Romance Spotlight: Elise

Hello everyone and welcome to another ROMANCE SPOTLIGHT! Elise from The Frugal Farm Wife is here to share a fun date that she and her husband had. I hope you take a minute to read about it and make sure you stop by her blog and say hi!

Take it away Elise!

Last Friday I was over at my parents and dad mentioned that he had to go to a town about 30 miles away for a few small things for his work truck.

 I jumped on the opportunity and offered to go get them if he would watch Garrett. Gabriel and I haven't really been able to date as such since Garrett was born last June. But now that he's 11 months old and eating quite a bit of solid food, we're finding that I can leave him for a few hours at a time without undesirable repercussions, so I jumped at the chance to turn an errand into a date!

Dad accepted my offer to go get his stuff, and I ran to see if Gabriel was up for it. He was of course. One of our favorite things to do together is ride motorcycles which, again, we haven't really done since Garrett was born. So we ran home, suited up and took off!

We took some beautiful back country roads and road through a small Amish community to admire their spring gardens. After we stopped at the small town auto parts store and picked dad's order up, we took a different route home to stop by our favorite little country store where we purchased some dried fruit and peanuts and sat on the store's porch looking out at the creek to eat our snack.

 

Gabriel and I in front of the ice machine of all things!

On the way home we drove by some hay fields that were being baled - they smelled wonderful!

How's that for an unconventional date?!

 It may have started out as a simple errand, but I think Gabriel and I were both happier with our date knowing that we had been at least semi productive while having fun. And besides, The whole thing cost us little more than five dollars since we traded an errand for baby sitting. Now that's my kind of date! :)
 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Elise is a child of God, wife, and mother. She blogs on frugalfarmwife.com about her journey in thriftyness, farming, and food allergies

Thanks so much Elise! Loved it!

Be sure to stop by again for another ROMANCE SPOTLIGHT!

Happy Dating!

Romance Spotlight: Dorothy

Hello everyone and welcome to another ROMANCE SPOTLIGHT! Dorothy from Crazy for Crust is here to share the sweet story of how she met her hubby. I hope you take a minute to read their story and make sure you stop by her totally awesome blog!

Take it away Dorothy!

Hi y'all! I'm Dorothy from Crazy for Crust, where I'm crazy for...well...crust. And cookies. And cupcakes. And brownies. I bake it all...and then I share it, with a slice of my life thrown in.

{Who am I kidding? I throw way more than a slice. It's more like I eat the slice and throw the whole pie at you.}

I'm so excited to be here at Friday Night Date Night, because I'm also crazy for...my husband. I guess that's a good thing? I hate to say this but...our story is somewhat, I don't know, magical? Almost like destiny?

All I do know is that I never really believed in soulmates until we got together. Because, seriously, he is my true other half.

We met in college. I was a traditional student. He was what they call a "returning student." In other words, he was an um, ahem, a much older guy. Like...16 years older.

It was his first class at our college, College of Notre Dame (no, not that one) in Belmont, California. CS030A aka Computer Science 1, aka my class from hell. I really should have paid more attention in that class, methinks.

He was married. I had a boyfriend. And before you start calling me mean names, no I was NOT a home-wrecker. We were just friends. He gave me his answers to his homework, we chatted in the lab. I think, looking back that, deep down, I may have had a spark or two, but hey. He was married and I was in a two-year relationship with a guy who I figured was going to be my future +1.

The following year we had no classes together, but would see each other occasionally in the halls and say hello. Nothing out of the ordinary.

Then came Fall of 1999, two years after we first met. I was single, and had been for awhile. I ran into Mel in the parking lot during the first week of school. Asked him how his summer went. And he dropped the bomb, probably the best bomb that ever happened to me.

He had left his wife. He was getting divorced.

On the outside, I was all "aw, crap, I'm so sorry. That sucks, are you okay?"

On the inside it was like a dance party and the feeling those people who win the lottery must have. That's the moment I realized the spark was reeeallllly strong. But, dude, the guy was just single. Like, not even fully divorced yet. He wasn't in a good place.

I bided my time by finding out where he lived and stalking him instead.

I kid.

{Not kidding. I really did that.}

About 6 months later we were running into each other more, talking in between classes. I kept bugging him to meet me for lunch (as friends, of course). Finally, he agreed.

