The beginnings...

I am loving my friend, Jenna's, blog because she is telling the story of how she and her hubby became a family and I figured why not! I might as well tell how Chayse and I became one as well. So here goes...

I had just had one of the best summers EVER! My friend Grace and I decided that we should enjoy a little study abroad and picked Spain to be the perfect spot for us. We had so much fun together! We spent a week in London checking out the sites, then met up with our group in Spain and just laughed most of the time we were together. (The other portion was spent on our beds during siesta since there was nothing else to do!!) Afterwards we spent a week in Paris with 3 other friends taking in the beauty that was there. It was pretty depressing to leave such a fabulous trip and to be separated for the next month before we would return back to Provo to our jobs and schooling. But it had to be done and we sadly split up after landing in Newark Airport.

Then I spent a few weeks being a counselor for EFY in Georgia and had a great time there. Max was a participant so it was really fun to be able to see him for a week during a fun experience. I was also reunited with roommates at Ryan and Brienne's wedding in DC which was a blast hanging out with them all in another city! But all the summer fun needed to end and it was time to return back to Provo to enjoy some down time with my roommates before we really started back up with what we needed to be doing.

We all returned in the middle of August and had a big surprise lunch for Jenna's birthday. It was so much fun to see everyone together again and be able to talk about the fun we'd had and the fun that was about to begin!

One of the first days that I was there, I got a call from an old friend that I had lived with back in Belmont during my sophomore year at BYU. We had hung out a few times and I was surprised to hear her voice on the other line. Julianna asked if I was free for lunch on the 20th (of August) and if I would be willing to be her brother-in-law's date. What woman passes up free food??! Of course I said yes to the "family date" (She said that they were finding dates for her 2 sis-in-laws as well, but that was a COMPLETE LIE!!!) and I met them at Cafe Rio for lunch...which actually was packed so we changed our minds and I met them at Costa Vida instead.


Krishna Temple Festival of Colors 2008

 Much of the beginning of our FIRST DATE is completely debated. I was in my little white Honda (Josh) and I pulled into the parking lot and had 2 options that were close to the entrance. Apparently Chayse thinks I swung towards one and ended up stealing his spot since he was the car that had turned in right behind me with everyone else...and NO DATES might I add!!! So it was me, Chayse, Perry, Julianna, Eyla, McKell, Shay and their friend Andie there for our first date. Awkward? You got that right! So we got in line and he seemed to be a really nice guy. He told me that the pork salad is so tasty and I should get that, so since he was paying I skipped the usual pork burrito and tried the salad, and got a diet coke since I started to love those in Spain trying to stay awake in class! The salad was amazing and Chayse simply changed my life that day!!
 
Lunch was good, slightly awkward, but it turned out just fine. I found out that Chayse had returned from Cordoba, Argentina, the month before and I don't know when I found this out, but I was his first date back! Crazy, huh? He walked me to my car and got my number but said that he wouldn't be back up until school started and that he and his two sisters were actually going to return back to Saint George in a few hours from their little vacation to see Perry and his family.
 
To be continued...