The end of the beginning

Sometimes, though, I consider it the beginning of the end. Hehe just kidding Jeff... Okay, where were we? Ah, yes:

Over the summer and into the next school year Jeff and I saw each other occasionally. We hung out with our group of friends doing things like midnight bowling, going on late night Wendy's runs, and going to movies. Once I turned 16 in October, Jeff took me out on a couple of dates, and he often came over to my house to hang out with my family and me.

Well, January came and Jeff went off on a mission to Oaxaca, Mexico for two years. I wrote him occasionally, and just as occasionally he wrote me back. One of my favorite things that we did were send tapes back and forth to each other, although I think over the whole two years I got a total of two tapes from him. But it was fun to hear his voice and imagine him thousands of miles away talking into a tape recorder, just for me.

(It's really fun to go back and listen to those tapes now, although I was kind of depressed when I realized that I recorded over most of one of the tapes with a radio station that played 70's and 80's music. Jeff was pretty happy, though, because he hates listening to himself on those tapes.)

Well the two years flew by as I went on dates with other people and had fun doing all of those fun high school things that people do. Suddenly, it seemed, it was January again and it was time for Jeff to come home! I was so excited, and so nervous, as the day arrived when Jeff's family picked him up from the airport and took him home. Some of our friends came over to my house that night (including Jason, who had also gone on a mission to Mexico at the same time as Jeff) and waited for Jeff to call and tell us to come see him. If I remember correctly, and I do, this is how the conversation went when Jeff finally called:

(Steph): "Hey Jeff, welcome home! How is everything going?"

(Jeff): "Uh, fine I guess."

(Steph): "Cool! So how was your flight home?"

(Jeff): "Uh, pretty good I guess."

(Steph): "Good! So, what are you doing now? Are you all settled at home? Can we come see you?"

(Jeff): "Um, I don't know..."

(Steph): "Oh, okay. Um, okay...well, Jason is here, do you want to talk to him?"

(Jeff): "Yes!"

Later that night we went over to see Jeff and he was just as awkward in person as he was on the phone. His hair was super short, his face and arms were sunburned and red, and his shoulders were completely hunched over. He barely looked at me, and gave me a side hug (the hug of fairly close acquaintances) when we saw each other. Let's just say that it wasn't the reunion that I had been hoping and dreaming about for two years.

Well, the next little while wasn't any better. We didn't see each other very much, and we talked rarely on the phone. When we did hang out with each other we couldn't find anything to talk about, and everything just seemed awkward.

Over time, though, we became friends again. We were able to find things to talk about, and joke around with each other. Soon enough I remembered why I had liked him for so long, and we started dating each other.

Soon though, it was time for a new school year and I was going up to Provo, Utah to attend Brigham Young University. Jeff hadn't applied to BYU when he got home from his mission, so he stayed in Las Vegas to attend UNLV. It was hard to say goodbye to Jeff again, especially after we had gotten so close, but we talked on the phone often and I went home on quite a few weekends. But I guess that Jeff didn't like the separation too much, because that next semester he decided to come up to BYU to go to school with me. :)

We had so much fun hanging out for the next year and a half. We learned a lot about each other, and at least on my part, fell deeply in love. We started talking about marriage, but I just didn't feel ready. I still felt really young, and like I had not done the things in my life that I wanted to do before I got married. I hadn't lived anywhere besides my parent's house and my apartments, and I wanted to see the world.

So I did. Jeff waited patiently for me in Provo, while I studied in Spain for a semester. My time in Spain was one of the most enlightening and amazing experiences of my life. I learned about other people in the world and how they saw Americans, I learned about the history of an ancient country, and most of all, I learned about myself. After my semester in Spain was over, I visited England, France and Italy and had the time of my life!

When I returned home I finally got the reunion I had always dreamed about. Jeff swept me up in his arms and whispered in my ear how much he loved me and had missed me. I knew at that moment that he was the man that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with, and that I never wanted to be apart from him again!

Later on that year--in May to be exact--Jeff proposed to me. On a Friday night he took me to Lake Las Vegas and we had a romantic dinner on the terrace. Later that night we walked along the beach and talked about anything and everything. I thought he might propose then, but he surprised me and didn't.

The morning of the next day I was treated to a scavenger hunt. I had to follow Jeff's poetic clues which took me all around the city to the places that had been meaningful to us growing up. He took me to the choir room where we met, to friends' houses that we ate lunch at, to the place where we had our first kiss, and a few other places. The scavenger hunt took me back to my house where Jeff waited with two dozen roses and a poem that read:

"My Dearest Stephanie--

Today I've attempted to recreate certain times,

Marking the path our friendship has climbed.

And as I've reflected on these gems of the past,

I wish nothing more than to make them last.

So let's build upon these memories we've had,

Sharing each moment, whether happy or sad.

So that when the future turns into the past,

We can look back and say "Wow! What a blast!"

My past, my present, my future too,

All I see is me and you.

So hold my hand darling, every step of the way,

We're off to make memories, starting today!"

Well after that he made me get ready really fast (I looked disgusting the entire day!) and we went off for a day of adventure! We went up to Mount Charleston where we had a picnic in the mountains, went on a little hike, and threw a baseball around. Once it got a little later we went back down to Summerlin and went golfing! It was such a gorgeous day and it was so fun to do something that I loved with the person I loved most in the world!

As we got to the last hole the sun was setting and the sky was lit up in a brilliant shade of red and orange. We hit our shots up onto the green, and grabbed our putters to walk over to our balls. We both got to our balls, and Jeff marked his with his ball marker. Then he realized that he forgot his putter, and jogged over to get it. As he jogged over he threw me his ball and asked if I would put it down by his ball marker. I, thinking nothing of this, walked over to his ball marker, knelt down to put the ball on the green, and noticed that his ball marker was shiny and had a diamond on it!

I grabbed the ring and stood up, and suddenly Jeff was at my side. He knelt down on one knee and told me how much he loved me and wanted to be with me forever. Then he asked me to marry him. I couldn't believe that it was actually happening and was barely able to sqeak out a, "Yeah..." Haha, romantic, huh? But I guess it was enough for Jeff because he stood up, took me in his arms and twirled me around the green. I will never forget the orange sky set against the view of the Las Vegas horizon. It was a magical moment.

Well, all of you married people know what happens next. Months of horrendously stressful planning finally resulted in a wonderful day full of love and excitement. I married the cowboy of my dreams, my best friend, the man who waited for me and supported me.

And, honestly, I have never been happier.