We had lunch on a Monday. That following Saturday we went hiking and had lunch together. By the end I was convinced he was my soulmate. We had just about everything in common. We could finish each other's sentences. I thought he felt the same way, but wasn't sure.

By the end of the next week we'd seen each other every day and had our first official "date". By then, I kinda new he felt the way I did. By the end of the second week I knew we would get married. And not in the "little kid wishing to get married and writing our names in a heart" knew. I knew.

By the time school ended we were inseperable. We graduated together. Another reason I knew he was a keeper? He brought me roses at the ceremony. And he brought his mom, sister, my mom, and all of my girlfriends roses too.

By August, 5 months after that lunch date, I was anticipating a ring. I had every weekend planned out so I knew, knew when it would be coming.

 {I'm reeallllly not good at surprises.}

But he managed to foil my plans.

   

We went to Las Vegas for the weekend. I knew he was not going to propose in Vegas because he had told me I needed to meet his family first, which I was going to do on Labor Day weekend.

When we got to the hotel he went down the hall and got ice for our pre-dinner drinks. He poured me a drink and asked if I wanted ice.

I said, "No. I don't like ice." {Really, I don't.}

He said, "you sure? You don't want some ice?"

I said, "No, I'm good. No ice for me!"

He said, "I think you want some ice. GET SOME ICE."

So I did. And I got a girl's favorite kind of ice.

And a husband too.

We were married a year later in Ralston Hall, the historical mansion on the grounds of our college.

And now we have a kid and have been married over 11 years.

 

But he still makes me feel like that person who won the lottery.

Thanks so much Dorothy! Loved it!

Be sure to stop by again for another ROMANCE SPOTLIGHT!

Happy Dating!

Romance Spotlight: Emily

Hello everyone and welcome to another ROMANCE SPOTLIGHT! Emily from Sweet Bella Roos is here to share her love story with us. Be sure to stop by her blog and say hi!

Take it away Emily!

Hi there! My name is Emily and I blog over at Sweet Bella Roos. I am a proud mama, firefighter's wife, wannabe baker & blogger. Lover of all things vintage, turquoise, & handmade. Hater of veggies, sushi, & waking up early. I was so excited when Mackenzie asked me to post about how I met my Hubby. Seriously, how cute is her blog? Pretty sure I have every 'I Love Lucy' episode recorded. It's a sickness ha-ha. Plus, I have to admit, I think our love story is pretty cute. I mean who doesn't love a story about star-gazing, swine flu, and Steak and Shake? (For those of you on the West Coast, Steak and Shake is a burger place here... not quite as famous as In-N-Out). 

 

James and I met in a college astronomy class. The fact that we both ended up in that class was completely random fate because he didn't need it for his degree and just decided to take it as an elective, and I had just decided to switch from BioChem II a few weeks before the class started. A few days before the semester started I came down with Swine Flu. Let me just tell you that was as awful as it sounds. I-felt-horrible. By the first day of class I had been on meds long enough to not be contagious anymore, but not long enough to not look like death anymore. I barely got up the energy to shower, threw on a sweatshirt, put my hair in a ponytail, and headed off to class. This class was a lecture/lab combo and that night we had both. I was just expecting to go over the syllabus and return as quickly as possible back to my bed, but my professor of course had other plans. When he asked us all to get out our "star wheels" (which of course I didn't have with me) I started to panic. I immediately began to scan the room, knowing I need to make friends fast to find someone to share with me. Of course I picked the cutest boy in class, who just happened to be sitting on my row. When we got outside I introduced myself, which went something like this: Me: Hi, I'm Emily. Is it cool if I share your star wheel? I forgot mine. Oh and by the way, I promise I'm not dying or contagious... even though I look and sound like it... but I'm on meds and my doctor says I'm fine. James: Uhh, sure. Yep. I was smooth, and clearly he was into me. So after spending an hour outside in the freezing cold of January (coughing like crazy), class was over and I thanked him for taking pity on the sick girl. We didn't have class again until the following week but this time he came and sat next to me. I couldn't tell if he was shy or "just not that into me"... but I felt like he needed an encouraging nudge to ask me out (ha-ha). So the following night I told him how I hated that class was so late (7-10pm) because I didn't have enough time coming from work to grab anything to eat and by the time we got out of class I was starving. Which of course opened the door for him to ask me to go grab a bite to eat after class... which he did. Now if you ask him, he will tell you that he had been planning that all week and that it was totally his idea. So after class we went to Steak and Shake because that was one of the few places nearby still open. I actually hate Steak and Shake ha-ha. We ended up talking the entire night until they finally kicked us out at 2am. From there we were inseparable in class. (Did I mention he had the highest grade in the class? Did I pick wisely that first night or what ha-ha!) I found out that he had the last season of 'Lost' on his iPod and soon we began going over to each other's house after class to watch it. About 6 weeks later we took a trip to Houston together and when we got back he said "I love you" for the first time. I had already known for weeks that he was the one.

