Our Romantic History

My friend Kiersten tagged me with this fun little questionnaire. It looked like fun anyway, but since I'm currently away from my honeybun while visiting in California, I was especially happy to reminisce. What a great reminder of how much I love him!

Where did you meet your spouse?

I had just finished at BYU and had moved home to pursue a masters in art therapy. I was really not looking forward to joining the singles branch in our area and figured that i would NEVER meet ANYONE romantically. All the guys that I was not interested in as a teenager were who made up the branch. I sure was wrong! I walked into a meeting the first Sunday and saw a cute red-headed guy! He was the ward mission leader in the branch and I was so impressed with how much of a leader he was. I had never seen him before since he lived in another town and was two years younger than me. He was obviously the best catch in the ward and so I wrote him off since i knew that ALL the girls were trying to woo him. However, I was tickled pink that he was the guy that just happened to help set me apart for my new calling. (He doesn't remember this.) I tried over and over not to have a crush on him, but i was hooked from the start. Little did i know that he he had vowed NEVER to date a return sister missionary, (bad experiences with siters on his mission.) and so he never even thought about me as an option. I had to weedle my way into his heart.


What was the first thing you said to your spouse?

I have no clue....I'm sure that i initiated it though. It was probably "thanks" after he set me apart. the firs time that we really spoke was at a ward beach party. James brought his two kayaks (even more evidence of how studly he was.) and i hijacked one of them for most of the day. the majority of the crowd spent the day sunbathing, but we swam around with our friend, Craig. We talked about how hard it was to be home from our missions, etc., and i realized that he was more than just a good looking guy. i really enjoyed his company that day and that has never changed. I still think that he is the most interestng and funny person i know.


Where was your first date?

James and I had eventually become friends and spent some time together with other people at branch activities. One night he gave me a ride home from the branch temple night and the two of us gave dating advice to our mutual friend, Craig. James got really excited about the idea to go on a double-date to Ana Capa Island. (right off the coast of Southern California.) He kept going on and on about the details and I just figured that he was so excited because it would be a fun excuse to go out with me! I was pleased as punch! I waited and waited by the phone. Just when i gave up on the whole thing, (and while i was complaining about my woes to my sister on the phone.) he called! I had plans but i canceled them in a minute. When the happy day came, we rode on a fun boat out, hiked, kayaked, and talked. Even though he didn't seem super interested, I figured he was just shy.....after all i WAS an older, mature, and ravishing woman and most likely VERY intimidating. I was way off. It turned out that he just asked me as a friend because he thought that i would like that type of thing and he figured i was available. D'oh! I soon realized my folly and watched him hook up with a pretty tall blonde and figured that we would just be friends. However, i could not stop liking him. It killed me to see him with her because the more i got to know him, the more i loved everything about him.

Obviously, things didn't work out with her. (!!!!!!!!) When he asked me out for the second time, (six months later.)I was SO nervous because by this time i knew that if we started dating, that we would get married. PRESSURE! He took me down to Santa Barbara and we had dinner on the pier and then walked along the break wall holding hands. :) After that he took me to Golf n' Stuff to drive the go carts. I had always wanted to drive one, but i never was tall enough! It was worth the wait though. While getting out of the car, i realized that my FLY had been DOWN!!!! HORRORS! How long had it been down?!!! I had even just made fun of someone Else's embarrassing zipper. He claims that he didn't notice it. Probably because i was so sly at zipping it up while we walked through the crowd. the whole night was really nice. When we said goodnight on the doorstep, i was so nervous that he was going to try to kiss me that i didn't hear him say that he had a good time at first and therefore sounded disinterested when i said, "uh...yeah, me to."


Where was your first kiss?

We had been dating for about a month and i was house sitting for a family nearby. He came over to hang out and we ended up talking and flirting late into the night. At one point we were sitting on the couch talking quietly. I closed my eyes because i was so tired, and when i opened them, i saw a different look in his eyes. YIKES!!! I had never kissed anyone before and so i was so nervous! (Call me socially retarded, but i just didn't want to kiss a guy unless i really liked them and it just never really worked out before him.) He was such a cutie about the whole thing. The next day I had all my friends over for breakfast and I filled them all in on the happy event.

Who said "I love you" first?

I did. we had been dating for a while and I had loved him for so long that i really could not hold it in anymore. I totally freaked him out.

Did you have a long or short courtship/engagement? We dated from June to December. We got engaged on December 10th, 2005 and got married on January 6, 2006. About four weeks. Stressful, but sorta nice to hurry it up a little. My family was moving to China and wouldn't be back for a long time so we decided to get married before they left.

Where did you get engaged?

He took me back to our first REAL date in Santa Barbara. This time i had him take me to a Mexican restaurant instead and then we walked along the break wall like we did before. I had NO idea what he had planned. I thought that it was just an extra nice date because he was going to be leaving soon for BYU. He had talked to my dad earlier that evening and had the ring tucked away in his pocket all without me knowing. I was so pleasantly surprised!



Our engagement picture!

Where were you married?

We got married in the Newport Beach Temple. The LA Temple was closed for renovations and the San Diego Temple was closed for the yearly cleaning. I was so glad to live in a state with lots of options! I had never been there but it was beautiful!



How did your reception go?

It was really nice. We didn't want a reception, but family and friends kept pushing it. We were glad that they did because so many people came, and it was really fun. We didn't want to have a wedding line, but so many people kept walking through the door that we never really moved from one spot.

Where was your honeymoon?

We went to Solvange, California, a cute little tourist trap town an hour away. It was so quaint and beautiful.

If you could have changed anything about your day, what would it have been?

I was pretty grumpy leading up to the wedding ceremony. I was mad that i did not have time to buy a pretty new dress to wear to and from the big events. Mostly I was just SUPER nervous. He was so patient with me and i eventually came around.