Date Story #10- "I Love You"

So the rest of the night was full of butterflies! We were watching '8 Seconds' all alone late that night. I was resting my head on J.D.'s lap while we were watching the movie, and he was running his fingers through my hair. And then he spoke...lol! This is gonna sound so cheesy romanticly, so if you want to stop reading, that's fine. (I don't even like to think about how cheesy this sounds, but it's what happened and it was a major step for us...me anyways)
J.D. "Jenny?"
Jenny: "Ya?" and then I looked up at him.
J.D. "I love you." And he just looked me in the eyes and smiled.

So...my heart was racing. I just said,"really?"
J.D. "Ya, I really do."

Then..I didn't know what to say. NO ONE had ever said that before to me like that. Maybe it's because I only had first dates....???lol! I just smiled back and turned back to the movie. I didn't say ANYTHING back. haha! Of course I couldn't pay attention to the movie. My head just kept running weird thoughts like; does he want me to say it back? I don't know if I do, I just know we are gettin married...This is so surreal!

Then I decided I better decide if I do love him...maybe not in love, but maybe I was... How the heck do you know!! So I thought of my list..yes, I have a list. It is full of about 60 things a guy must have and do for him to be perfect for me. This list plays a major role for me.. and NO J.D. didn't know about the list until after we were married. :-) So, first-I was attracted to him, he had served a mission, he loved the gospel, he knew what he wanted to do for a career and it would support me and a family, he was funny, he thought I was cute, he knew how to work hard....etc.

Some of the things he hadn't done from the list YET, but most were accomplished from what I knew. I really loved being with him, and feeling safe...so ya, I did love him.

NOW all this thinkin' took probably less time than it took to read. So I did what J.D. did...
Jenny, "J.D.?"
J.D. "ya?"
Jenny "I love you too."
And then he just kissed me. :-) aaahhh! CUTE!

That was a little mushy for me, but we made it through. Really at the time I was feeling like that was mushy..I had never said I love you to any man like that, but I didn't say it first and we still got married. lol!

I went to bed that night knowing that I was loved and with butterflies just fluttering their way around me. It was a good night! And for the record, it took me a very long time-like until after we'd been married for awhile-for me to say I love you first. Now that our journey was headed in the right way, I figured it was time for J.D. to meet my mom and siblings, and set up a temple date.

Date Story #9- Meeting the Parents

I left off with J.D. leaving for Holden Wednesday and I came Thursday night. I told J.D. I really wanted to go for a horse ride with him when I got there. So on Thursday I started for Holden America. When I got to the exit I pulled off to the side of the road and had a freak out moment. I called an old friend and explained what I was doing. I had never thought that I would be in this situation of meeting someone else's parents! I really wanted them to like me, and for things to go smoothly. PLUS I had the anxiety of telling them we knew we'd be getting married and it had only been 1 week since our first date!

HOW IN THE WORLD are you supposed to tell parents that and everything still seem picture perfect. So of course I'm running this through my mind...
THOUGHT, "Hey, I'm Jenny, your future daughter in law. I thought I would tell you this since it's old news to me. I found out last week. :) OH and for the record we haven't said I love you yet, but we are still getting married. Oh and can I stay at your house tonight?"

See- I was freaking out. lol! I almost turned around and didn't go to J.D.'s (I was 3 minutes away) I started to say a prayer to know what to do, and J.D. called! So, with that sign I decided it would be okay and to keep going. I got to his house and their was this hot cowboy standing in front of the horse trailer waiting for me. I was so excited to see him. SO.. I drove up in the middle of their circular driveway (the part that isn't meant to be driven on). I didn't know it was a circular drive way because it wasn't finished and it was pitch black outside. Great first approach. J.D. asked me to move my car and then we went out back to saddle up the horses. His dad was back there and he shook hands with me and then went inside. OKAY! One down, one to go! lol! We headed inside where the rest of his family was. I was introduced and went to shake his mom's hand...and she said, "oh...I would shake your hand, but I have onions on them..."
THOUGHT: Onions? That can't be a good sign. Great.