So when people ask us how we met, we love to say that we met 'gazing at the stars'... sounds more romantic when you leave out the part where I was coughing up a lung with the flu. :) James proposed to me under the stars a year and a half after we met and we were married the following Fall. If you would like to see pics from our wedding (and see how our ties to astronomy made an appearance) you can view them here or here.

Thanks so much Emily! Loved it!

Be sure to stop by again for another ROMANCE SPOTLIGHT!

Happy Dating!

Romance Spotlight: Camille

Hello everyone and welcome to another ROMANCE SPOTLIGHT! Camille from Friday We're in Love is here to share a FREE date with us! I'm so excited that I "met" Camille because she blogs about dating too! So be sure and stop by her blog for some awesome date night ideas!

Take it away Camille!

Hi Fridaynightdatenight readers, I'm Camille and I blog over at fridaywereinlove.blogspot.com.  Mackenzie and I connected online and realized we were kindred spirits, both out there trying to spread the love and share date ideas.  I'm thrilled to trade a post with one another!  We talked about going with the idea of free dates, and I had a recent one come to mind that I'm so happy to share!

Did you know that most cities do a free museum night or day once a month?  Seriously, call your local museum!  We tried to hit up the Arizona Science Center on First Friday when it's free, but and it just didn't happen.  We decided we'd try and go the next month, when our lovely friend clued us into culture passes.  They are passes you can check out from the library for 2 people to get free admission to a participating museum. If you go when it opens you're almost guaranteed to get the one you want.  We were thrilled to nab one to the Science Center, and decided to forgo the First Friday madness and visit on a less busy day instead.

We hit up a pizza place on our way, then it was off to get our science nerd on for one of the funnest dates we've had!

Some dates I feel like I get to play professor and tell Jacob all about the art or the literary references, but this was one date that this cute electrical/energy engineer told me about everything we looked at.  He was like a kid in a candy store with a big smile on his face at every exhibit.  He's also the hottest tour guide I've ever had!

 He decided to make me take a picture with this, making sure I was touching it.  He couldn't stop laughing.  And I had no idea there were some valuable uses for cow dung.  Now I do, with picture to prove!

Then we played with some smart windows that help save energy.  

This was followed by a lesson for me on lighting.  Jacob is the man to ask about light bulbs, he really knows his stuff and can calculate all kinds of power savings and conversions in his head, I guess doing it for a living helps quite a bit.  I sure love that I married a smart man! 

We played with many other exhibits and learned quite a bit (well, at least I did).  

 Did you know there are more bald women than women with green eyes?  I'm a rare breed!  (Okay, I probably learned that from a Rogaine commercial for women years ago, but it sounds like I should have learned it here...right?)

One of our favorites was the bed of nails.  Man physics can really be so cool!  And I'd like to shout out to one of the best teachers I've ever had, Mr. Pa'ne for teaching me the rules I still remember and letting me walk on a bed of broken glass in class.  I'll always owe my love of science to that man! 

Jacob had a helper who really wanted to push the button for him.  He's such a nice guy to hand his life over to a toddler!

But one of the reasons we REALLY wanted to go, was for the special exhibit- Van Gogh Alive.  I know, if you've ever read my blog this won't surprise you.  If not, let me introduce you to my obsession with Vincent (here or here).  I feel like I've studied him so much we're on a first name basis here.
This part wasn't exactly free, but it was really inexpensive with the culture pass and it was optional.  The exhibit is usually $25 to get in, but with a culture pass it's only $11- double score on that one!

The exhibit really is quite the experience!  Images are projected on every crevice of the room with classical music, quotes by Vincent, and animations from elements of paintings- all designed to help you get inside the mind of Van Gogh.   I was sold the second his bedroom was dissected and I felt like I was sitting inside the room.  If you want a taste of it, you can watch a video by clicking the video tab on this website.

Luckily for every one not in AZ- it's touring and hopefully will show up at your state science center soon!  

