How Your Father and I Met:
I
had been at BYU for about a week. When I was in high school I thought I would
graduate from BYU around the time I was 22. My plan was to graduate, get
married, and then start a family. It wasn’t until I was at BYU that the thought
occurred to me that I could find the
one sooner than before I turned 22. In fact, what if I found the person I
wanted to marry this year? It could
happen. My mom and sister and grandma were all married at age 19, after all. I
thought a lot about it and prayed about it those first few days at college. I
decided that if I found a person worthy enough to marry, I would do it because
in the eternal scheme of things marriage and family are eternal and a college
degree is secondary to that. So that first week I even began to pray that I
could find that person if it was God’s will.
Just a few days later I was at my
sister, Trishna’s apartment in Provo. I was spending time with her and in a few
minutes I would get ready to head over to the first BYU devotional of the year
at the Marriot Center. Trish’s friend, Martha, was at her house too and they
were scrapbooking. Martha mentioned how her brother-in-law Jason had just come
home from his mission and they joked about how someday they may be future
sister-in-laws. I rolled my eyes at them planning my future for me. I went
upstairs to get ready to go.
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| Me at the Deseret Tower dorms |
Josh wasn’t there, Martha and Trish
told him, but guess who was? “And she was going to walk to the devotional, but
now you can give her a ride.”
So the first time I saw Jason was
from the top of a staircase in Trish's apartment. He offered me a ride to the Marriot Center and I
accepted.
I joke around that one of the first
things that impressed me was his car. He had a 1992 Toyota Corolla, and I
actually was impressed that he had a modest car. I also like that he spoke
Spanish and learned that he had served a mission in Ecuador. We went to the
devotional. Later he told me that he liked that I could sing because we had sung a little at the devotional. When we walked
back to his car after it was over he asked if he could escort me. I thought he
was being forward so I said no. I wasn’t ready to take his arm and thought that
was something you did if you were courting someone.
We went to Josh and Martha’s
basement apartment because that’s where everyone else was and I believe we had
dinner there. Before I left to go home Jason asked me for my phone number.
It wasn’t long after that we went
on our first official date. We went swimming at the BYU indoor pool. What I
remember about that date is that I saw Jason had a really hairy chest. We played pool basketball and we jumped off the
high dive together (and got in trouble by the lifeguard for it). Then we went
to a burger place and had ice cream shakes. That would be one of many, many,
many ice cream shakes we would have together. I remember I ordered a pumpkin
pie ice cream shake and was freezing while I ate because I was still kind of
wet from the pool. I couldn’t finish it because it was too big. He finished it for me.
We dated more and as I got to know
him I liked that he was a good person. He was spiritually strong, kind, humble,
and easy to talk to. Other dates
we went on included going to some BYU dances, ice blocking, going to the
temple, and lunch on campus. He always wanted to spend time with me which was
not something I was used too but later I learned quality time is his love
language. Service is mine and so when he did things like fix up my bike for me
and buy me contact solution, that meant a lot to me. Things were getting
serious pretty fast and that was hard on me because I really had never dated
before and I was afraid that I would be making a mistake by going for the first
guy I ever dated. But I did a lot of praying and fasting and soon we became
boyfriend and girlfriend.
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| Getting ready to go to a BYU dance |
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| We took a weight lifting class together and would run before it in the mornings |
My First Kiss
Jason was my first kiss. We were sitting on the porch swing outside of Trish’s apartment. He brought me a book he wanted to show me. It was called, “Fanny’s Dream” by Mark and Carolyn Beuhner. It is a children’s book and we read it together. I loved it. We kissed at some point after we read it. Soon after that we started dating exclusively.
Valentine’s Day
On Valentines day he met me at the
lobby of T-hall, the dorms I lived at. He sang me a song on his guitar and
pulled out a white box. He was trying to trick me into thinking he had an
engagement ring, but I knew he didn’t. It was a silver heart shaped necklace
with a tiny diamond in it. I said thank you. Later that day all the girls in
the dorm wanted to see it.
I knew I wanted to marry him when
one day I was having a hard day. We went down to the basement of T-hall and
played the piano and sang together. There was one song he shared with me that
helped me with the feelings I was struggling with. I could feel God’s love for
me through Jason. After that experience, I knew he was the type of person I
wanted to spend my life with.
Engagement
Soon after that we were
engaged. We went to Mountain View to visit for some reason. Before church on
that Sunday he took me to the mountains in the Flamm’s ranch, where he had
worked before. We hiked a little ways to an old, tiny, school cabin. We sat
outside and he sang me a song. I don’t know what the name of the song is or who
sang it, but it was about climbing a mountain together. Then he got on one knee
and pulled out another white box with a ring in it this time. He asked me to marry
him and I said yes and we hugged and kissed. 
Honeymoon in Cancun and surrounding areas:
