Adventure #1: Friendship

"A story has no beginning or end; arbitrarily one chooses that moment of experience from which to look back or from which to look ahead." - Graham Greene 

     It was January of 2012 when Jordan and I first met. My roommates and I were invited to play games with Jordan and his roommates. We all had so much fun. And I distinctly remember tears coming to my eyes from laughing so hard. From the start, it was nothing out of the ordinary (at least for BYU). Just a group of girls hanging out with a group of guys. We all lived in the same apartment complex, so it was pretty easy to spend time together. We played games, went hot-tubbing, ate countless slurpees, and watched our fair share of movies throughout the entire semester.

     By the time it came to April, my thoughts about serving a mission for my church had become more serious.  In order to serve a mission, I had to make sure that I was worthy and prepared to teach the gospel of Jesus Christ. It takes hard work to truly prepare to serve, and I wanted to make sure that I was ready. I decided to try to forget about school and dating so that I could serve the Lord more fully and not be distracted.

     It would have made sense to go home to California and put in my papers there - no rent, be with family, etc. - but for some reason, I really wanted to stay in Utah (strange, I know). So I did. I got two jobs to support myself, and I started my mission papers online.  And even though Jordan and his roommate also had plans to move to a different apartment complex for the coming fall semester, they decided to stay put for the summer. We did a lot of the same things we had done before, except now we had more time because none of us had school. 

     Taking a snapshot of our lives from that summer, you could say we were traveling down our own separate paths and loving every minute of our journey.  I was, and still am, an Elementary Education major from Southern California (yay Murrieta!). I love music, the beach, and chocolate. Jordan is a pre-dental major from Southern Virginia. He also loves music, the beach, and spontaneous adventures. We are both students at BYU in Provo; and, yes, we are both members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS or Mormon). And last summer, we both had a very clear vision of what our future held... or so we thought.

This was the very first picture that I could find of just us

(please ignore our ridiculously cheesy smiles).

    During this entire time, Jordan and I never had a single conversation alone. There were always lots of other people around. Of course, I had gotten to know him pretty well, but it was always in a group setting. I knew he had a great smile and a unique sense of humor. I knew he was caring and kind. I also knew that he had a desire to get married, or at least find someone to get married to (which scared me). He knew what he wanted, and he knew what his next step in life was.  I didn't. 

    I had never thought about dating Jordan because I was focused on a mission. He had even asked me on a date, but it happened to be the same day that I was flying home to California for a doctor's appointment so I could complete my mission papers. I said that I couldn't go out with him, and I never asked him about rescheduling. The thought of us dating wasn't a real consideration until something changed in June...