Even if you just choose the free option this is really one fun, academic date that I think any couple would enjoy.

Thanks for letting me post Mackenzie!  Happy dating everyone!

Thanks so much Camille! Loved it!

Be sure and stop by again for another ROMANCE SPOTLIGHT!

Happy Dating!

Romance Spotlight: Lauryn

Hello everyone and welcome to another ROMANCE SPOTLIGHT! Lauryn from love notes by lauryn is here to share her and her hubby's story. It's super cute and I hope you take a minute to read it! Be sure to stop by her AWESOME blog too. 

Take it away Lauryn!

hello friday night date night readers!

i'm lauryn from the blog

mackenzie asked me to post about my husband and i.

she asked me to write it a LOONG time ago.

and i never got around to it. not because i was trying to be irresponsible, 

but because i wanted to capture our story perfectly in a short amount of words.

see i have known my sweet boy for 7 years. 

out of those 7:

2.5 were spent dating

2 were spent writing letters

& for 2 years we have been married.

i could honestly write a long book about our story....

much too long for a blog post. 

so i will share our life and our love story in a very very small nutshell.

and for those of you who really don't even want the nutshell version, 

here is the story in pictures:

pull up a seat and grab some popcorn or something.

even the nutshell story is long.

high school sweethearts

michael and i met my freshman year of high school. i was 15 and he was 16.

i was often a visitor at his house.. he had the party house.

we talked, played ping pong, had water fights, drove around crazy in the car, etc.

one night as i was leaving he so casually said 

"you're not leaving without a hug"

i already was crushing on this boy. 

and now, my 15 year old self was going to get a hug from this stud!

ah, bliss.

we began to see a lot more of one another, and one night he kissed me.

i was 15.

i was horrified.

so i cried.

and broke up with him.

over text.

yes, i cried. yes i broke up with him. yes it was over text.

i'm awful i know.

i really couldn't believe i had been kissed. i felt so little!

naive little me, ruined by an innocent little peck.

so i decided it was probably a great time to go back to my old boyfriend 

who i held hands with, texted a lot, and was never alone with him.

much more comfortable for me.

by time i was a sophomore, 

i was a single girl again. ready to enjoy my high school life.

i would see cute little michael on the hill at lunch.

him with all his cool friends and pizza just hanging out in the back of a pickup truck.

gosh, he was so cool.

whatever.

i didn't even like him.

i think.

my friend one night asked me if i would ever get back together with him.

i jumped right on that.

uh, yes.

next thing i knew we were dating again! 

i loved it. it was always so much fun. 

all the time happiness.

called to serve, rochester NY

eventually, 

the time came that the boy had to leave me.

he turned 19 and it was time for him to serve the lord.

he got called to serve a mission for our church in rochester, new york.

i was completely supportive. i wanted him to do this.

but the thought of him being gone for 2 entire years-just short of the amount of time we had dated-

made me sick. sick sick sick.

i went with him to the missionary training center when he left 

(you could do that back then, now it is not permitted)

when i came home, i went right to the lovesac in our front room

and lived there.

for days.

weeks.

i was hysterical.

it was pathetic.

i couldn't believe it.

i slept with kleenex boxes and woke up to tissue crumbs.

i missed a TON of school.

no one warned me how hard this was going to be.

what had i gotten myself into.

a big freakin' mess.

that's what.

somehow i gained the composure to go back to school.

i finished out my senior year of high school and could not have done it without my bestie ky.

we had a blast.. to this day she is my best friend. i love love love her.

time for adventure

when i graduated i decided it was time for me to have some adventure.

i don't know why or where it came from, but i decided i was going to go to mexico.

i went for 4 months, stayed with an AMAZING family and taught english to sweet little kiddos.

i grew up a ton. 

i got busy enough i wasn't constantly stressing over my missionary.

i came back and was a counselor at a youth camp.

i got my first REAL job teaching preschool. (i still work there today!)

i started school at the university of utah.

and waited.

such a long wait

people told me it would get easier. it didn't.

people told me the second year was easier. it wasn't.

i still had many nights where all i wanted to do was go find my lovesac and sleep.

i needed him.

it was so so hard.

i would find myself with less tissues in the bed, 

but that didn't stop the random bursts of pain, spouts of tears, heartache.

i remember talking to ky and telling her i could actually feel pain in my heart.

every once and a while now, i will remember the pain and begin to cry.

i can not even explain how hard it was on me.

i didn't want to be one of those girls... all sappy and weird about a kid from high school.

but i totally was. i didn't care, i still don't care. 

he is my sweetie.

