Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Is this a dream?

Sometimes I think it must be. I had honestly gotten to the point where I believed I was one of those women that General Authorities always mention when talking about marriage-you know, the ones that "will not have the opportunity in this life". I honestly did. I had come to terms with that, and I was okay with it. I had moved on, I had planned my life, and I was moving forward with it.

And then...

Along came the rest of my life.

It blindsided me. I was caught completely unawares. And I love it. :)

This is what happened:

I went to FHE to help out with an activity. I had all but stopped going to FHE at this point, because as I mentioned before, I had given up on the whole dating thing. However, I had promised to come and use my huge vehicle to transport people to the houses we were going to that night. I had not showered that morning, I had worked for eight hours with small children, and as such, was covered in kid goobers. I had also neglected to put contacts in, so I was wearing super-attractive secretary-style glasses. In a word: gross.

I was cutting out paper hearts with my friend Katy, and talking about how my awesome Party Van was going to be the car to be in that night. Right about that time, some new people walked in. In the party of new people was a guy. I didn't really take any notice of him, except he offered to help cut hearts out. We were almost done, so we didn't need him. After the lesson, we split up and got into cars to go Heart Attack some less actives in the ward.  He called dibs on the party van.

We went and did the Attacking, and headed back to the chapel. On the way back, I decided to go off obnoxiously about how I was the greatest thing since sliced bread, and I couldn't believe I wasn't taken yet. I could cook, clean, handle several children at once, and I wasn't bad looking to boot! On and on I went, lamenting the dry spell I was experiencing, having not had a date for several months. Through all of this, the four passengers with me had to sit and listen to me be extremely annoying, and I was sure I wasn't making any new friends on the trip.

Boy, was I wrong.

When we got back to the chapel, I let my hostages out and started to walk toward the building. I saw a woman on the way, a good friend of mine, and started to talk to her about the cookies I had sent to her via my roomie. She and I talked for a good ten minutes about them, as she was interested in how I had iced them. The new guy hung around us for a few minutes, and then awkwardly walked away. I figured he wanted something, and I would find him later. After wrapping up my conversation, I walked into the building and down the hall. Not seeing the new guy, I turned around and walked out, got into my van, and left.

The next day I woke up and saw that I had a message and a friend request from the new guy. He said he would like to end my dating dry spell, and he needed my number to ask me out, as he has promised himself he would never ask a girl out through Facebook. So I grudgingly gave it to him. I didn't understand why he wanted it, and even tried to talk him out of it. He called on Thursday and we went out Saturday.

We both had a great time on the date. We went to dinner at my favorite place, went to a hockey game, and then got some ice cream. It was fun, but I didn't really think anything would come of it at the time.

Fast forward to a week later, I find out he is leaving for BYU in June. I knew at that point that anything that might have happened was now definitely not going to happen.

But then he asked me out on a second date.

And a third.

And a fourth.

And then we were dating.

And the rest is to be continued...;)

Sunday, April 8, 2012

For My Brother

So, Jordan is my little brother. He is leaving on his mission to Brazil on Tuesday and I am so proud of him! He gave an awesome talk on the atonement today, and I know he is going to be a great missionary and bring many people to Christ. I know he doesn't read this blog, but I feel I need to write this for him.

Dear Jordan,

I love you! You are an amazing man, and I am so proud of you and your decision to serve the Lord for two years. I want you to know that I know that the message that you are going to bring to the people of Brazil, the good news of the Gospel, is true. I know that we have a Savior, Jesus Christ, who died for our sins. He died that we might live eternally with our Father in Heaven, and that we can be with our families forever. I know that Joseph Smith saw God the Father and Jesus Christ in a grove, and that he restored the truth to the earth in these Latter Days, and I am so grateful for the knowledge I have of a loving Father in Heaven. I know that if we keep the commandments and follow Christ that we can be perfected and cleansed from sin. I know that the only way to have true and lasting joy in this life is to abide by the precepts laid out in the scriptures. I know that the Savior lives, and I know that he loves you! I love you so much!

Love,
Samantha ;)