Tori and Christian met on a camping trip. He drove her home, and as she got out of his car, she said, "If you want to call me, you can get my phone number from Bob."

For a week, he didn't call. She figured that was it — no big loss, though it would have been nice. And then finally he did call. She was a sophomore in high school. He was 20 and out-of-work.

After two weeks of dating — every day, dating — Christian called Tori and said he'd like to take her to dinner and a show that night. Something really special.

"I said, 'That's nice!' Before that, he would call me and say, 'Where do you want to go?' and I'd always go, 'Oh, I don't know,' and we'd spend a while going back and forth like that. This was one of the few times he said right away where he was taking me."

So that night Tori excitedly answered the door wearing heels and a fancy sweater — only to find Christian waiting at the other side of the door, smiling broadly in cutoffs and a torn T-shirt.

"I felt really stupid, and I wondered, 'Are we going back to his house so he can change?' We got into the car, and he said, 'Here's dinner,' and he handed me a box with a pepperoni pizza in it.

"I thought to myself, 'Well, at least we're going to a movie,' and then he shows me a little TV that plugs into the cigarette lighter of the car. He said, 'I've had this TV since I was a little kid, and we're going to watch my favorite movie, 'Blazing Saddles.' He was really proud of that TV.

"I held the pizza on my lap, and he drove out past the suburbs into an unincorporated area."

First they ate the pizza. Then they plugged in the tiny, black-and-white TV. The wiring was loose, and every five minutes he had to get up and jiggle the cord that led to the cigarette lighter. It didn't matter. The movie was corny. That didn't matter. The mosquitoes were having a field day. That didn't matter. That night, the two of them fell in love.

Tori says, "People always used to ask, 'How do you know when you're in love?' and other people would answer, 'You just know.' It sounded so mysterious, but I guess it's true. You just know. You don't worry anymore. You don't wonder all the time, 'Does he love me? Is he being faithful?' When it's right, you stop worrying. That's how you know. So I know."

Tori and Christian have changed a little since that mosquito-filled date three years ago. She finished high school and works at Target. He works at Whole foods. They're both going to college in the fall.

"He doesn't try to impress me anymore," Tori says. "We're comfortable with each other now, as comfortable watching TV as going to a fancy restaurant. We've seen each other almost every day since we met.

"In fact, that date with the plug-in TV let me know what we were in for. Now that's almost all we do — watch TV. It's fine with me."

When did you know it was love? Send your reply, along with your questions, problems and rants to cheryllavinrapp@gmail.com. And check out my new website askcheryl.net.