Destiny brings us together…

Some call it luck. Others may say it is fate. We call it destiny. Destiny is what brought Mike and I together. Yes, we were put in the same group in Chudoba’s Market Research class. Was this our first encounter? No. So you may be wondering why this occasion was so special. Well, let me tell you it was at this point when the stars were lining up in our favor. But let’s
start back at the beginning. I first laid eyes on Mike back in September of 2009. My roommate Dru invited all of us roommates to Firehouse pizza, a treat of her mother. Luckily, Dru had a brother named Chance. As it turns out, Chance and Mike were roommates and he was invited to this dinner as well.

I thought to myself, Mike is one good looking guy. I quickly discovered something we could talk about. Mike had just started in the MBA program that fall. I was thinking about starting the MBA program the next year. I would be graduating in June with my Bachelor’s and still have one year left of tennis eligibility. We talked about the MBA program a little bit; he told me there was lots of reading to be done but that it wasn’t too bad. Unfortunately, he was dating someone at the time so was not interested in getting too personal. After our initial meeting, we wouldn’t see each other again until Chudoba’s class in January. It was slightly awkward at first because I recognized him but I was under the impression that he did not remember me at all. Needless to say, we didn’t talk for several months.

About midway through the class, it was brought up that it was time to form our groups for the class project. Many other students in the class wanted to extend their field studies assignment for their group project. Good for them, bad for me. I was not in a field studies group and was the “new girl” in the class. I tried for a week or so to get into multiple different groups. I was not having any luck. Several groups turned me down because they already had the maximum amount of people. One of the groups said I could be in their group; they just had to meet first. I called and texted and never got any response. I was getting pretty worried. Fortunately, one night I was at home and I got a call from Sonya saying I could be in her group. Turns out, Mr. Michael Wayne Hill was in her group as well. Like I said, it was destiny.

Our first group meeting rolled around and there we were together in the same little room. He started talking with me about a mutual friend we had, Haley Anderson. I didn’t know it at the time, but Mike had been watching me as well. After the group meeting business was taken care of, Mike and I were assigned to work together on the first project. I introduced him to the “References” feature on Word. Yes, I was changing his life already. We breezed through our first assignment and then I offered him a ride to his house, better known as the white house. We became friends and we started working on other assignments together. We got 100% on our first paper together. We knew right away that we made a good team. On our next assignment, I even got Mike to study on a Saturday (his first and only time in college).

We connected very quickly and started studying together more often. However, when we tried to hang out outside of class it flopped a few times leading Mike to think I was not interested. The first time was a misunderstanding and the second was just poor timing. Mike had texted me to see if I wanted to go to Taco Tuesday. I told him, “What a coincidence I am going there too!” I was going with some friends; he was going with his friends. When I arrived we talked in line and then I sat with my group, he sat with his. I didn’t know that he wanted me to sit with him. Strike one for Hailey. The next instance he texted me to see if I wanted to join him at this outdoor thing. I told him I would love to; however, I was going to a Jazz party so I would see what I could do. It turns out we stayed a little later than I would have liked and then we had to go to a cancer run at Midnight. So I let him know I was sorry I could not attend. Strike two. Luckily for me a person gets three strikes before they are out.

School ended for me and I returned home for the summer. Mike had a four week semester left to finish out the MBA program. At this point, it was all up in the air what would happen. We knew we were good study buddies but had never really hung out. It was off to a slow start, because Mike was not a big texter and I didn’t feel comfortable enough to give him a call. So what did I do? I stalked him on Facebook and talked to people about him. My friend Jenny P was a good source. She knew Mike from Marc Ortega who was a mutual friend. I told her the dilemma I was having in contacting him and she told me he moved like Molasses when it came to dating. I didn't need anybody to tell me that! I wanted to get in touch with him but didn’t know how to go about it. Then one day it came, I knew Mike was a river guide so I decided to text Mike about a rafting question. (My dad had expressed interest in a rafting trip, possibly because I told him about Mike.) To my great surprise, he called me to answer the question. We talked for a while and had easy conversation. Good thing he also had Verizon, otherwise I would have been in trouble minute wise. We were now on calling terms and I was hooked.

On May 29^th we went on our first date. We had a 45 minute gap to make it work. He was on his way to Idaho Falls to go to his brother’s house (later learned it was Mark’s house) and my dad and sister and I had temple plans.

We went to Keva Juice and then he dropped me off at the temple, leaving me with an awkward side hug. I couldn’t have been happier! From there we started talking more through online chats (as he was in class and I was at my internship), calling, and even hanging out. The rest was history! Our paths merged at the right time and yes, like I said, it was destiny!