It all started one day at the end of April, 2011. I was attending school at BYU-Idaho for spring semester and was walking into my first class of Social Dance. I got to class and one of the first things I noticed was that there weren't very many cute guys. ( Don't judge, I'm totally not the only one that assesses the boy situation on the first day of class! haha) The class was really fun and all of the guys were nice, but there weren't any that I could actually see myself being interested in. Obviously I was bummed by this, but the next day that I went to class, something was different. It didn't take me very long to notice that there was a new guy in our class that wasn't there last time. Hello tall, dark, and handsome. I have always been able to get pretty good vibes from people, and from the moment I saw Taylor, I knew that he was somebody that I
For the first few weeks of that class, anytime Taylor and I danced together, it made me want to know him more and more. Here's the funny thing though... I never remembered his name. We would dance together and I'm pretty sure he would ask me what my name was every single time, and I either asked him back and didn't remember or I would completely forget to ask him his name. So pretty much I would come home and tell my roommates about "cute boy" because I could not for the life of me remember his name. Finally, one day that I danced with him, I remembered that his name was Taylor. By this point, I was kind of friends with another guy in the class and I would tell him about how I wanted to hangout with Taylor. He told me that he and Taylor were friends and that Taylor was dating somebody. I was pretty heartbroken, but within a couple weeks, they had broken up. So, as soon as I found this out I did something pretty crazy. I thought that if I could figure out his last name, then I could find him on Facebook. So, I went online to the Student Directory and I typed in Taylor and did a search. Let me just say that there were soooo many Taylor's that were going to BYU-Idaho... and I went through every single one of them trying to find him. No such luck.
Then I had another idea. I knew that he was friends with a girl named Jade that was in our class, so I found an email that our dance teacher sent to all the girls in the class and found Jade's last name. I looked her up on Facebook and then looked up Taylor in her friends list. Sure enough, I found him. Stalker much? YEAH, I KNOW. (I was so embarrassed to tell Tay this story months later.) So, I sent him a friend request on Facebook and waited for the notification telling me that he accepted my request, which he did the next day. But OBVIOUSLY I couldn't post on his wall right after he accepted my request because you just don't do that... so I collaborated with my roommate and we decided I should wait at least a day. This kind of stuff is like a total science to us girls, not that it would have even mattered in my case because I already did the creepiest thing ever by totally stalking him. No big deal though, right?
So after a complete day of total anxiousness, I wrote on his wall and said something stupid like, "Taylor! You seem pretty cool. I'm pretty cool too if I do say so myself. We should be friends, that's all. Kay thanks bye :)" And seriously, just a couple minutes later he messaged me on Facebook and said "I thought we already were friends!" haha. After talking for a few minutes, he asked me if I wanted to take a walk with him to Horkley's. Horkley's was a gas station/ movie rental place in Rexburg that sold Big Gulps for like 70 cents, so it was really popular among all the college students there. I still think it's funny that our first date was to a gas station... haha. So we walked to Horkley's and Taylor got a Dr. Pepper (of course) and then when we were walking back to my apartment, he said that he wasn't ready to take me back yet, so we walked around Porter Park. :)
After our date, he walked me back home. I went inside and told my roommate all about it and I was sooo excited because it went really well! Then I realized that Taylor never asked me for my phone number, so then I started to think "Oh no, what if he thought the date went terrible and never wants to see me again?" Of course that was just me being dramatic because later that night, he messaged me on Facebook and said that he totally forgot to get my number and he gave me his so that I could text him. We texted each other all night and from that day on, we spent every possible second we could together.
One day while I was working at Snoshack, literally a little shack where we sold snocones, it was pretty slow, so Taylor and I were texting. I was asking him about what he was going to do over the weekend and he said that he was gonna go down to Utah for his nephew's baby blessing. He was saying that all of his family was going to be there. (He has 10 siblings) Here's the best part. He asked me if I wanted to go with him and meet his family. At this point, we had only been dating for like a week, so I had a mini freak out, telling my co-worker all about it. I thought it was way too early to meet his ENTIRE family. Maybe it would be a different story if he just had a few siblings, but his parents and at least 7 of his siblings and their families would be there! Intimidating much? I think so. So I told him that I was probably going to have to work over the weekend, even though I knew I didn't have to work. What's a girl supposed to do?!
