Mike and Lauryn

Our Story...

The story begins September of 1996 in Mrs. Peterson's 1st grade class where, we along with our other classmates, endured her frightening teaching tactics. Although it would be a sweet love story to be able to say Mike and Lauryn were together since then, the reality is they weren't. Instead, they floated alongside each other for most of their childhood years. Sometime around the end of freshman year in High School, Mike's friend Curtis was dating a close friend of Lauryn's which sparked a deeper friendship. By the end of sophomore year, they were part of a pretty incredible friend group. During the summer Mike ended a "long" crummy relationship on the 4th of July. That night, Michael, Curtis, and Lauryn made a pact to stay best friends for their entire lives. They still are!! A few months later Mike and Lauryn took a shot at dating which lasted all of 5 minutes. :-)  Lauryn decided to 'peace out' when Mike professed his undying love. Funny thing is all their friends and family knew that their relationship wasn't over, just temporarily postponed. When college came, they stayed close. Mike would ride his moped periodically from Corvallis to Monmouth to visit Lauryn. At the time, she was dating a guy that all of the people around her weren't so fond of. She will never forget the moment when her friend Abby from her dormroom hall said "Lauryn! why are you dating that lamo when you could be dating Mike, seriously!". At the time, she just didn't see Mike in that way. 

 

Fast forward a year and some change and they found themselves in Lauryn and Mike's home town of West Linn around the end of the school year. Lauryn had been coming home from Monmouth frequently to visit as the school year was winding down.  Her parents had planned their yearly July 4th fireworks extravaganza which is usually a formidable reunion involving most of the neighborhood as well as friends and family. Mike and Lauryn had been spending a lot of time together and this particular summer night everything just clicked and they realized why they had been brought back together. They decided to give dating another try. Lauryn was still living in Monmouth and attending school for the first year of the relationship which complicated things but none the less they held it together. Mike got his own place in Oregon City and worked nights as a Tank Fabricator at JV Northwest. Lauryn was tired of the small town atmosphere and moved to Wilsonville to finish her degree online. 

 

Fast forward 2 and a half years to Multnomah Falls, the day after Thanksgiving, Curtis is in town from his job in San Diego and they all decide to take a hike to the top of the falls, certain members more willing than others (nothing good comes for free right?) to see the sparkling view of the gorge. After much complaining followed by persuasion, followed by questioning of where they were going to wind up, Curtis and Mike had managed to convince Lauryn that the summit would be worth it and the view would be breathtaking! When the peak was reached they all sat and caught their breath, Mike fumbled nervously at his pocket to grab the shiny hot potato enclosed in a little plush box SNAP! He accidentally slammed the box shut but no worries, Lauryn was preoccupied, Curtis had the camera cued, and in that moment Mike made the best decision of his life.

 

The first chapter of Lauryn's life started when she moved to Oregon. Multnomah Falls was the spot where she fell in love with this beautifully green place. 17 years later, Mike is down on one knee asking for her hand, She couldn't help but to flash back to that moment when she was 6 six years old looking up at this mighty waterfall, wishing for a beautiful life in this new place. Its only right that she would start the next chapter at the top of this waterfall with this amazing human being. So of course...she said yes! The beautiful thing is that this is only the beginning. Whats next is a mystery, but they are so thrilled to find out whats next - together!!