...but so worth it

after 2 years, and 4 days extra too!

he came home.

(i even felt relief writing that!)

i went to the airport with his family.. i was a nervous wreck!

sweating like crazy, shaking....ah.

what was i going to do.

first person of the plane.

no.

not him.

not them.

not her either.

suits?

missionaries!

michael!!

this could not be happening.

i was SO happy.

the second i saw him i knew things would work out.

i just knew it.

may 28, 2010 ...then comes marriage

and they did.

michael got home the beginning of december.

he proposed at the end of january.

we got married in the salt lake temple at the end of may.

these have been the happiest 2 years of my life.

i love my cute michael so much. 

he is absolutely amazing.

i feel 100% complete with him.

he is the only thing that can make me TRULY happy.

i am lucky lucky lucky in LOVE.

thanks mackenzie for having me.

it was so good for me to finally sit down and write our story.

♥

Thanks so much Lauryn! Loved it!
Hope you stop by again for another ROMANCE SPOTLIGHT!

Happy Dating!

Romance Spotlight: Rachel

Hello everyone and welcome to another ROMANCE SPOTLIGHT! Rachel from The Random Writings of Rachel is here to share what she and her hubby did for their first anniversary. I hope you take a minute to read all about it and be sure to stop by her blog and say hi!

Take it away Rachel!

Hi! I’m Rachel and I’ve been married a year and a half to my love, Angel. 

 My husband and I decided shortly after we got married that we’d take turns planning anniversary celebrations. I volunteered to take the first year. We were both in college when we first met (he was a senior and I was a freshman back then), and I was still in college, and, in fact, even had one class on the day we celebrated our 1^st anniversary, so I decided to give our anniversary celebration a “Back to School” theme. I also wanted to go traditional with the anniversary present (1^st anniversary is paper), so I bought a journal for us to share, to write to each other in. 

My husband didn’t have to work, and drove me to school on the day of our date. Before I left for class, I left him with a Test and a Reading Assignment. The Test was compiled of a whole bunch of “How well do you know your spouse?” type questions. The Reading Assignment was found in the new journal, it was a letter from me to him. He chose to add a Writing Assignment too, and wrote me a letter while he was waiting for me to get out of class. 

When my class was done, I was happy to find out that my test and assignments had gone over well, and he was excited to find out what we’d be doing next. I told him that we were going out to eat at the only restaurant we ever ate at while he was in college: Taco Bell. Where we are, Taco Bell is the cheapest place to eat out, and during my first year of college, it was the go-to place when Angel and I and our friends wanted some food. After he graduated and started working, we could afford restaurants on a slightly higher level of sophistication than Taco Bell, but I wanted to take him back there so we could remember the fun days of being in college together. At Taco Bell, we went over the test Angel had taken (I had taken one earlier), and I found, to my dismay, that he had a higher score than I did—he knew more right answers about me than I knew about him! I learned that I have to work on my research skills.

After that, we went out for “recess”—to an arcade where you can play games for quarters. Another college student-budget friendly activity! We just happened to hit the jackpot on one game and ended up getting enough tickets to redeem them for a stuffed bumblebee, which now sits proudly on a shelf in our bedroom, forever a reminder of our 1^st anniversary.

 It was simple and inexpensive, but also fun, and now I can’t wait to see what Angel does for our 2^nd anniversary!

Thanks so much Rachel! Loved it!

Hope you stop by again for another ROMANCE SPOTLIGHT!

Happy Dating!

Romance Spotlight: Amanda

Hello everyone and welcome to my ROMANCE SPOTLIGHT! Amanda from The small-time Adventures is here to share an awesome date that she and her hubby had at home! I hope you take a minute to read all about it and be sure to stop by her blog and say hi!

Take it away Amanda!

