And Then He Kissed Me! Part 19

Beep, beep, beep, beep.

I slowly opened my eyes and tried to focus on my alarm clock. 6:00 a.m. (sigh)

On most days, I would hit the snooze button several times, before I actually woke up. But not today. Not today, of all days. I switched the on/off button to off and sprung out of bed. "I'm getting marr-rried today! I'm getting marr-rried today!" I chanted.

For the following two hours I fussed, I teased, and I primped to my heart's content. Not a hair could be out of place nor an unsightly zit, show. My bathroom was full of commotion as six of my family members and I fought for bathroom counter space and significant mirror time.

"Are you nervous?" my sister Melanie asked.

"No. I'm really not nervous. I'm actually feeling really calm."

That's exactly what our relationship had evolved into. A peaceful, calm. I knew with out a doubt that this person, this man, was to be my eternal best friend. My eternal heart and soul.

I reflected to myself of just how we came to be. Of how the planets and stars must have been aligned perfectly on the first day that I had laid my eyes on this "Plumber Guy". Just how was it, that my landlord had the inclination to contrive a clever little plan, a little plan that involved his son-in-law's friend to fix one of his tenant's faucets, all the while having the "Plumber" check me out.

Then at that moment, there was a soft knock at the door.

Knock, knock, knock.

I opened the door to greet my soon to be husband. He was freshly showered, clean shaved, and his hair neatly combed.

"We gotta get going!" he said. "It's snowing like crazy and the roads are horrible!" he said as he shook the snow off of the shoulders of his jacket.

Each of us gathered our things and I carefully gathered my wedding dress and we loaded into our vehicles.

It had already snowed at least 8 inches and it wasn't stopping anytime soon. We crept our ways along the free way, trying to stay on the road. Right and left, cars were sliding off of the road and spinning out. Plumber Guy's father did a few 360's himself on the way to temple. I began to worry as I looked at the clock. Plumber Guy could only travel about 20 mph and every time he tried to speed up, the car would start to fishtail. We were definitely going to be late.

"What should we do?" I asked him. "Do you have your cell phone on you?"

His eyes lit up and he called information to get the temple's phone number.

"Um, hello? Yes, my name is Jennifer and I'm suppose to be getting married to Steve at nine a.m., but we are running very late because of the road conditions. Is that going to be a problem?"

The temple worker on the other end of the line said, "Oh no dear, that shouldn't be a problem. We've had twelve weddings cancelled today, except for you and one other wedding, because of the storm. You should be fine. Drive safely."

We finally arrived to the temple thirty minutes late, but safely. We walked into the sacred Bountiful temple hand in hand. The temple workers showed us where to go and instructed us what to do. My Mother and I entered into the bridal changing area to begin to put my wedding dress on. I'll never forget that moment, in that beautiful room. We were the only wedding party in there and it was so nice to have a moment just between the two of us.

With in moments, Steve and I entered into the sealing room to be married, with our dear friends and loved ones surrounding us. Kneeling at the alter together, hand in hand, I was overcome with emotions and began to tear up. I was happy beyond my wildest dreams. As I looked into Steve's eyes, I noticed he began to tear up also. I also noticed he was a little nervous and was rubbing a painful groove into my hand with his thumb. It made me smile. I looked into his eyes, smiled, then placed my thumb firmly over the top of his to stop him from rubbing it raw. He smiled back.

As the the sealer talked, I remembered to take a moment to take everything in. I glanced around the room, making sure to remember everyone that was there. Our parents, Steve's sister Kay, extended family members, friends and best friends who cared and loved us. I had never felt the spirit so strong, in my entire life.

During the ceremony, there was one thing that the sealer said to us that I will never, ever forget. He said that we were in the right place, at the right time, with the right person. This is exactly how I felt. Steve and I were meant to be. We were meant to be at the very beginning and even thirteen years down the road. Our family was meant "to be" forever.

We were married. Husband and wife. I liked the sound of that.

After the ceremony we, walked through the lobby of the temple and then outside to meet our guests. We were floating on air with smiles, beaming. As we walked out of the temple doors, Steve let out a, "Wahoo!", followed by a rejoicing fist in the air, "we did it!" gesture.

As the photographer was preparing his equipment, I just realized that my new husband wasn't wearing a black tuxedo,as I had thought he had ordered.

