It's about that time....

So, sadly, the Olympics are over. Did any of you watch the olympics? I don't have a TV that's connected to anything besides my husband's PS3, and when I tried watching them online I was limited to 'highlights', and couldn't root for anyone. It was still fun watching Gabby Douglas's events for her gold,

and part of the men's synchronized diving. I wish I could have cheered the athletes on with the rest of the world, but alas. At least it comes every four years!

Anyway, I'm talking about a different time of the year- a time when we all get to experience the joys of two candidates bashing each other voting for our next commander in chief. I swear, it seems like there is more contention surrounding politics than any other topic- at this point I would include religion. Because with religion, I think that in general people who have a religion have learned that although they strongly believe one way it does not mean that it's ok to tear down what someone else believes strongly. I know what I believe, and I am more than willing to share the happiness that comes from what I believe (you can find what I believe here), but I can tell when someone's heart isn't open to it, and that will not make me love you any less. You sure are missing out on something awesome, though!

Anyway, I digress. Voting, right. I find it interesting and honorable that a lot of people (especially on Facebook) share their political opinion online. There are values and principles that should be upheld if the person feels that they are important. However, I also think it important that everyone should find what their values are for a system, and support a candidate that (as closely as possible) upholds those values. One of our responsibilities as citizens of this country is to responsively vote for laws and candidates that reflect our values. If you haven't already (and in this I am a hypocrite who still needs to do this), REGISTER TO VOTE!!! It really isn't hard, and in most cases you can either do it online or print out the form online to send it in the main. Priority one.

As far as deciding who to vote for, I think I'm going to take the advice that I gave others as a missionary- if you want to know about something, go to the source. Which is what I intend to do. For your own sakes, here are the links to each candidate's own site:

http://www.barackobama.com/?source=action-bar

http://www.mittromney.com/

Am I going to tell you who I'm going to vote for? For one, I haven't decided yet, believe it or not. I don't think I know nearly enough to make a responsible decision, and I want to make sure to do due diligence before making such a decision. For another, I like what a previous church leader said about the topic once: that the voting booths are private for a reason. I'm going to let others make their own decision, and trust that they'll do their best to choose the best candidate.

As for another note, thanks for reading! I know my blog is sporadic at best, but it's a good outlet for my thoughts for me. It is a little weird just writing about myself without having any automatic feedback like a normal conversation, and I feel a little full of myself because I like to hear other's thoughts too, but maybe it will do some good. If any of you have any ideas as far as what you would like to hear from me, let me know! Material is one of the dominant things I'm missing.

Anyway, happy voting!!!

-Jackie

The Kind of Conclusion

Well, I hope you've all enjoyed reading our story! Without any further ado, here is the epic conclusion...

Parto Tres

(Parto Uno here)

(Parto Dos here)

When Jackie came back from New Mexico she wanted to start work on the first of June. Three months before I would start school! I was really torn between having a life with my close friends and being around some girl who wasn’t sure she wanted a boyfriend. Though the more I talked with her the more I liked her. Eventually we started calling each other in the evenings and well I decided to man up and move then. I drove myself to Medford and met up with Jackie. We went to a park for lunch and sat in the grass to cuddle. As we talked I figured I should see if she liked me. I was terrified of asking her, I didn’t want to ruin the four day trip that we had ahead due to awkwardness. Then I am not 100% sure of everything that occurred but the end result was that she allowed me to kiss her. AWESOME! Pretty much.. Then we went home to see her mother and play games. Kind of weird to be honest, I really didn’t know how to act or what to say. I was that guy from some far off place that wasn’t the perfect guy for her daughter and I felt judged. Kind of a lot. 

The next day we went bowling with her brother and her mom, then afterwards she took me to see Hamlet and I took her to dinner. We rented a car dolly the day following and set out on our journey to Tucson. IT WAS THE MOST AMAZING TIME EVER!!! She was happy, I was happy, we were happy and we enjoyed eachothers company. We talked the whole time. We played games, asked each other questions asked what eachother was thinking the whole time. We held hands the whole way. It was amazing. I loved talking with him and getting to know him better. It was so nice being able to talk to someone and have someone understand who I was, not just what other people perceive me as. And despite all of my faults he still really liked me. Wow. Not to mention we got to park next to the big semi trucks at all the rest areas!!!

At one point while driving through Nevada to get to her Grandparents place we stopped at an exit to check the car dolly and what not. Well we decided to kiss a bit and we hear a honk, and then a truck pulls over to tell us to move because they had a semi-truck loaded with stuff and we were parked in the way (on the side of the road mind you) They asked if we were just married and I kinda laughed and said not yet as Jackie ran back into the car kinda embarrassed that she got caught. As we re-entered the highway we noticed the exit’s name, Love Lock… haha. I remember that shortly thereafter for my turn during our question-asking game I asked him what he thought when the people in the truck made their comment and he was bold enough to say, “I wish!” This kind of scared me a little bit because shoot, I didn’t want to think about getting married after how long of liking him? I wasn’t even sure I wanted to commit enough to be his girlfriend…. But this did start me thinking about things a little bit more.

We drove through Utah and late one night as we are headed to her grandparents she told me that she didn’t want to continue our relationship once she was in New Mexico. Um… Yeah…. Ouch… I was dumbfounded and became silent for the rest of the night thinking of what was going on. I remember wanting to believe that it was best for both of us, but then Will made the comment that no, it was just what I wanted… I didn’t want to give up my old life, my old way of doing things that has made me happy (so I thought) up to this point. This made me feel really selfish, and I hated the silence between us. It made me sad. I just gave up my life as I knew it to be with this girl and she just told me she didn’t want to be with me. I tried as hard as I could to overcome my emotional turmoil. Once we stopped for the night I went to my designated sleeping area and prayed. Not that she would love me, but that I would be able to overcome the emotion I felt and do what is right. I was swept away with peace in my heart knowing that if that is what she wanted that was fine, life will go on, and I at least wanted to be friends. We talked some in the morning and she apologized. I don’t think I apologized, but I did say that I realized that I didn’t want to lose him. He became such a good friend, and I loved being with him so much that I didn’t want to let him go. She still liked me (I wanted to cheer) and was overjoyed and we went to go visit her AMAZING aunt. Jackies twin separated at birth. That was a lot of fun. =)

We made it to Tucson, went to church together, enjoyed each others company, talked lots about life, about the future. And we went our separate ways, well, she drove to Albuquerque and I stayed in Tucson.  Each day we talked for hours. I eventually flew to see her and had a wonderful time. And by then I knew she was the love of my life. I made arrangements to get a ring and I was thinking of a good time to propose.

Funny thing how things never go the way you plan. I talked to my siblings during the day while Jackie was at work. And made mention to one of my brothers that I was thinking about getting married. My father and I discussed what ring I would get her and he sent me a picture of the one we discussed. On Friday I took her out to dinner and we walked around the park. At one point my mother called, I answered and she asked in an excited voice, loud over the phone, did you propose!! Hahaha Jackie heard, and well the discussion unfolded way earlier than I wanted it to. I wasn’t sure yet if I wanted to, but if the feeling came I wanted to be ready. It was way too early for even me, and way way way too early for her. She was terrified that I had ring for her, I can’t imagine what would have happened if I had proposed that night. Yeah. SUPER SCARED. HOLY COW. I couldn’t believe that he knew he liked, or loved, me enough to want to propose and get married. I never thought that I would experience this, because you always kind of anticipate it but I didn’t expect it to happen so fast.

