Our story, continued!
Heather's Version
(6) Brett and I spent at least part of every evening doing something together, even if it was just hanging out at his apartment. I even helped him move from one apartment to another in the same complex. We chatted through Gmail and Facebook a LOT. A week after the first date, we went up to the Ricks Gardens up on campus, and just talked and walked around for a while. We ended up sitting on the brick wall beside one of the pools. We were snuggled up really close, and Brett started teasing me by kissing my forehead, then one cheek, then the other, then my chin, then my nose, etc. After a little bit, I was getting kind of frustrated - I wanted him to kiss me! So I said - jokingly - “I hate you”. Brett pulled back and said “I can’t let ‘I hate you’ be the last thing you say before I kiss you. I thought oh no! I want him to kiss me! So I said “You know I love you, right?”, and he kissed me! It was my first real kiss, and it was just awesome! Then we talked some more, and then went to Broulims for something - can’t remember what. Maybe it was ice cream to give to my little sister. 6a I just remember that I had my feet hanging out the window of his Jeep, because I had dangled my feet in the pond for a little bit. Later that night, when he brought me home, he leaned in to kiss me again, and I turned away. 6b Not on purpose though! He was the first boyfriend that I’d ever kissed, so I just didn’t recognize the signs, and I was just turning to open the Jeep door . . . . I felt really bad for accidentally shutting him down. Thankfully, he didn’t just stop trying to kiss me, and I eventually learned to recognize when he was leaning in for a kiss. We’re experts at it now. ;)
(7) This week, we started talking more seriously about our future together. We already knew we were going to get married, we just hadn’t worked out the details yet. It was this week that we actually decided what we’d name our first boy and girl. We are still planning on using those names, and no, we’re not telling anyone! None of our friends/family have used them yet, but we don’t want anyone to steal them!
(8) A little background for this part - my mom sometimes worked at the BYUI bookstore, especially at the beginning of the semester when everyone is getting their books. She often drove the family suburban when she worked there. Ok, now back to the story. Sometime the next week (can’t remember the day) I came home from work, and my mom was laughing with my dad about a flyer that was left on the suburban that day, because they thought it was funny to put on a suburban, with Rexburg plates. It was a flyer for an engagement ring sale at a local jeweler. Who puts an engagement ring flyer on a family car? I discreetly swiped it off the table while they weren’t looking, and showed it to Brett. (I later learned that my mom had a feeling that she should show it to me, but thought it was silly, because we hadn’t been dating for very long) We hadn’t planned on getting a ring this soon, but we already knew we were going to get married, so why not take the opportunity? 8a On Saturday, September 6, 2008, Brett had a half day at work, so he went to the jeweler’s to look at rings. I had to work a little bit later than he did, but I was hoping that Frank - the office manager - would let me leave early. When I asked Frank if I could go early, he jokingly asked if it was because I was going to look at wedding dresses. I completely shocked him when I said it was to look at engagement rings - Brett and I had only been dating for two weeks! But he let me go early - yay! When I got to the jeweler’s, Brett had worked out the financing part, and had picked out three rings that he thought I might like, and wanted me to choose the one I liked best. The two I passed on were pretty, but not what I wanted. The third one was perfect - and it was the one Brett thought I would pick, too! So he got the ring, and then to celebrate we went and watched The Dark Knight in the big theatre there (can’t remember what it was called then). I ended up having my face in Brett’s shoulder most of the movie, because I was so scared (I’m a huge wuss when it comes to movies).
(9) The next evening, Brett had “The Talk” with my dad. He wasn’t asking for permission - we were going to get married no matter what - but we did want his blessing. 9a They walked around the neighborhood for a while and talked. I’m not sure I remember how long it actually was, but it felt like over an hour! I’m sure it was less than half an hour, but it seemed like it was taking forever! Once they got back, my dad got all of my siblings into the living room, and we announced that we were getting married! But we asked them not to tell anyone yet, because we wanted to wait until Brett officially proposed before we announced it.
(10) I can’t remember exactly when we chose the date, but I do remember how we chose it. We pulled out Brett’s laptop in his apartment, and looked at the calendar. We originally were thinking about getting married sometime in May, after the winter semester was over, but we decided we just didn’t want to wait that long. But we also didn’t want to have our wedding too close to Christmas, because they should be two separate celebrations. I didn’t want our wedding to be Christmas themed at all! So we chose December 16th, 2008, the first day the temple was open after finals week.
Brett's Notes
6a) It was for ice cream. I can't remember what kind she got, but I did worry that perhaps her parents would be angry at me for moving things forward so fast.
Back to (6)
6b) I died a little inside. I thought she had decided that I was moving too fast, and that she was getting scared off. I actually didn't chat or text her anything that night after I got home, or the next morning for that matter. I thought she wanted space, so I tried to give it to her. I was wrong, but I didn't know it. I wanted to be careful not to drive her away. Fortunately, we've never had trouble talking about anything, so later the next day she explained the whole situation. I still worried that she was just being nice, so I tried to slow it down a bit. That didn't last very long.
Back to (6)
8a) I had planned on getting a ring pretty soon. I had already discussed with a few people where I might be able to go to get a good ring for a somewhat reasonable amount of money. This deal just made the decision for me.
Back to (8)
9a) This distinction was very important to me. You ask for permission if you are some sort of weirdo and the girl you want to marry is under 18. In that case you need permission. I required nothing of the kind. I was going to marry Heather regardless of how her parents felt. Obviously I wanted their approval/blessing, but it was by no means a deal breaker. Fortunately, both of her parents were very kind about it, and knew how crazy we were about each other. Her Dad and I had a really good talk. He told me that he hadn't ever seen his daughter so happy, and that was really what he wanted for her.
Back to (9)
No comments:
Post a Comment