"Your not wearing a black tuxedo!" I proclaimed.

"I know," he said.

"What happened?"

"Nothing. This is the tuxedo I picked."

Although Plumber Guy looked extremely handsome in the white tux, I couldn't help but wish he had picked the black tuxedo. My little fantasy, that included a little mixture of James Bond, Plumber Guy's broad shoulders and bulging pectoral muscles, was dashed.

After a chilly session of pictures, we headed towards our luncheon destination. It was an older restaurant with a large banquet room that was reserved for our wedding party. We ate a meal of roast beef, rolls, mashed potatoes, salad and chocolate mouse for desert. My best friend Christal hugged me and said, "The spirit was so strong in the temple as you two were getting married! Every one in that room knew that you and Steve are perfect for each other and there is no denying it!"

After the luncheon, the plan was to head back to our apartment, change, then head over to the church to finish last minute details before the reception. Plumber Guy sped the whole way to our home. At one point I thought to myself, "Why is he going so fast? He is going to wreck!" Then it hit me, "Oh, we're married now..." But his excitement was crushed when my family knocked on our apartment door, after we had arrived to our home. He conveniently forgot that my family was staying in our apartment.

Everyone changed into comfortable tee-shirts and jeans and made our way to the church. I frantically ran around, arranging wedding photos for display, fixing ivy garland, and placing the ivory roses and ivy on the cake. Oh, the cake. I was so appreciative to Plumber Guy's neighbor who made the cake for us as a wedding gift. However, it wasn't quite like the magazine picture that I had given her. There was no icing piped in a basket weave pattern and the cake stands that she constructed kinda resembled disco balls. There was nothing that I could do about it and started to place the ivy and roses on each cake. I had approximately thirty more minutes to construct my bouquet, the bridesmaids bouquets, and to put on my wedding dress. As I was putting flowers on the cake, guests started to arrive early. "What!" I yelped. "They're early!"

There I was in my jeans and a tee shirt, as the guests were arriving. I dropped what I was doing and went to the bathroom to put on my wedding dress. I put on my slip and then began to rummage for my white nylons. "Where are my nylons? Where are they!?!" I panicked. I threw everything out of my bag and they were no where to be found. I re-dressed into my jeans and tee shirt and ran out of the bathroom. I was freaking out. I didn't have nylons to wear, I still needed to arrange the bouquets, the cake was a little disappointing, and top everything off... the florists shorted me on ivory roses. It was right at that moment that I realized I had taken on too much. Shocker, huh? There I was hiding in a dark corner, near the coat racks, crying. My fully decked out husband, came around the corner.

"What's wrong?" he asked as he hugged me.

"I can't find my nylons, I don't have enough flowers for the bouquets, I still need to make the bouquets, and nothing is going right and people are already showing up! What's wrong with those people!!!!" I spurted off amongst tears and snot running down my face. I wiped my tears away and noticed the black smudges on my fingers. "Oh great!! Now I have to re-do my makeup!"

Plumber Guy held me in his arms and said, "You need to get a hold of yourself. Who cares about all of those things. Let me help you."

I took a deep breath in and let it out. I composed myself and began to laugh at how much of a bridezilla I had become at that moment. Then I did something, that can be difficult for me to do at times. I let my new husband help me.

He instructed one of my sister-in-law's to go to the store and buy me a pair of nylons. He helped me arrange the flowers the best that I could in the short amount of time that we had and with the extremely low inventory of ivory roses.

With in minutes my sister-in-law arrived with the much appreciated nylons and I quickly put on my wedding gown.

For the following two hours we hugged and kissed neighbors, friends, family, and total strangers.

When the reception was over and almost all of the guests had left, only a handful of our friends and family remained. We cut the cake and he fed me, kindly, and after much prodding from his sisters, I smashed it in his face. But, not too bad. I feared retaliation. The night had come to an end and everyone was exhausted.

It was time to say our sincere thank you's and goodbyes to our families and friends, and head off to our fantasy honeymoon of snowmobiling in West Yellowstone. We were going to stay in a cabin with a hot tub and a fireplace! I fantasized of us sitting in front of a roaring fire, snuggling into each other, sipping hot chocolate and talking about our future lives together.

We quickly changed back into our comfortable clothes, loaded the car with our luggage and Plumber Guy began to take off the tacky decor that his friends and family members decorated our car with. Some of which, was appalling to my Mother.