Though things went well, I cooked every night for her, I cleaned house, I helped her in every way I could. We went to church activities, I met her friends and it was just a great time. She is an amazing girl. When I got back to Tucson I made plans to actually propose, I got the ring sent to me. I found a place where there was actual grass (Tucson doesn’t have much) since we both really like green stuff. She was going to fly in for the fourth of July and I was super super excited. Our conversations about the future were fun, we always would end a sentence “if I propose and if you say yes” and it really just built my excitement up. I couldn’t wait. Me too. I pretty much knew that he was going to propose, and it was really exciting. And scared out of my mind. More the second thing than the first thing. But I knew that since we had gotten to know each other really well we needed the relationship to progress in some form, and it made sense to do it this way.

The night she arrived in Tucson her plane was late. The area I wanted to go to had closed the gates preventing us from entering. It was way warmer than I had planned, 104 degrees at ten thirty at night. But I couldn’t wait I really wanted to get it out of my system, I was so excited. I joked around about putting the ring in a Cracker Jack Box and she assured me I wouldn’t do it. So ofcourse I bought her some cracker jacks. When I got to the airport my heart was thumping like no other. I was so happy to see him! Every time I saw him after a while of being apart it really made me happy. He was wearing the nice grey shirt he bought with me and his hair was really short. But he still looked really good. I was scared, nervous and had to improvise my plan. Why can’t things work out the way you want them to. Grrrrrr anyways I had bought a rose for her and when she approached my car I handed her the rose and hugged her ever so tightly. We drove off and I handed her the box cracker jacks, she looked at me kinda funny, but shes kinda too smart sometimes and takes the fun out of it, she noticed it was still sealed and thus ate them like nothing was going to happen. Hehehehe I am not going to turn down a box of Cracker Jacks. The child inside me still loves them =).

As we approached my grandparents home I decided to take a detour. Rollercoaster road starts on a hill and overlooks the city of Tucson. It has a fun name since our relationship emotionally has been quite the rollercoaster and it was a such a pretty view. I couldn’t wait to give her the ring. I loved her, and wanted her to know how much. So I stop at the top of the hill and jumped out, having the ring inside my pocket. We looked at the city and then quickly realized how ridiculously hot it was outside so we jumped into the back seat of my car while it was still cool. I gave her a kiss and as she leaned over accidently hit my lip and it split on one of my teeth. AWKWARD. But as you all can tell from this story I AM PERSISTENT and therefore did not give up my quest. I asked her if she had any questions for me, and after saying no I told her I had one for her. I looked into her eyes. And said “Jackie Nielson” I took her hand and pulled off her CTR ring which she had been wearing there. “Will you” I slipped the ring on her finger “Marry me”… I am not sure what I was hoping for. She looked at me, and before I could think another thought, pulled me close and kissed me. I was SCARED!!! AAAHHHH I knew I loved Will and I wanted to say yes but it was really scary!!! He was really sweet about it though. I felt kinda bad about making him wait like that. Eternity passed, my heart was beating ever so quickly, I was terrified that she might say no, it was so  hard to read her body language, it was getting uncomfortably warm, my life passed before me, and then she said “Yes”. In the words of my friend Dan “RYUTEN!!!” 

Life was great all weekend. And then we had to part, we lived in separate states and I needed a little time to collect some money to move to be closer to her. I decided to hault my dream of going to school for a term and start in New Mexico. That two weeks was rough. We had called everyone we knew that we were getting married, we made FB post about it. We set our status to engaged and then doubt seeped in. Not so much on my part but on hers. It was the scariest moment in my life. And mine. I thought I had done all of this for naught. Each evening we talked she was more and more nervous, we decided that we would call off the original date and just think about it some. It was too fast for her, I guess, but it seemed like forever for me. This was really hard for me. I felt Satan work on me like never before, and there were times when I just wanted to give up. I didn’t know what to think or what to do or what to tell Will. I asked him if he was going to move to New Mexico no matter what and he said yes. So I decided to not do anything too drastic before I could see him again.

