Meaghan Grable

Today is a special day I remember every year. It's an anniversary that will always hold a lot of specialness to me. Let's go back to 2004 & 2006...

December 10, 2004:

Preface: I was going to school at George Fox University and having a awesome/very trying (in a good way) sophomore year - opposed to my next to terrible time my freshman year held. I had the best roommate, whom I had learned so much about and grown to love almost instantly (shoutout to Kelly!). I had declared my major and was really excited to learn about Business Administration. I had recently gotten out of a relationship that was pretty toxic, but broke my heart in a million pieces. I had fallen asleep at the wheel while driving home for the weekend and rolled down a steep hill-my beautiful VW Beetle was totaled, but I (luckily) walked away with only some scratches & a few stitches on my right index finger. My life had taken a much different route than I ever imagined and had no idea what was coming next.
Enter Sam. Sam was a senior at George Fox and lived with a bunch of the guys I had met my freshman year. When the girls would go hang out with the McGrew house boys, Sam was usually in attendance. I hadn't thought much about him, but that he was a nice guy and easy to talk to (once you got to know him... he's pretty shy/quiet at first).

Back to the night of December 10, 2004: my roommate was having performing in an acting showcase and I had invited Sam along to join me. Kelly did a wonderful job in her TEN,TEN,TEN performance (a play on it being the 10th and the time it began was 10pm and there were 10 performances all together). After smoozing with the actress =), Sam walked me back to my dorm room. Right before I went in, Sam told me he had to tell me something. He said, "I like you". I was caught off guard. I knew what he meant, but didn't expect it. I told him that I needed more time, but wanted to get to know him better. I'm sure he thought I'd blow him off, but that wasn't what I wanted to do. I really did want to get to know him better. And that's just what we did. Instead of group dates, Sam and I spent more time getting to know each other on a more one-to-one basis.

Flash forward to December 10, 2006:

Preface: Sam and I had got to know each other and had officially been dating for about a year and a half. He'd been my rock through a lot of hard times that one goes through. I could not have asked for anyone more kind & gentle in my life. Sam & I knew we wanted to get married, but due to some circumstances, we were going to wait a until 2008 to get married. Prior to this knowledge, Sam had gone and picked out my ring. I was anxious to see it, but knew Sam would pick the perfect moment to present it to me. I had told my roommate/best friend/Kelly that she had to have her phone on all all times in case Sam proposed and she assured me she would. Little did I know, she knew when it was happening the whole time...

Again, back to the night of December 10, 2006: Sam & I weren't going to be able to spend Christmas together this year, so we decided to celebrate Christmas a little early and spend the day in Portland having lunch and seeing a movie. After a drizzly day in the city, we decided to head back to my apartment to exchange gifts. This completely threw me off because I thought if Sam was going to propose he would do it by going somewhere during the day, so I thought it probably wasn't going to happen. But boy was I wrong! When we got to the apartment, I first gave Sam his present which was Seinfeld season 7. Then Sam gave me mine, a new Bible engraved 'Meaghan Grable' (my married name), which oddly didn't give me any clue whatsoever... at least not until Sam turned to me and said "there's more..." and he got down on one knee and pulled out the ring. I was shocked and before Sam had completed "Will you marry me?" I was already saying yes!

I couldn't have asked for a better date to remember two special times in Sam & I's relationship. I'm so thankful for his thoughtfulness and for loving me all the time!

I love you Sam and Happy "I like you/Engagement" Anniversary!!!