We were heading north in the dark night and heavy snow and decided to stop at a Burger King on the way to our hotel. With all of the excitement of the day, I didn't get to eat much. Even though, I was starving, I still found it hard to eat. Because this, was the night... In mere moments we were going to spend the night together and in the same bed.

We drove in silence for a little while. Both of our nerves were apparent and I just had to break the ice.

"So, where are we going to stay?" I asked excitedly. Believe it or not, we had never discussed this, except for when Plumber Guy would tease me about staying at a Motel 6 for our first night together, as husband and wife.

Plumber Guy couldn't contain his excitement and said, "There's a hotel just off of Riverdale!" he proclaimed with a devious grin.

We turn off of the free way to right and he then drove into the turning lane to turn left. And there it was... a large red, blue and white sign that read, "MOTEL 6"!

"Surely, he's kidding," I thought to myself. "Maybe there's a different hotel further up the road."

Plumber Guy then turned left, up the hill towards the MOTEL 6.

"No way!" I said. "I thought you were kidding this whole time?"

"Well, I was. But Dave said he's stayed here one time and said that some of the rooms were nice and even had a hot tub!" he said in his defense.

I could not believe it. I really could not believe it.

Plumber Guy then parked the car to front of the building and checked in. My mind turned from the disbelieve of spending my wedding night in a MOTEL 6 to what was about to occur. I was nervous.

Plumber Guy opened our hotel, I mean, motel door, and waited for my response. He had someone decorate the room earlier with rose petals, candles, and soft music.

That's my guy.

The rest of our honeymoon was shear bliss, spending every waking moment with my new husband. Plumber Guy made up for the MOTEL 6 fiasco with the rest of our stays in West Yellowstone and Jackson Hole. It was a dream come true.

Our one and only picture of the two of us on our honeymoon, in the "love cabin" in West Yellowstone. Nice foreheads.

These past thirteen years I often think of our story and how it came to be. I still tease my Plumber Guy about doing the Chinese splits on our third date, and beg him to demonstrate this amazing fete almost on a daily basis. He kindly demonstrated his talent, just the other day. It's a glorious thing.

Every time we drive by our beloved MOTEL 6, I giggle and tease him some more. He just laughs with me.

It's all of these landmarks and memories that remind me of just how much we have been through the past thirteen years, and of how much we mean to each other.

Our future together, that we so often dreamed about back in those days, has turned out to be some what different than what we imagined. But the one thing that has come true is that our love has never dwindled and continues to grow with each day.

I love you hubbin! I love you with all of my heart and I thank the Lord everyday for you...and your pectoral muscles.

Be still my heart, I married this body! I mean, this man.

Between the Chinese splits and these pictures, the deal was sealed.

Plumber Guy and I, at his birthday party when I met the whole fam damily for the first time.

This is a picture of us when I brought Plumber Guy to my home town for the first time, for the 4th of July. It was also the day after our love story almost ended.

Just engaged. November 8th, 1995. Man I'm white!

Also, the very couch where Plumber Guy professed his love to me.

The one and only "Pimp Ring" and the ring, Plumber Guy designed for me.

Bling!

Our wedding invitation.

The dress that mi amigas helped pick out.

Our wedding cake/s with the disco-esqe stands.

And Then He Kissed Me! Part 18

My engagement was quickly coming to an end. In a mere two weeks I would be married to Plumber Guy, forever.


The weather was unusual, to me. It was the beginning of January, and I had yet to see a significant snow storm in Utah. Unlike, Wyoming, where I was use to go trick or treating in thigh high snow drifts. Outside was gray and drab with a smog overcast. I hoped that there would be a blanket of white, fluffy snow on my wedding day, but it wasn't looking too promising.


December was unbelievably hectic. My apartment looked like a wedding had exploded inside of it. I was drowning in piles of fabric, floral arrangements, ribbons, and wedding invitations.


I had managed to complete the dried flower topiary centerpieces and a large floral swag that was going to be hung at the top of our backdrop. The swag contained the roses,that I had dried, from when Plumber Guy proposed to me. My Dad had made the backdrop with his very own hands and transporting it to another state, in the middle of winter, would prove to be cumbersome.


Corsages and boutonnieres containing burgundy and ivory fire and ice roses were ordered for parents, grandparents, groomsmen, and bridesmaids. And I had also ordered bunches of ivory roses for the cake, my bouquet and my bridesmaids bouquets.

