Memory Lane

Eight years ago tomorrow was a very special day in my life. It was the day I met Lowell. I'm going to record my memories from those days here for preservation sake and because loving their Daddy is an important part of my children's lives.

So, March 10, 2001 was a Saturday. The night before I had gone out with a guy named Jon from my ward that I had finally gotten the guts up to ask out. Saturday I spent the whole day cleaning apartments at my cousin's apartment complex. I was grimy and smelled like cleaning supplies. Out of the blue the same cousin called me (Whitney) and asked if I would go out with a friend of hers. She wanted to have someone double with her and her hubby and had tracked down Lowell (a friend from Jr. High) to go with me. It's funny how that worked out, Whitney hadn't talked to Lowell in a year but he was free so he decided to go. Whit didn't even give me time to shower but I hurried and changed my clothes and ran out to meet them. We went to a little mexican restaurant close to my apartment in Provo and then got movie tickets for "Meet the Parents". Whit and Josh had other plans for that late so Lowell came back to my place to hang out until the movie would start. We played Risk and he "won", but only because he took way more guys than I did and I was too chicken to say anything about it. A debate over that fact continues to this day, I am certain he would give you a different scenario. We went to the movie, which was funny, and he took me home. I gave him a hug and he gave me his phone number on a card for a free bowling game. He said that way if I didn't want to call him, I could still go bowling. Then he left. Pretty much a typical first date. It's so crazy but there wasn't anything spectacular about that date at all. I was excited to meet Lowell, I thought he was handsome and nice. I hoped we'd do it again but I had no idea at all where that night would lead me. He is handsome, don't you think? That's when things went different than I would have expected. Though the date was nothing out of the ordinary, I could not get Lowell off my mind. Even though I met up with Jon the next day, Lowell is all I could think about. I replayed every moment of that date over and over in my head. It was driving me crazy! Later my cousin called to tell me Lowell had a good time and I told her I did as well. She told me he was going to call and after my obsessed weekend thinking of him I was very anxious to hear from him again. He did call and I talked him into coming to see my lab (I was in the middle of my clinical lab science program at BYU and spent A LOT of time in my lab there). He said he wanted to see Leukemia under the microscope. The next day I told my lab friends that he wanted to come up and joked that I was going to marry that guy (for being interested in my lab stuff). He came over and brought Moose, his sister's pomeranian puppy who was insanely cute. Talk about a way to win a girl over! Then we went to my lab and I thought I was being incredibly funny by showing him sperm under the microscope--I was (am) such a nerd! I was getting more and more interested in this boy who did not stand out that first night, but I was still seeing Jon off and on in between. The next Saturday changed that--Lowell invited me to go see The Testaments at Temple Square but I was watching my little sisters that weekend while my parents were out of town so I invited him to come to my parents' house. He spent the day with us and that is when I definitely fell for him. I felt so drawn to him, it was irresistable. That night we watched "Undercover Blues" and he finally got my hints and held my hand. When he left, he kissed me (swoon!). I have been with him pretty much every day from then until now. He went to Oregon for a couple days and I had a work trip to Texas, but most every other day.

I did have a pretty big dilemma at this point--I had a missionary out that I was pretty in love with too. I even had the "wailing wall" up on my wall in my apartment--a missionary count down chart with stickers for every day he was gone and pics of him in all the different cities he'd served in. I finally told Lowell about him and he said he would not come between us, this was something I would have to decide on my own. He also wasn't just going to keep dating me until he came home, I needed to make a decision before then. So I was torn, I dated Mark (missionary) for a year before his mission and was pretty committed to our plans for after the miss. But here was Lowell and I couldn't deny what my heart was telling me. Luckily I knew who had the answer to my question. I took it to the Lord. I used to spend a fair amount of time studying in the LRC (Learning Resource Center) in the library--it had music you could listen to and nice little cubbies. I clearly remember that night, trying to study but being so torn and just pouring my heart out to the Lord. The answer was clear and unmistakable--I should continue dating Lowell. As I fought against it the answer kept coming again and again. It was the oddest most forceful spiritual experience I have had. Of course I followed the prompting.

We spent a lot of time together, like I said every day. We'd stay up very late just talking (okay kissing too). We climbed Timp (above) and the Y (below). I met his family and he met mine. Unfortunately my parents weren't fond of Lowell. They were crazy! My dad is just over-protective and thought I could do better, and my mom liked Mark the missionary. It didn't matter to me what they thought I knew my directive from the Lord so I continued to pursue the relationship. Less than 2 months later we started talking about marriage. It freaked us both out. Just because it was so fast and crazy to imagine, not because it felt wrong. Maybe because it felt so right.

The night this pic was taken on the way back down the mountain I had a very distinct impression that I was to marry Lowell. That he would be the man that I would spend forever with. He was the one the Lord had directed me to find and paved the way that we could be together. I was nervous, but also ecstatic. I mean, he was hot! and crazy about me too. What luck. Of course we still had to fight with my parents but I think I was given so many signs to give me the strength to do what was right. We "secretly" got engaged on June 21 right after I met his older sister. We were just sitting in my apartment talking and he said, "Let's do it. Let's get married." I said, "Are you kidding?". Yeah, that deflated his sails a little, and I had to clarify that I just wanted to be sure he was serious. Of course I said yes though we didn't tell anyone yet.

The official engagement occured shortly before Mark came home from his mission, something about having a ring on my finger :). I felt bad but we had agreed to follow the spirit and that was certainly what I was doing. For those concerned, Mark met his wife shortly after coming home and they were married before we were. They have 3 kids now. We still didn't tell my parents for a couple of months and when we did, they weren't supportive. Specifically Lowell asked for my Dad's blessing and he told him no. He told me we'd be divorced within the first year. They asked us to wait a full year before getting married. I can assure you this was not what I wanted to do, but we obliged. Partially to keep the peace but even more so because there was a lot going on. I was starting my internship and was not allowed more than one day off for 6 months. A one day honeymoon didn't sound like much fun. I also volunteered for the olympics in the middle there which was busy too. We kept planning anyway and spending every moment we could together though we were both working and going to school. Over the course of that year we got to know each other very well. Almost like we could skip all the awkwardness of the first year of marriage because we'd already been there. Plus it helped that we were so compatible, best friends from the start. Staying worthy to go to the temple wasn't as easy, but we did it.

I graduated and accepted a job at Orem Community (where I still work!). With my mom the realtor's help we were able to build a house all while we were engaged. I didn't even know you could qualify for a loan under those circumstances but we were excited. Finally on August 15, 2002 we were married. I can't find the pic I want to put of that (argh!). I'll put it on eventually. It was a beautiful amazing day. We had a lot of family come but most importantly we were together forever, starting our life the right way. We left the next day for DisneyLand on our honeymoon and have been in wedded bliss every since. Well, probably not every second but you know what I mean.

8 years later as amazing as it would seem to me back then, I love Lowell even more now. He never ceases to amaze me. He just gets better and better with time. A whole new dimension came out when I was pregnant. The already amazing hubby went to a whole new level and even more so when the kids arrived. I know I brag about him all the time, but what can I say--I'm still crazy about him. I can hardly believe the Lord could have prepared someone so perfect for me and led me to him. I certainly don't deserve him but I am grateful for him every day. Love you honey!

P.S. I challenge you my sweetheart to write your version of that first date on your blog (http://spazmatic-lowell.blogspot.com/). Now everyone will check to see if you did :p.