After Christmas break, I went back to school and continued to date Ty and finished up my school year. Cody and I talked occasionally through emails and MSN, but not that often. Wade continued to be worried about me and felt jealous of the dating I was doing down there. When I came back, Wade and I naturally picked up where we left off in our relationship. Wade had told me that Cody was attracted to me and thought I was cute, which is why he had encouraged us to hug all the time. I wasn't sure if I was attracted to Cody, but I enjoyed spending time with them both laughing and joking around. At the time, I was going through a hard time inwardly because I wasn't happy with the life I was living while down at school. I was doing things I shouldn't, and I just wasn't happy anymore. I attributed this to my current relationship with Ty, and with the “help” of Cody, decided to break things off with him. This was very hard because I still like Ty very much. It was very hard ending something that would be better for later on, when I was feeling so bad at the time. I wouldn't have been able to get through without Cody, I know that! During the few weeks I'd been home from school, Cody and I had been inseparable and had spent many a night talking about everything under the stars on my parents' porch swing. Cody had actually got his mission call to Detroit, Michigan around this time and was preparing for that. I knew that I would miss him a lot, but I also knew that missionary work was very important to the church, and for him as well. My parents warned us about becoming too close when he was going to be leaving and I thought we were doing a good job of that (pshaw!). Our first kiss was on June 10, 2005 (possible June 11th at that point, as it was very late) and it was AMAZING... There had been so much tension between us, the kiss was so emotional, deep, and tingly... I can't even tell you! From that point on, if we weren't already inseparable, we were then. We went to a Jack Johnson concert toward the end of the summer, which is why "Better Together" by Jack Johnson is "our song". Everything just went so fast, a lot of that summer is a blur. When Wade found out that we were officially "together" there was quite the little dramatic episode, but we made it over that hurdle pretty soon after. I think there may still be some bitter feelings on Wade's part, but he has accepted things as they are. Inevitably, I had to go back down to school as I had signed up for classes and gotten an apartment with my roommates. Those were the toughest five months I've ever had! Cody's MTC date was quickly approaching, and I knew that I would have a very hard time letting him go. Cody was worried about me dating other guys as well, I can only imagine what it's like to love someone and hope that they wait for you, only to find out that they are married/engaged/pregnant when you get back! I did my best to assure him that I would wait for him, but I know in the back of him mind, he expected me to be married when he got back. We got to the point when he said that he wanted me to date while he was gone. If things worked out like we hoped, we would pick up where we left off when he got home and hopefully get married eventually. At the time, I was very scared of marriage, as I didn't want to turn out like my parents (fighting a lot, seeming unhappy, etc.) so the thought of getting married in two years sounded too soon to me. As time went on though, Cody was leaning more and more toward not going on his mission. I knew that I wasn't helping the situation, but I also knew that if he didn't want to go, he would be very unhappy while out. I believe that missionaries can be an amazing tool for the Gospel, but they can also do the opposite if their hearts aren't in the right place. I told Cody that if he decided to go, I would be supportive and see him off. But if he decided not to go, I would respect his decision. Apparently, he decided not to go. This was a very hard few weeks, with me being down at school and he out of work due to the mission. Over the course of that semester, we decided to get married and told our friends and family over Thanksgiving break. My parents were trying to get over the fact that he wasn't going on his mission, let alone that their daughter was getting married..so it was quite the hurdle for them. Over that break, Cody and I had went looking at rings and had decided on the type that I liked. Thinking that it would be at least Christmas before I got it, I was blown away when he dropped to one knee on Temple Square and proposed officially..We had been walking around, enjoying the lights and I had joked about how funny it would be if he proposed to me in front of the reflecting pool and see what people did. I feel horrible about it now, knowing what must have been going through his mind at the time, but it was hilarious! He didn't do it by reflecting pool, he waited until we were a little ways away from everyone else before he stopped.
“So, what were you saying about proposing here?”
“Oh, I was just kidding!”
“I wasn't,” (getting down on his knee and reaching into his coat pocket) “Will you marry me?”
“Oh my gosh!” I whispered “yes” into his neck in between sobs and he held me for about five minutes until I had composed myself enough to face the stares of the passersby.
Fast forward through all the planning and we were married on February 18, 2006 in the Manti Temple and honeymooned at a Bed 'n Breakfast in Heber (Sundowners Inn) for a few days. Wade was kind enough to sing "Bless This Broken Road" for our reception, as well as our other friend Nathan who sang "Better Together" with his guitar and everything! It was very sweet, and I enjoyed both thoroughly. We've moved like 4 times since then and finally settled in a two-bedroom, 1 bathroom “bungalow” in Springville.
Anything else? Let me know if you want to know more..I think I may have skipped over some things..
