Remembering January 17, 1991

{Recording a moment from my personal history...}

The (1st) Gulf War had just begun -Operation Desert Storm. I was in my 2nd year at BYU. My roommates (in Riviera #15), some guy friends (from Riviera #35) and I were sitting around the TV watching CNN. It was the first time our generation had seen a real war. This was the beginning of "The Mother of all Battles." Green missiles flying through the sky seen through a night vision lens. History in the making that night... in more ways than one.

While we watched, the new guy from Riviera #34 stopped over... what was his name again? Greg? We only referred to him as Cologne Man- he wore "Eternity" cologne- it lingers. We'd only met him a few times. Anyhow, we were all wondering why he was there. He looked at me and asked if he could talk to me for a minute. We went to the back of the apartment and Greg seemed a bit nervous.
"Who's that guy you were sitting by out there?"
"Scotty... he's your next door neighbor."
" Well, are you like... likin' him?"
I said no and then he relaxed.
"Well, I was wondering if you wanted to go out tonight? I was supposed to take my ex-girlfriend out to this movie, but she had to fly back to LA tonight at the last minute."

I was a little floored but I said yes and he told me he'd be back in 20 minutes to get me. I followed him back out to the door. My roommates Sara, Lisa, and Janna all had questioning looks on their faces. As soon as he was out the door they all asked in unison, "What was that all about??!" I tried not to seem too excited and just said,"He asked me out...it's kind of weird... I've got to get ready." and hurried off to change my clothes.

At 9:20pm Greg returned to pick me up. On the way to the car Greg kept trying to reassure me that I wasn't a last resort, but that he'd wanted to ask me out for a while. Again, I tried to not get too excited. I was just trying to be casual, have fun, and never thought anything would come of it.

We went to Movies 8 to see a very bizarre movie. No two people ever had more fun on a first date than we did. We laughed the whole time about how crazy and completely confusing the movie was. It was stressful trying to understand the movie, but we had a great time together!

As we returned to the Riviera that night Greg said, "I'm so stressed!!! I need a steak! Do you want a steak? Come over and I'll make you a steak, OK?" This seemed a bit strange, but we were having so much fun, I went on over. Greg made us steaks and we sat around visiting with his roommates and Lisa. Finally, at about 1am Lisa and I walked home. I told her what a fun time I'd had, and to myself thought, "I could marry that guy!"

As we walked in our apartment door Janna was waiting for me. "Nikki, Greg just called for you." Of course I called him back. He said, "Yeah, I was wondering if you wanted to come watch the war with me?" It didn't take me too long to decide I guess. "Sure, I'll be right over." So much for not looking too excited! I brushed my hair... and teeth and returned to #34. We spent the entire night watching CNN, looking at his mission pictures, family pictures, getting to know each other better. I never kissed anyone on a first date... so let's call my return to his apartment our 2nd date, OK? :) He kissed me for the first time that night too. It was a very nice night. He asked me twice that night to marry him! Not seriously, obviously, but I think I was pretty different from most girls he'd dated before. Little did he know then that exactly 8 months from that first date he would officially propose to me!
And the rest , as they say, is (our) history.

{This one was taken a little over a week after that 1st date.}

{No date on these pictures, but they were from early on in our dating}