One Year Later....

Oh well hey. My BLOG! Looks like i've neglected it a little bit, eh?

So much has changed though--so I'm going to tell all about the biggest change it in a quick, witty sort of fashion, and then I'll consider myself forgiven.

Ironically, around this time last year, I had my first real encounter with a man named AJ Gregory. We had met earlier the year before, but by now he had taken our short, friendly conversations to a new level of analysis and decided to ask me out on an official date over spring break.

(a friendly gathering at lake Weddington during spring break 2011--AJ is in the yellow shirt...with his arm around me.....)

DATE #1: mini golf (I won) and ice cream (a mcflurry to be exact). My thoughts = who woulda thought that I could get the classic BYU first date in the middle of Arkansas? His thoughts = this girl is a babe, i'm gonna take her out again. (remember: MY blog post, MY story-telling liberties)

DATE #2: fly fishing (I caught nothing, he slyly caught my hand....). My thoughts = this guy is slick, making me wade into a freezing cold river where I will necessarily have to cuddle for warmth. His thoughts = I got this in the bag! She's totally diggin' me! Better take her home and introduce her as my GF....

DATE #2.5: later after fly fishing, he drives me to the middle of nowhere (Canehill, AR) to meet his family. My thoughts = .......where are we?.......I don't really even know this guy........why am I not getting cell phone reception??? His thoughts = None. He had that dreamlike look on his face, holding my hand.

(Did I mention his brother, Orin, came with us? Because he did...)

It was there on the hill behind his house in Canehill that AJ explained to me how we would carry out our new long-distance relationship (he was attending AR Tech). I nodded and smiled and wondered how I had gotten myself into a relationship after 2 dates. After dinner and a movie with his family, he took me home. When I woke up the next morning, AJ's "good morning!" text jolted me into reality of the strange situation I had gotten myself into. After a short, advisory phone call with my father (he basically laughed the whole time and gave me NO advice, whatsoever), I called AJ and told him that THIS WAS SIMPLY NOT GOING TO WORK. AJ though, was not to be deterred. Our mutual friend, Travis, divulged my innermost reservations and told him to basically try again later. And try again he DID! The rest of the semester, and all throughout the summer, in fact. Phonecalls, texts, facebook.

The DAY I rolled back into Fayetteville for the new school year, he invited me to the Tonitown grape festival. My thoughts = weeeeellll.....I wanted to go, but I didn't want to pay.......ok, sure. His thoughts = Excellent.

DATE #3: Spaghetti, grape ice cream, craft fair, ferris wheel (Grape ice cream, btw, is DIVINE). My thoughts = this was NOT as bad as I thought it would be. His thoughts = slow and steady....don't wanna chase her off again.

After this, slow and steady was the theme of our relationship. After spending time with each other for a week or so, and being seen together at every social function we attended, AJ thought it would be nice to "date other people" for a little while. Well that's all fine and dandy, BUT, the whole ward thinks we're "basically" together. (i.e. you, SIR, can ask out anyone you want, BUT NOBODY IS GOING TO ASK ME OUT!! THEY THINK I'M TAKEN!!!). This would not do. So I called him up and told him that we needed to go for a walk. On the walk, I fed him my ultimatum--either we would date each other, or I wouldn't be seen with him anymore. He agreed that we should date--I then informed him that he could hold my hand.

Our first kiss was 8 months later (oh wait, no, that's just how it seemed in my mind...) on the front porch of my apartment complex. It was a magical moment which included our nosy neighbor screaming and dropping her coffee mug because WE scared HER. We decided to get married 2 days later (oh wait, no, that's just how it seemed in my mind...). But really--the time frame was about 2 months, and we were both hooked.

I've always had the irrational fear that a man was one day going to throw a sack over my head and drag me off to get married, because I wouldn't go on my own. Now as I look back I see that I was always conscious of what was going on. My roommate Eila reminds me of conversations where I would say "GEEZ! I can't get rid of this guy!" When in fact I knew very well how to get rid of him, I just didn't want to. Amos Gregory is without a doubt the most wonderful man I've ever met. Not only will he help me reach my full potential in this life and the next, but he'll help me have fun reaching it! Not only does he treat me like royalty, he knows that in the eternal scheme, I am. He works hard, loves completely, and kisses like you'd imagine any male protagonist in a Nicholas Sparks novel would (but seriously, he does)!

The coming years are going to be an adventure, to say the least. But we're committed to God's plan, and to each other, and WE'RE EXCITED! The sky is the limit, and we plan on using the extent of it.

(This is an accurate explanation of our relationship)

So that was longer than I anticipated, but now you know--this gal is getting married! June 8th, in the Salt Lake City Temple. I guess that this will also be my official announcement of my new blog co-author. He might write if he feels like it, but maybe only to defend his position on certain points of view :)