"I couldn't be happier...he couldn't be lovelier...because happy is what happens when your dreams come true!"
~Wicked~
One of my New Year's resolutions is to be better at journaling. I can't say if I'll ever make it to the scrapbooking stage, but this is the first step. 2015 was the best year of my 25 years on this earth--mostly because I met and married the man of my dreams..."my heart's duet" [Enchanted]. We had a relatively short courtship. Our first date was June 2, 2015 and then we were married on November 21, 2015. We have been married barely over a month, and I am convinced that it was the best decision I could have ever made in all eternity.
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| "Thee lift me and I'll lift thee, and we'll ascend together." |
Alex and I met in Finance class in February. It was my least favorite class and possibly his favorite. I always sat in the back, while he always sat in the front. About halfway through the semester, I noticed that my cousin Jake was in the class, sitting in the front. Being that this was a 600 student class, it was difficult to notice anyone in the large auditorium. From then on, I sat in the front next to him.
FLASHBACK: After I returned home from my mission, my father counseled me to get a Business minor because all the men would be in the business classes...not the Human Development classes I was taking.
MOVING ON: One day, near the end of February, I noticed this Clark Kent lookin' gentleman who was sitting next to me, and I made it my personal mission to snag a date with him. Finance was a bore to me, so I thought I would make the class more interesting by finding interest in those around me. We had been previously instructed by our professor to network and form study groups, and he did not fail this counsel. He asked me for my number by the end of class--I was sure that he was going to ask me on a date, but instead, he asked me to study with him at the library in a study group.
The Study Group
When I arrived to the "study group," I discovered that HE was the study group. There was no one else there. So I went into date mode instantly. I sat down and started asking him questions about himself as one should do on the first date, but was rather taken aback when he jumped straight into reviewing Finance. I was indeed confused because usually when boys asked me for my phone number, it meant they wanted to go on a date with me and get to know me. So, I put on my Finance [dunce] cap and tried really hard to show him how smart I was. I hadn't reviewed any of the material in quite awhile, and was quite unnerved as this was my least confident subject. He proved to be a good teacher and soon had me working problems by myself. I don't think my brain had ever worked harder in it's life trying to make a good impression in that hour study group.
He then got even more confusing as the semester wore on. He would invite me to every study group prior to the exams, and I went to the next one thinking that I might have an opportunity to get to better know this mysterious stranger better. Alas, this one was a real study group with lots of people saying smart things that I couldn't even comprehend. But THEN, he would text me after every exam, asking how I did and wishing me luck.
Finally, the last exam rolled around, and he texted again asking me to study with him for the final. I had given up the ghost on this class a month or so prior and knew the study group would most likely be pointless with my bleak future in that class, and I never texted him back. To be fair, I was in the middle of moving out of my apartment and I was super sick and might have abandoned my aims of a date with him.
A couple of weeks after the semester, I randomly thought of him and realized I had never returned his text. So I texted him back apologizing for the late reply and missing the study group, but hoping he did well in the class, and just like the popular yearbook signage, "HAGS" (Have a good summer). I wasn't really expecting a reply, but was most pleased when he texted me back from New York City, while I was at Time Out for Women with my mom. We texted back and forth for the better part of the day and I experienced this indescribable giddiness that we were talking. Sadly though...he never texted me back after that fateful day, and I moved on.
Social Media: Making Things Happen
However, he did begin to add me on social media sites over the following weeks, starting with Facebook, then Instagram, and lastly, Snapchat. I was highly confused that he was adding me on all these sites without talking to me a lot, but I added him anyway. When I Facebook stalked him initially (standard protocol), I found two pictures with him and this girl with their arms around each other in New York City and the Payson temple. I automatically assumed that he was dating this girl, and felt a moment of sadness, but then remembered that I had a plethora of options as I was dating a ton during the summer.
Everything changed when one day at the end of May, he sent me a snapchat out of the blue. We began snapping back and forth 24/7, and I found that he was really quite hilarious, charming, good natured, and dang attractive. He asked me out on a date on June 2nd to eat dinner at Cafe Rio with him. I almost did a victory dance at that point. After all the waiting, it FINALLY happened!
From First Date to Eternal Mate
When I saw him at the Cafe Rio, he was a lot taller than I remembered, a whopping 6'6" hunk of a burning love. He was dressed in a black dress shirt with tan dress pants and was looking mighty fine. He paid for my meal and we talked for a good couple of hours. I knew my life would never be the same after that first date. We became inseparable from that point on. All of the sudden, I lost all desire to date others and found myself totally ok with being committed to a man that I had only gone on one date with. I have dated other men for up to a year at a time without feeling that same level of commitment that he had inspired in just one date and a few snaps. I was intrigued, but I think he was mighty intrigued himself. I felt that I could inherently trust him, and I have never had a reason to doubt that feeling since.
To be Continued...
This is blog #3 for my awesome media class. Today in class we talked about music and the power it has on us spiritually--for better or for worse, academically, and personally with the very shaping of our identities. I know I just posted on music, but I feel the need to discuss it again differently. The last thing our professor asked us to do in class today was to pick a song that would sum up our lives. As I was thinking about it, this song popped into my mind. I hope that if I were to leave this earth at any given moment that people would hear the words of Josh Groban: "You are Loved" and think of me and the interactions they had with me. I decided and reaffirmed today that I want my every encounter with every single person I come in contact with to have some of the same impact that this song has on me. That decision led me down a different thought process as well: If my words should be powerful, uplifting, kind, inspiring, and motivating (as the Savior taught), shouldn't the music I listen to reflect those same feelings? In my mind, what I receive in my life will determine what I give others, and I want to give the best from within me.
