{Our Love Story} Part 3!

If you haven’t read Part 1 or Part 2- written by Joe, you’re missing out BIG TIME!

We left off in High School after Joe and I went on a few dates.

WELLLLL after that life went on and I didn’t see Joe or talk to him for a while. We both graduated, he went to SUU, BYU Hawaii and then on a mission to Uraguay. I went to BYU and kept busy with school and performing.

To say with both grew during this time would be a serious understatement. Going to college and being on your own definitely makes you grow as a person. I met many of my best friends at school and really figured out who I was as a person. I also dated a ton and figured out what kind of man I wanted to marry.

Joe dedicated 2 years of his life to share our beliefs in Jesus Christ to people of another country. He gave up sports, girls, school, family, comfort, and basically everything to share the gospel. If that doesn’t change you, I don’t know what will.

We figured out who we were, what we wanted in life, and what things mattered the most. We both changed for the better and really became the right people for each other during these years (at least I think so)!

Well in the spring of 2012 I was trying to decide what to do for the summer. Going back to Vegas had never really been something I wanted to do because I didn’t have too many friends there and I didn’t have a job or anything I was interested in doing all summer. I had always wanted to be a part of the Nauvoo Pageant, a show in Nauvoo, Illinois that talked about the prophet Joseph Smith and the early pioneers, so I auditioned for it and got a callback!! I was so excited and felt like I could definitely get a part. I imagined moving to Nauvoo all summer and performing and I was SO thrilled!… But then I thought that probably I shouldn’t make this decision all on my own. I started praying to know if it would be the right thing for me to do. At this point in my life, I had had numerous experiences that taught me that God has a plan for my life and that if I trust Him, He will help me find what will make me truly happy. I trusted that He would this time too. So I started praying about going to Nauvoo.

One day, as I was reading the Book of Mormon, I came across a specific verse that really stuck out to me. Now, I had read this verse a MILLION times and honestly, it didn’t say anything profound. It basically just gave factual information about how some people stayed in one place for a time instead of moving onward (they were traveling)…

But I can’t even explain the feeling I had when I read it. The thought, “they were supposed to stay” rang in my head over and over again. I thought about my life and realized that I had been moving around and having fun adventures for a few years now, which was great, but then I thought about what I REALLY wanted in life…. to get married in the temple, to be a wife and a mother, and to have an eternal family. Maybe, like the people I read about, it was time for me to stay put for a while so that the things I truly wanted, could happen.

I don’t know how, but in that moment I KNEW I shouldn’t go to Nauvoo and that I should move back to Vegas and “stay put” for the summer… So, I did!

Well that decision got put to the test once I got to Vegas. I had been long-distance dating a boy who was going to Law School in Vegas and I figured he was why I was supposed to be there. But once I was there for a couple of weeks I didn’t feel the way that I should have and I broke things off. He was a really great guy and my family totally loved him, so lets just say I was mega-judged when I broke up with him. But I knew it was the right thing to do, even though it sucked.

So here I was friendless (pretty much), boyfriendless, working for my dad and hanging out with my mom like 24/7. Not exactly what I imagined.

One day, a friend invited me to go to the lake with a big group. I was quite mopey and hesitant, but my mom and sister-in-law basically shoved me out the door, so I had no choice. I pulled up to his house blaring “I Won’t Give Up” by Jason Mraz (not realizing everyone could here it) and was stared down as I got out of my car…. well guess who was one of the stare-downers… Joe White. The second I saw him, I text my mom- “Joe White is here.” She said- “Is that a good thing or a bad thing?” I responded- “I don’t know yet.”

Joe looked the same, except that he had some serious Bieber hair. I didn’t know what to think or do about him, so I just kind of avoided him. He claims that he had sworn me off for good, so he did his best to avoid me too. We rode in different cars to the lake and we had 2 boats, so we were in separate boats as well. Half way through the day, it was time to switch boats. I sat in one boat and Joe stood at the end of another boat talking loudly and making weird noises (as you’ve heard him do before).

I thought, “He’s obnoxious…………. I kind of like it.”

