A Legit V-Day Love Story [Part 1]

I was sitting here listening to some of my favorite love songs, and it occurred to me that I haven’t yet written about the most wonderful part of my life! His name is Jared and I can’t even type his name without smiling. And since Valentine’s day is coming up, I figure this would be the perfect thing to write about!

I could go all the way back and talk about how we met when I was living at Glenwood, he’s Rebekah’s (one of my best friends) older brother – but…shame on me, I can’t actually remember meeting him, just that it was probably one evening when I wasn’t exactly looking my cutest. (He says he remembers meeting me but I guess there’s not much to the story since it was like a 2 second 'hello' :p).

Jump forward a few semesters, Jared decided to ask me out. He wrote me a card (and purposefully misspelled my name – he claims it was a clue that it was him who sent it, since his spelling skills are just a little lacking :p) and inside, his invitation to our date was written in the form of a mathematic equation (he knew I was a geek…but I’m definitely not into math/science as much as he apparently thought – kudos to him for trying though, it was still pretty clever). I saw the equation, shrugged it off and stuck it on my shelf (had it not been for his sister, I never would have actually figured out the equation and agreed to go out with him). – Long story short. The date was enjoyable…but a little awkward.

Jump forward another…semester or two. Jared invited me to go shooting with him, “we could call it a date if you want,” he said. “What the heck is wrong with this guy!?!” I thought. But I agreed to go cause…I like guns and almost never get the opportunity to go shooting. Long story short, I was super impressed by his collection and ability to handle weapons so well…and then I accidentally shot his truck. I did not expect another date after that.

A while ago, back around the end of October/beginning of November last year, I decided to take a Facebook fast (learn how to socialize offline, maybe get some homework done, etc.) without giving anyone any warning. I just closed down my page and didn’t log back in for 30 days. Apparently, it was at this time that Jared realized how much he’d enjoyed talking to me online and reading my silly status updates. So, when I got back online we started talking again – I believe it was that same week he invited me to join him, Rebekah and her husband to go to Temple Square to see the Christmas lights (he wasn’t really clear as to whether it was a date or not – I tried to dress cute anyway).

Shortly after that, I went to Texas for about a month. Jared and I had been playing Words with Friends and Chess with Friends constantly and continued to do so. Apparently, after his friend Chris gave him a nudge – Jared decided to be straightforward and honestly told me that he thought I was intelligent, quirky, and cute and that he was interested in dating me more. I told him I was interested in him as well and agreed that dating more would be a good way to better get to know each other. Jared started to actually talk to me a little more (via text…but, hey – we are the technology generation) and we continued to text everyday for about 3 straight weeks. Just before I flew back to UT, he asked me to go out with him a week after my return, and I said yes.

Right around the time that I flew back, Jessica (another of my best friends) told me that Jared had informed her and her husband that we were a “thing.” Unsure about what this meant (cause we had previously discussed dating but certainly had not agreed upon any kind of exclusivity or anything like that), I’d decided to approach the topic once I felt like I had a better idea of what his angle might be (in terms of dating).

That same week that Jared and I had agreed to go out, one of my exes called me up out of the blue and claimed that he just wanted to “catch up” so we agreed to get together on Monday (MLK Day) and go to the Dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving point.  That evening (the day that my ex called me) I was texting Jared, and one of us mentioned that we should “hang out” on top of dating, so that we could get to know each other a little more and decided that on Monday evening, we would do just that.

So! MLK Day and I meet up with Josh (my ex) at the dinosaur museum. We had a fun time, kind of just wandering through and talking about the exhibits and everything and afterwards we even spent about 2 hours outside in the freezing cold just talking (got pretty flirty too – luckily, he had a little bit of a cold so he didn’t make any moves. Which is good because knowing that I was also interested in Jared – I would have had to do one of those artful dodges that gals tend to do in awkward situations like that, and…lets just say I’m not actually very good at those).  It was enjoyable enough being with Josh but I was curious to explore the whole “dating Jared” thing, the idea of Jared really enticed me (mostly because he’d apparently given us a label, we were a “thing” and because…well, when a guy asks you out despite the fact that a year previous, you shot his truck…it could be a good sign!)

