From me and Jon's first date to the day we were engaged it was only five weeks. Some might say crazy, and I probably would have been one to say it before I was "one of those crazies" myself. But sometimes you meet a person and you don't want your first date to end and then you spend every possible second you can together. You find something you didn't think really existed and wonder how you had gone so long without this person in your life. That's how I feel about Jon. We didn't actually meet until the middle of June but the Lord had a hand in our stories, and how they would eventually cross, a long time before that.
In hindsight, one of the most significant stories for me happened in early May. I was working for SkyWest and I wanted to transfer to Jackson Hole to work for the summer. To make a long and confusing story short, I had finally gotten approval from everyone I needed and I was going to have the best summer. Another girl from work and I were sitting in the Idaho Falls airport, coming back from apartment shopping in Jackson when I got a call from management. They said they were taking back our approval and we couldn't go to Jackson afterall. We were both rather upset and the whole flight home we talked about how "illegal" this had to be and all the ways we could argue our way back to Jackson.
Later that night, after getting off the phone with another friend who was still going to Jackson, I had a plan fully worked out of how I was going to get approved again. My mom came into my room I told her all my points of argument. She looked for a second and said somewhat casually, 'you know, I really think you should stay. I think there is as reason this happened and a reason you shouldn't go.' I didn't know why, but I got a funny feeling that she was right (I've learned this over the years, that my Mom is almost always right). I dropped the subject then and Jackson Hole was a thought of the past. It didn't take long for that reason to pop into my life, I was just slow to realize it. Looking back, listening to my Mom and not going to Jackson is easily the second best decision I have ever made (the first is to marry Jon!)
The first time I met Jon was while I was working a flight to Dallas. He was also working there at the time but it’s a big place and we hadn’t yet run into each other. He checked in and I remember thinking he was really cute, but I didn’t think about it much beyond that. Since it was in the airport and he was going to Dallas, he could be going home for all I knew. The flight ended up being really stressful and is a whole other story in itself and I didn’t think about the cute passenger again until he got back…
It was a few days later, on a Saturday, I was working around the same area again. Jon came and found me at the gates. I was actually on my way to the bathroom so I was slightly distracted when he stopped me to say hi. (Anyone that knows me knows I go to the restroom a million times a day). We talked for a few minutes and he said we should go to lunch. I agreed that would be fun but said I was getting off at three that day. In my round about way I was saying I was going home at three (where the food is free!) and he was thinking I was saying we should go to lunch at three. So a little miscommunication made him think I was ditching him, but that was not the case!
On Sunday I saw him at the gates again, and oddly enough, I was headed to the bathroom. He said something about me ditching him the day before and I was so confused. That’s when I realized how unclear I had been and felt kind of stupid and like a brat. But then surprisingly, he said he would just get my number instead. A couple of things ran through my head at that point. One, he worked at SkyWest and I knew nothing about him (let’s just say there are A LOT of guys who party at that place). Two, I was seriously considering going on a mission so I really shouldn’t be giving out my number. Three, I had to go to the bathroom and talking around giving out my number would take way too long. The third idea won (a blessing we can all see in hindsight)! I gave him my number and bee-lined it for the ladies room.
The next day I was a bit surprised when Jon called to ask me out. The same two ideas that I had been thinking about when I gave him my number flashed through my head again but I shocked myself and said I wanted to go. Especially because we were going to go to a Bees game and I didn’t even like baseball.
By the next day I was beside myself stressing about this date. I was peeling wall paper with my mom and talked about it all day. I kept telling her I had to find a way out of this date. I talked to all my sisters, trying to figure out what to do. My indecisiveness worked in my favor for the first time in my life and I put it off so long that it was way too late to cancel anything. I guess I have to give some credit to my mom here (because mothers are always right). She kept telling me that I should just go and I might be surprised by how much fun I’ll have. I agreed that I would have a good attitude but also made her promise to answer the door.
When Jon came to pick me up my mom answered the door (as promised) and I walked over from the kitchen. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t paid better attention to how cute he really was! (Darn having a small bladder!) I instantly got butterflies like a seventh grader and I could feel my face beginning to flush. I had no idea if I was speaking or just standing there like an idiot. It’s one of those moments when you have no idea how fast or how slow time is passing. I hoped no one had noticed my awkward moment and tried to just play it cool. Intros completed, we headed out the door and my life hasn’t been the same since.
The date was amazing, to say the least. We had plenty to talk about through the whole game (we didn’t watch much of the game) and after Jon showed me his telescope and different constellations. I think the thing I was most impressed with after the first date was his dashing good looks of course, but also how easy to talk to he is and how smart he is. My mom waited up to hear all the details (I think mother intuition told her I was going to do some word eating). I told her all about how smart Jon is and that he is a neuroscience major so he knows all about brain functioning and neurons. He knows way more than me but that’s my favorite part of psychology so I was excited that someone else actually wanted to talk about it.
Jon proposed five weeks later. Since then, we've talked a lot about different times our paths could have crossed but how perfect the timing was when they finally did. Jon is the greatest blessing in my life and I can't imagine life without him now. December 29th will be the most perfect day of my life.
Mexican Riviera Cruise on board the Golden Princess
