My How Our Hair Has Changed Over the Years!

Us in his parents house in Maine.

Adam and I have known each other for over five years, but didn't start dating until about the last two. I remember first meeting him at a diner right off of Washington Square Park in New York City with a group of friends from church. He had just moved to the city and happened to attend the same church as me (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints). I remember the food being awful, but I sat across from Adam and got to know him a little bit - apparently not enough to remember his name the next day at church. You see, we've been in the same church for all of this time and were never attracted to each other. Really, never. I had my interests in grad school and other boys all across this great nation and he had his interest in work (heh, heh). We barely even talked for the first three and a half years.


Us on my rooftop in New York City celebrating his birthday together for the first time.

Well all of that began to change at the end of 2007. I had a friend, Monica, who had this crush on a boy in our ward at church who was "so funny, so great, and so cute" whose name happened to be Adam Miele. She would go on and on about him and I would just look and her and think, "Adam Miele? You're crazy; he's short."

Around the same time I decided to buy my first guitar and wanted to learn so badly. My whole life I wanted to learn to play the guitar, but never got around to it and since both of my brothers played really well I just thought, I'll let that be their thing. As I got older, I began to think if I didn't know how to play the guitar I would at least like my future husband to be able to play so we have music in our home. Time passed and I hadn't met my future husband and I still had a burning desire to learn to play the guitar and secretly become a rock star. I finally decided that I didn't want to wait to find someone else who could play, I wanted to learn for myself. So I decided to buy a guitar and learn on my own - even if it meant practicing all day every day (at that point in my life I had a lot of time on my hands and needed something to fill the days with and the guitar was perfect for that!).

My friend Monica suggested I talk to Adam about the guitar because he was an expert. I thought, "sure, I've heard that before from a guy and they always end up playing the same three songs and that's it - 'More than Words' by Extreme being one of them, a poor rendition of 'Stairway to Heaven,' and always one Beatle song." But I decided I needed a little help buying my first guitar because I couldn't even play anything on it and I knew I needed to hear the sound of a few guitars to see which one I liked the best. I decided to ask Adam if he would meet me at Guitar Center on 14th Street and play a few guitars for me. He kindly offered to help. It was no stretch for him to do so since he worked a few streets away from Guitar Center anyway.

We met there and I picked out a few guitars I had read about online being great beginner guitars. He sat down with one of them, probably the Seagull, and began to play. Much to my surprise, the music he created with his fingers and the strings was beautiful. He clearly knew how to play (and expertly at that). I had him play the Breedlove guitar, which I later ended up purchasing, and again a different yet beautiful tune was played. He wasn't showing off, he was just really talented, and just trying to help me find a guitar. At that moment though, my interest in him had peaked ever so slightly. I began to think who is this Adam Miele that Monica speaks of so highly? He's not at all what I thought he was. As much as I like to be right in life, this was a time I was pleasantly surprised to be wrong.


Us in Maine.


Us walking the Marginal Way trail - again in Maine! It's a very romantic place people...

Long story short, we hung out as friends for months and months while I learned to play the guitar. We eventually began to date for months and months. We took many trips to Maine, where his family is from, and fell in love with it...and him.


Eventually Adam visited Georgia to meet my family. Here we are on top of Stone Mountain.


Here we are at the World of Coke in Atlanta.


Here we are as Tom Cruise and Kelly McGillis in "Top Gun."

And now we're getting married! It feels like we've known each other for years - I guess technically we have - but it's difficult to remember a time without him. I feel like we went to the same high school that's how well I know him. We've had so many ups and downs and ins and outs and have learned so much about one another. He truly has become my best friend (apart from my sister Sara which no one can replace). While our attraction toward each other was by no means immediate, I can safely say our love for each other will be long lasting and eternal. He's so funny and talented and everything he pursues he's always great at. I've never met anyone as talented as him. He's one of the absolute kindest young men I've ever met. He's generous with his time and is always willing to help others. Although he's short in stature he's the tallest in character! Ha! Ha! If you can't tell, his height was a bit of an issue for me. His height and when he buzzes his hair! Babe, you look so much better with long hair. Am I right people?


In the East Village at Christmas time last year.


Adam met my mom for the first time that night at The Atlantic Grill on the Upper East Side.

It's interesting because I guess I did have certain expectations or things I thought I wanted/needed in a companion and when the reality of things were actually different than what I had imagined, it took some time getting used to. But in thinking about things now, I see that he is perfect for me in that we balance each other so well. He has strengths where I have weaknesses and vice versa. He is the most patient person and being as stubborn as I am, I need someone with a great amount of patience. He tells funny jokes and I laugh (although I think I can joke with the best of 'em). We dance together, write music together, we share our ideas and collaberate together.


Backstage of his family's production of the Nutcracker Ballet in Portland, Maine.

I wrote a list of the qualities I was looking for in a spouse when I was 12 and here's what I came up with:

1. Kind
2. Likes kids
3. Rich (underlined 3 times)
4. Loving toward other people
5. Morman (yes, I actually spelled mormon Mor-Man; I kinda like it that way)
6. 6' foot (I think I meant 6 feet tall; not a man with a 6 foot long foot)
7. Play sports
8. Good looking
9. Older than me (even at 12 I had my priorities straight)
10. Honest

When I was 25 I wrote this:

1. Moves forward and isn't afraid of change (I would go so far as to say he even embraces it)
2. If not Jimmy Fallon, looks a lot like him
3. Will marry me despite my massive student loans
4. Likes chocolate, popcorn, meat, and onions
5. Has lots of energy to rear potentially 4 or 5 children and will help motivate me to rear them too!
6. Isn't scared of me or the way I think
7. Weighs more than me
8. Can take me to the temple to be married eternally
9. So...Mormon.
10. Has the four f's: funny, funny, funny, funny
11. Collaborates with me on projects such as art, music, writing, dinner, baby-making, etc.
12. My ideal man would be good at or highly interested in the following:
- Learning -- so we can talk and talk and talk about everything
- Culinary arts -- so he can cook homemade soup for me when I'm sick
- Computer science -- so he can speak C++ to me
- Playing musical instruments -- so he can sing to me whilst I play the recorder
- Writing -- I need an editor
- A Comedian -- See number 2 and 10
- Deep cleans the bathroom, kitchen, floors, etc. every once-in-a-while when I'm too busy to do it (and doesn't forget the details like cleaning the door knobs, refrigerator, etc. I'm not saying he has to be tidy all the time, but he just has to know how to clean well -- none of that sweeping it under the rug thing).
13. Willing to serve others
14. Wants to be with me/enjoys spending time with me
15. Loves, listens, and is obedient to God

At 29 I can safely say I found someone with almost every single one of those qualities. I love you, Adam!

Us at a wedding reception...who knew then that we would would have our very own one day!