Today is our 10-year anniversary! Here is the story of how we met.

Today is our 10-year anniversary! Here is the story of how we met:

David and I met in Dallas Texas. It was the summer before our last year of college.

I was interning with a consulting firm in the Seattle area and had the opportunity to work three weeks at another office. Here is the conversation I had with my mom, leading up to mine and David’s meeting.

“Mom, I don’t want to go!” I complain as my trip to Dallas nears closer.

“Why?” My mom replies.

“Because I don’t know anyone there and it will be so boring. The other intern who is coming is married and he has a baby so he won’t want to hang out,” I explain. 

“You know I bet you’ll have a great time and make so many friends.” My mom replies. She helps me look up church times, helping encourage me to plug into the singles ward there. After some back and forth, she offers to call the bishop there and arranges a ride to church for me. She tells me, “You’ll get a text from your ride to church sometime tomorrow.”

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In Dallas I get a ride to church, try my best to be open and friendly, and end up getting a ride home with a different person after church. I get invited to a church activity later that evening that I choose to attend. As soon as I enter the apartment room of the activity, the person I’m with bolts away from me to hang out with his friends, leaving me behind. I realize I need to be brave and make new friends, so I enter the room and stand by the wall where there is some open space.

I look up and see someone introducing themself to me, “Hi, I’m David. I haven’t seen you before. Are you new?”

“Yes, I’m Marissa. Nice to meet you.” I reply. 

We small talk a bit. He asks me where I’m working, I tell him, and he says, “I thought they only hired people from my major there.”

“What major is that?” I ask.

“Information Systems.” He replies.

“I am Information Systems.”

“Are you sure?” He pauses briefly before continuing, “No you’re not. If you were, I would have seen you before. There are not many girls in the program, and I have never seen you in the lab before.”

“Well, I don’t go to the lab…” I start to say. 

“Oh” he replies. 

We continue chatting and getting to know each other. After a while David’s roommates start talking to me. First a guy named Dylan walks over and David introduces himself. “I want to learn about that consulting firm Pariveda. We should get lunch.” Dylan says to me. I give Dylan my number. I don’t see this, but Dylan grins at David to let David know he got my number before him.

David introduces me to his roommate Henry who has come over as well. Henry shares, “Some people are going to a Neon Trees concert this week. Would you like to go?”

“Sure!” I reply, I have no plans and no friends yet, so I am planning to say yes to any and all social events. We all go home and part ways.

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Later I learned that before the ward activity, when David was driving to the ward activity with his roommates, Henry told everyone in the car that they each need to call dibs on who they want to pursue so that they don’t step on each other’s toes. All the guys call dibs on the various women in the ward. After most everyone has called dibs on their picks, they notice David hasn’t called anyone. “David, who’s your dibs?”

“Well there’s not anyone I’m really interested in. I’m not going to call dibs on anyone…”

After meeting me at the activity, while we are all walking outside back to our cars, Dylan is smiling and about to gloat to David about getting my number and setting up a date. Before he can say anything, David looks at Dylan and says, “Dibs.”

“Can I still get lunch with her?” Dylan asks. 

“Only if it’s strictly business.” David replies. Suffice it to say the lunch never happened. 

That week, several of us from the activity at the apartment, attend the concert together. David gives me a ride. David, as the nice gentleman he is, tries to introduce me to all of his friends. I misinterpret this as David trying to pawn me off all evening, while he views himself as helping me make friends. 

A few days later, I invite David to give me a ride to institute class (bible study) and afterwards David asks me when I’m free to go on a date with him. Over the next few weeks in Dallas we spend a lot of time together after work each day, and when we are back at college in Provo Utah for our final year of school we start officially dating exclusively. 

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In spring we marry and then we move to the Seattle area, starting our careers. We have gotten to stay in the Seattle area, which is where I’m from and near where my parents still live.  Now we have three kids and are celebrating 10 years of marriage!