Spring Break '08

This was officially the best spring break in Hayley's history. It consisted of suntanning beside the pool (while reading Einstein's article on the photoelectric effect...I can't stray too far away from the nerdy side of things),
a day trip to Ventura with my boyfriend, his family and friends,



silliness that is inevitable after a good ice cream cone,


Brent and my first moment at the seashore,

Citywalk with Brent (dinner at Bubba Gumps!!), an Office marathon night with Holly and Brent, getting Holly's car towed away and retrieving it a few hours later,

enjoying some comfort food at dear In-N-Out after our nerve-racking car adventure,

Chili's and some more Office with Brent, meeting Brent at his work for lunch, shopping for dream jeans (and I believe I found some of the dreamiest jeans possible), shopping for a swimsuit, hanging out with my sister, brother-in-law and baby, Matt's good-bye bbq, a weekend trip with a bunch of friends to one of our good friend's home in Napa Valley, including a day trip to lovely San Francisco,

(ferry from Napa area to San Fran)

(I think the one on the right is the cutest)

(girls attempting model shots)

(thrilled over chocolate--you can just barely see the Ghiradelli Square sign above my head)

(our group at Pier 39 (duh))

(marietjie and me)

(adorable pic--that's all I can say)

(amanda and me)

(wyn helping out with the hiding of the easter eggs)

and that was my fantabulous spring break!

How We Met

It was December 7, 2007 that I went to Disneyland with some friends. Near the end of our time at the park, my friends and I were in line at Space Mountain. There was this cute guy ahead of us and he started flirting with me. After the ride he asked for my number, we went out the next week and the rest is history!!!!



TOTALLY JUST KIDDING. :)



Without further adu, The Real Story.

One of my good friends, Ashley, works at an organization that had a day at Disneyland for its employees. She had an extra ticket to Disneyland that day and asked me if I would like to join her at the park on December 7, 2007. Her boyfriend's mom works at the same organization as Ashley, so Ashley informed me that we would be spending the day with her boyfriend and his family. On Disneyland day the Tyler family picked Ashley and me up at her house early in the morning. I didn't really know what I was getting into when I entered their car that day, but I quickly came to the conclusion that it would be easy to make fast friends with this family. They have been a part of my church for many years, but it is because of the size of our church and our different paths of ministry at the church that I'd never met them before. They were all welcoming, kind and just plain fun.

During the car ride down I learned that in addition to those members of the Tyler family that I had already met, Mr., Mrs., and one of their sons, Todd (Ashley's boyfriend), there was one other member: Todd's brother, Brent, would also be meeting us at Disneyland midway through the day with a good friend of their family.

I remember exactly where we met. It was right after Mr. Tyler, Todd, Ashley and I had gone on California Screamin'. We came out of the ride and caught up with the rest of our group where they were gathered with the recently arrived Brent and Mike. I shook hands with both the boys, noted to myself that Brent had strikingly blue eyes and a confident handshake (LOVE confident handshakes from guys), and then Ashley and I led the way to the next attraction. As we walked I thought to myself that Brent reminded me of one of those super cool techy guys that are interviewed on the behind-the-scenes footage of The Lord of the Rings, especially the guys dealing with special effects and animation.

When we sat down in the theater of California Adventure to watch the live Aladdin play, Brent and I sat next to each other and we had a get-to-know-you conversation while we were waiting for the production to start. I was intrigued when I learned from him that he was, in fact, one of those super cool techy guys, he's a 3-D animator! I liked the way he talked and we had an easy time with the conversation.

During the rest of the day my attention was gradually becoming more and more focused on him. I really enjoyed watching him interact with his family, it was apparent that they had great relationships with each other, they reminded me a lot of my own family in many ways. Brent and I walked and talked together a LOT that day, and much more than once he made me laugh, I really liked his humor. At one point we got on the topic of favorite Fantasyland rides, and I told him that by far my favorite ride in that land was Peter Pan, but that I hadn't been on it in ages because the line was always so stinkin' long every time I approached it. So I thought the following story was very sweet, though I'm not SURE it really meant anything at the time.

It was late into our evening at Disneyland, and our group was beginning to get tired and running out of ideas of what to do next. At one point the general sentence being uttered from everyones' mouths was "Where should we go now?" Brent took that opportunity to say matter-of-factly, "Fantasyland." When our mob arrived in Fanasyland, the next question that went forth from the sleepy mouths was "What should we do here?" (I didn't ask that question...I KNEW what I wanted to do in Fantasyland, but because I WAS relatively new to the group I wasn't brave enough to suggest it myself.) I was so happy and touched (in my girly, assuming way) when Brent answered the mob's question with a confident "Peter Pan." The ride was the perfect PERFECT way to end the day.