J.D. and I left on the horse up the canyon and his family soon came after. Before they came, J.D and I had made it to the campground and decided to just keep riding around. Here is a part that we disagree on, but too funny not to tell. J.D. claims that I grabbed his hands and put them on my boobs as we were trotting around. I say there is absolutely NO WAY I would ever do that!!! We both still disagree.

His family had planned a dutch oven dinner up the canyon for the night. It was so much fun! I met everyone, and then we left back down the mountain. My favorite part was being on the horse with J.D., with a clear starry night. It was so cute.

That's basically it. There wasn't much to the night and meeting his parents. We didn't tell them about us getting married. J.D. did mention something, but their reply was, "J.D. doesn't have enough money to walk across the street. What's he thinkin getting married?"

While J.D. was outside on the back porch of his parent's house cleaning the dutch ovens, I saw inside at the bar just visiting with his parents. J.D. says that he kept looking in at me and watched how I just easily conversed with his family. He said it was a huge statement for him and that's when he knew he loved me.

So from that you can see where they stood with it. They really never believed we were actually getting married until I had a ring. But that's another story. :-) So that night we watched 8 seconds and it was during that movie...I'm ending here so I can write it on another post.

Date Story #8- A Walk Down the Future

I'm calling this story 'A Walk Down the Future' because it was this night that we talked about kids, temple, careers and working them out between us, and things we wanted in life. Now you are probably thinking...what the heck? This is only the 3rd date!! But to be honest, it wasn't weird at all. It felt perfectly normal for both of us.

So Monday J.D. had to work until 7, and I got home around 6:30ish. I didn't realize that J.D. had to share the 'boat' (his car) with his younger sister Lynette. So when J.D. didn't arrive until 7:45 I was wondering what took him so long. Well, he took the bus. So from then on, I just let him take my car when he got done with school so I could see him sooner after work.  I just wanted every minute I could with him.

We decided to go on a walk along the Provo river. It was kind of scary because it was pitch black outside. BUT I had a tough man by my side who made sure he was between anything that seemed scary and me. So we started on our walk. It was SOOO CUTE! J.D. immediately held my hand and never let go. It was this night that J.D. realized that we would be really getting married. For the record this was the start of ME always being right. lol! Good start I thought!

We discussed school and if one of us would be willing to be on hold with school while the other finishes, if it ever came to that. Of course we agreed on something...

We discussed what temple we'd get married in (the 2nd time we've had this conversation) And he thought it'd be neat to get married in the Bountiful Temple.

We discussed having a ranch after starting a career in dentistry.

We discussed families and what high school was like for both of us.

We discussed how many kids we wanted and names we liked (NOW this was important because I had a list of things that my husband must do in order for me to get married to him. One of those was that he had to like the name Andee M'lee for a girl. This is after me because my middle name is M'lee, and Andee is my ultimate favorite name for a girl. When I asked, "What do you think of the name Andee M'lee for a girl?" He said, "I actually love that name!"

THEN in the middle of our conversation, J.D. and I heard a noise..instantly he put himself on the side the noise was coming from. I felt so safe with him...and still do! :-) And shortly after we were about to pass an old shed..so J.D. switched sides and once again put himself between me and the shed. HOW SWEET IS HE?!! I was still falling head over heels for him...even after I'd already done that.. haha! We raced, and then he almost pushed me into the river! Of course we were just flirting and playing around. It was so fun! I loved how much we wanted the same things and got along so well. AND he is such an AMAZING kisser! Just for the record, we just love making out! lol!

We walked back to the car and J.D. kissed me goodnight! He started taking my car from then on when he'd go home too. Then he would ride the shuttle from my apartment in the morning to school and back.

We had only 2 days of school that week because it was fall break. So Wednesday J.D. left for Holden... and I came Thursday to meet his family, and stay at his house the rest of the weekend.

Date Story #7- The First Kiss

So after I got home from ward prayer that night, I hurried home to clean up a bit and get cute. I had a couple of friends come over. Now my sister Kortni wasn't there because she was getting pretty sick at this point. My brother Choc was having a girl come over that night, so he wasn't there either. Those were the 2 people I wanted to come over the most. They needed to meet their future brother in law.

