BYU Romance

My two greatest accomplishments at BYU.

It's hard to remember now, but I think there was a time when I thought I was too "cool" for a BYU romance...

Let me explain.

+ being introduced by his brother (now my future brother-in-law) AKA my best friend's boyfriend (now husband), and feeling my entire universe shift
+ a pre-mission first date that started at the Nickelcade and left me restless for the next 2 1/2 years
+ "casually" writing a missionary, all the while trying to hide my secret wishful heart
+ sending him postcards from London, Stonehenge, and Oxford while studying abroad
+ meeting for the first time after his mission at his ward's semester kickoff FHE for pizza and rootbeer--I don't think he met anyone in his ward the entire time we were there
+ spending the rest of the night looking at his mission pictures from Johannesburg, South Africa
+ a post-mission first date that began dancing at a Vampire Weekend concert and ended lying down on a sidewalk at Temple Square, staring straight up at the glowing Salt Lake Temple. . . and then a Temple Square security guard asking us to not lay on the sidewalk because people might trip on us
+ a perfect first kiss that happened because he decided to ditch his friends, not go to the BYU football game, and spend the whole day with me instead
+ coyly agreeing to date an eager returned missionary
+ falling in love so fast, i thought i was dreaming
+ Hiking the Y Mountain-- and I'm not just talking about the "Y," I'm talking about the WHOLE MOUNTAIN.
+ a weekend getaway to Rexburg, Idaho for Yellowstone and "Bear World"
+ eating lunch together almost every day in the Cougareat
+ my first BYU football game with him
+ a Beto's run at about 12:30 a.m. monday morning for breakfast burritos (borderline breaking the sabbath. we only did it once, i think)
+ sneaking into the exit of the BYU testing center to leave him encouraging notes and Jones Soda to find on his way out
+ movie nights at international cinema in the SWKT
+ the first "i love you" after October Conference together
+ study nights in the library, though i would never let him sit next to me at the table while i was studying--only across from me. it was too hard for me to focus with him at my side, though we still played footsie and looked up from our books for an occaisonal flirtish glance
+ giving a good luck kiss before the hard math/engineering/physics test, and a shoulder rub after
+ date nights at BYU tennis matches, the Eyring Planetarium, and BYU Symphony
+ trips to SLC to hear Music and the Spoken Word live
+ watching almost every single BYU devotional together this year
+ attending almost every CES fireside, and watching the one that we missed on my laptop together
+ seeing the same person waiting outside my house at the crack of dawn to pick me up for school every morning
+ holding hands on our walk through campus's new garden path
+ picnicking by the duck pond
+ seeing a tiny dot at the top of the stadium waving his arms at me before the commencement ceremony and waving back in a mass of blue caps and gowns
+ walking to my seat at graduation and  seeing him right in the front row waving, taking pictures, blowing kisses, being my biggest fan.
+ graduating with a degree under my belt and an engagement ring on my finger, a diploma under my arm and the love of my life in my arms

There was a time I probably would have regarded such events as "cheesy" or a "typical BYU love story," but life schooled me and I gladly relented to the happiness there was in store. Though I am now graduated, Jacob still has at least two more years to finish his ME degree, and I have a feeling that our BYU romance has not ended yet.

Here's to a few more years in Provo and all the sweet memories to come.

I can't wait to make them with you.