 Hello "Friday Night Date Night"-ers! I found Mackenzie's blog a short time ago & loved it! It's so fun & fits so well with my life & what my husband & I try to do - date & keep falling in love without breaking the bank. ;)

One of our own favorite dates started like this - our honeymoon was not very long, but very eventful. We were supposed to spend a couple of days alone in a family member's cabin before having to U-haul it up to San Francisco, but a snowstorm closed down the road right before we got there. Blocking both the road in AND out of a small nearby town, we ended up holed up inside a Best Western Motel which had a mysterious wet spot on the carpet which never dried or shrank in size. We still managed to have a great time though, because hey, being snowed-in on your honeymoon is pretty romantic... even if their is a large spot on the floor you have to avoid. ;)  We did, however, decide we could take a slightly longer & more thrilling honeymoon during my husband's spring break in March.  Knowing we couldn't go somewhere extravagant we thought that hiking & staying around Yosemite would be wonderful.

Beautiful, isn't it?

But by the time March came around, with no car & a small budget we decided to nix Yosemite.

Welcome: Apartment.

view from our front door is another plain apartment, but if you look to the left - ALMOST like Yosemite?

We switched off planning dates that week to make up for it, & on my turn I decided we would go camping as much as possible. So I told Derek to wait in our room & I'd pick him up, while I made dinner, packed our backpack full of the essentials, grabbed all the sheets and pillowcases we owned put on my hat and told him we were going camping.

We used part of our laundry line for the top of our tent, and used chairs and such for the frame. We were pretty excited with how it turned out. :)

That's my husband sitting inside the doorway.

 After that was done I brought out our meal trying to make it look "campy." The dark jar is full of homemade salad dressing if you're puzzled. ;)

 Our fire

Our dessert-ish snack. Derek LOVES Ritz crackers, so I "splurged" on some to wrap up the night. He was so into them he missed the picture. ;)

After placing all our blankets down for padding (hard floor) we played games and spent the night in our makeshift tent palace. It was awesome. Take that Yosemite. ;) 

Thanks so much Amanda! Loved it!

Hope you stop by next week for another ROMANCE SPOTLIGHT!

Romance Spotlight: Jocelyn

Hello everyone and welcome to my weekly ROMANCE SPOTLIGHT! Jocelyn from We Talk of Christ, We Rejoice in Christ is here to share an anniversary tribute with us. I hope you take a minute to read it and be sure to stop by her blog and say hi! Take it away Jocelyn!

Steve and I are celebrating seven years of marriage this Sunday...

Seven wonderful, action-packed years!

Here we are on our wedding day, sitting on the very bench where he proposed to me, outside of the Washington, DC Temple.  I like to say that Heavenly Father had to move heaven and earth to get the two of us together, and that isn't too far from the truth. 

Steve and I were both in the same singles ward in 2003 - The Langley Ward.  I had recently moved to DC and was still untangling myself from emotions left over from a previous relationship when I first met Steve.  I remember sitting in my car, listening to some music, before getting up the nerve to enter a bowling alley where our ward was having FHE that evening.  I was mulling over the huge waste of time the last two years of my life had been...dating someone who I neither liked, nor wanted to be married to.  But now I was in a different place, back in DC among many of the friends I had loved so much the first time I lived there a few years earlier.  As I gave myself a little pep talk to get ready to "mingle" with the singles, the thought entered my mind, "Who knows?  I could meet my future husband tonight."  Then I gave myself a mental lashing for even thinking something so ridiculous and cliche and I joined the party.  Later that evening, I did in fact meet Steve.

He didn't make a huge impression on me that night, because I observed him laughing at jokes made by a girl who openly admitted to having had a boob job.  Sorry Steve, but I'm just being real here.  He was just another guy to me, one of a thousand or so who ran in the LDS singles scene in DC.

That is why when we ended up on a date together one evening a few months later, I didn't even remember him by name.  "Steve Christensen," my date Clark told me, "You know him!"  I insisted that I did not know a Steve Christensen.  Clark was my home teacher.  He liked me.  He was an extremely nice guy, very righteous, very stalwart.  I wasn't interested in him, but I went out with him anyway when he asked.  I didn't have a reason to say no, really.  We went on a double-date:  Clark and I were joined by Clark's good buddy Steve and Steve's girlfriend.

When I got in the car that evening, Steve and his girlfriend were in the back seat.  It was dark, so I still could not see who this Steve person was who I supposedly knew.  And then he spoke.  At this point, I still couldn't see his face, but his voice was like some magic combination of chords that made my heart and mind feel alive!  It wasn't necessarily a love reverberation, but it was something--some kind of connection.  It was like he spoke on a frequency that no one in the world had ever spoken to me on before!  I didn't even know what his face looked like, but his voice made me hungry to hear more.  Every word that he spoke was so intelligent and insightful.  He was funny without being silly, personable, but genuine.  More than anything, I wanted him to say more...

