On June 1st, I went to an overnight campout in Dru’s backyard. It was the big kickoff before she left on her mission. My friend Amanda was starting to date Tyler seriously and they wanted to know the details between me and Mike. They could see I was absolutely smitten. Amanda had lived with me for two years and had never seen me gush over a boy like I did with Mike. Tyler just thought I was boy crazy. Funny thing is that we were not even dating yet. But I knew he was something special. I was desperately hoping something would work out.
Three days later, we had our first real hang out. It was a little nerve racking because we decided he was going to come over to my house. I still did not know him too well. To add to it, this was the test to see if we truly could be compatible. Talk about pressure! Plus, my parents really wanted to meet Mike as well. My mom had caught a glimpse of him before our Keva date and she was impressed (rare for my mother). If you know anything of my parents, they would make sure they got to meet him. They sat on the couch in the living room right by the entrance to the house. As soon as he walked in, they were just staring at him. Then the questions started. I did not know what to do. I thought how do we get a quick getaway? I took him on a tour of the house. Yes, I know I am pretty cool.
After the lovely tour, the true activity of the night could begin. I decided he would probably enjoy being outside roasting some marshmallows on the deck. You see at this time he was finishing out his college career living in the woods. My dad wondered if he needed some money or needed a place to stay. I told him I thought he just wanted to do it. I was right. I would only come to know the full extent of his “outdoorsmenness” later. Needless to say, we had a great time making Smores, enjoying the summer air, getting spied on by my mother, and having good conversation. The first hang out was a smashing success. We continued to stay in touch through various means until he was done with school.
A week later he finished school. This would truly test where the relationship would go because he would be moving back down to Salt Lake after going on a graduation trip to Jackson. On his way back, he stopped by to take me out on a date. His car was full with his other two loves, his kayak and his raft. As you can probably guess, we took my car on the date. We went to Paradise Bakery and just talked the night away. He told me about his friends and how his two best friends were getting married this summer. We stayed in the bakery for probably a good hour just getting to know each other better. After, we were going to go to Costco and go people watching. We wrote out a nice list of people we wanted to find, a mullet man, a tennis player, someone over 300 pounds, were just a few. Turns out, Costco was closed, so we went to Orange leaf instead. We found a few people on the list but our options were a little more limited. We had a great time and it was so laid back. I knew Mike was different than other guys I had been going on dates with at the time. We had such a good time, he was a great guy, and he was extremely good looking; I absolutely loved being with him and loved it whenever we were able to talk.
Mike quickly stepped it up to the next level. On the 19th of June, Mike and his family had just run the Ragnar and they were going to refuel at the Golden Coral. He invited me to join the crew. I told him I would love to come but wondered if it would be a problem if I was fasting. My family was doing a group fast as my dad was transitioning between jobs. He had been approached by Robert J. Debry but the details were still being worked out. Therefore, we were holding a fast. He said he was ok with it if I was ok with it. I wanted to take any opportunity I could and knew this was a big step. So I joined the crew. It was there I met his parents for the first time, his brother Joe, his sister Becky and her family, and his grandparents. I was a little nervous to say the least. Things went great though and I had no reason to be nervous. His family was so friendly and welcoming. Mike was so cute and he asked me what foods I didn't like and that was what he would eat. He figured that way I wouldn't be tempted. I knew what he was up to, so I told him I didn't like any of it.
Later that night, we returned to Mike’s house where we watched Shanghai Noon. Joe joined us downstairs. Mike grabbed my hand and you better believe I stayed awake for that movie. If you did not know I generally have a difficult time staying awake during movies at night. I can’t say the same about Mike, however. He was exhausted from Ragnar and lack of sleep. He kept dozing off and apologizing for doing so. I could not care less, because he was holding my hand! I quickly came to learn that he did in fact like me. Everybody could see that I was head over heels for Mike. My grandma commented on the sparkle in my eye. My aunts could tell because of the way I talked about him. But the crazy thing is my mom told me on the 25th of June, mind you we were not even officially dating, that her gut told her we were going to get married! I guess it was pretty obvious we had a connection.
One of the real tests came when I introduced him to the Bingham side of my family. He handled it like a champ. He even made it through the awkward questions my grandpa threw at him. Mike was so easy going and got along with everybody. Later that night, we went star gazing in a hammock in my backyard. He told me pick up lines regarding Cassiopeia. We also played the question game to get to know each other better. My mom gave him some ice for his foot as we star-gazed in the backyard, because his toe was so swollen. He had broken it on his backpacking trip earlier that week. Then he asked me if he could hold my hand. I obviously had no objections. As he was leaving a miracle happened, Mike gave me a kiss! It was so great. He was so gentlemen like and I loved it.
However, I knew he was truly whipped when he accepted to go to the Midnight showing of Twilight with me. Although, we took it up a step further as well. We decided to dress up like Harry Potter fans and interview people before the show started. Some people hated us, others cheered for us, and some even wanted us to take pictures with them. It was great fun to interview the “die-hards” and get their perspective on the movie, to see if they were Team Edward or Team Jacob, and pretend we were clueless. Mike had passed the friend test with flying colors. The next night he informed me we could be more than friends.
Fireworks were lighting up the sky! Not just at Eaglewood either. Previous to going up to Ealgewood, I was able to meet the rest of Mike's family. We sat around the fire pit and roasted hot dogs. The family tried to come up with a nickname for me, so as not to get confused with Haley #1. After meeting them, we went back to North Salt Lake for fireworks. It is our family tradition that we go to the Eaglewood firework show every year. This year I took Mike along with me. I was excited to show him off to the world. We held hands everywhere we went now. It was a nice feeling to be comfortable with it as well. In times past, it was awkward for me to hold hands or do anything in public.
But not this time! I didn’t care who saw me. I was introducing him to my friend Kym Mudrow. It was funny because I was going to call him my boyfriend but we hadn’t officially talked about it. So there was a slight pause and then I said he is my boyfriend. Previously, I had told Mike how much I had hated DTR’s (Determine the Relationship). There was no avoiding it now at least not for long. We went through the night and enjoyed the fireworks and the company. On the way back to my house, a car yelled out their window, “You guys are going to make beautiful babies!” Well, she was a little ahead of the game. But yes, we will. As we returned to the house, the unavoidable happened. It was the best DTR of my life. In shaky handwriting, I passed him a note… “Will you be my boyfriend?” He wrote back, with a backwards "s", “Yes”. It was official. We were dating.
The next few weeks we were distanced as I returned to Logan to help coach the Nike Tennis Camps. We still talked every day. It was then that I could see myself marrying him. On a Sunday, in between camps, Mike completely won over my mom. He told her his side of the story and how we came to be. My mom ate it up. She thoroughly enjoyed it and loved that Mike would take the time to tell her the details. She was beaming and it was fun for me to hear Mike’s version of the story. The next weekend he may have hinted he loved me. Quite frankly, I thought I loved him as well.
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