Then I moved to New Mexico to be closer to her. We had discussed that I would arrive Monday and well me being super excited I couldn’t wait. So I devised a plan, I called her to let her know that a valuable object was to be delivered to her home. That if it was stolen we would be sorrowful so she needed to come home early if possible to take it inside. I didn’t tell her what I was. I had a copy of her apartment key with me and I set out to arrive at her place on Friday. I bought a rose and some flowers. I arrived about an hour or so before she did, I placed the vase of flowers on her door step. Parked my car on the far side of the complex, and went inside to wait. It took forever, for her to come home, I heard the key turn the lock and I stoop up, rose in hand and waited at the doorway to her bedroom. She had the vase in her hand and without noticing me placed it on the counter and continued to take off her shoes. She looked up and it was the most amazing look I have ever seen on a person. Such surprise and happiness and well It was FABULOUS!!! It felt SO GOOD to see him! Oh my goodness. It seemed that all of my doubts about things were gone, that I just loved to see him and give him a hug. He was no longer a vague voice on the telephone but a real person. Pretty awesome. =) Life has been great since :D. It has.

Our Story, Continued

Parto Dos

(for Parto Uno, click here)

Again, words in green are inputs by me (Jackie)

Well of course I took her to Great China which has the best food in Kirkland and it was a fun time. I had a care free conversation which was delightful, I kinda wanted to hang out with her more but knew that it was to no avail. And then something happened. She told me that she needed a ride from Seattle to Portland. Now this is my weakness, if I can help someone I do. True. I love this about him =). Though when I answered that I could give her a ride I was screaming in my head “What the heck are you doing! Are you nuts!?” “Why are you doing this, she is moving to New York!” and immediately there after I was making plans to get out of helping her. However she was very happy to have someone to help her and the rest of the afternoon went well. We browsed at books at a used bookstore and looked at CDs for hours. I wanted to walk around a park but for whatever reason in spring, up in the northwest it was cold and raining. And then I dropped her off, plotting to escape from giving her a ride.

The next day I devised a plethora of excuses of why I could no longer give her a ride. Though later on in the day I got a phone call from Derek telling me “Thank you” for offering Jackie a ride and how much she needed it.  Of course I now was obligated to fulfill my promise with no way out. 

The day eventually came. I had loaded my car with some of my own belongings to drop them off at my parents place in preparation to move to AZ hoping to not make the trip a complete waste of time and money. We gathered her belongings a whole two bags and a purse and off we went. The stuff I had lived off of for the past month or so =). Strangely enough I enjoyed her company a great deal and we talked the whole way to southern Washington. It was awesome. =) She had surprised me with a list of places to visit on the way so that she could purchase a vehicle without sales tax.  We eventually stopped at a salvaged wrecks place where she wanted to browse at a Hyundai. Derek had called me at one point during the last car we looked at urging me to convince Jackie to buy something else.  Of course my words about the brand fell on deaf ears, and we continued to look at this side swiped blue asian car. He wanted me to get it. It was his favorite color. But now thinking about it, he was probably tired of looking. I do still like my car though.

Now I am not sure what was said first, but on the test drive the guy that was with us asked a few questions. First he asked if we were married, second he asked if we were going out, and well being me I wanted to say yes for fun but Jackie was the one who answered the questions. Hehehehe I said no. Poor Will. After knowing that she wanted the car we proceeded to the bank to get the funds she needed. Thoughts of being her boyfriend raced through my mind, even if it would be a really really long distance relationship. When we proceeded to the counter the teller asked us the same questions this time Jackie gave more playful answers and I started to notice how much I liked her. So on the way back to the dealer I asked her if she wanted to be my girlfriend for the day. Without a pause she said yes (I liked the idea because I kinda liked him, and I liked the idea of not having to commit for a long time even more) and I couldn’t help but give her a big hug. That made my day. Mine too. =) From then on I started being even more flirtatious than normal which felt really good. Finally an amazing mormon girl that I get along with and is quirky as myself :P 

However there was one more doubt in my mind. Before we separated I decided to take her to dinner. We stopped by a Burgerville and there I got the opportunity to ask her some questions.  Found out that she wasn’t really emotionally attached to anyone at the moment which scored even more points with me. And as we left I took her arm walking triumphantly back to her car. Before we went our separate ways she gave me one of the most amazing hugs I have ever had and could not help but have feelings for her. He gives such good hugs, and there was just something about this one.

