Arriving home from my mission, I imagined I’d quickly get married and then walk hand-in-hand with my eternal love off into the sunset. Some 3 years later, I had become somewhat disenchanted with the Provo dating scene and was seriously considering going to New England for law school. After initially applying to two schools back east, I had a change of heart and submitted my application to BYU. I felt like this place was right for me, and where I would meet my spouse. Shortly before starting my program Fall Semester 2020, I tried selling my housing contract on Facebook Marketplace. And thank heavens I did, for that is where this beautiful woman, Julie Keller reached out to me. Truth be told, I had downloaded, deleted, and redownloaded Mutual (an LDS dating app) many times. Over the years, I had compiled a short list of people I hoped to go on a date with and then (if they didn’t swipe up,) I would try to have friends in common set us up. Jules was on the top of that list. 5’8”, with beautiful blonde hair, appearances of a large, loving family, not to mention, she was a church history TA. Unfortunately, or given how things have turned out, fortunately, I didn’t have a good friend who could set us up, and she never swiped up, so for two years I was left wishing I could get a date with her.
August 2020, Jules reached out to me about buying my housing contract for a friend. I assumed it must be someone serious as no one works hard to help ‘a friend’ buy housing. We talked a little bit before I decided to not sell the contract and the situation fizzled. However, Jules saw me on Mutual a few days later and recognizing me, wondered out of curiosity whether I would be interested in her. So she swiped up! We conversed a little bit, and then I asked her out. This was in the middle of August, and she was still living in SLC. When I asked her out, her car had recently broken down and she asked for me to ask her out again in two weeks when she would be back in Provo.
Two weeks later, I hadn’t forgotten, but decided not to reach out at the moment due to school, moving, and a new social situation (ward, school, etc.). I was so surprised when, the day after I was supposed to reach out to her, she reached out to me and reminded me! I immediately called her, and it was so easy to chat. We had a few more phone calls and one cancelled date before we finally met in person, Sunday September 13, 2021. So much for 13 being an unlucky number - it was one of the most treasured moments in my life and I’ve been truly smitten since first seeing her that day. For our first date, we painted pictures of each other, and at the end presented them to each other. To put it kindly, I need to stick to landscapes. My attempt led to much laughter between us then, and still makes us chuckle today. Conversely, Jules did an incredible job, and I kept the picture she made. At the end of the date, I asked her out again. She agreed, but as I found out later, had no intention of actually going out. We were scheduled to make cookies together, but she cancelled the day before. That was frustrating, as it was the second time I’d been cancelled on by her. However, I wanted to try making some chocolate chocolate chip raspberry cookies, and as I had already bought the fresh raspberries (spending $4), I had to make them. That evening, I brought the cookies to her. A roommate answered the door, and she came downstairs with a facial mask on. All she was missing were the cucumbers in her eyes. When Jules saw me, it was such a surprise, she shrieked and laughed and laughed. Her laugh is hypnotic, and I vowed to not give up yet. The cookies were a success, and we planned our next date for a few days later. On Wednesday, we went to Battle Creek Falls and hiked around and then went and got peach shakes at Taco Amigo. On our hike, at Jules’ suggestion, we did some trail running and her endurance took my breath away (literally and figuratively). She also shared many of her life goals and future plans. I was amazed by how well they lined up with mine and when she said she wanted 10 kids, I couldn’t believe it. Her boldness was something that attracted me from our very first conversations. Additionally, her gratitude for everything was so inspiring and made me want to be better and serve her more. While in line at Taco Amigo, she shared a poem she had written during her study abroad in Jerusalem, and again I was stunned by this wonder woman. Adding to all of her wonderful qualities, she was also very flirty, and the winks, arm touches, and gregarious personality had me dizzy and short of breath the entire time. After another week or so, we reached our first DTR. I told her I would love to date her. I had only dated one person previously, and shared with Jules that I had never met anyone quite like her, and wanted to keep getting to know her. She responded that she didn’t feel ready to date anyone at the moment, but had appreciated our time together. We talked further, and I walked her back to her house. When we arrived, we talked more, and she said that she changed her mind, and while she didn’t feel completely ready, she knew that if she didn’t give this a chance, she would regret it later as I possessed many attractive characteristics. It also helped that her family really liked me. So we started dating :) That said, it was obvious that she wasn’t ready to date, and the next three weeks were something of a roller coaster. Towards the end of that time period, everything finally appeared to be going great and I wasn't worried about getting dumped. Jules even wrote me a wonderful poem. Then on Halloween eve we went to two Halloween parties. On our way back, we had a serious conversation, and I felt like things were moving forward which made me so happy. Apparently, we weren’t on the same page though, and when we got to her house, she surprised me by ending our relationship.