When we got out of the car, I realized that I truly had met Steve before, but this time, I had gotten to know him better.  He was a nice guy...an interesting person...with a great voice...and a "steady" girlfriend.  Lucky them, I thought.

Months passed, and Steve and I were thrown together again, this time because of our church callings.  Brother Haraguchi was the counselor in the bishopric who called us both to serve as co-chairs of the activities committee.  Every month we planned activities for about 400 singles in our ward.  It was a lot of fun.  By this time, Steve had broken up with his girlfriend, but I figured Steve wasn't interested in me, because he never flirted with me during our many late-night (because of my work schedule) meetings, so in my mind we were never going to be more than friends.

Just Friends - At "Mulligan Madness" a mini-golf event we planned for the singles ward.

I was working for CNN at this point, and I got off work at 11pm.  So I would go out most weekends to parties as soon as I got off work.  I enjoyed meeting lots of guys and hanging out with my girlfriends and co-workers.  I had pretty much resigned myself to a life of dating around, working, and enjoying all that DC had to offer...at least for the time being.

Then Memorial Day Weekend rolled around:  Singles in DC traditionally go to Duck Beach over Memorial Day Weekend, rent houses, and hang out at the beach.  I had decided that I would go to Duck Beach that Memorial weekend with the singles too...and then Steve asked me out.  I had to weigh the choice:  go to Duck Beach and hang out with 700 singles or go out with Steve, my co-chair on the activities committee.  Hmmmm.  (What would you choose?)  Up until this point, I thought he was not interested in me (although he had asked me out once before...I was out of town that time too.)  I waffled between the two options, and Steve, in an attempt to mask his eagerness said, "Well, if you do end up staying in town, we'll have to hang out."

I worked an earlier shift that day, because I planned on hopping in my car around 3pm and driving down to join the party at Duck Beach.  Although, admittedly, I was still waffling.

Around noon that day, my roommate Cindi called me at work.  She asked if I was sitting down.  (I thought she was going to tell me that my grandpa had died, her tone was so grave!)  She told me that a tree had fallen on my car...the very car I was going to drive to Duck Beach.

When I walked home from the Metro that day, this is what I saw outside of my apartment:

My car is underneath all of those leaves...

There's part of my car now...as you can see this tree had rotted out at the base.

At this point, workers were already sawing away the treetops so they could get my car out.

Bye-bye Windshield.


I did in fact stay in town that weekend.

And Steve and I went out not once, but three times....

Saturday, he took me to Rockford, MD to see the Spin Doctors in an outdoor concert.  (He didn't know that this was my favorite band in high school!)

Sunday evening, we attended a Memorial Day Concert of the National Symphony Orchestra in DC.  We sat on the steps of the Capitol, and he held my hand as the rain fell softly, creating a beautiful mist.  The music was amazing.  A perfect atmosphere for falling in love.

Monday, we went to Arlington National Cemetery to watch the President lay a wreath on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.  We were held up in security and missed the wreath-laying, but as we walked the grounds, a bird brushed my face with its wing as it flew past.  I'll always remember the sensation.  I took that as a sign of good things to come.

After that week, I KNEW that Steve was someone who I could marry.  I had never been able to say that with 100% confidence with any other guy before.  Whenever I entertained the idea of marriage with other men, I'd get an awful feeling in the pit of my stomach, or I'd have a bad dream where I played out getting married to that person and things would just feel very wrong.  But not with Steve.  I always feel right with Steve.  That is how I knew that he was the one.  

He also did something that other guys didn't. He was strong enough and secure enough to show me that I was his number one choice very early on.  He held nothing back.  He was willing to make himself vulnerable to me and was always very unselfish emotionally.

One time about a week or two after we went on our first date, Steve had to attend a dinner at a girl's house.  He had made this arrangement previously.  I don't remember the details, but I remember that he called me at work to tell me that he was going to dinner at this person's house with a group of people and that he wanted me to know that it was just a friend situation.  I absolutely did not expect him to do this.  He cared about my feelings from the very start and was so considerate of me.  Other guys I met in DC at that time, were so inconsiderate.  They dated girls for sport.  They'd take you out one night and forget your name the next day at church.  It was so degrading actually.  But Steve was a real man.  He was dating with a purpose.

He proposed after 3.5 months of dating, and we were married one year after our first date.