My friends and people from our ward had gotten there and were laughing because I wasn't sure how I was going to be when J.D. arrived. We'd held hands, he'd kissed my forehead, we had cuddled on the way home, and we were getting married. I was so nervous because I needed to let him know the exciting news about our wedding, and I didn't know if we would hold hands again. See, some guys get scared if all that were to happen on the first date. Most guys would probably get scared and back off a bit, right? Well, I didn't want to ruin it and pro-long our wedding longer than it would be if everything went perfect.

All of the sudden I peaked out my blinds and saw J.D.'s car roll up. It was a car from like the 50's I swear! An OLD buick that was as long as a bus! My first thought was we would definitely need to buy a new car when we got married because I did not want to be seen in that thing. LOL! I started getting all jittery inside and out. Then before he reached our door (which was wide open-we kept it that way during the summer nights to cool off the apartment and be inviting towards more single men. :0 ) Our neighbors right across from us had their door open as well. J.D. stopped in their doorway and was shocked to see 3 of his buddies from high school! This was a good thing because I was WAY good friends with all of them. He stood their as I watched him reminisce with his friends for a minute.

My thought-Go over there and say hi. So I did. I walked over and he turned towards me immediately. I think my heart stopped. He quickly smiled so big and said 'HI!" He then gave me a hug and grabbed my hand. I seriously think my heart was pounding out through my shirt. J.D. would describe it more as 'glowing.' So we held hands and he pulled me close as we talked to our friends for a minute. Then we walked into my apartment and he again led me into my apartment and never let go of my hand.

I introduced him quickly (now remember, everyone there knew we were getting married as well, J.D. still didn't know). I put in the movie Glory Road and J.D. pulled out his lap top. He had to finish a paper before the next day. I helped him and quickly proofread his paper. He was really impressed with my skills. After he was done, he held me in his arms. Some how I ended up laying across the couch and my head laying on his lap. Of course I was more into J.D. than the movie, so I noticed how he kept looking at me. Between all of this, lots of people went home in the middle of the movie. They probably could tell it was time to leave so me and J.D. could be alone......need I say more? I finally just looked up at J.D. and stared. OHHH MYY GOSH!!!! He was so HOT, and I just couldn't get enough of him. Some might say I was obsessed, I would say I was head over heels in love.

All of the sudden J.D. lifted my head and kissed me! From then on I think my head went to could 9. I'm pretty sure people who have used that expression meant what I was feeling then. WELL the kiss didn't just stop there, we made out! And it was amazing! He is definitely the best kisser ever! I will stop there because I just can't explain how more in love I was. I was so excited to know this was the last person I would ever kiss, and I would get to enjoy his kisses for the rest of my life. :-)

After the movie, he wanted to see my bedroom and we went in there to cuddle. For the record we didn't even kiss in there. We just spent the time getting to know one another. Basically the question/answer game again. THEN, the time came. I knew I needed to tell him the news. I wasn't scared to tell him because by this point I knew we were getting married and there was not a doubt in my mind. So, it began like this...

Jenny "So do you want to know what I told my mom?"
J.D.: "Sure."
Jenny: "I told her we were getting married." PAUSE
J.D.: "Oh. really."
Jenny: "Yep! I've talked to the Lord, my bishop, and my mom. WE all knew."
J.D. : "Wow." He was smiling "What did they all say?"
Jenny: "Well, the bishop knew before I could say anything."lol- I didn't tell him what my mom said, or the lord. I wanted to wait so I could explain my patriarchal blessing to him.
J.D.: "Hmm. That's cool."

That conversation wasn't awkward for me at all. J.D. says he felt flattered that I would think of him that way. He said he felt special for someone to see that they wanted to spend the rest of their life with him. BUT he didn't see it yet. He didn't really believe me. Which I was fine with, I knew it would happen. We just cuddled for a bit and then he went home. I was relieved to tell him, and started planning right then for the wedding. LOL! Even if J.D. didn't believe that night, I knew he would know soon. In fact, it was the next day, Monday, when he knew for himself.