So Taylor came back from Utah and by this point, it was only about 2 and a half more weeks until the end of the semester, so we were seriously spending all of our time together. One day, we went for a walk and were talking about our relationship. He was saying that he wanted to take things slow because with his last relationship, they got into the relationship really quick and it ended just as quick. He was saying that when he dates a person, it's because he can see himself marrying them, so he wanted to take it slow and see how things went. And then the next day he kissed me... haha so much for taking it slow. So pretty much after that, we started officially dating.
For our social dance final, Taylor and I were partners and we had to decide which dance we wanted to perform in front of our teacher, the Foxtrot or the Waltz. So the night before we went to do the final, we watched Take the Lead and then we went to the church parking lot to practice our Waltz, which totally wasn't even planned. The whole reason for walking to the church parking lot was just to take a stroll, but on a whim, Taylor just asked me to dance...with no music playing. I thought it was really romantic. :) And that's the night that I fell in love with him. THIS PART IS IMPORTANT... As soon as I got home that night, I texted my mom and told her that I was in love with Taylor.
The next day, we had the group portion of our social dance final. So, Taylor said that he was going to come over and we could walk together. So he got to my apartment and was all dressed up in his suit and he was holding a single red rose. He gave it to me and said that the reason he was running late was because he wanted to go and get me a rose before we went to our final. Presh. :) So we started walking to the building where our final was, but then Taylor mentioned that he wanted to stop at "our bench" first. Our bench was right across the street from a restaurant we liked, Gator Jacks, and was also across the street from Porter Park. So when we would go on walks, we would always stop and sit at this one particular bench, hence "our bench." I guess I threw a wrench in his plans when I said that since we were already cutting it close, we should probably just go to our bench after the final was done. That totally caught him off guard.
When we were at the crosswalk, right before we got to the building, Taylor just blurted out, "I love you." I was completely shocked and stopped in the middle of the crosswalk and said, "You don't mean it." And then there was kind of an awkward silence and we kept walking. Whoops, that was probably a good time for me to say it back to him, but of course I was so surprised that I just didn't. My bad. But while we were walking into the building, he told me that the reason he wanted to go to our bench before we went to our dance final was because he wanted to tell me he loved me there. Then I felt bad for insisting that we go straight to our final.
So after all that, we get inside and Jade, who was in Taylor's group for the group dance, came up to him and said that their group was going to practice really quick before it started. So then, Taylor proceeds to call me by Jade's name to say that he was going to go practice.... after he just told me that he loved me, he called me Jade. What!? To say that I was a bit offended would be an understatement. haha But I guess he was probably upset that I didn't say anything back when he told me he loved me, so.... maybe I deserved that one.
After we finished, I told Taylor that I wanted to go to our bench. He said that we didn't have to and I told him that I wanted to. So we got there, and I had the complete intention of telling him that I loved him back, except for I was nervous about it. So, we sat there for a while as I tried to build up the courage to tell him. It would have been easier if he said it again, so that I could say it back. haha But anyways, I think Taylor was getting bored of sitting there in silence, so he was about ready to leave, but I said to wait. Then I finally told him that I loved him and he said "No you don't." I guess I deserved that haha but then I said "No really, I texted my mom last night as soon as you went home and told her that I loved you!" (this is where that important part is important haha) And I even showed him the text, so he had to believe me then. :)
So that's how we fell in love. But things weren't always so simple. After that semester, we were on our 7 week summer break and it was really hard being on complete opposite sides of the country. Taylor was in Oregon and I was in Pennsylvania, so we were pretty much as far away from each other as we could possibly be. And we were only dating for about a month when we had to start doing the long distance thing, so it was really tough to be away from him that early on in our relationship. And that 7 weeks wasn't the only time we were separated, unfortunately.