I guess this isn't actually THE WHOLE story, but you're getting the gist of it.  Two fiercely confident and independent people brought together by the hand of the Lord.  It wasn't enough that we were put into a calling together, forced to work together...He had to drop a tree on my car for us to TAKE THE HINT.  We were meant to be together...

I like to think that our love story is unique, but maybe it's not.  I just know that I hear lots of lovely, fluttery, goo-goo-love stories, and I think our love story was much more sensible.  I had had those kissy-kissy, can't live without him love/crush experiences in the past, but none of those lead me to THE ONE...the one who gives me wings, but keeps me grounded in what's true.   The one who encourages me to follow my dreams while still being true to myself and my covenants.  The one who knows me instinctively, knows what's best for me, wants what I want, works as hard as I work.  

Steve would disagree with this next statement, but I got the sense that he really could live without me and would carry on just fine, but that he CHOSE TO BE WITH ME, and that made me love him even more.  We are equals.  We stand side-by-side.  We can like different things, have different interests, and yet neither one must bend to the other, because we are equally yoked and perfectly in step.  We are just an absolutely perfect fit.  

And three kids and two moves later, I want him now more than ever.

So thankful to the Lord for bringing us together.

So thankful for the institution of marriage.

So thankful for the beautiful children that we have made together.

So grateful for the life we have ahead of us.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, STEVE!

I love you!

Thanks so much Jocelyn! Loved it!
Hope you will stop by next week for another ROMANCE SPOTLIGHT!

Romance Spotlight: Jami

Hello everyone and welcome to my weekly ROMANCE SPOTLIGHT! Jami from Young Wife's Guide is here to share her engaement story with us. I hope you will take a minute to read it and be sure to stop by her blog and say hi! Take it away Jami!

 In August 2008 when I was 18 years old and my boyfriend was 20 we both moved 8 hours away from our family to attend college. I was starting as a freshman and he was transferring in as a junior. I lived in the dorms on campus and he lived in an apartment on campus.

We had talked about marriage already. We had started talking about the ring and we settled on the idea that I would pick out 5 different rings that I loved and he would make the final decision to surprise me. Well after shopping around I ended up deciding on the one ring I loved. 

So I knew what ring I was getting, that we planned on getting married the next summer, and that he was probably itching to propose. I just didn't know when this would happen and my boyfriend played that up as much as he could. 

We were at Disneyland one night (we had a season pass) and my boyfriend surprised me with a reservation at The Blue Bayou, and adorably romantic (and expensive!!) restaurant inside the Pirate's of the Caribbean ride. I had always wanted to go here and just knew that this meant I was getting engaged that night! 

I started planning right away that after he proposed we would go buy the mickey and minnie wedding hats and get a picture taken there...only he didn't propose. Dinner came and went. We finished dinner and the first thing he asks me if if I thought it was going to happen tonight. 

He was trying to throw me off the trail! He purposefully wanted me to think he was proposing just so he could surprise me more! Well it worked. 

Fast forward a month and we had a Friday off of school. So we loaded up my car and hit the road for 8 hours to visit our family for the first time since moving away to college. It was a special weekend since we hadn't seen our family in so long. 

On Saturday of that weekend we decided to go to the River to play frisbee which we had done so many times before. I was NOT expecting a proposal here. We get there and my boyfriend tries to talk me into going on a walk just the two of us down by the river. 

I'm a bit irritated with him at this moment. Why would I go on  a walk with just you when we are here to spend time with family?? (I don't know why I didn't see it coming). 

So his family encourages us that it's fine, they are going to warm up so we should go for a quick walk. We head off down a beautiful trail next to the river and halfway down my boyfriend grabs my hand, spins me around and is on one knee. 

I took one look at him and said "You're joking". Remember, he had tricked me before! I really thought he was just messing with me again. But no, this time he pulls out a ring and asked "Will you marry me?" 

Of course I said yes, I cried, we sat by the river for a few minutes so happy to be engaged and then walked back to his family waiting there with sparkling cider and yummy treats to celebrate. 

By the river where he proposed.

We got engaged October 17, 2008 and exactly 7 months later on May 17, 2009 we were married. I was 19 and he was 21. It was the best decision of our lives and we are so happy to get to spend these young years together! 

On Our Wedding Day

Thanks Jami! Loved it!

Hope you will stop by next week for another ROMANCE SPOTLIGHT!

Happy Dating!