Love Story Part 1: How we met

{Adam Turney, Melissa Marsden, and Benjamin Decker on May 10th 2005. 

Less than five minutes after we met and became a lab group}

In the past year or so, several of my family members have been posting their "Love Story" on their blogs. These love stories are tender, funny, and have stood the test of time. Our story is only 6 years in the making. I figure it would be a good idea to start posting little segments of my love story now, before memories fade and details are lost. 

In May 2005 I returned for my sophomore year at BYU-Idaho. My cousin Jeremy was getting married on 5.5.05 so I was heading down to the wedding less than a week after arriving back. I had just enough time to unpack and attend my first few classes.  Since 5.5.05 happened to fall on a Thursday I inconveniently was missing my Thursday Bio lab and Biology Class. I communicated with each of my teachers that I would be gone, but to please keep me enrolled. I also told my old roommate Catherine to save me a seat in Bio Lab so that I could be assured a spot in a lab group. She told me she'd take care of it and I was off to the wedding.

Fortunately the teachers understood and I returned, enrolled in the two classes I'd missed. I got up early Tuesday morning (May 10th) for 8:00am Bio Lab (could there be anything worse? Science that early should be outlawed). Catherine and I walked together across campus to our lab at the Ezra Taft Benson Agriculture and Biological Sciences building. As we entered, just moments before class  Catherine casually mentioned "Oh by the way, I wasn't able to save you a seat in our lab group." Knowing Catherine it was more like "Oh by the way, people sat down by me and I didn't bother to say anything to them." I approached the professor and introduced myself, telling him that I didn't yet have a seat. He addressed the room, asking if there were any incomplete lab groups. Two boys raised their hands and I started walking towards their group.

I remember specifically walking across the classroom towards my lab partners. One of them I didn't really notice (sorry Ben), the other one had the most incredible smile I had ever seen. I was instantly attracted to him. His smile pulled me towards the group like a magnet. SERIOUS Hollywood smile. I suddenly felt completely aware of every flaw on my body, totally insecure about myself, like I was naked and he could see all of my flaws which had been inexplicably highlighted. I sat down right in between Ben and Adam. I remember his smell. It was incredible. I feigned confidence as we introduced ourselves and began working on our project for the day.

Our lab was a three hour class but we could leave whenever the task at hand was completed. Adam always teases that the first day of class, when it was just him and Ben they wrapped up the project in an hour and were able to enjoy the rest of their morning free but the day I showed up they started to stay the full three hours as they competed for the attention of "the girl."

We spent a lot of time getting to know each other. I learned that Adam was the oldest of 6. I learned that he was from California and that he was adopted, a cancer survivor, an Elementary Education major, and quite the ladies man. I learned...basically nothing about Ben (sorry Ben). At some point I mentioned that I was starving and hadn't had breakfast and Adam suggested we all go out to eat together. They let me pick the place so I picked my favorite fast food restaurant: Wendy's. They both agreed that it would be a great idea (though I later learned that Adam HATES Wendy's and that would be one of probably 5 times I would go to Wendy's again in the next 6 years). We piled into Ben's truck and took off. Listening to the Beach Boys (a cruel reminder that summer was right around the corner and I would be spending it in classes and doing homework...)

It's funny how you remember certain things from your first meeting with someone. Small, insignificant things that don't matter at all but somehow make an impression. I remember I got a #6 (Hot and Spicy Chicken combo) and Adam got a baked potato, chili, and a Frosty off the dollar menu. It was my first introduction to someone who actually ate off the dollar menu. We also talked about the lady who chopped off her dead grandma's finger and put it in her Wendy's chili so she could sue them which was a big story at the time. Random, I know. I went back to my apartment, happy to have made a couple of nice friends.

Here is Adam's account, written on May 10th, 2005

"A pleasant surprise Ben and I got this morning in our Biology Lab. Most of the groups in the class have three people but somehow we ended up with only two of us, two guys. That is just fine because it means that we stay on task because we don't have any real distractions in the form of a girl to talk to or flirt with. However, Melissa was just added to our group and now we are three with one girl.
Today's lab would have been done with ease and we would have left about an hour early but with an added girl for us to give attention to, and give us attention, we found that we took up almost all the time in the class today. It is a whole lot more fun having a girl in our group, it added a bit of life to a rather boring lab class. Melissa is really easy to get along with too, and after class the three of us headed to Wendy's to get a bite to eat since we all missed on breakfast. It seems funny to me how all of a sudden we went from just two guys doing a lab to a small group of friends that will probably hang out in our free time. Since it is a lab class we are required to do a science experiment on our own and now it will be a whole lot more fun with a fresh set of ideas from a lady, rather than from just two guys.

The three of us are each at different points in life too, which makes it a bit more exciting. Ben is just recently 19 and will go out on a mission sometime in the near future...we don't know where he will go, as he has not received his call yet. Melissa is also 19 but will turn 20 a week before me. She has been at BYU-I for a short while now and hasn't decided upon her major just yet. She seems focused on her education and having a good time and will be spending six months in Russia teaching kindergarten kids to speak and read English. And then there is me, a 24-year-old guy that lived in Australia for two years, will hopefully be done with his BA in just over a year, and is always on the lookout for a potential future Mrs. Turney.

But yeah, class is something to look forward to for each of us since we all seem to get along so well. I am sure you are wondering if Adam thinks she is cute...okay, I will admit that I do, but I am trying to not jump to any conclusions and just enjoy the ladies before attempting to entertain any future ideas."