the story of how we saw each other before we even met each other.

just over three years ago, I was packing up my college room and stumbled upon something that made me stop dead in my tracks.

I picked it up, collapsed onto my bed, and with my mouth hanging open in shock couldn't help but stare at what I was holding.

taylor and I had been engaged for just over a month.

and I had just realized that for the past two years, I had had two pictures of my future husband hanging above my bed.

^who knew I'd have such good views of both the back and front of my future husband? ;)^

I grew up with one of taylor's LDS mission companions, who sent me these two pictures, years before I ever knew who taylor was.

I hung them above my bed, along with lots of other happy pictures.

I remember looking at the "other person" (taylor) in the picture a few times, but hadn't looked at the pictures closely enough since I had started dating him.

While I was packing up and taking the pictures down from my wall, I could not BELIEVE what I was seeing!

there was my fiance! RIGHT THERE! In my room the whole time!

I immediately called taylor and told him to come over.

I showed him the pictures, and we both laughed at the irony!

Like any other girl, I had often laid in bed wondering who I would marry.

and little did I know, that my future husband was right above me the entire time!

it still kind of creeps me out. HA

maybe the funniest part of the story, is that taylor, unknowingly, also carried around a picture of his future wife (me!...duh) for two years.

the friend I knew from home gave taylor a picture of me and told him to keep it since I would be his future wife.

(this friend was VERY persistent about us meeting and dating--and thank goodness he was, because I would have never found my sweet taylor!)

taylor laughed it off, but kept the picture. 

He found a magnetic frame, stuck the picture in it, and put it on the fridge.

then throughout the rest of the mission, he carried the picture with him, hanging it from fridge to fridge.

it was a big joke with him and his mission companions.

in fact, taylor didn't even remember my name. 

instead, they called me "puppy girl" since I was holding a puppy in the picture.

^the infamous picture^

his companions would joke and say, "elder gilbert, are you going to marry puppy girl some day?"

and he would say, "you know it! just got to find out her name first..."

I remember about a year after we were married, I met one of his companions and he said, "I can't believe you married PUPPY GIRL! That story is famous back on the mission!"

how weird is it that both of us had a picture of each other years before we met or even really knew who each other were?

and better yet, the pictures were both DISPLAYED. not just thrown into a box or something.
to me, there is something so poetic about it all.

it's so interesting how life plays out.

day by day nothing seems different, but when you look back, everything has changed.

when I look back, it amazes me how things worked out just the way they were supposed to!

"whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same."
so I am so happy our little souls found each other!

to see more of our love story see here and here.

xoxo, HAPPY THURSDAY!