But when we got back to school in the fall, my mom actually got to meet Taylor for the first time. My brother and I drove out to Idaho from Pennsylvania so that he could take his car back to school and my mom decided to come with us because she wanted to meet Taylor. She told me after she met him that she liked the person that I was when I was with Taylor, because I was my complete self with him. That meant a lot to me because after some of the heartache I'd gone through previously, it was sometimes hard for me to be completely myself.
Fast forward a little bit to the end of the semester. As our relationship progressed, Taylor and I had begun to talk about marriage. For weeks and weeks I had been fasting and praying so that I could find my answer to the issue of Taylor being the right choice for me. I was expecting some huge overwhelming feeling, but what I got was so much different than what I had anticipated.
One week, I was fasting about Taylor, sitting in sacrament meeting and listening to the speakers. One of the members of the bishopric spoke last, and I will never forget what he said. He started talking about his wife, and by his choice of words, you could tell just how much love he had for his wife. The way he described he and his wife’s relationship was very similar to the way I felt about Taylor. He spoke of his children and how when they were trying to figure out if their significant other was the person they should marry, they would come to him and ask him for advice on how they were supposed to know if it was right. He would tell them that they were going to have to talk to the Lord for advice on that subject because it was out of his hands when he chose his eternal companion. He said that he knew who he wanted to marry and that was enough for him.
In Devotional a few weeks later, Brother Kern spoke to us. He was talking about finding a companion who you could share your dreams with. He spoke of his wife and how she has multiple sclerosis. He said that she can no longer live her dreams because of her inability to move. He said that a normal day consists mostly of his wife lying on the couch because it hurts to move. He spoke about his wife so lovingly. It was evident that he had so much love for her, and it hurt him because this disease was hurting her and the things that she once enjoyed doing so much. He told us that he has faith and trust in the person who his wife is. As Taylor was sitting next to me, I just felt something. I felt like it was right, like he was right for me.
The next day, Taylor and I were questioning which weekend we should go to Utah so that I could meet some of his family. I asked Taylor to tell me when it worked best for him to go to Utah, because he plays football and his games are on Saturdays, so we needed to plan our trip around his football games. He kept insisting that whenever was good for me was good for him. I got a little bit annoyed and told Taylor that we needed to plan according to his schedule, so to tell me which weekend worked best for him. He kept insisting that any weekend worked just fine. He could tell that I was getting frustrated with him, so he and I both became quiet for a moment. Allow me to just note that Taylor and I never argued, this was a rare occasion. I then asked him what he was thinking about. He started saying that he had a lot of homework to do. I cut him off and said “Well leave then.” Let’s keep in mind also that I was being a major brat, which is also rare. I am usually very considerate to other’s feelings.
He was taken aback that I had said this, so he paused for a moment and then stood up, as if to leave. I put my hand on his knee and indicated that I didn’t want him to leave. We sat in silence for another moment or so before I apologized to him. I felt horrible, so I kept telling him how sorry I was. He then reciprocated by telling me that it wasn’t my fault and that he should have made a decision. He told me he loved me. At that moment, I felt undeserving of him. After all that just happened, he wasn’t mad at me, but responded by telling me that he loved me. That’s not all. He then proceeded in telling me things that he loves about me. He told me that he loves my eyes and loves the way I look at him, because he can tell that I love him. He told me that he loves my smile and he hopes that someday when we have children together, they will have my smile. He told me that he loves the way that I write, and how I move my head from side to side while doing so and he thinks that it’s the cutest thing in the world and he hopes our future children also do that.
All of a sudden as he was saying this, I had a thought come into my mind that I was going to marry him. I then questioned it, wondering “Is that my answer about him?” I pondered that question for a moment and then just felt like I knew that I was going to marry him. I felt like I had known for a while, but this instance just confirmed my suspicions about him. Tears started rolling down my cheeks. Taylor looked at me and asked if I was crying. I responded with “maybe.” He laughed and then got serious and asked me what was wrong. I told him that I was fine. I didn’t know how to respond. He said, “That’s the problem, you’re just fine. I want you to be great.” I explained to him that my tears weren’t tears of anger or sadness. He replied with “So you’re telling me that they’re tears of joy?” I said yes and he looked at me and said “Well, I don’t ever want to see tears fall from those pretty eyes again!”
