I first met him in July 2006. I was eighteen, with my first semester at BYU behind me. I had just recently returned slightly sunburned and bruised from two and a half weeks at the Hill Cumorah Pageant. I was looking forward to a relaxing evening when I received a call from my dear friend Allison.

"What are you doing tonight?" she asked me.

I told her.

How about not doing that, she suggested, and going on a blind date with  me instead?

"What?" I said.

She explained that her boyfriend at the time had set up a group date with two of his friends and one of them had a date bail at the last minute.

"Uhhh...." I said.

"He's sixteen," Allison said.

"Uhhhh...." I said again.

"And he's a junior."

Allison didn't see my facial expression at that point, but I remember being a little confused as to why she was talking to me instead of someone her age.

She let me know that this guy was a good friend of hers, and that he was really in love with this girl who had bailed on the date and kind of torn up about it. But he still wanted to do this date he'd planned with his friends, and he'd asked Allison to find 'someone fun' to fill in as his date. I was a little concerned that this kid couldn't find a date himself, but was flattered that Allison thought I qualified as a fun date.

"Okaaaay." I said. "I guess I can go if you can't find anyone else."

Allison assured me she would continue asking around, but if she did her search was unsuccessful. A short time later, I was headed out for the evening with Allison.

I don't remember very much of that evening, but I distinctly remember that when I was introduced to my date I was relieved that there didn't seem to be anything wrong with him. I was impressed that he tried to be nice to me even though he was visibly torn up over this chick who had canceled on him last-minute. I thought the girl was an idiot for not appreciating that she had a cute, genuinely good guy trying hard to impress her. But that was that.

I saw him next at Allison's wedding reception in August 2008. Oh hey, there's Cleave. I thought. He's a good kid. And that was it.

The next summer I left on my mission. When I returned from my mission, I went back to BYU for a year and a half to finish my degree. This past April I graduated and realized I had no idea where to go or what to do because everywhere I looked at moving left me feeling sick inside. So I decided to go home, just for a little while, to figure out what I needed to do with my life as I studied for the LSAT. Once I decided that, I finally felt a little peace.

For the first time ever, I chose to attend the YSA branch. I didn't want to, but I didn't really want to go to my home ward either and tell everyone there that I didn't know what I was doing with my life. I saw Cleave there. Oh hey, I thought. He's a good kid. I wasn't surprised when I found out that he was the elders quorum president. It made sense.

Four weeks later, I was asked to speak in sacrament meeting. I was sitting next to one of Cleave's friends and Cleave was leading the hymns. At this point Cleave decided to introduce himself to me. I was a little confused since I knew who he was, but figured he was following some courtesy rule of proximity and at least acknowledging my existence so he could talk to the friend I was sitting by without being rude. And that was it.

Another two months passed before Cleave spoke to me again. He was more straightforward this time. I was headed out of the chapel after sacrament meeting when he said, "Hey, Becca, can I talk to you really quick?" I'm pretty sure I was a little surprised that he remembered my name.

"Right now?" I asked, looking  from him to the couple he'd been talking to.

"It will only take a minute," he promised.

"Okay." I stood there awkwardly while he said bye to the couple.

"Are you busy this week?" he asked.

"Um, not particularly," I answered, wracking my mind trying to figure out what the elders quorum president would want from me. Was there some activity that week? Was I recommended as someone to help with a service project? Did I have some special skill I wasn't aware of? Why didn't I ever pay attention to the announcements?

"I'd like to take you on a date," he said.

What?

"...This Friday?" he asked.

"What date is that?" I responded, still handling my confusion.

He thought for a minute--"The twentieth."

"Yeah. That should work."

He said he'd call me later in the week and we went our separate ways like nothing had happened.

I'd seen Allison the week before when she was in town visiting, and I sincerely hoped that she'd had nothing to do with Cleave suddenly knowing who I was. Maybe he just asked all the girls out, I speculated, and he'd finally gotten around to me.

I decided to just do what I could to enjoy the date. It never really occurred to me that he might actually be interested. Not when he called me the next day to arrange the details of our date. Not when he showed up on Friday with flowers. Not when he knew not only that I had served a mission, but also where I had served (which I was pretty sure I'd never publicly announced). Not when we went to dinner and the Dallas Museum of Art. I remember being amazed at how comfortable I felt with him, and that we got along really well. He seemed to be enjoying himself as well. As the night went on, I started to pick up on clues. Like how he kept trying to get me to agree to go to a YSA activity with him the next day. And how after the museum, we still went and got ice cream. And how when he dropped me off, he asked me out again for the next week. And then he kept asking me out after that. Then I figured it out. And he told me he loves me, and he asked me to marry him. And I agreed.