That was a great day. Though I thought I would never see her again. So my mind raced off to other things and I lived life as usual. Again. Sometime a week or so later I got another text “WHY TEXTS!!!!” letting me know that she was going to fly to New Mexico for an interview and that she was going to be in Portland. After multiple texts I decided that I would pick her up in Medford for fun. I got a NO for an answer. But being myself, I was persistent and eventually we decided upon a midway point: Roseburg one hour out of Medford. Hahaha it saved me one hour out of a eight and a half hour trip but she really didn’t want me to pick her up at home. HELLO!!!! Have this guy I kinda liked meet my family already? No thanks. I wanted to avoid this for as long as possible.

We arrived there about the same time and then we started on our trip to Portland. Now the first trip we talked none stop, this trip however there was conversation and then it died off awkwardly and started up again. After a couple cycles of this I decided to make a move, “I hope I am not too forward but…~grabs her hand~” and she just smiled at me. “Much less awkward” we continued to hold hands all day long. We got to Portland around three and she didn’t need to be at her stop until elevenish so after a couple failed attempts to find the rose gardens we went to go see Iron man 2. I really kinda liked her by then and I figured it being the second date I would try for a kiss. FAIL. I don’t kiss on the first or second date. Though that sure didn’t stop me from liking her. After we got out I decided to take her to Vernonia.

Well I got to show her one of my favorite places in the world. The old ruins of an ancient lumbermill around the pond. We talked and cuddled and talked some more. We shared our lives stories, about our greatest joys and our saddest days. I really really kinda liked her. I kinda liked him too. It was a lot of fun. 

Knowing that I shouldn’t go for a kiss on the lips I gave her a quick one on the cheek. WIN! Though through our conversation she was having some serious doubts about us being together. Like she kinda liked me, but at the same time she didn’t want to have a boyfriend at all. She was about to start a new job in a new place and meet new guys. Last thing she wanted was an attachment even if I was going to be moving a state away. So with that info I decided to have her meet my parents haha. Awesome. Last thing I want……

By the way, Jackie is the very first girl I have ever introduced to my parents. And he did it on the THIRD DATE. Weird? I don’t know…… However I was able to overcome my fear and had a wonderful time. I found out that Jacob my brother and Jackie had served in the same mission. She left the day he arrived but still they knew similar people (that was pretty awesome, and weird that he served his whole mission in the time that I’d been at home), my sisters Julie and Jessica really liked her (I really liked them too!). Joe of course when he saw a new girl in the proximity was ecstatic. My father was very encouraging and really it was a baller time. Except we didn’t sit all that close together, instead my little sister was closer to me than Jackie. She was probably scared and I didn’t want to push, I mean really who introduces someone to their parents unexpectedly on the third date! Really.

So I dropped her off at her place (actually my friend/old roommate Taura’s place) in Portland and she convinced me to stay the night in my car (okay whatever I volunteered) so I can see her off at the airport. We talked about maybe caravanning down to the southwest together since I was planning to go to school in Tucson. And yeah we texted back and forth for sometime. 

TO BE CONTINUED... AGAIN.

I don't think I'll be able to resist just posting the rest of the story tomorrow, but we'll see. So far, you've read about half, and I don't want to be too mean by drawing it out into four sections. So expect the EPIC CONCLUSION tomorrow!

Our Story

Well, I just got back from visiting Tucson, AZ for Will's Grandma Hitchcock's funeral. It was sad to say goodbye to her, even though I've only met her a few times. She always took Will and I out for breakfast or lunch at Firr's or Denny's and loved the gospel and sharing it. Although it was sad to say goodbye, it was wonderful seeing that side of our family again.