Brent and I left each other that night with a simple "It was nice to meet you."

I went home that night with happy memories and a hope that I would see Brent again somehow soon.

I think it was less than a week later that I got a phone call from Ashley, telling me that Todd and Brent wanted to go bowling with us. It's a long story, but the bowling idea turned into hanging out at the Tyler place with pizza and a movie. A couple of weeks after that night of dinner and a movie, I got another call from Ashley telling me Todd and Brent again were interested in going bowling with us. The four of us decided to go to lunch after church one Sunday, then we went bowling. When bowling was over, Brent didn't seem to want the day to end, so he asked us, "What next?" We decided on the movies. He paid for my ticket that night, I got pretty adrenaline-y when he asked if he could do so.

A couple of days after that, Brent called me and invited me to hang out with his family during their Superbowl party. I said yes to the invitation and had a BLAST hanging out with them again. (My post entitled "Happyness" was written right after that day.)

FINALLY, a day or two after the Superbowl, Brent called me and officially asked me out. It warranted much squealing from me after I hung up the phone.

Going out with him one-on-one for the first time was so awesome. We really got to have some good, deep conversations, and it was encouraging to me that our conversations revealed that we shared a common bond: a love for the Savior who has bought us from sin and its results with His own blood. In addition to our more serious conversations we had plenty of light-hearted ones also, and we laughed a LOT together.

From there you pretty much know the story, of course there were more dates in between the first and the trip to Disneyland written about below, but I think you get the gist.

And now we're hopelessly and helplessly in...like.

February 22nd, 2008

The date marks the day that I spent at Disneyland with Brent Tyler and his family. It also marks the day that I both entered Disneyland with a guy I liked and exited the happy park with my new boyfriend. (No small amount of heart flutteries associated with that last sentence!)

Mine was the only ticket that needed to be bought at the park that day because Brent and his family all have annual passes. So the first happy surprise of the day came when Brent and I got in line to buy my ticket and he asked the cashier not for a ticket for the day, but for an annual pass so that I can come to Disneyland with him WAY more than once this year!! SO so grateful and excited.

The first thing we did in Disneyland was buy Disney stamps so that I could mail two letters FROM the park (I've always been intrigued by the many working mail boxes in Disneyland, so I decided to make good use of them this trip). The stamps were perfectly cute and magical, much to my liking. Happily I released the two letters into the mailbox, knowing that in only a couple of days my grandparents and Brent would receive a letter from the magic kingdom.

This particular trip to Disneyland was in celebration of Brent's dad's birthday. One of the special things we did at the park in celebration was eat at the famous Blue Bayou Restaurant. As one who has often stood in line for Pirates of the Caribbean staring wistfully at the romantic restaurant, this was much more than a yummy meal for me. And those I was in company with made the experience that much more special.


These are Brent's parents:

After studying the menu for a good ten minutes, trying to convince ourselves that it is possible for the prime rib to NOT be the perfect choice if it is ever an option, our whole party one by one came to sanity and we ordered prime rib all around. I'm SO HAPPY it's what I ordered. Wow, my mouth is watering just remembering it.

Ok, even though this next picture is really not flattering of ANY of us, it just really demonstrates the fun that we all have together. We were waiting in line for Soarin' Over California and got slightly bored, so I had everyone huddle, put the camera down underneath us, and had everyone look down and smile (or make a crazy face, as I decided to do).

At the end of the night our group made our way to the front of the castle and positioned ourselves for prime viewing of the fantastic fireworks display. The weather did not seem to want fireworks to happen that night, but we waited and waited as message after message came over the loud speakers that the show MIGHT be canceled. Finally, a message came telling us that the display must be canceled, so our group found a quiet place to sit while we waited for the Disneyland mob to make their way out of the park. Brent chose that time to tell me that he had been praying and praying all day that the fireworks display wouldn't be canceled, because he had really been wanting to ask me to be his girlfriend at the end of the show. He went ahead and asked me without the prelude of the fireworks, but Brent, don't you know that for something like that you don't NEED external fireworks, there are enough going on in your heart anyway upon being asked such a question by someone you like so much? :) (By the way, there's no small significance that he asked me to be his girlfriend AT Disneyland. It is, afterall, where we met on December 7, 2007.)

On our way out of the park, holding hands very tightly, Brent and I stopped inside the Main Street coffee shop where he bought me a mug that he had seen me ooh-ing and aw-ing over earlier. It's the bestest mug ever and I've drunk out of it practically at LEAST once a day since I received it from him over a week ago. I'm telling you, coffee and hot cocoa TASTE better out of such a mug. Not only does it say "Disneyland, Est. 1955" on the outside, on the inside rim it says, "To all that come to this happy place: welcome."

Definately one of the best days ever.