Christmas

Christmas

Christmas is light and warmth in the middle of the dark, dreary winter.

Christmas is family close around you.

Christmas is fun and laughter.

Childhood defined.

Christmas is also missing loved ones who are not with us.

Christmas is angels, including my own.

Christmas was supposed to find me holding a baby.

Instead, that Baby born in Bethlehem now holds me up.

Christmas is bittersweet.

But Christmas also means all the bitter will one day be sweet.

I rush toward Christmas with hope.

I embrace it with both arms.

I am not afraid of the dark.

As long as Christ is still in Christmas, there will be real and lasting Light.

Our Love Story---The First Kiss

Danny was the first guy I ever kissed. He was also my first real boyfriend. I didn't really plan to only kiss one boy in all my life, but I did have certain standards about kissing that helped things turn out that way. I didn't want to kiss just anyone. I wanted it to mean something, I wanted to be ready, and I didn't want to mess with physical stuff before I was ready to get married. So, Danny was my first kiss and only kiss.

Since I hadn't kissed anyone before, we waited a whole week and a half after officially dating to kiss! Ha ha. 

It happened around 6 or 7 at night on December 2, 2009. From my journal...

Danny and I were studying in the library on the 2nd floor in the periodicals section. I was so sick of studying. I had a huge paper to write and I really didn't want to do it. It was due the next day, I think. Anyway, Danny offered to take a break with me, so we left the library and went to the Wilk (Wilkinson Student Center). We kind of walked around for a while. Then he bought chocolate covered raisins for us. We ate them as we walked on campus. It was pretty cold, but not snowy. There is a path south of campus that wraps around the side of the hill. Danny had told me a few times that he always wanted to walk on that path and never had. He said he was waiting to walk on it with a girl. So, that's where we went. We started on the duck pond side and walked on the brick path all the way to over by the RB (Richards Building). We sang Christmas songs together as we walked, so now every time I hear the song "Silver Bells" I think of that night. We saw some deer on the side of the hill over by the tennis courts. We stopped to watch them, and there was a convenient little bench right there. so we sat down (my backpack was killing me--it was so heavy). He put his arm around me and kissed my cheek. He kissed my forehead. Then I started thinking, hey, this would be a good place for my first kiss. I thought it was a good time too. I knew I liked him. I wasn't scared. I wanted him to kiss me. So I started laughing of course. :) He asked me what I was laughing about, and I said nothing. Then I laughed again later, he asked why again, and I said I couldn't tell him. I think he got it after that and after I kept looking up at him. then he started laughing! :) I asked why and he said he couldn't tell me. Then I knew that he knew what I was thinking and that he was thinking the same thing. I kept looking up at him and hoping he would kiss me. He kissed my cheek and got a little closer each time until . . . he kissed me. My first kiss. We sat there on that bench and he kissed me a few more times. Then he had to meet with his accounting group, so we walked back to the library. And that was it. My first kiss. 

http://www.outreachnc.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/bells.jpg

http://www.windycitysweets.com/images/chocolate-covered-raisins.jpg

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4XmoYrmkhkMzGNF_BLJMWn0hQBein6GtjsmplfVR8Nnhhy1IzoUNbopMkKrgYFoEKKYb0_oj3cuYGqeuadwByem9Juj1GskaCm175Zo8UUbiDbCVxaijnQajknxlgq2lN_NiDMfQyR6c/s640/bench.jpg

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Our Love Story---The First Date

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

I just went outside to talk to Becca on the phone and DANNY ASKED ME OUT! Ah! Ah! I had to say no though! No! Because he asked me for Friday, and __________ (Okay, so here I kind of was rude to a guy who had already asked me out, because I wanted to go with Danny instead. But I won't repeat my rudeness here.)

Before we could ever go on an actual date, a lot happened. I guess that's pretty normal these days. We sat by each other at the fireside, we talked at the Provo Tabernacle and hung out watching Up with a group of people, we wrote "love notes" back and forth every Sunday night, we stayed up late walking around outside and talking, we chatted on Facebook, we went to devotional together, he made me lunch at his apartment after we walked home from campus together, I went to an accounting meeting with him, he drove me to class, and we even went grocery shopping together. He also invited me to his friend's birthday party where we watched the movie X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and he put his arm around me because his friends were encouraging him to do it. I think we even hugged and held hands before going on a first official date. BUT! He had asked me out, I just couldn't go that first time. Eventually we got there...

I'm not sure when I took this, but it was one of the first pictures I took of Danny. He made lunch for me a few times at his apartment, and this was one of those times. I think he was making chicken and mashed potatoes? I thought he was a good cook...but he never cooks now. :)

November 21, 2009 was our first date. It didn't start out that great, actually. After eating fancy quesadillas made by Danny for dinner, we went to a Laugh Out Loud comedy show that wasn't very funny. I think we were both nervous for some reason, so it was awkward. We had hot chocolate afterwards at his apartment, and we drank it outside and looked at the stars.

The amazing thing is that while I was staring at the sky I saw a shooting star! Shooting stars are pretty special to me. I've only seen two in my entire life that I remember, and the first was a huge answer to prayer. This second one made me stop and think that I'd better keep dating this guy and see where things went. Not that it was a sign, exactly, but it made me stop and really think that maybe this guy would be special. And I'm so glad it all worked out!

The date was kind of over at this point, but Danny realized he needed to pick something up at his house in Sandy for a presentation he was doing in an accounting class. I suggested that we just drive there right then! It was the best car ride ever. We talked about everything and anything and really got to know each other better. I got to see the house he grew up in,  and it felt nice. I wanted to keep getting to know him. We were up until 2:17 when he finally got me home, but it was worth it.

The next day we decided to only date each other. He said something about how he wished he could take me on dates every weekend, and I hinted something like, "why not?" and bam! We were dating. I had bad garlic breath because of another guy who had made me garlic bread (I blame him entirely), but Danny still agreed to be my boyfriend. I only found out about the bad breath later. Ha! We decided we were officially a couple at 7:22 p.m. on November 22, 2009.

I was working for BYU catering during all the home football games, and I had to work earlier in the day before our first date. This was my uniform.

A picture I took of myself before our first date.