Talking with the siblings right under in age from Will (ugh my college-level English is slowly transforming into elementary at best), I remembered what it was like to be single. I loved loved loved it, but I still longed for the companionship, growth and awesomeness that marriage would provide. Since I haven't done so yet and have been meaning to for a long time now, I'm going to post up the story of how Will and I met and got together. He wrote it down FOREVER ago, and I chimed in my two cents. Anyway, before I lose half of you to this long post, I wanted to tell my single friends a few things, particularly those who haven't found their Bestest Friend Ever yet.

First, don't give up. My good friend, who's 30 and has had periods where she doubted she'd ever marry, was just sealed in the temple (to those who don't understand this, click here), married to her best friend forever. Another one of my favorite friends up in Seattle is in her 30's, but she always speaks with so much positive hope for the future. I think that no matter what situation we're in, being POSITIVE and not giving up help living life that much easier.

Second, get involved. There are a lot of people that meet and get married just because they put themselves in the position to meet and to get married- hanging out with friends, going to activities (Church-related are reliable, but there are definitely other ways), and putting yourself out there. I've found that a lot of people like it when you actually put effort into talking to them =). Also, Will and I met through mutual friends, so it's good to be willing to participate in things.

Third, things don't always happen how you think. In fact, they kind of rarely do. This doesn't mean that you should stop going to activities and just wait for someone to show up, it means that just because something isn't working especially well right now doesn't mean that it won't work up to something that will. For instance, I went through 9 semesters at BYU-Idaho with not much more than 1 month relationships at best (the VERY best), and it has a reputation for marrying people off pretty quick. I did learn a lot from just dating though, and it also taught me more about the type of person to look for.

Forth, stay close to the Lord. Not too much to add about this, but making sure you're attending Church, praying, reading the scriptures, etc etc etc puts you in more of a position for the Lord to guide you to that special person.

Anyway, without any further ado, here's our story!!

Will and Jackie's Story as told by Will- Parto Uno

Side note: words in green are inputs by me (Jackie)

 

Sometime last year Jackie and I first met. We played a train game with Matthew along with Krystine over at Derek’s parents home. Though I lost horribly it was a fun time, since everyone there was really into games and it was fun discussing things with one another. After the game was over we sat down to play apples to apples. I believe I sat next to Jackie. She was a curious girl, who laughed and smiled a ton. She was very cute and for some reason I really wanted to hang out with her more. I got her number and tried to set another time that we could “hang out” but found out that she was headed to BYU Idaho and therefore I was too late.  (Jackie won the game)

I remember when I met Will that I thought that he was really cute, but at the time I was getting ready to go back to school. It was still nice to meet someone new though =). I gave him my number but didn’t really think that it would amount to anything since I was leaving, but since I like to hang out with new people I gave it to him anyways. Oh and by the way, I won the train game =D.

The day she left I decided to call her for fun. We had a good 15 minute conversation going until suddenly her connection died. I tried calling her back and a bit later got a phone call back and we continued to talk. Moments later the connection died again and then I decided to just leave a message on her phone that if she ever wanted to talk to someone that I was there and that she should call me sometime when her phone was in range of service.

It was fun but weird talking with him because I had only met him briefly, but he was really easy to talk to and I found myself enjoying the conversation. I can’t remember why I didn’t call him back, maybe it was because I didn’t really see it going anywhere due to my being at school. But I probably just forgot =).

I didn’t hear back from her until about four months later. I got a text from her inviting me to her Birthday celebration at Azteca. To be honest, I was interested in another girl at the time and really didn’t feel like being social that day knowing that there would be a ton of dudes and therefore slim chances of being able to flirt. Hahaha there actually were. He probably would have failed miserably. =) A month later I got another text from Jackie something about Vday and single awareness and love or something… I responded back but never got a response gotta love mass spam mail. I was trying to make Valentine’s Day a holiday of love for everyone, not just for couples. So in my political movement I included a mass text. =) I can’t remember Will’s response, nor my ignoring it =).

