The Beginning...

Three years ago tomorrow was the first date that I had with Jared. My life has changed so much since then, so much better. I was not in a pretty place in my life three years ago, I am so happy that he persued me and caught me. Here is a bit of our story from that night.....

We had met in January of 2006. Just a chance meeting at the bar. The girl that I was with knew him and was talking to him. Apparently he thought I was cute and wanted my number. I was not in the mindset for that, but somehow he got my phone number from me, which is weird cause I never gave that out.

He would call and text me for the next 3 months. I would always blow him off, cause I thought that I was a booty call, or since my name starts with T, that he had gotten down to the bottom of the barrel by the time he called me. It was usually 9:00 or 10:00 pm when he would call or text. Ask any girl, that totally screams booty call. He always invited me over for a "porch beer". That meant come over, hang out, and drink beer on his porch.

I never went.

One night I did, thanks to my mom. It must have been some sort of a mothers intuition.

It was a Tuesday night. I was home, in my comfy clothes, hair pulled up, on the couch watching TV. When he called, I never knew who he was cause I never saved his number in my phone. So we would have to play the guessing game. I usually could figure it out once he laughed, but I could never remember his name. He was "the guy from the bar".

He asked me to go to the bar with some of his friends that just came home from Iraq. He made it sound like a group thing, that we weren't being paired off. I hesitated, and told him that I would call him back in 20 minutes and let him know.

I called my mom and asked what she thought. I had told her a little bit about this guy. She talked me into going by saying, "maybe his army friend will be the man of your dreams". So I waited the full 20 minutes and called back and said that I would go. I asked what time and where he lived. I never let people know where I lived.

So I jumped up to get ready, since I looked like I was ready for bed. I tried to fix my hair into something presentable, put on some make-up, got dressed into proper "bar clothes". Then it came time to put on my shoes. I am a tall girl, and I couldn't remember how tall he was. I really wanted to wear some of my 'tall shoes' cause they are cuter. I said screw it, who cares, I am wearing what I want and put on the cute tall shoes.

I drove to his house, so nervous. I hadn't been that nervous for awhile. I was nervous because I honestly COULD NOT remember what he looked like. He was a blurry image in my memory. I was also nervous because I knew no one we were going with.

I get there, and he is in the shower still. His friends are there..... his friend Ryan and his girlfriend Jo. They were the 'group of friends' that had just gotten home from Iraq. So, I was Jared's date.

There I am, close to 6 foot tall; the other girl was about 5'2" and that was with help from tall shoes, scouring Jared's living room for any pictures cause I could not remember his face. I could remember that he was a good dancer, and I knew his laugh. But his face, not so much. Needless to say, he didn't have too many pictures of himself in his living room. It was a typical bachelor pad.

They offered me a beer. So I took it and sat down, so I didn't seem so tall. And waited.....

.....then he came around the corner. Butterflies were in my tummy, hoping that he wasn't a mouth breathing dog face. Luckily, he wasn't. He looked cute to me. I was trying to size up his height from where I was sitting on the couch, still nervous about my choice in footwear.

We all walked out to his car to leave. I grabbed a CD from my car, hoping to break the ice with such songs as Buckcherry's "Crazy Bitch" and Nickelbacks "Animal". I think it worked, cause we were jammin' out.

We decided to go the the SkyBar in Salt Lake. While on the freeway, Ryan and Jo were making out in the back seat. Kinda awkward on a first date. Finally, Ryan asked how come we hadn't kissed or anything. He didn't know that the last time we even saw each other was 3 months ago. I decided to put on my big girl panties, I grabbed Jared and kissed him. Right there going down the freeway in the carpool lane.

That definately broke the ice! He told me,"you better watch out, cause when I get outta this car, your ass is grass girl".

And he followed through. We parked and got out of the car and he grabbed me and laid me on the hood of his Passatt and kissed me the best kiss ever. I was hooked right then and there.

We had a great time at the bar. Fez, from That 70's Show was there. Ryan went up and talked to him. He came over and bought us all a shot of Tequila. We karaoked "Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy". We danced, drank, talked, flirted, laughed...

It was a great night. Jared and I were both in the perfect mindset for a first date. He just wanted a girl there so he wasn't a third wheel with Ryan and Jo, and I was just there for a good time. Yes, I was nervous but not the typical first date nervous.

He knew that I was married and my husband was in prison. I was honest with him about that from the first time that we met.

We had none of those weird first date awkward silent moments, or trying to impress each other. We were just there for a good time.

We have been together ever since. I was hooked from that night, and apparently he must have liked me too. We both got rid of previous baggage and started a great life together.

He gave me a beautiful little girl that I love dearly. He has shown me what a great marriage is all about. We have the cutest little boy ever. He has given me a great life.

I love him so much and I am so happy that he called me that night. He has since admitted that if I would have turned him down, he was going to erase my number from his phone.

Thanks for being persistant, Jared.

Thanks for talking me into it, Mom.

Dad, thanks for giving me the advice to "let them chase ya a little bit girly".

I often think back and wonder where my life would be right now if I would have kept going down the path I was on. It's a scary thought.

I thank God everyday that Jared came into my life, grabbed my hand, and led me down a better path. We still have our bumps, but I know that he is right there with me. I am never alone in this journey.

So, April 18th is set in history. Not only is it my Grandma's birthday, but it marks the beginning for our little family.