Date Story #6- The Bishop

The next day (Friday Oct. 6th, 2006) I called my mom to tell her about my first date with J.D. and that I was getting married!!
My mom simply replied, "Now don't read too much into this Jenny. Take some time and don't fall head over heals so fast."
What she said didn't even phase me. I KNEW I would be getting married, and I also knew once she met J.D., she would believe me. I also had a talk to prepare for that day. I did everything in my power not to text J.D. or call him... I didn't want to be pushy, and intimidating. This was extremely hard to do since I wanted to tell J.D. so badly what I knew. :-) I held strong until Sunday. On Sunday I had to speak in church. **side note: J.D. had to speak in church that Sunday as well. We figured this out afterward. After sacrament, I went to talk to the guy who set up meetings with the bishop. I needed to tell the bishop as well. After church was over, I waited for my meeting with the bishop. Now, before I say what happened next, I want everyone to understand this is EXACTLY how this happened.
I walked in and shook his hand. I was kind of nervous, but he was such a good bishop I knew everything would be alright. We both sat down and before I could say one word, he replied,
"When do we put you in temple prep?"
My face was probably priceless-my eyes just got big like my mouth and I said,
" HOW do you know?!!!"
Bishop, " All morning I've had a feeling about somebody in the ward. When you walked in, I just knew."
Me, "Well, he doesn't know yet! So let me tell him and then we'll talk about temple prep."
We both just started laughing.
Bishop, "He doesn't know??"
Me, "Well, not exactly. BUT he will."
We laughed some more. I began to tell him the first date story, and how it all happened. It was just too funny that the bishop knew as well.

So in short, the bishop, the Lord, my mom and I ALL knew that J.D. and I would be getting married. However, J.D. still didn't know. So in my mind, I thought that I better let him know. Without thinking about my decision of 'not being intimidating or pushy' I called J.D. that afternoon and told him about the movie we all get together and watch after ward prayer Sunday nights. I invited him over to watch it with us. He said he had a paper he needed to write that night so he didn't know if he'd be able to. So I suggested to write it at my house during the movie. He thought this was a great idea and said he'd come.

Date Story #5- First Date Part 3

First thing that happened when we got back to the truck...well lets just say I've never had butterflies jump out of my heart this strong, but it was strong enough that I still can feel it when I think of what happened. J.D. leaned up against the truck, with his back to the truck and pulled me in to hold me. Once he had me in his arms he kissed my forehead so sweetly. It was right above my left eye..I will never forget that moment. I couldn't think and at that moment I knew I was going to marry J.D.

By the way...I didn't mention this before, but in my patriarchal blessing I am told several things about my future spouse. I am mentioning this so I don't forget to tell my children about this part of the story. On our walk I happened to remember a certain part of my patriarchal blessing. It says that I need to go to the Lord for confirmation of my choice. So I acted on it. While walking to the truck, I just knew I wanted to marry him. So I silently said a prayer in my head and said, "Lord, this is who I choose. This is the guy I want to marry. I'm coming to you and asking for confirmation... Is this right?" Immediately I felt the answer and heard it loud and clear, YES. I could feel the spirit so strong and that's how I knew it was Heavenly Father answering me.

Well, after he kissed my forehead and I knew I was going to marry J.D. I was able to see things so clearly from then on. I knew this was the big thing that was going to happen in my life. I knew why I wasn't supposed to go on a mission. So many answers I received and could see clearly why. After being held for a long time, we decided to pop the tail gate down so we could sit. While we were sitting we played the famous "Question, Answer" Game. Now remember J.D. is just 2 months home from his mission.
Jenny: So where is your fantasy make out?
J.D.-(answers, but I have the answer in my journal.)
J.D.-What temple do you want to get married in?
Jenny-Bountiful! I lived in Bountiful and spent a lot of time there drawing sketches of the temple for class and pondering life. It means a lot to me.
J.D.-is getting married in a different temple negotiable?
Jenny- No. hahaha!
Jenny-Where and what is your dream date?
J.D.-(Answer in my journal)
J.D.-What's your favorite scripture?
Jenny-Ether 12:27. ...

