The Future Holds Everything For Us...

Life proves unpredictable. The second we think we have it all under control & know exactly what's coming next - BAM! Fooled you again! News flash Jenny: You are not in control of anything but how you react to the challenges & blessings around you!

If you'd told me 3 months ago that I'd be getting married at the end of the summer, I'd have laughed in your face & called you an unskilled storyteller indeed. But alas, I have been the one schooled in the divine workings of our Creator. All good things will happen in His own time & in His own way. How many times have I heard that in my life, but until now I'm not certain I fully grasped the concept. Anything is possible. Anything. I, Ms. Perpetually Single, am now engaged & life is all the more blissful for it.

Now, by popular demand, I shall impart the tale of our betrothal:

I suppose for full effect, I'll start at the beginning. You see, when my Mom had been married about 3 years she got pregnant with me.....oh, not that beginning. Ok, very well. I'll start with the beginning of us.

Last fall semester I moved a whole 2 blocks into new ward boundaries. It was a strange enough decision as I'd already resigned with my previous tenants, but I felt prompted to sell the contract & move to my current location, so that's what I did not knowing what the year had in store for me. To be completely honest, it was the worst year I've ever had. My health & emotions took me for the roller coaster ride of my life. I was pretty certain I was going crazy for a while there, but not nearly as crazy as the strange boy in my FHE group that shared with us in our first gathering that he had the talent of being able to turn his belly button inside out. Now there's a marketable skill for you! I laughed at him heartily & was dumbfounded by his spontaneity & forthrightness. First thing, I knew he was a man after my own heart.

Months passed. Trials got more & more difficult. Time moved increasingly slowly, and all the while I looked forward to the weekly laugh fests that we called FHE. Best FHE group ever. At the commencement of the New Year, our FHE families were reorganized & our group was pulled apart (*tear*). Miraculously, our new group was non-functioning. There were no boys in it. Balance is key, key, I tell you. Thankfully, our estrogen party did not last long. Our former FHE brothers had been orphaned altogether & thus we gladly adopted them back into our family.

It was at this time that our brother Joseph who had been on hiatus from the group the previous semester decided to repent of his prodigal ways. Each week he & my belly button bearing friend whose name is Aaron, by the way, began to stay for longer & longer hours after FHE. Next thing my roommate & I knew, they started coming over Sunday evenings as well. Their company was refreshing & I always enjoyed the laugh.

I found out in the beginning of February that Aaron had a birthday fast approaching & no plans to celebrate it. Unacceptable. Parties are a must, so, I made him a tray full of delicious Cookie Monster ice cream sandwiches & had our family sign a card for him. I suppose he appreciated the gesture. I just enjoyed making cookies & celebrating life!

Later in the month I had the brilliant idea to throw a Mardi Gras party. It was fantastic! Mask making, king cake, red beans & rice, beads & dancing, & alligators that made squeaking noises - can it get any better? I think not! Anyway, Aaron was, of course invited but somehow missed the memo & the party altogether. The next day he came over (it was, after all, a Sunday evening :) & spied what was left of our Mardi Gras Madness. He looked so dejected that he'd missed the party that I helped him don a lovely costume & heated up the left over red beans & rice & cornbread. As he ate we began to talk, just the two of us. This was the first time I remember really bonding with Aaron. I told him about Louisiana & our crazy Mardi Gras traditions. I told him about my conversion to the Gospel. Who knows what prompted me, but I shared with him thoughts & feelings surrounding my conversion that I'd never shared with anyone before. I had never felt so good or so comfortable opening up to someone in that way. Truth be told, I was kind of floating with joy by the time he left because it felt like in simply telling my story, some of its weight had been lifted.

The following month is somewhat of a blur. I was very ill & although I still continued to spend time with Aaron, nothing about our relations during late February & early March stood out except that I remember him telling me about some of the creative dates he'd been going on lately & I couldn't help but think, "Man, I wish it'd been me on those dates," just because they sounded like so much fun!

It began in full about mid to late March (haha, Beware the Ides of March). I had invited all of my FHE brothers over for blackberry cobbler on a lovely Sunday afternoon. Joseph, Aaron, & Paul came over. While we were eating & chatting it up, I got a text message, one of those lame forwards! "Ugh, I said, I never get any good text messages!" Next thing I know, I had received a message from Aaron who was sitting across the room. Well, it turned a little sketchy very quickly. I couldn't stop giggling at the ridiculous texts we were sharing. Paul could not resist his curiosity towards our conversation & was a bit blown away by our bold words. We continued to text until late into the night that Sunday. In fact, we texted for long hours every night the week following. I'm pretty sure I didn't get to bed until at least 1:30 in the morning every night that week. By the second day of texting we had started to call one another ridiculously cheesy nicknames. "Goodnight, Aar-bear," I said which according to Joseph, had Aaron laughing hysterically. "Dreams sweet dreams of me, Snookems," he'd write in response. Neither of us knew to what extent we were joking or when true emotions were showing through.

On Wednesday of the same week, my home teacher dropped by to give me tickets to General Conference that took place that very weekend. I had the brilliant idea of asking Aaron to take my extra ticket & come along with me. That was a bold move, but of course he accepted my offer & it was the best date ever - the Spirit, the Prophet, & a cute boy to hold hands with. That's right, we ended up holding hands. It's really quite humorous in retrospect. It was the second session of the day. We had returned back to his house to watch it. As the talks went on I noticed he kept scooting closer & closer to me. Right about the time Elder Holland's talk began, he was sitting right up against me. I finally plucked up the courage in the middle of that talk to lay my head on his shoulder. That was when our relationship became official, in the middle of Elder Holland's talk on the law of chastity. That's right, I made the moves on him in the middle of a talk on chastity. By the end of the talk however he had grabbed my hand, so I suppose he's just as guilty as me. Either way, it makes for a funny story.

The rest, my friends, is history. We have only spent one day apart since that glorious kick off to General Conference & it was the most miserable day of my existence. I'm certain I don't know anymore how I survived without Aaron by my side.

One night, not long into our relationship Aaron asked me inquisitively, "Where do you see this relationship going?" "Well, no rush," I said, "but I'm up for anything." "Really?" he replied in shock, "so if I just pulled a ring out of my pocket right now, you'd say yes." Again I replied, "I'm up for anything." I'm not certain at all where the courage to say those words came from, but they blew me away. Thankfully, the wind blew Aaron in the same direction.

Neither of us had expected for love to come so quickly & so naturally. I've been hurt enough times in life to build a fairly sturdy wall of mistrust, but for some reason beyond my comprehension, I threw open the doors & let Aaron in without the slightest bit of protest. "This is crazy," said the sensible side of my brain, "but right nonetheless" retorted a corner previously untapped in such a setting. I can't explain to you why everything happened as it did, I just know that it did & I wouldn't change it for the world.

This weekend (after only a little over 2 months dating) Aaron properly "popped the question," & I couldn't imagine giving any answer but, "YES! With all of my heart, YES!" I'm not sure there was ever any other answer to give.

We were Washington - beautiful, sunny, windy, Washington. Aaron had bought a new kite the week before in Utah & kept hoping for a gusty day, but Utah would not give it up. Washington was another story altogether. The weather was perfect for flying kites. We parked by a large field & tried our best to get our kite in the air, but after 30 minutes of failed attempts & the entrance of an industrial lawn mower onto the field, I insisted to Aaron that it was about time to give up. Little did I know that tied to the unproductive kite string was the symbol that would make our love official. The ring which he slid slyly onto my finger was still attached to the kite as he said the words I'd been waiting for for some time: "Will you marry me?" Of course I will, my love. Of course I will.