I had found a picture of the wedding cake of my dreams in a magazine. If I couldn't have the wedding dress of my dreams, well, by golly I was going to have the wedding cake of my dreams. It was actually 3 different sized cakes, sitting on various heights of cake stands. It was simple in design and would have a basket weave piped all over the cakes. I ordered extra ivory colored roses and ivy to place on each cake. And the biggest cake would have a glass Bountiful Temple cake topper placed on top.


The details were coming in to place, except for one thing...my groom's tuxedo. Seeing Plumber Guy in a black tuxedo for the first time was going to be one of the highlights of our wedding. The thought of it would set my heart a flutter! I fantasized of his broad shoulders in the dark, crisp jacket. And the slacks. Don't even get me started on the slacks! We made a special trip, with groomsmen in tow, to the mall and ordered a total of seven tuxedos. All black with burgundy vests. I couldn't wait to see the love of my life in his tuxedo!


Our first Christmas together, I spent away from home for the first time, but instead, in the loving arms of Plumber Guy. It was a time of peace and calmness, amongst the chaos of wedding plans and me moving into our apartment. Christmas morning, Plumber Guy's family gave us a money tree to help us as we were about to embark on our new adventure of marriage. I was also able to talk to my younger brother, Brian, who was serving a mission in France. I told him all about Plumber Guy and the details of what the wedding was going to look like and the events that were going to take place. He in return told me about teaching the gospel to the French, the food, and culture. I laughed at him, as he tried to remember the English word for "door".


Two weeks prior to my wedding day, I went through the Temple for the first time. My best friend, Christal, came along with my parents from Wyoming, to share the special experience with me. We spent hours laughing and reminiscing, together. Although getting married to the love of my life was exciting, I also knew this would be the last time Christal and I would spend time together as single young women. Our friendship began on the first day of kindergarten and had stood the test of time, over the span of seventeen years. Not only was I going to enter into the new territory of marital bliss, I was also saying goodbye to my old life of independent, single, young womanhood.

Once my parents, Christal and I had returned to my home, after attending the temple for the first time, my Mom brought out some wrapped gifts. Weeee! My very first wedding gifts! I hadn't had a bridal shower, because I never had the chance to return home to Wyoming, and quite frankly, no one planned one for me. I was green with jealousy, every time an engaged friend would talk about her three bridal showers and I was even jealous of the dorky games they played at the showers. I so wanted to be the bride that would get to rip open gifts and the guests would oooo and awe over gifts of baking soda and lingerie. So dog gonnet, this was going to be my bridal shower moment. I quickly ripped open the wrapping paper to see what my Mom gifted me with. One of the gifts was a beautiful quilt that she made for Plumber Guy and I, and the other gift was a pair of large cookie sheets and a cookie scoop.

"Jennifer! You weren't suppose to open that til later!" she proclaimed.

"What's the difference?" I told her. "I'm getting married tomorrow," I said, selfishly. (That was my bridezilla moment)

She just rolled her eyes and figured I was right. Then to my surprise she pulled out a navy, blue, silky, piece of lingerie. "Mom!"

It was very unexpected and so un-mom like. I was surprised at how risque it was. Previous weeks ago, as Plumber Guy and I had talked about our honeymoon plans, it donned on me that I should probably wear something that was silky and skimpy on our much anticipated wedding night.

I shyly asked Plumber Guy, "So what would you like me to wear on our wedding night? W-well, I mean, what style of lingerie do you prefer?"

He turned bright red and smiled. "You could just wear a tee shirt."

"Seriously?" I responded. I felt a little deflated and confused. But then again, maybe that was his little fantasy.

After I thanked my Mom for the gifts, the phone rang.

Ring, ring.

"Hello," I answered.

"Hey!" It was Plumber Guy. "When are you coming?"

When we left the temple, earlier in the day, we made arrangements for me and my family to meet up at his home later.

"I'm changing my clothes and getting ready!" I said.

"Well, you need to hurry!" he said.

"Why? What are we going to do?" I asked him. I was becoming a little annoyed at Plumber Guy's urgency to get me to come to his house. It wasn't dinner time, and we didn't have any appointments that had to be met.

"Well, just hurry up!" he proclaimed.

"Okay! Sheesh, I'll see you in a little bit!"

