Monday, December 12, 2011

Ryan + Amanda

This is more for me than it is for you, but oh well!

Around either the end of October 2005 or the beginning of November 2005, Julie Birch (married to my brother, Aaron Ramos) kept insisting that I write her brother, Ryan - who was on his mission at the time.

I remember thinking "....no way - I'm not writing some total stranger that I have no chance with!"

Well...she kept it up and finally suggested that I at least e-mail him.  I thought...yah, I can do that!  So I did and here is a copy of that first e-mail I sent him:

From: Amanda Ramos
To: "speedbump_83@hotmail.com"
Cc: 
Date: Sun, 13 Nov 2005 21:30:36 -0700
Subject: Hello Elder Birch

Hey Elder Birch!  You don't know me...but your sister, Julie, insisted that I e-mail you, haha.  I wrote you once before...it was a few months after I had moved here to Spokane, Washington and for a seminary activity we each wrote a missionary from our stake...Since I didn't know any of the listed missionaries I randomly picked a name and it was yours.  You probably don't remember that though.  My name is Amanda Ramos.  I'm Julie's sister-in-law (she married my brother, Aaron).  But enough of that...so how are you liking Finland??  What is is like there?? Do you find it easy or difficult to teach the gospel?  I have never been to, or had any friends who have been to Finland.  How long did it take you to get used to the language??  I've been trying to learn spanish my whole life and I'm not even close to being fluent! Haha.  Well, I don't want to waste too much of your time.  I hope you have an excellent rest of the mission and hope to meet you when you return.  Have a go0d rest of the day!
Amanda

Nothing too exciting - just the beginning of Ryan and me :-)

Unfortunately I do not have copies of any of Ryan's responses :-(  I stopped using the e-mail address for a few years so it froze my account and deleted EVERYTHING :-(

Anyway - Ryan wrote back.  We e-mailed each other back and forth until he returned to Spokane from his mission in Finland.  I was excited and nervous to meet him.  I'm pretty sure he didn't think much of it...I think I remember him saying that I sounded like your average teenage girl (.....which, I don't think was an accurate description of who I really was, haha).

Anyway, so I'm not entirely sure, but I think we met on January 4th (I think I remember mutual being on the same night that I met him...and I'm pretty sure I met him at the very beginning of January).  Pretty much, I ignored him the entire time we were hanging out.  Why?  I have no idea!!  I'm pretty sure I didn't leave any kind of impression on him...other than I'm a weirdo for emailing him for the last 2 months of his mission and then totally ignoring him when we finally meet.  Yah...I'm lame.

So....sometime after we met and I made myself look like an idiot in front of Ryan - I emailed him and made something up like "I didn't realize that it was you..." ...something like that.  It was my lame attempt at getting a 2nd chance.  We emailed back and forth a few times and then on January 26, 2006 he asked me out on our first date!

We had our first date on January 27, 2006.  It was a double date with Julie and Aaron.  What I knew at the time was that Julie was really the person who set this up... she had actually been updating me on her plans for when it would happen and what would happen.  What I didn't know at the time was that Ryan REALLY REALLY REALLY did NOT want to go on a date with me...but Julie made him :-/   Good thing though, because we actually had a good time! 

Journal Entry from January 27, 2006

Today was my date with Ryan :-)  I had soooo much fun!  I can honestly say that it was the best date I've ever been on!  I was very comfortable with him.  Every other date I've been on I've felt really uncomfortable being there - but not this time.  I hope he has as much fun as I did.  I really hope we can do something together again.

(details about date - funny conversations - pizza at Rocky Rococo's - Games at Aaron and Julie's - Watched Red Eye and Aaron and Julie's - Ryan kept dropping popcorn out of his mouth :-b  - also he put his arm around me during the movie)

After all of that fun stuff we went to a YSA Dance...talk about awkward!  I was still a senior in high school...definitely not where I was supposed to be, haha.  We danced a few times - had fun.  He took me home - we talked about hanging out again and then he gave me a hug.

So that was our first date - I'm so glad I didn't screw it up :-b

I remember being impatient with how long it was taking Ryan to call/mail me - so I sent him an email asking about a bookstore he had mentioned on our date.  My plan worked - he called me to tell me where the bookstore was and then he asked me out on a second date (which took place on February 4th 2006)....This is when we first held hands :-)  This is also when he found out that I was NOT 18....I don't know why he thought I was 18....but apparently if he knew that before, he would have never asked me out.  So...guess it is a good thing he didn't know I was 17 until he liked me :-)

Ryan and I went on a lot of dates, and while we were dating, Julie did her very best to keep us running in to each other.  She used to clean Dr. Crump's office so she would ask me to help - then ask him to help if I was going to be there, and when she knew when he was coming - she would have me clean the front doors so that I would be there to let him in when he got there.  She's so silly...and smart!  

We used to run into each other on Wednesday nights.  It turns out that Ryan would go early to play basketball in hopes that he would see me when I was finished with YW's.....kinda stalkerish...and cute at the same time.  

On February 9th, 2006 he kissed me for the first time...on the cheek.  This was also the same night I was afraid he'd kiss me on the lips so I spent a lot of the night looking at my feet hoping he would NOT kiss me, haha.... which is funny because I was totally ok with being kissed on the lips the next day!...which is what happened!

February 12, 2006 is when we decided we were a couple.

February 18, 2006 is when Ryan first told me that he loved me.

February 24, 2006 is when I first told Ryan that I loved him.

April 11, 2006 is when we told our families we were going to get married.

April 18 is when Ryan officially proposed!

I remember it catching me totally by surprise!  I was in such a bad mood because I had failed the written test to get my permit.  He took me to our spot....which....is some gated neighborhood off of Glenrose.  It is on the top of a hill and you can see Spokane and the Valley from there.  So pretty at night!  Anyway, we went to our spot - he played "Better Together" by Jack Johnson and we danced.  After we danced he said the view was so beautiful that night he just had to get a picture!  He went to the car to "get his camera" - came back and stood by me.  I thought he was going to ask me to move forward so he could get a good picture, but instead he opened a ring box and asked me to marry him!  YaY!  Obviously I said yes.  

August 4,  2006 we got married in the Spokane Temple!  Sometimes I tell people we got married on the 5th...but that is just because I'm crazy...and because we originally planned on getting married on the 5th but changed our minds.....

I don't know why I felt the need to write all of this out - but I'm glad I did.  I love Ryan so much!  I love our little family that we have created, and I can't wait to see what the future will bring!










Thursday, December 1, 2011

lds.org

So, I have been doing a lot of research on lds.org lately (don't tell my bishopric that, though...I don't wanna be giving any talks any time soon), and I have learned SO MUCH!  I'm not going to lie, I don't always read the Ensign from front to back...I don't always pay attention to every general conference or other broadcasts... I have a hard time paying attention to a full sacrament meeting (...I blame the kids on all of this)!!  Well, I decided that I have been missing out!  I have read so many articles that I wish I could have read ages ago.  I have been given hope for a brighter future.  It is going to take a bit of patience on my end...and some hard work, but I can handle that!

Keep me in your prayers, everyone -  I am hopeful for a brighter future, but I could also use some help if you don't mind :-)