He is not a perfect person, but he is perfect for me, and that’s all that matters. I knew when I met him that we could be great together, and that vision has come true. When you know that you’re going to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible. This was such a significant moment in my life because it allowed me to look ahead to the future, picturing my life with the man that I love. I hope that everybody in the world is able to experience the same happiness that I felt that day, and that everybody has somebody that will love them in the way that Taylor loves me. His love for me is unconditional and every time I am around him, I beam. I knew that marriage wasn’t going to be easy, but I knew that it was going to be worth it because at the end of the day, I would have the best thing in the world to come home to.
This is not a decision that either of us took lightly and a lot of people had opinions on the matter, which made things really difficult for us at times. But that's a story for another time. So, Taylor and I decided that he should come home with me for Christmas so that he could meet my dad and the rest of my family. Here's something that I wrote while he was in Pennsylvania for Christmas...
"Taylor cannot keep a secret to save his life. If something big or exciting is going to happen, he feels the urge to want to tell the person whom it concerns. For this matter, it was me. For a long time, he has been waiting to come home to Pennsylvania with me for Christmas so that he could talk to my dad and we could start getting a move on in our relationship. To say that I anticipated getting engaged over Christmas break and the time Taylor is in Pennsylvania would be the understatement of the century. From the beginning, I told Taylor that I didn’t want to know ANYTHING about how he was going to propose. Obviously he doesn’t take some things that I say seriously, because he always found a way to drop hints, and might I add that they were not subtle to say the least. He fits into the family perfectly though cause nobody in my family can keep a secret either. However, I must admit that I had no idea it was coming when it did. Saturday, December 24, 2011 was the best day of my life to this point. Since it was Christmas Eve, I decided that I should dress nice since we had our annual Christmas Eve party at my cousin's house to attend later that night. I also had a feeling that I may be engaged by the end of the night ;). The situation was very well thought out. While my sisters and Jake were at work, my mom was doing some last minute shopping, and everyone else was at the Archery Shop, Taylor and I were at my house. We were cuddling on the couch and just talking. Then I noticed my mom’s car outside as I looked out the window. I wondered out loud where she was. She had set her grocery bags on the sidewalk, but was nowhere in sight. Taylor didn’t seem to make anything of it, so I dropped it. We began to talk some more. A few minutes later, my mom walked in the door. She called out and asked if anybody was home. I responded and told her that Taylor and I were home. We both walked into the kitchen. My mom then said that Patti had just called her and asked her at the last minute to bring some lemon lime mix for the punch for the party. She asked us if we would run to Walmart for her to get some so that she could start getting everything else ready to take up. She gave Taylor the keys and we started walking towards her car. She stopped us and asked if we could go in the garage and get a cooler for the rest of the drinks that she needed to take that night. So we walked into the garage and I spotted the blue cooler on a shelf by the stairs. I told Taylor, but my mom said that we should go get the bigger red cooler upstairs. So, we walked up the stairs. We got to the top and I heard music playing and spotted something towards the middle of the room. I started crying and Taylor asked me to dance. This was really romantic to me because the night that Taylor asked me to dance with him in the Church parking lot in Idaho, when no music was playing, was the night that I fell in love with him. We stood there, dancing for a few moments. I continued to cry into his chest. The song that was playing was “Mistletoe” from Justin Bieber’s Christmas Album. This was a nice touch because 1. I’m in love with Justin Bieber's Christmas Album (not him though) and 2. The words to the song were cute for the occasion. Taylor then led me over to a table set for 2. It had a green and red Christmas-y tablecloth with two tall green candles lit. There was a bottle of Sparkling Grape Juice in the middle of the table with two wine glasses. There was a tray of Revello’s pizza to the side. (My favorite food in the world) And On my plate, there was a single red rose. This was also meaningful to me because the day that Taylor told me he loved me for the first time, he brought me a single red rose. Rose petals lined the pathway from where we danced at the top of the stairs, to where the table was. More rose petals were around our plates on the table. Taylor walked me to my chair and then got