For some reason my mind was on making out and dates, while J.D.'s mind was on a more spiritual level. Go figure! Right at that moment we saw the other couple coming towards the truck so the 'Question, Answer' Game ended quickly. I'm pretty sure I was putting J.D. out of his comfort zone. Lol! We got in the truck and had to face the question, "What were you guys doing in the back of the truck?" Haha-of course it was just a joke and we laughed about it. On the way home I completely fell asleep! J.D. just held me the entire way. He calmly woke me up when we got back to my apartment. He walked me to my door and gave me a sweet hug good night. :-)

J.D. says he went home trying to think of the next time to take me out. :-)

Date Story #5- First Date Part 2

We drove to the game and picked up our tickets at "Will Call." Again, J.D. pulled out the cash and paid. I couldn't help checking J.D. out while he wasn't facing me. I remember thinking how HOT he was. I was totally beside myself.

Side note- I was totally taken that this HOT guy wanted to take me out. I seriously thought he was way out of my league. So to think I was this lucky girl who got to be with this GORGEOUS guy....I was on cloud 9 with just his looks.

J.D. and I looked at our seats and headed up...and up...and up..and up the stairs. On our journey up to the top of the bleachers we passed a whole row of empty seats. We went 4 or 5 more steps and then I said, "Let's just sit there.. If anyone comes we'll just scoot over.." J.D. laughed and said, "Really?" Then a red nervous little flag went off in my head.. what is he thinking? what did that mean? Did I just do something terrible? BUT I said, " Yeah. It will be fine." So we turned down the bleachers and sat on the empty row. We sat close, but not as close as we were by the end of the game. :-) Next thing we knew, another couple sat down on the empty row. We scooted over, but J.D. being his outgoing self began a conversation with the couple. Turns out, those weren't their seats either. haha!

Time went on. The game was AWESOME! I stood and cheered and got into the game as I normally would and J.D. did the same. (I later found out he loved how into the game I got). The half time show was great! I was having the time of my life. I so wanted to just cuddle with J.D. on the bleachers, but I was adamant about NOT doing anything first.

Early on in the 3rd quarter the Utes scored!! We both jumped up and cheered with excitement! J.D. then totally hugged me with excitement! It was SOOO awesome! AND as our hands came down from cheering J.D. grabbed mine!! I remember my heart was jumping out of my chest again. lol! All I could focus on was my hand in his hand. I don't remember much of the rest of the game. We sat super close after that, and J.D. all of the sudden let go of my hand and just put his arm around me. Even though this just melted my heart, everything felt so natural. It wasn't awkward, or weird, or extremely nerve racking. J.D. will even say he just felt natural about how everything happened. It's like that was the way it was supposed to be.

The game ended and we walked down the bleachers, through the crowds, and back to the truck. NOW one of my other favorite things besides paying with cash, is a guy being in control of the date. When I say this I mean that he will just be decisive because after all, he did ask me to go on the date.  Especially when other people are around. On this walk back to the truck, J.D. never let go of my hand. I would have to squeeze through people with J.D. behind me and he would lead me from behind. It was like dancing through the bleachers, and the crowd. I didn't even have to think because I was being led. Even when he was right next to me he led me. I guess that's why I remember this so well. By now, I would have expected J.D. to see all the butterflies and twinkles around me...well...actually I think he could sense it. We finally got the side walk and we could finally talk about more personal things. We got to the mission talk and he told me he'd just gotten home. He went to Dallas, and told me all the great things he did on his mission. I just loved it. He wasn't weird at all for being home less than 2 months. He was definitely more confident then, than he is now. He taught himself spanish! So I would ask him how to say things and he'd tell me, then I would try repeating them. We kinda stopped talking for a minute and got to the truck. Since the other couple wasn't there, and they had the keys we knew we were in for a long wait.