That evening, I drove down to Provo and met up with Jared at his apartment (which is on the darkest street I think I’ve ever seen in my life).  We went and walked around the Riverwoods. We wandered into the toy store and talked about things like mutual friends and our childhoods. Then we went into an LDS book/heritage shop that had lots of paintings of temples and replicas of old LDS Books of Mormon and stuff (I loved it! And it was perfect because it was an opportunity to discuss the church a little bit – which is a huge deal for me since I’d never really been able to discuss anything spiritual with any of the guys I’ve dated in the past). At one point we were standing in front of the paintings of the temples and I asked him which temple is his favorite – his reply? San Diego (my favorite temple as well!)

Afterwards, we decided to go on a drive (since at that point, neither of us seemed to want to just end the evening there) so I kind of aimlessly drove around Provo a bit and we ultimately wound up at the Provo temple. As we got closer to the temple, I suddenly decided to ask Jared about his description of us as a “thing.” He got all flustered (which was great – no, not because I’m fond of torturing a guy with awkward, straightforward questions – it’s hard to explain, just, it made me feel like for once his opinion of me was something more to express other than, “sure…I like you…” – something he’d awkwardly said on previous dates but I’d never been sure I believed it).  We managed to get through a mini DTR (Define The Relationship) and by the time I turned into the temple parking lot, we’d agreed to start a legitimate relationship.

“So…what does this make me to you?” I asked, “…I just wanna hear you say it!”

“Oh, it makes you my girlfriend!”

While we were at the temple, we just sat in my car in the parking lot and talked (Jared surprised me with a thermos of Apple cider - which is extra sweet since he remembered I’m lactose intolerant :p) So, over hot apple cider – we talked about anything and everything, our families, our temperaments, our spirituality, everything. It was really nice.  I felt absolutely giddy about the fact that I was sitting next to this really great guy and at such a holy place and we both seemed to feel so comfortable with one another! It was the first time I felt like Jared and I had an actual connection (in previous dates, I’d felt like he and I should work out because of our similarities, but it never really felt like we’d actually connected on any real level. I’d honestly begun to think that we would only ever just be good friends, which was fine – after all, he’s one of my best friends’ brother, I figured he and I dating would just be awkward anyway). I actually felt like we'd finally taken that step beyond just friends.

 So at the end of the evening, we spent a little bit of time outside looking at the stars (his street is dark enough for it!) and talking a little bit. I kept scooching close to him (partially cause I was cold and partially cause I was hinting at him that I wanted a hug) finally, I just went ahead and hugged him (just a minor disappointment, I thought “Dang…so much for a goodnight kiss if he’s not even gonna hug me! This is gonna be a sloooooooooow moving relationship!”).  At one point, he kind of just looked at me and said he didn’t really know how to do the whole “end of a date” thing – but I couldn’t tell if he was trying to wave a white flag or build up courage, so I stuck around a bit (I think I even teased him a little about not having the confidence to kiss me) and finally, he leaned in and gave me a kiss (and, awkwardness aside, it was totally a magic Disney moment)!

The craziest part was after I got into my car, just before I closed the door, he told me to text him to let him know I’d made it home safe and quickly added, “Love ya!” before turning to walk away. I’ve never had a boyfriend tell me he loved me (at least not so soon and almost never without dishonorable intentions). I wasn’t entirely sure if I’d even heard him correctly, so I managed to get out a confused “Love you too!” – I’m not even sure if he heard me. The whole drive home, I kept asking myself “Did I really say that!? Did HE really say that!? DO I love him or did I just lie to my new boyfriend!?” (For the record, after some reflection - I realized that, no, I did not lie to my new boyfriend :p).

So that’s us – officially boyfriend & girlfriend.

…It would be interesting to hear his side of this whole story one day (I wonder if I could ever talk him into writing it down…if not for my own curiosity then maybe for posterity’s sake?)

More has happened since he and I became an official couple, and I’ll be writing more soon (assuming anyone is even interested), but this feels like a natural stopping point for now.