Suddenly I was interested. I wanted him to pay attention to me (haha), so when he came over my boat and sat near me, I did what any obnoxious person would do to get another obnoxious person’s attention… I opened up my mouth as the boat raced through the water and tried to get my cheeks to flap in the wind as much as possible! Well Joe saw my fun game and joined right in!

Muahahaha my plan worked and the ice was broken. When we took the boat in I gave him a towel (how cute am I?), helped him wipe off the boat and said a couple of things to him. Next thing I new we were sitting next to each other on the ride home talking like crazy. We literally talked the WHOLE time… there were other people in the car, but for some reason we did not care. That’s either cute, or just plain annoying. Sorry other people in the car.

We talked about our past dates, he bitterly told me about them because I didn’t remember them (oops). We talked about our families, what we were doing with life, and I don’t know, everything else!

Now here’s the kicker, as I sat next to Joe (really close, heyo!) I could smell his cologne + his general Joe smell…

AND I REMEMBERED IT!

I know, weird right?! But its true! I couldn’t remember our dates very well, where we went or what we did, but I could remember his smell! Now I know its weird, but come on, it’s kinda romantic!

ps- he smelled good. If I remembered how bad he stunk, that would not be romantic! Phew thank goodness Joe is not a smelly guy!

So we talked, I smelled him, and he made fun of me for going to a family ward and convinced me to come to the singles ward.

The next day I went to church with Mr. Joe Bieber (we pulled up at the same time. Can you say fate?). I sat next to him and the talking problem continued. We got shushed during Sacrament Meeting! Whoops! Joe introduced me to everyone in the ward, boys and girls (he still was determined to not like me, so he was trying to pawn me off on other guys in the ward. Rude!) and then when church ended he asked for my number to “let me know if anything fun was going on, since I didn’t have any friends.” Thanks Joe… but here’s the thing… he was SERIOUS! He didn’t text me or call me or anything. Ugh it was maddening.

So… I text him first! And BOOM I landed myself a date!

Our first date was a MARATHON!

We planned to go to dinner and a movie on Saturday night, but then I found out my dad was speaking at a church event that same night, so I asked Joe if we could fit that in.

He picked me up around 3 and we saw the movie “Brave!” Now I don’t recommend seeing movies for first dates, but we just talked the whole way though it!! There goes that talking problem again!

After the movie we went to my house, changed and headed to listen to my dad speak. We sat next to my sister, her husband, my mom, and my niece. Talk about pressure! But guess what?! I’ve got a picture to prove it!

CHECK OUT THAT BIEBER HAIR!!!!

THANK HEAVENS FOR THIS PICTURE… GOSH IT NEVER GETS OLD!

My niece looks kinda like an alien baha! Too good. Seriously. Too good.

Okay okay I’m back. I just can’t help but spend a long time laughing at that picture. Phew okay…

So we listened to my dad speak and then we went and got dinner. Dinner was good, it was still easy to talk and we totally pigged out. Heyo! So then it was pretty late and Joe drove me back to my house…

Here’s some important info… with the past guys I had gone out with for a while, when 10:30 or 11:00 hit.. I was DONE. Like I wanted to sleep and not hang out anymore, so I usually kicked them out…

Well we got back maybe close to 10pm and Joe said, “Do you want to go to bed or do you want to do something else?” (this was totally a test to see how much I like him- he’s all about those tests, and mind you- we had already been on this date since like 2:00 #MARATHON) but still, without hesitation I said, “I want to do something!” (#itwasasign)

So I went inside, changed and Joe and I (we couldn’t come up with anything else to do) went to the park and laid on a blanket he had in his car (skank) and watched Youtube videos!

Well, then the sprinklers came on and we got soaked, so we found a nice bench instead.

We talked for a long time and then headed back to the car.

On the way back, Joe held my hand and I thought, “Holy freak that is the most perfect fitting hand EVER!” I liked feeling small next to him and I loved his long fingers and the perfect amount of hair on his arms (creepy… I know) and seriously our hands fit perfect.

Whew… looks like I need a Part 4! I need to cool it on the details, but seriously, I just can’t resist!