on one knee. The waterworks were unstoppable by this point, my eyes were waterfalls. He started with my full name, Jessica Lynn Jones. He talked for a few moments, saying that he couldn’t picture his life with anyone else and I was the one he wanted to spend his life with. If I remember correctly, he said something like “Let’s start with eternity.” He then repeated my full name and asked me if I would marry him. He opened a box to reveal the most beautiful ring I had ever seen. I threw my arms around his neck and said yes, and he slid the ring onto my finger.This was the best day of my life. I am so in love with this man. I couldn’t help but want to kiss him a thousand times. If words could do justice in describing the love that I have for him and the feelings that I felt at that very moment, I would be able to write a novel. I don’t think I knew the meaning of bliss until this moment. I can’t wait to spend forever with the man who completes me. Without him, I am not me, nor do I know who I would be. I have heard that the reason why the ring is supposed to go on the ring finger of your left hand, is because that finger is the only one which has a vein that leads directly to the heart. It is no longer weird to think of myself as a 19 year old girl who is getting married. This is a choice that I have made because I know that it is my time. A year ago today, I would have never thought my life to turn out like this. And I understand that some people, especially people in Pennsylvania, will think that I am making a horrible decision. To those people I have but one question to ask. Who are you? Can you answer this question? I know that for me, before Taylor, I had an idea of who I was. But with Taylor, I am completely me. Everything that was missing before has become complete now."
And I believe the phrase goes, "And they lived happily ever after." Which wasn't entirely true for us after we got engaged. In fact, it was kind of a train wreck. My dad gave Taylor his approval on getting engaged, but he had a really hard time actually getting on board with the idea that we were getting married, mostly because he thought I was too young. So, in addition to being separated from Tay for 3 months again while we were engaged, it was hard to deal with the negativity and frustration that came from that as well. My dad is not an easy person to win over, so it took a lot of patience on my part to try and explain to him where I was coming from. And the worst part was that every time I talked to my dad about setting a wedding date, he would try and push it back by a lot, so nobody really knew for a long time what was going on, which caused tension and confusion with Taylor's family as well.
But, we finally were able to set a date. We were getting married on August 30, 2012 in the Washington DC temple and then our reception would be the next day, on August 31. So, the process of getting to that point was hard, but then we got married and everything was worth it. Here's what I wrote in one of my previous blog posts about our wedding...
"I LOVE weddings. I always have, and I always will. I'm biased, but my wedding has been my favorite one. :) Besides some minor hiccups, like forgetting my bouquet at the hotel on our wedding day, right before we took bridal pictures, things went very smoothly. My best friend Lauren was able to be at my wedding, which I was so happy about! She flew in from going to school in Idaho, and I am SO happy that she did. She was the perfect bridesmaid. Anytime I needed an opinion, she was there to help, and she gave our wedding toast on very short notice! Such a good friend! Right before Taylor and I got married, we were sitting in this beautiful room that was so peaceful, that's when I started to get emotional. I don't know why, but I kept looking at Taylor as we were sitting there and the thought came into my mind that eyes are the windows to the soul, over and over again. If you've ever met Taylor, you know that he has the prettiest blue eyes. That was just so comforting to me because I know that Taylor also has the biggest heart and that he would be the perfect husband and father.Our wedding ceremony was short, but nothing less than perfect, and we were able to share that special moment with our families.Once the ceremony was over, my Aunt Julie told me that we kissed at 6:26, so that's when we were officially married. I'm so glad that somebody took note of that, because I will remember that forever. :) The next day we had our reception at the Montdale Country Club, which was beautiful. After taking pictures and walking into the reception hall for the first time, I noticed how all of the ideas came together so nicely, it really was my dream wedding and I'm happy I got to share that with friends and family. :)"
2 years, 2 cities, 3 apartments, 4 cars, 1 puppy, and 1 baby bump later and we are still living Happily Ever After. :)
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| Right after we got engaged! |
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| One of our engagement pictures! |
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