My Mom asked if it was Plumber Guy, "Was that Steve?"

"Yeah. He's kinda being annoying. He wants me to hurry and get over there. I don't know what the big rush is?" I told her.

"Well, you better hurry Jen! It's rude to keep them waiting," she barked.

"Okay, okay! I'll hurry!"

In a matter of minutes Christal, my Mom, and me, headed to Plumber Guy's home. My Dad decided to stay at the apartment with my younger siblings. As we approached his house I noticed more cars parked in the front, than usual. "I wonder why Sue's car is here?" I thought to myself.

Plumber Guy met me at the front door and we entered his home.

"Just go through to the family room," he told me.

I walked into the family room and was met with a room full of ladies.

"Surprise!" they yelled.

"What the? What the heck is going on?" I thought to myself. I looked around the room and recognized a few of my friends, and various women from Plumber Guy's ward sitting in the room. But then there were also many women that I had no idea who they were.

I looked at Plumber Guy questionably and I gave him that "what's going on look"?

My dear, sweet, soon to be mother-in-law and sisters-in-laws were kind enough to throw me a surprise bridal shower!

My friend Christal began to cackle loudly at my response to the surprise. Then it hit me, "that's what the gifts from my Mom were for!" Ding! Ding! Ding!

Christal knew how much I despised the silly games some would play at these kind of functions. My kind of shower would be to eat and visit. I leaned over to Christal and said, "I hope they don't plan on making toilet paper wedding dresses or putting the bows from the gifts on my head?"

My bridal shower had a "grocery" theme. There were mints and nuts tucked in cute miniature grocery bag party favors. We played a word game, which was actually kind of fun, and ate yummy cake. I felt loved and appreciated. Even though there were a few total strangers there. After a few moments of doing what women do best, eating and talking... it was time to open the gifts. I opened gift after gift of boxes of baking soda and packages of chocolate chips. My newly wed home's cupboards were going to be well stocked. And then to my utter dismay, as I opened each gift, my dear sister-in-law and her friend Kandie stuck the bows on top of my head. Christal and I would flash looks at each other and she would giggle at the silliness of it. In the end I wound up receiving 5 boxes of baking soda, laundry soap, and enough chocolate chips to make cookies well into the next century.

The day before the wedding, our families helped us decorate the cultural hall at Plumber Guy's church building. I was exhausted. After every table cloth was carefully situated on the tables, every ivy garland wrapped in twinkly white Christmas lights, and every centerpiece was placed squarely in the middle of each table, Plumber Guy drove me home to our apartment.


This would be that last night we would have to depart to separate homes... to separate beds. Instead of ending the night with a long, passionate kiss, we tenderly held each other.


"We are getting married tomorrow," I whispered to him, as we held each other with my head nestled against the crook of his neck and shoulder.


He smiled. He didn't have to say anything. We knew our love story was to come to full circle at 9:00 a.m. in the Bountiful Temple, the next morning.



Stay tuned for tomorrow... The big day and pictures to boot!

And Then He Kissed Me! Part 17

Wedding plans were in full force. Our wedding date was to be on January 19th in the Bountiful Temple. Which meant we only had 2 months to plan the wedding, 2 receptions (one in Utah and one in Wyoming), find an apartment, move, find a dress, rent tuxes, flowers, decorations, pictures, food, and on top of all of that, fit Thanksgiving and Christmas in.

I knew financing a wedding would be difficult for my parents. I had a brother serving a mission in France and four other siblings still living at home. Money was tight for all of us, and so I planned the wedding to be as budget friendly, as possible. First thing was first, and I had to find a wedding dress, A.S.A.P.!

I knew exactly what kind of dress I wanted. I wanted it to be simple, yet elegant. Long sleeves were a must, since we were to be married in the winter. I didn't want poofy sleeves, ruffles, a lot of beading, and most definitely... NO BUTT BOW! My first attempt for looking for a wedding dress a month previous was a failure. And being fairly new to the Utah area, I had a difficult time finding my way around to the various wedding dress shops. I was a sad sight. I would often have to try on dresses during my lunch breaks and the shop owners would often ask where my family was. I never imagined that I would have to pick out my wedding dress, alone.