Later on I was at Derek’s new home and I was hanging out with Mathew, Derek and Lindsay looking at various pics on facebook. As we were looking around, Derek stopped to look at Jackie’s FB with pictures of Derek’s roommate and I assumed that they still had a thing going on.  I logged that in the back of my mind and life continued onward. 

A couple months later in May my father, brothers and I decided to go on a man-cation. We were going to go visit BYU ID and UT and then stop in AZ to meet up with my grandparents. My brother Joe had a road map with all the girls he knew on it that he wanted to visit. Not that I get jealous of my little bro or anything but I went and did the same. Though I only had two, I knew a girl in Cedar City I kinda dated and then I kinda knew Jackie in Idaho.  For kicks and giggles I decided to send Jackie a text wondering if she wanted to meet on campus or something. She actually responded to me and told me the day that I was going to be there she was having finals. But if I had time around four in the evening we could hang out. Well we met up with my cousin up there as well and decided to wait til four thirty. After leaving a message on her phone which obviously was being ignored we decided to continue our trek to Utah. At around eight she called wondering if by chance I was still in town… Lame. Okay, so I was not ignoring him. What really happened was one of my best friends/former roommate Krystine was in town, and I was going through finals and cleaning and everything that went with that, so I thought to myself, “Hang out with one of my best friends or with random guy from Seattle? Hmmmm. I’m going with Krystine.” I actually called him to find out if he wanted to hang out with us, but he was already on the road. Oh well =P.

Eventually I returned home and continued to live life like always. I talked with Derek about my failed attempt with meeting with Jackie and he told me it was for the best because she was planning to find a job in New York and had plans to move there. He also mentioned that she would be in town for a week or so. Anyways one Sunday on the 25^th of April while I was in church I noticed that she was sitting in the row behind me. Now at this point in my life I was looking to have some fun. I was concentrating on enjoying the last couple months in Seattle because I was going to move down to Tucson to go to school. And really I didn’t find many of the girls at the ward to be my type and when I saw Jackie I figured I would have fun and ask her to lunch or something expecting that it would be a one time thing since we were moving to opposite ends of the country and would most likely never see each other again. 

HAHAHA hahahahhaah…….

So as I ask her if she wants to go grab some Chinese food and I immediately get an excuse. Something about being booked each evening (TRUE!!!!) and luckily for me the week prior I was laid off from work therefore having any time of the day to do things. Now out of a good excuse she accepted my offer to have lunch. Yup. Even my excellent skills with men could not get me out of this one. ;)

TO BE CONTINUED...

This story is really long, and instead of having one drawn-out post I would rather have a bunch to make it a more tolerable read. Sorry for being evil, but hope you've enjoyed our story so far!

-Jackie 

18 months of AWESOME

Holy cr*p, I can't believe it's been almost a full YEAR since I last posted to this. Ugh. I know where my priorities lie! Just kidding =) Anywho, as of late I've been thinking about some of the things I've learned since I got married to my best friend ever. Yup, we've been married for almost 19 months and I don't hate him. At all. In fact, I really can't imagine life without him. Sometimes we think back on our single days, when I had a lot of my dinners paid for, milkshakes at Sheri's about once a week and pretty much doing whatever I wanted and he had his dream job of game testing making mucho dinero playing games because he was so willing to do OT... but in reality, neither of us would go back that life. Ever. Our tickle fights, dollar movies, sushi splurges and trips to visit family and friends beat out any and all of these things. AND- I think that I've grown more in the past 18 months of marriage than I did when I was out in the mission field knocking doors and riding bikes in skirts in good ol' Oklahoma. For the past bit, I've been attempting to think of some of the things that I've learned since being married. I know there are a lot more people who've been married longer, and I'm not going to profess to know EVERYTHING- there certainly is a lot more to learn about life (and each other, I think) but I think it's good to stop and reflect a bit how far we've come. Here's a list of some of the things I've learned:

1. It's OK, and good, to have personal space.
I like sewing and going to Joann's. He likes playing video games. Sometimes, I take a trip to a fabric store while he stays at home and levels up or plays a round of capture the flag with a bunch of buddies online. It's cool. AND, I learned from good friends of ours, that it's important to encourage each other with your spouse's interests, even if they don't match yours. Will is especially good at this- he's always encouraging me to go find a project or hang out with a girlfriend or something. I think it's good- and healthy- to do things outside of each other.

 
2. DO NOT compare yourselves with each other. You're a TEAM.
I just realized this one today. One of the hardest things we deal with is talking about each others' past, and why we are the way we are. This inevitably ended up with hurt feelings and frustration, because we were both frustrated that one didn't understand the other and blamed the other for any negative situations. Instead of dwelling on why we're in the position we're in, we've decided to focus on how we as a team can be better and how we can individually contribute to the whole- I feel blessed that both of us have the ability to contribute in equal, although not alike, ways and that although it's hard sometimes working together brings us closer to one another.

 3. Do fun stuff together.
This is kind of a DUH!, but we've enjoyed trying new things (esp. food) together. We also love shopping (when we get some extra money) and walking to Smith's every day. Doing fun stuff together nurtures our little family and helps give it good memories and a chance to talk. We also have really enjoyed picking a TV series on Netflix and enjoying it together (lately we've watched How I Met Your Mother). We also love having other couples, families and individuals over every once in a while. It's awesome.

 
4. Serve together.
We serve in our local temple (a sacred, special church building- read more about it here) as ordinance workers. This has been wonderful because we've not only been able to learn and appreciate what goes on that much more but we've met a lot of other couples (mostly older) who have the same goals we do- they're just further down the road of life than we are. I've felt a kind of love that I have only felt while serving- a pure kind of charity for everyone I work with there and everyone that comes in. It's been awesome sharing this with Will.

5. HAVE. PATIENCE.
Hey- guess what. I'm human and I make mistakes. Guess what again- so does Will. I've learned that although there are some things that need to be worked out, a lot of things can just be overlooked. I know that I am definitely NOT perfect, and sometimes I just need to remember that neither is Will- although sometimes it sure seems like he is =)

6. Have spiritual experiences together.
For us, it's super important to go to church, pray, and attend the temple together. I love going to church with Will- there's a special kind of love that I feel for him when we go. I'm not 100% sure what it is, but I think that it might have to do with doing something that I know the Lord wants us to be doing together. I also love reading the scriptures with him- even if it's just one verse. It's great hearing him read those sacred words. Praying together is also awesome. I wish I wrote down all of the things that the sealer (the person who married us) advised us right before we got married, but I remember one thing- make sure that your spouse hears you pray for him/her. It's so special when we pray together and Will asks something especially for me.

7. LAUGH together.
We do this a lot. Whether it's tickle fights, watching a funny show, or laughing about something that happened to us in the day, we love to laugh. I swear, with the lack of exercise we enjoy, this is what keeps us skinny.

8. ACT like you're in love!
I love it when people ask us if we were just married- because we kind of still act like it. I mean, we've toned down quite a bit, but we still love to hold hands, hug, kiss, etc. etc. I think this is important, and keeps things ALIVE!

9. DO things for each other.
Will loves a clean kitchen and Snickerdoodles, I love flowers and attention. Sometimes it's just nice when he does something super nice for me- like this yummilicious dinner he made for me for our first anniversary-

Anyway, there are a plethora more things I've learned, but this is a gist of everything. I hope we never slow down and stop acting like newlyweds all the time. We keep saying that maybe it will stop after the first 6 months, 18 months, child, etc. etc., but we sure hope it doesn't. And I'm not planning on letting it!