Ten Years!

Then

Now

For those of you who follow me on Facebook, you already know this. It just hit me suddenly one day that it was February 2012. This means it has been 10 years since mine and Matt's first date! Which seems crazy to me! Ten years? Wow! Our first date was our senior year of high school, the Sweethearts dance in February and we graduated in 2002. So, yup! It really has been 10 years. That dance was really how Matt and I got started. We didn't date after that, but the dance was when our friendship began to blossom. I'm rambling, so I really should start at the beginning.

We met our senior year of high school when Matt and I were in the same seminary class. I think we had met a couple times before that, going to the same high school, but seminary was when we officially met and actually started getting to know each other. When the sweethearts dance was coming up, I asked a friend from work. He had already been asked so I got turned down. I wasn't sure who to ask after that, so I started asking around to see who wasn't going yet. When I found out Matt didn't have a date, I thought he seemed like a fun choice. So I asked him one night, using lots of disgusting melted butter on balloons. Yeah, I was just that mean. It said, "Thought I'd butter you up before popping the question. Will you go to Sweethearts with me?"  Then, to make it worse, we went back an hour later with another balloon tied to a bunch of Dum-Dum suckers. It said, "Sorry, I'm such a dum-dum! I gave you the wrong balloon!" He wanted to get me back by answering with Crisco. I'm so glad he didn't! Instead, he answered me by filling my bedroom with balloons. I was out of town when he did this, so I returned home to a poem on my door. I was so scared! But when I opened my room, it was awesome, instead of trashed. By far the best answer I ever received for a dance!

The day of the dance arrived and we thought it would be fun to take our dates sledding. We told the boys in advance to dress warm and to bring sleds or discs. So you can imagine my surprise when I picked up Matt that morning and he was only wearing a pair of jeans and a thin coat. He assumed we were just going to a local park. We went up in the canyons and had to hike through knee-deep snow to get to the hill. Matt almost got frostbite. Sledding was quite an adventure, but we all had a really great time! (except Matt's poor legs) Then we took the boys home to get ready for the evening. We had decorated my friend, Suzy's, house for dinner with tulle and Christmas lights. We had four small tables set up, so we each had our own private table, complete with a bottle of Martinelli's chilling in an ice bucket. They were all still close enough to talk to each other, but private enough to be a little more romantic. Then we had menus at each table and ordered take-out from Wingers. It was seriously a really fun idea for dinner, and Suzy's sister worked at Winger's at the time, so she was the one to get our meals ready when we called.

After dinner was the dance, which was a blast! We stayed for almost the entire thing. Then returned to my house for a movie. Two of the couples didn't stay long, so it came down to me, Suzy, and our dates. I remember being really surprised by Matt during our date. I honestly invited him expecting nothing. But as the day wore on, we laughed and talked and joked and I found myself liking him more and more. We ended up cuddling during the movie, which led to Suzy and I both falling asleep. Matt and Jared, being the gentlemen that they were, didn't want to wake us and seeing as we fell asleep on them, they just continued to talk until we woke up. Which turned into 4:30 AM. Yeah....not so good. We felt awful! The next day we brought them cookies to apologize.

So that was our first date. It was seriously one of the best first dates I ever went on! We had so much fun together, and talked with ease, never any awkwardness. I kinda had a crush on Matt after that dance. Years later, I found out he had a crush on me too. Well we had so much fun the first time around, we decided to try a second date. Worst date ever! It was SO AWKWARD! We could barely talk to each other, we both kept stumbling over ourselves and our words, and a lot of awkward silence. It was awful! Turns out, we really liked each other and were both so nervous, we just didn't know how to act. It's really funny to look back! Turns out one of my best dates, followed by one of my worst dates equals my eternal companion.

After our second date, things were weird for a little while. We didn't know how to talk to each other. I really liked him, but thought he didn't like me, and vise versa for him. We eventually fell into a really good rhythm though and became really good friends. When I decided he didn't like me and stopped trying so hard, it became really easy. I wasn't trying to impress anymore. We hung out a lot the end of our senior year and the summer that followed. Always in a big group though, never alone. Neither of us wanted to relive that horrible second date. We eventually became really close, and even went to each other for dating advice. He liked a girl I was friends with, I liked a boy from school, but neither was showing interest in return. So when Homecoming came around we decided to go. Again, we had an absolute ball together! This time we were going completely as friends and just enjoyed ourselves. Shortly after that, Matt got a girlfriend and dated her pretty seriously for the next couple months.

Matt left on his mission shortly after that and I wrote him for the two years while I was at Utah State. Roommates and friends always asked with winking eyes and sly smiles if there was something going on with us. I always denied it, honestly never having those kinds of feelings for him. Matt was my friend. He was my buddy. We came to each other for advice and always had fun, but we had learned long ago there was nothing more between us. Then one day that changed.

Matt only had a few months left on his mission and I suddenly began to wonder, could there be a future for us? With every letter and every picture he sent, Matt became more and more attractive to me. I suddenly started hoping, wishing he would want to date me when he came home. But pretty sure he wouldn't, since we'd been down that road before. Over the course of his two year mission, Matt and I grew closer and closer as friends. It's amazing how close you can become to a person through letters, when you take away all the games and nerves of having them in the same room, even in the same country as you.

Turns out Matt started having the same thoughts about me around the same time. When he got home, we were both a little nervous at first, but quickly broke down any walls between us. We had a solid friendship and because of that, we knew each other well and were able to be completely honest with each other about everything from the beginning. It was the first experience either of us had with dating, and not dealing with any games. It was so refreshing! Matt dated both his pre-mission girlfriend and me for a little while until I asked him straight out if he wanted to date me seriously. He said yes, and broke up with her shortly after that. We became inseparable. Which is quite a feet with my living in Logan, and he in Midvale. Matt got home in February 2005, we got engaged in August and were married in October.

We were talking about our high school days the other night, and I even pulled out my old journals from back then, which gave us a good laugh. It's funny how, at the time, I was disappointed when things didn't work out with us. But looking back, and looking at the path we traveled, we both said we wouldn't change a thing. If we had started dating seriously in high school, I don't know if we would be together now. Those precious years of developing a friendship first, are priceless to us both. We would have missed out on many learning experiences, both good and bad, and we would not be the same people because of them. The Lord definitely has a plan! And boy am I glad we followed it, because now I get to spend every day from now until forever with my best friend in the whole world! I love you Matt! Happy ten years!