I think it's safe to say that most people dream of meeting their significant other in the most (hopelessly) romantic way, the kind of way you'd read about in a Nicholas Sparks book, am i right?! (Ryan Gosling BEGGING to take me out on a date? Or waking up with no past memory only to find Channing Tatum claiming to be your husband? YES PLEASE). I also think it's safe to say that a good 99% of the time, that really doesn't happen. Taylor and I met randomly through a friend via email while he was in a whole different continent! And the first date was a tad bit awkward. AND trying to get him to actually date me was more frustrating than it could ever be romantic. For anyone curious as to how it all played out (and without all of the many grueling, frustrating details), here it is:

Once upon a time in land covered in red dirt (St. George, Utah) there lived a lovely princess (me). However, this princess was very lonely, despite all of her other girlfriend princesses she lived with and hung out with, and all the many suitors that took her out on frozen yogurt dates. She was ready to settle down, marry a prince, and start a kingdom of her own. Unfortunately all of the suitors she met were unworthy of her hand in marriage. Until one day her princess roomie set her up with a prince she sort of knew from her boyfriend. This prince however lived in a far away kingdom named Oaxaca, Mexico, and their only communication was between email once a week on Mondays until they got back to the kingdom of northern Utah (Salt Lake). So, on October 6th, 2014, in hopes of catching his attention, princess Alexa emailed the Prince:

From then on they wrote each other almost every week! Princess Alexa had already decided before she wrote the email that she needed to move to the kingdom of BYU (Provo) because she had heard that more quality suitors lived there (basically, better potential boyfriend options). Six months later, on May 9th, 2015, she packed her silver Saturn 2007 Ion model carriage and traveled 3 hours north of the red dirt kingdom, not knowing what was in store for her later that evening...

As the princess unpacked her carriage and decorated her new castle, she received an unexpected phone call. It was prince Taylor (Bagshaw) asking her on a date for that night!! What a pleasant surprise! (6 months had passed by that fast?!) He had returned from Mexico a week prior to her move and lived an hour away. She accepted of course and anxiously waited for him to arrive.

The date went fabulously (but also a bit awkwardly) as they feasted upon the delicious concoctions of Cafe Rio and attempted to cuddle (he kept trying to put his arm around me and I kept my distance, trying not to scare a recently returned missionary away from physical contact) in the warm, mucky water of the Saratoga Hot Springs (bad idea to wear a white swimsuit). They continued to court for the next 3 weeks, wooing her with his great kissing abilities and his taming of llamas (the second time we hungout he had rented two llamas and we took them around town raising money for "National Llama Awareness Day" HA!). Unfortunately, Mexico had messed with the prince's mind, making him think that, even though he loved being with the princess and couldn't stop thinking about her, he needed to date other princesses (what's that new term? "FOMO" fear of missing out??) and ended their courtship (at least he got me frozen yogurt first).




The princess was heart broken for weeks and weeks and weeks. She decided that she would try to forget prince Taylor by dating other princes. But alas, all the princes she dated ended up being "bros" who weren't very respectful and only cared about the gym, hot tubbing, and summer sales (true story, even though their muscles were nice). Prince Taylor would call or text princess Alexa, even stop by to see her on occasion, getting her hopes up that maybe he would consider dating her for real now, or perhaps just be friends and go back to hanging out all the time. But it was far too late for friendship. The two had already established a mutual feeling of love for each other. The princess waited and waited all summer for the prince to open his eyes and finally realize that she was the one for him..but he never did (a girl can't wait forever bucko). He eventually went off to school at Utah State University, two hours away, where the princess was convinced he would find another girl to marry. Still, she would try to text him occasionally, subtly reminding him that she was still here, waiting for him.







 Alas, after the many unreturned text messages and sleepless, tear-filled nights, it got to the point where the princess had finally had enough of the prince's shenanigans. She planned to call him and cut him out of her life for good!! (ain't nobody got time to cry over a dumb boy)...That was, until he actually called her before she had the chance to call him. FINALLY the prince's eyes had been opened and he proclaimed his deepest desire- to marry the princess! (Say whaaaa?? PLOT TWIST) and on October 15th, 2015, the prince made the princess his girlfriend!








Dating the prince was a dream come true! Everything was going fantastically. And on December 8th, 2015, he PROPOSED to her! (see link below for the proposal video-you don't wanna miss it!!), They were wed for time and all eternity in the LDS Oquirrh Mountain castle (temple) on May 5th, 2016.










Moral of the story: It's okay to wait around for a guy if you know he's the one you want. It's okay (and super scary) to say "I love you" first. But most importantly, it's okay to take risks and fall love. That's actually REALLY okay.



Don't forget to watch our proposal video!!!:

https://www.facebook.com/taylorbagshaw/videos/vb.1460046873/10207549905173305/?type=3&theater