We made it almost a week without seeing each other before Jules wanted to see me again. Long long long long long story short, we got back together, and then after a while Jules broke up with me again. We ended up with 5 break-ups total, the last being at the start of February. To quote Longfellow, “when she [was gone], it seemed like the ceasing of exquisite music.” Every time she broke up with me, I was devastated and wanted so badly to be with her. I couldn’t imagine living without Jules in my life. I am so grateful that those days are all behind us and shortly, I will be sealed to the love of my life. HUNTER
I couldn’t tell you when I first fell in love with Hunter. For me, it was gradual, and most of the time, I denied it! What’s worse, meeting on Facebook marketplace or meeting on mutual? Basically the same thing, right? But how else do people meet during a pandemic?! In mid August of 2020, I was trying to buy a contract for my ex-boyfriend, so I reached out to Hunter who was selling his on FB marketplace. Hunter decided not to sell his contract after all, which frustrated me at the time but then my ex dumped me again so I got back on mutual and there, recognized a familiar face—Hunter from FB! I swiped up to see if he thought I was cute (just to pad my ego) and we matched! I never had any intention of things going anywhere with Hunter. I had just gotten out of a long relationship, wasn’t ready for something else, and didn’t think that Hunter was what I was looking for. Now here we are and I am SO grateful that I was wrong. It’s true that I asked to reschedule what would have been our first date twice. I had legitimate reasons but weeks later, it seemed like Hunter had forgotten about me/moved on. I wanted to get asked on a date by someone so badly that I finally called Hunter to ask him to ask me out. And he did. Third time’s the charm! My first impression of Hunter was that he was a very nice boy but not for me. He seemed really nervous, and the encounter was a bit awkward but overall it was a good date! At the end of it, he asked me out again for that next Sunday to make cookies and I didn’t know how to say “no” to his face (it’s easier over text) so late the night before what would have been our second date, I canceled again. This time, I didn’t have a legitimate reason, I just didn’t think I was interested in Hunter. So, I made up some excuse for why I was ‘too busy’ and then invited a friend over for a spa night instead. Imagine my surprise when Sunday night, after 9 pm or maybe even close to 10 pm, my roommate came upstairs to tell me that a boy was at the door for me. I figured that the only boy who would come visit me that late would be my brother Andrew so I waltzed downstairs with my Korean face mask intact (minus the cucumbers) thinking it’d be him but instead, it was Hunter! I shrieked when I saw him because #1, I looked crazy wearing a face mask and #2, he caught me red-handed avoiding our date! I was shocked that in spite of the fact that I had canceled our date that night to make cookies, Hunter had brought them to me instead. No boy had ever made that kind of a gesture to me before so I told myself that I owed it to him to go out again, but really, I was impressed by how gentlemanly he was. That was the first of the many kind things Hunter has done for me and continues to do daily! Multiple times, he brought me baked goods and dinner, wrote me poetry, gave me flowers, and more romantic things! He pursued me and didn’t give up even after the many, many times I tried to end things. Hunter treats me like a princess and I’m amazed that the guy managed to stay single for so long but I’m eternally grateful that the Lord preserved him for me. I wish I could say more about everything else that happened along the way but it’s a long story with lots of back and forth (because of me) tears and prayers. It was a complicated journey, to say the least! Needless to say, there were countless instances of divine intervention in bringing and keeping us together and now I feel like the luckiest girl in the world to be getting the most amazing guy. Seriously, he’s the best! I love him more than words can express! JULES
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