I landed me a beau!

Meet Nate (one of the left). We met last April after the singles' wards were reorganized in Pocatello. The first time we really talked was at a BBQ FHE activity in May. He told me later that he wanted to ask me out then. I would invite him and his best friend, Travis (on the right), over to the house for game nights and parties.

Sometime around mid-August, Nate invited me to go play disc golf. We got in the habit where we would go and play disc golf on Mondays (my day off). I didn't know if these were dates or not. I didn't want to ask because we had become good friends and I didn't want it to make it awkward. There was one time Nate and I had a "tee time" for 3 o'clock. Another guy who had been asking me out on quite a few dates asked me to go play disc golf at 4 o'clock. This other guy is really shy. I thought it would be a good chance for him to meet other people. So I combined the disc golf "dates." It turned out to be more awkward than beneficial. This was the last date that the other guy asked me out. :)

I got to know Nate better on these "psuedo dates" (after all these were planned, pair off, and paid for... when we bought icees after the game). However, I still felt like conversation didn't flow as well as I wanted. I also didn't know how he felt and I didn't want to get hurt, so I didn't allow myself to like him. There was one Sunday in October where Nate was sitting next to me in church (this was typical). I was leaning forward and he had put his arm behind where I was sitting on the back of the pew. I leaned back and he had moved his arm back. Apparently Travis and his then fiance, Rachel (middle right), gave Nate a hard time about chickening out. He told them "I'm trying."

On November 15, Nate was working in the same city as me. He asked if I had gone to a certain restaurant in town. I told him I hadn't and he said we should go sometime. That's the first time he got somewhat close to asking me out on an actual date (although it was kind of like soft baptismal commitment). We have yet to go to the restaurant he asked me out to. :)

The past couple of the months, Nate had been working at ski swaps in different states. He was gone on one of these the first weekend of December. We had a break the fast after church. My roommates had gone home and the only people I really knew were Travis and Rachel. I have to admit I was a bit hesitant to sit with an engaged couple because engaged couples have the potential to be very "lovey dovey." I walked up to them anyway and started talking with them. They invited me to sit with them. Rachel said something along the lines of, "Let's get some food and then we'll analyze your situation with Nate." Which, I'm not going to lie, I was hoping to do that with them. Rachel was very blunt about it. She stated that Nate liked me and that he turned bright red when she confronted him about it. Travis said he knew something was up because Nate is usually a very outgoing unless he is around a girl that he likes. This made me feel better about conversation not flowing on our "pseudo dates." It also gave me the courage to be more flirty because it wasn't until the last couple of weeks of November that I decided that I liked him.

So that night I text him. He was on his way back from L.A. I had asked him if he brought me back any warm sunshine. He told me he did but it had a very short shelf life. He offered a big smile to warm me up instead. I decided to to take the leap and be obviously flirtatious. I told him that a smile may not be as warm as a kiss but it will have to do. He said that statement left him dumbstruck and would keep him up thinking all night.

He got back from LA the next day and came to FHE that night. The activity was a progressive dinner at the bishoprics' home. He was in the same car as me. I was in the middle between him and another guy (which left me with very little shoulder space). To give me more room, Nate put his arm around my headrest. I tried to lean in, but his arm was pretty high so it was awkward. I tried to be very obvious.. That night I texted him again and through our conversation he admitted that he liked me and that he has wanted to ask me out for a long time.

The next night (Dec 6), he came over and asked me out on a date. He put his arm around me and I turned to put my arm around him. He kissed me (which is not what I had planned. Apparently he didn't either). I was hoping to take it slow with him (although technically it was moving slow considering that he took 7 months to ask me out on a date). That's the night that both of us felt we became official.

That Thursday (Dec 8), we went on our first official date, miniature golf (we seem to like golfing activities). It was fun because it wasn't like typical awkward first dates (that happened on the pseudo dates). He told me that Travis had sent him a text and invited me to his and Rachel's sealing that Saturday. We knew that Nate would be getting a lot of trash from them for waiting so long to ask me out, so we decided to give them a hard time back. We decided to pretend that we got engaged during the week and Nate even came up with a story how he proposed (while decorating the Christmas tree). After playing our game, we went back to his house where we had Tim Tams and hot chocolate. It's also when I met his parents (so much for taking it slow). His mom is so much fun and is easy to get a long with. His dad is just like Nate (or the other way around). He walked me home and we said good night. It was a pretty awesome first date.

You may be wondering if Rachel and Travis fell for our "quick engagement". Yup, they did (although Travis was a little suspicious). We told them as we were getting ready to take pictures outside the temple (so we didn't have lie in the temple). We told them to keep it secret and we didn't tell them that it was a joke until the reception that night. :) Things have been going well since.

You may also be wondering about me calling him a "beau." Two summers ago, while I was home after I graduated, an elderly lady in my ward approached me. She asked, "When are you going to land a beau?" Normally, I would get annoyed when people I hardly know asked me about my love life, but the wording for that question was so perfect, I couldn't help but smile. When I went home for Christmas last month, I ran into her again. She asked me the same question. I smiled and happily replied that I had landed a beau. She smiled and said that had made her day.

I'm sure glad I landed Nate.