Sunday, January 11, 2015

A Big Day for Hannah Rose

I met Hannah Rose three years ago. We both ran in the same 5k and took first and second place. (This was not a very competitive race, but we usually neglect sharing that fact when telling the story to others.)

I was impressed with how fast of a runner Hannah was. I was in good shape at the time, at the end of my training for the first Ironman I attempted, and have been a runner for many years. And yet, I had a difficult time staying ahead of Hannah in the race and only beat her by a small margin.

She did not seem pleased that she did not win. I later found out that she was an incredibly competitive person. A collegiate runner for BYU and a phenomenally good athlete, she entered the not-so-competitive race expecting to come in minutes before anyone else.

I RUINED THE DAY.


But we struck up a conversation after the race concluded. Hannah Rose was obviously a gem and we immediately hit it off. She made the connection that I was the guy from Stranger, which she had started reading a few months before our meeting. We also realized that we lived near one another in downtown Salt Lake City.

Hannah Rose and I began a very close friendship and before long we felt like siblings.

When I moved to Palau, Hannah started sending me packages of goodies I missed from the U.S. She introduced me and my gut to something called "Cookie Butter," which I quickly learned to eat by the spoonful every time she restocked my supply with a new box of goodies from overseas. My 30-gained-pounds while in Palau thank her immensely. But in any event, she helped me feel connected with home at a time when I really needed to feel connected with home, and I will forever be grateful to her for that.

When I returned from the Land of Coconuts, Hannah Rose and I reunited. We bonded over our shared love of cooking, attempting to be hipsters who like foreign films, and learning how to be artists. And then the summer approached and we got season passes to Lagoon, the local theme park, which we attended religiously, assaulting you with photographic selfie proof on a weekly basis.







I love that Hannah Rose dearly. And I was thrilled and amused when she asked me several months ago to be the "Man of Honor" at her January wedding.

Hannah Rose was married on Saturday. Her wedding was beautiful. And I took my duties seriously. I'm still not exactly sure what those duties were, but I was quite serious about them.

I share this all with you because you Strangers who read Stranger regularly probably feel like you know Hannah Rose. And you deserve to know about this big event. In fact, you deserve to have been invited to her wedding. We apologize that you didn't get an announcement. We tried to send you one, but it was returned because we didn't put an address on the envelope.

Congrats, Ms. Hannah Rose. You were the most beautiful bride in Salt Lake City that day. I checked. NOT THAT IT'S A COMPETITION. But, it totally is a competition. And you won.

At the wedding dinner.

Hannah surprised me with this tie clip. I've never loved anything more.

Hannah Rose and Aaron. Hannah designed that wedding dress and it was awesome.
~It Just Gets Stranger

23 comments:

  1. And now all your shippers will be sorely disappointed that she got married, and not to you. You might have at least apologized for ruining that one for them.

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  2. Always a bridesmaid and never the bride... Until they change those darn laws

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    1. Those "darn laws" have been changed. So now what?

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  3. She's beautiful! Looks like a happy day. I found myself half expecting that you would be the surprise groom at the end!

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  4. Well, so much for my theory on the two of you.

    If Hannah reads this, congratulations on your wedding!

    And, FYI, I was SO BORED ON FRIDAY no thanks to someone who shall remain nameless...probably because he was too busy getting ready for some wedding or something. Pssshhh...

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    1. But really....I need some weekly distractions.

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  5. Congrats, Ms. Hannah Rose! You and your groom make a lovely couple.

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  6. Her dress is incredible.

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  7. Not to take away from Hannah and her big day (that dress is gorgeous, and she was gorgeous in it), but that Lagoon photo taken on Turn Of The Century, the one of the rider with their arms outstretched, that's a fantastic photo.

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  8. It makes my heart happy that you guys have such a wonderful friendship. Thank you for keeping us updated. :)

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  9. What a beautiful bride! Congratulations!

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  10. so funny, i know the groom. decently well too.

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  11. The real question is what were your 5k times?

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    1. That is exactly what I was wondering. Not that I am competitive. Not at all really.

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    2. I want to say that my time was just over 18:00 and Hannah was about 20 or 30 seconds behind me. But I could be totally off on that. It's been a while.

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  12. You and Hannah Rose could totally do toothpaste and mouthwash commercials. Perfect teeth in EVERY picture. Why haven't the toothpaste and mouthwash companies snapped either of you up????? Congrats, Hannah Rose and Aaron! Many happy healthy wonderful years to the both of you!

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    Replies
    1. Because we've already signed a contract with the perfect hair folks. Obviously.

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    2. These are not conflicting interests. No reason you can't do all of these. I don't think you're trying hard enough. We don't accept excuses around here, Eli. Get to it!

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  13. ‘Gotta love a temple wedding! That dress is absolutely gorgeous btw. When I was bridal shopping, it was disastrous trying to find anything with sleeves. This dress is perfect and so well designed by the beautiful bride. GORGEOUS!

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  14. How did you let a beautiful girl like that get away?

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