So This is Love

So, I'm married! I thought I'd condense the whole Scottceejo story (a.k.a. the best moments of my LIFE) in three posts.

DATING/PROPOSAL

As many of you know, Scott and I wrote letters as friends on my mission, but I kinda sorta fell in love with him halfway through.

Scott and me at my mission farewell party in Provo. We had only been on 5 dates.

We talked about dating when I came home, even broke up (worst 6 weeks ever), but when we got back together last Thanksgiving we were immediately talking about marriage that first week.

Scott and me at my mission homecoming. 

Imagine my chagrin when Valentine's Day, Graduation day, etc rolled by and no ring. But I understand now that Scott was being exactly himself: thoughtful, contemplative, and never in a rush to make a hurried decision until he knows his heart for certain.

On May 13, Scott texted me some lie about being tied up at the studio and he couldn't pick me up from work, but he had his best friend Zachary pick me up. When I got in the car, Zack was just getting off the phone with his wife, saying her car broke down and we need to swing by and pick her up and then I'll go home. I may have been the TEENSIEST bit suspicious, but Zack was playing it all off SO cool that I dismissed anything out of the ordinary.

We pulled into the Riverwoods where the Kneader's restaurant is. Amanda's car was parked over by the GAZEBO....

(this gazebo, that is abandoned 11 months of the year and comes out for Santa Claus, that Scott and I happened to dance in on one of our dates. The Riverwoods was also where we first held hands--BEFORE my mission.)

I thought Amanda's car was very conveniently placed. I even saw a red blinking light from the hood of her car and knew immediately I had an audience. As Zack coaxed me out of the car to "help" Amanda, the lights on the gazebo suddenly lit up, "our song" started playing (Close Your Eyes by Michael Bublé), and Scott stepped out in a tuxedo.

We danced, and then he got down on one knee, and with five different camera angles going, he proposed! We have the whole thing filmed, complete with interviews of the man of the hour.

We chose August 8, because it worked best with family's schedules, and it was a number we could both remember. Both of us share the same favorite number (16), and 8 + 8 = 16. Also, a sideways 8 is an infinity symbol. Presh.

Diary of a Nosy Kid: 8 year-old Perspective

Since I got married 2 months, 8 days, and 8 hours, and 31 minutes ago (who's counting?), I've had the chance to go through some old boxes at Mom's.  I was delighted to find this, a gem that had been lost for years:

Mom and I stayed up late cracking up at the entries in my VERY FIRST JOURNAL ever, the summer I turned eight years old. It was technically a school assignment: our third grade teacher-to-be read journals we wrote before school started so she could have an idea where our literature skills were. (Hence the red pen notes throughout the journal.)

Most people would describe my childhood personality as Inquisitive, so I chose "Diary of a Nosy Kid" for this series. As a "sophisticated", know-it-all eight year-old, I had a pretty good grasp on grammar, but I had some interesting ideas about stuff! Like this:

"Today is my birthday! I loved all the presents! When it was eight-thirty (the time I turned eight,) I didn't feel anything."

So apparently, when you hit the exact minute of the anniversary of your birth on your birthday, you're supposed to feel "something." I was incredibly disappointed that I didn't feel a magical transformation of my body clicking from 7 to 8 years old.

I expressed similar disappointment again in my next entry, two days later, when I was baptized:

"Also, yesterday, I got baptized! When I was under water, it felt like I was under pool water and I didn't feel anything. My sins were washed away and afterwards I got the gift of the holy ghost."

Apparently, I expected to feel something magical when I was underwater, too! I guess when we are eight years-old we haven't quite developed our sensitivity to spiritual matters, but we do understand enough to know why we choose to make big decisions like get baptized. I'm sure glad I made that choice 16 years ago, and even more grateful that I recorded it.