just to see if the connection we had both felt was legit or whether it was just the shoes. Thus began our new adventure as our friendship was forever altered into something more! Turns out the shoes didn't work their magic on the person I originally wanted them to...but even better! They worked on the person I love more than anything in the world!

10 comments:

  1. such a cute story!!! thanks for sharing. you are just so cute!!!

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  2. That is a really cute story Elisa. I always wondered how you two ended up together. You were always both such great friends to everyone when we were freshman and I wondered how you ever fell "in Love" It always seems to happen with best friends. Congrats to both of you!

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  3. Who knew shoes had such an impact?

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  4. What a great story! Like Whitney, I also wondered how you came to fall in love. I remember randomly running into Eric at the Wilk, and he said he was engaged. For whatever reason I couldn't believe it when he said you were the one! It just seemed perfect!! Anyway, congratz on 2 years!

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  5. Elisa that is such a funny story!! So cute! I hope you still have those sassy shoes!

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  6. Hey if you still own the shoes, let's see 'em! I always like a good suggestion for sassy shoes, especially when I already know they contain some "magic." Even though I've been married for 4 years doesn't hurt to keep the feet looking HOT for your guy.

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  7. That is such a sweet story. I still think it's amazing that you two ended up together. It makes my heart happy to hear about people falling in love and staying in love and more importantly staying friends. Sometimes (since we had kids especially) it feels like I hardly know Ian anymore and then every couple of days we'll get to have some time together at night when we're not busy to just hang out and I remember, "Oh yeah, you're cool. I really like you. No wonder we got married." Anyway, sorry for the ramblings. I just really appreciated you sharing your story. I think my favorite is Eric's comment that the shoes were like a bikini for feet. You need to post a picture of yourself wearing those bad boys (post pregnancy swollen feet, of course). :)

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  8. What a cute story - you are a darling couple!

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  9. I LOVED that story Elisa! I had no idea you two knew each other for so long. Thanks for sharing a little about you and Eric - I love Eric's analogy about the shoes being like a bikini for your feet. Hilarious! I need to see these shoes sometime!

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  10. I want you to wear the shoes to church, but it could be dangerous for the baby!:) Maybe you could take them for a walk after the baby is safely out!:) I think you are so great!

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