Before We Were Daxanie

The last two years have by far been the best/most fun/exciting/happiest of my life, all thanks to my amazing husband. Dax and I met post-high school through a web of mutual friends. We both went to high school together but never connected until I had graduated and Dax was about ready to leave for an LDS mission. We dated for a mere month or so, said our goodbyes, and figured that was the end of Dax and Melanie. Little did we know...

Dax served a two year mission for the LDS church in Madagascar, a large island of the southeast coast of Africa. While he was away, I went to college at BYU-Idaho, studying Early Childhood/Special Education. I dated around, living up the college life, and more or less had forgotten about Dax (Sorry sweetie! It's the truth...).

The summer of 2008 I decided to spend 10 weeks in Cuenca, Ecuador, volunteering in the orphanages there. I specialized in working in the orphanage for children with disabilities and spent most of my time with those precious kids. Instead of coming home July 1st after my 10-week excursion, I extended my stay to 16 weeks. Dax returned home from his mission in July, and I remember around that time thinking, "I think my ex-boyfriend gets home from his mission soon..." It was a fleeting thought, but I did think of him :)

His sister, Holly, facebooked me after he got home, just to let me know he was back, and when I returned to the States, he called and asked me out. I agreed to go but could not get past how weird our date would probably be. First, he hadn't really been around girls for the last two years, so he was probably going to be really awkward. Second, we left on more of a "see ya later" kind of note, and I thought that would be weird for whatever reason. We ended up going on a date to see The Dark Knight in theaters. After that, he surprised me with roller blades that he brought, and we went rollerblading around the pond next to the theater and then dessert. I was really surprised at how comfortable I felt around him and how not-at-all awkward the date was. I had forgotten how much we had in common and how easy he was to talk to.

A few weeks later we both went our separate ways again, me to BYU-Idaho and him to BYU in Utah. Holly also attended BYU-Idaho, and he came up once that fall to visit her. They had me over for dinner, it was fun, and yet again, that was the end for a little while. Over Christmas break we spent a little bit more time together with all of our friends, and the spark started to get rekindled. During the Winter semester, I came down to Provo several times to visit my best friend, Laurel, and I think without fail, Dax and I went out each time I was there. With each visit we grew more and more interested, and in April we went on the "date heard around the world." Not really, but it was when there was a real turning point in our relationship.

We went to a concert on campus called Guitars Unplugged, read children's books in the library, and played glow-in-the-dark wiffle ball at Rock Canyon Park with a bunch of his friends. (This date was so memorable for us, that when we actually got engaged, Dax took me on a scavenger hunt that reenacted this date.) Through a series of little miracles, we both made it back to Dallas for that summer, and we started dating right off the bat. The summer was pure bliss, but fall was rapidly approaching, and we were soon to go our separate ways again. We more or less decided that if we were separated again, that would probably be the end of us for good. Long distance relationships are too hard. I was pretty smitten and decided to take the semester off from school and see if we stood a chance for the long haul.

I moved in with Laurel in Provo, excited about my new little adventure, only to realize it wouldn't be a walk in the park. Dax had just started the Accounting program at BYU and had zero free time to spend with me. It was hard being out of work and him being so busy, but eventually I landed a great job working as an aide in an autism preschool. (This job is more or less the reason why I was able to finish my degree and even get the current teaching job I have now.) Life was much better now that I was busy again, and within a few short weeks we got engaged.

On December 29th, I got married to the man of my dreams in the Dallas, Texas LDS temple. It was a cold day, and much to our surprise, actually snowed for most of it! We had a beautiful reception, stayed in Dallas for a few nights, and then made the drive back to Provo to start our life together :)

Since you're probably sick of reading this by now, I'll keep the rest brief. In the last two years that we have been married, I graduated from BYU-Idaho (long distance), have been teaching a small group Kindergarten class for children with disabilities, and Dax is graduated in April with his Masters in Accounting. He has been working at the Missionary Training Center (MTC) in the financial services office as the senior accounting specialist. He did an internship last summer with Deloitte in Dallas, received a job offer for this fall, and we will be moving there this summer to begin our post-college life!

In other exciting news, we have our first little baby on the way, making his debut any time now! Little Dallin is due on February 13th, but he could come any time. We are so excited about the prospect of being parents and holding our little baby boy in our arms. We'll post pictures as soon as he gets here!

It's a boy!

Halloween 2011- A bun in the oven!

9 months pregnant

Let the good times roll :)