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!

Personally Progressing

So, I was recently called (assigned) to work with my church's Young Women group, which consists of teenage girls aged 12 to 18. So far it's been a lot of fun, getting to spend Sunday School in a great lesson focused on uplifting age-appropriate subjects and getting to go to Wednesday night activities with the girls. In addition to this, I've also enjoyed doing some Personal Progress again with the girls. Personal Progress is a program for Young Women where they do "experiences", do certain things to grow and improve in their lives. To be honest, I've only done one of them, but even the one improves my study habits a great deal. I would encourage all of you, if you feel so inclined, to do it too! Here's a link to where you can do it online:
https://lds.org/young-women/personal-progress?lang=eng&X-Forwarded-Scheme=https

Let's see, other than that, Will and I went to our friends Kiley and Sam Hobb's wedding reception, and it's always fun to remember the time when we were sealed as a family =). We decided previously to go to Santa Fe for the weekend, and we found a great deal on Hotwire for a hotel and went for a little mini-cation. We had a lot of fun walking around the square, visiting some museums and seeing the sights of Santa Fe.

Here's a famous old church that we saw. The glasswork was really neat:

And the square:

And us:

Anyway, I hope you're all having a wonderful Sunday. Til next time!

An actually up-to-date update.. and some old pictures =)

Okay, so that last blog was one that I published about a month or so ago. Wow does time fly! Not all that much has happened between then and now, but Will did finish his first semester with a 4.0 and he's about to start again tomorrow. I'm really proud of him for going to school and getting a degree, especially because I know that he likes working a lot more than he likes school. But for now I'm grateful for the opportunity to support us before we start making babies and he's the one bringing home the bacon =).

So here are a couple of pictures of things that I want to make note of.. first of all, our Christmas was kind of hard because we not only had the poorness of being newly married to contend with, but Will chose to stop receiving unemployment benefits because he felt wrong about it and I was not getting very many hours at work. Our Christmas was very small, especially because we hadn't gotten the 'big package' from Will's parents. In addition, the Sunday after our cars (yeah, both of them) got broken into and we had to pay for replacing the windows. While that was being done we found out that Will's car needed new rotors, which was even more money we didn't really have. After coming home from this frustrating venture we found that the big package had come at time we really needed a good Christmas =)

It was so wonderful to feel the love of our family after such a hard day =)

After Christmas, Will did a wonderful job making me feel special on my birthday.I wasn't really expecting a lot because at the time Will and I were not the richest people in the world. However, when I got home from work on Friday he did his hair up (which I really like and he knows it) and looked really nice, and said that I should shower (because when I worked out in the field that was always the first thing I did when I got home) and get ready because we're going out to eat! Before we leave, however, he says that he "needs to go to the store" to "get some soda". Instead he comes home with potatoes (!?) and says that he "forgot" about the soda. So we go out to eat steak at Applebee's, which was a lot of fun, then when we get home he asked me to walk across the street to the store to get the soda and to pick some ice cream up for me. I consented, thinking that it was wierd he asked me to do it. When I got home he had a cake all ready for me, complete with candles. It was such a wonderful surprise =).

This picture was actually taken the next day, as my hair is not how I like and there are significant portions of the cake gone because of the yumminess of it. In addition, Will turned the "26" into "62" for funnies. =)

In addition, we were also able to attend my sister Marie's wedding, at which we had fun being the newlywed couple. James, her new husband, did not bring a suit jacket and so Will reluctantly loaned his:

And I found that weddings are more fun after you're married. =)

Anyway I think that's all for now. Hope this keeps my small amount of followers entertained until next time =)

It's been a while.. but life is good!

Wow so I realized after talking to one of my friends who has a lot of blogs and is very good at keeping them updated that I should update this! First of all, Will and I moved to a different apartment within Albuquerque that we like a lot better... in the old one we were in a lot of our dinner plates got chipped because we had to put them in the cupboard diagonally! Add that to the fact that we invested in some better furniture, a TV and Rockband, and we love having people over and enjoying their company as well as enjoying being together just the two of us =).

I also had the motivation to refurnish an ancient chair we purchased at an estate sale for the steep price of $9.75.

We thought we were getting a great deal, but after an extra $70 and a lot of frustration we finally got a finished product that we're happy with:

There was one point in the chair-making process when I expressed to Will my frustrations with it and told him that I wanted to toss it in the nearest dumpster, but he was very encouraging (and a little frustrated that I was frustrated) and I continued working on it until I got what I wanted =)... which is not too bad!!

Something else that's been going on is that I GOT PROMOTED!!! I now do what I wanted to do my whole time in college, that is to do landscape design. It's a lot of fun, too, because I get to do the smaller projects and all of the xeriscape renovations. It's a lot of fun to meet with people, try to figure out what their needs/wants are and give them something they'll be happy with. Plus I get to drive a car with PINK FLOWERS on it! How cool is that?

(Disclaimer: This whole blog was written last month, and Will is starting his second semester tomorrow) Will is almost done with his first semester of college, and so far he's enjoyed it but is kind of frustrated with the easiness of it. I'm so proud of him going to school and having the desire to earn a degree to support our family =).

In addition, we both have callings (assignments) in our church. I teach the 6 year olds in primary, and Will is the Elders Quorum (younger men's organization) Secretary. I have a lot of fun with my little class, and it's been great to see how Will has taken on this new level of responsibility. Plus since we've been in the ward we've met a lot of great people, and I feel like I have a lot of great friends here =).

Let's see, what else? We're both looking forward to visiting some of our family and old friends this summer, with visits planned for Utah, Oregon, and Arizona. As much fun as it is to make new friends, sometimes I just love seeing the people we've grown to love and care about.

Well I think that's it for now.... hopefully I'll be a little more diligent with this whole blog thing so that more of you can know how we're doing and what we're up to. Anyways love you all!

More Wedding Pictures- Thanks to Kristen!

One of my very good friends and bridesmaids, Kristen Russell, does a little bit of photography occasionally on the side. Something that she did for us was do our engagement pictures, which turned out absolutely amazing. We had another photographer that did the vast majority of our pictures, but Kristen captured some pretty amazing shots.

Will really liked them too, but he wished that more of them contained him! anyway I hope you enjoy =)

There's one with him in it!
Here are a few more:

I loved this last picture of the temple with the gold leaves in the forground.

It was really fun to see & remember some of the happenings of the day! I'm really grateful for Will and that we were able to be married that day. =)