I was beginning to panic at the thought of not being able to find a wedding dress. Then one day I went to an appointment at a dress shop in downtown Ogden. There I was, alone at the dress shop, and a Mexican family with their daughter that was about to turn 15. They were there to find a white gown for their daughter's Quinceanera celebration. The sales lady helped me pick out a couple of dresses to try on. None of which, was the dress of my dreams.

The first one made me look like Dolly Parton. Hello chest! This was definitely not the statement I wanted to make on my wedding day, however, I didn't think "Plumber guy" would have minded. The second dress looked okay. So far this was the best dress that I had tried on. It had a sweetheart neckline, which would have to be altered, due to the girls. The sleeves had some poofiness, there was some beading on the bodice and sleeves, and some trailing of beads, streaming down the skirt of the dress, which was actually unique and kinda pretty. The one thing that I did like about the dress was that the skirt was simple and it had a small train. And the other draw back with the dress, was there was a bustle thing, smack dab in the middle of the butt. However, it WASN'T a butt bow!

I walked out of the dressing area to look at myself in the full length mirrors. I tilted my head to the right and crinkled my nose. "Do you think it looks good?" I asked the sales lady. "Oh yeah! It's really beautiful on you!" she replied. "Your paid to say that," I thought to myself.

I did a full turn around in front of the mirrors, looking at the dress at every angle. "It's not too bad," I thought. I felt so alone. I needed some one's re-assurance and opinion on what I was trying on. Did the skirt make my butt look too big? Was the neckline appropriate for the temple? I wish my mom was there.

The Mexican family sensed my distress. The women of the group all conjugated around me, fluffing and straightening the train to it's full grandeur. "Oh si! Si!" they all harmonized. They reminded me of a flock of chickens. "Muy Bonita! Muy Bonita!"

The sales lady then asked me if I wanted to try on any other dresses. I began to think of how soon my wedding was approaching, and I began to panic. This was the best dress I had tried on, thus far, and I decided to take the plunge. Besides, if the Mexican ladies said I looked "Muy Bonita" in the dress, then I just had to pick this dress. "I'll take it!" I said.

From there on, there was no turning back. I picked my colors, which were the "hot wedding colors" of that time... navy blue, hunter green, burgundy, and I thought I would kick it up a notch and added ivory. Riveting. To save money, I planned on making all of the centerpieces, flowers for the wedding party, and all of the other flowers, lights, bows etc. for the decorations.

With in weeks of "Plumber Guy" proposing, we had our wedding pictures taken and we chose our invitation. All of the details were falling into place perfectly. A family friend of "Plumber Guy's" offered to make our wedding cake for free, my Dad constructed our entire backdrop and all of the fencing, and I had shopped around for the best prices on linen rentals, flowers, and all of the other important details that make up a wedding.

Every waking moment, I spent with Plumber Guy. We made the Hallmark movies, look lame. There was no comparison. I revelled in every detail that we planned for our future together. I stayed busy with the putting together centerpieces and such and he was busy planning our honeymoon. Oh the honeymoon! (sigh)

He had big plans for us! A lot of which, he kept a secret.

"So where are we going to spend our wedding night?" I prodded.

"Motel 6," he teased back. "Yup, I'll just pull over to some Motel 6 and check in."

"Whatever!" I would squeal. Then he would just laugh.

I knew him better than that. I knew he would make our wedding night as romantic as possible. I had dreams of staying in the Anniversary Inn or a luxury hotel with satin sheets on the bed. I heard many positive rumblings about the Anniversary Inn. I heard that there was a Swiss Family Robinson room and an Egyptian room. I imagined us spending the night in a hammock-like bed, stuck in the tree tops in the Swiss Family Robinson room. He could wear a loin cloth, made out of a buckskin, since we would be stranded on an island and all. And his bare chest would be glistening in the hot sun. Or maybe we could bathe in the inner sanctum of a pyramid in the stone jetted tubs. Whatever he had planned for us, it was a fantasy that I just couldn't wait for.

And Then He Kissed Me! Part 16

After the shock of "plumber guy" purchasing his own wedding ring, I was on pins and needles, waiting for him to officially propose to me.


My parents were still in town for my cousin's wedding and me and "plumber guy" were traveling south to meet them at the reception. Once we entered the church's cultural hall, we were bombarded by various members of my extended family. Apparently, my parents had spread the good news about me and "plumber guy" deciding to get married and my family was quick to congratulate us with hugs and welcomed my "soon to be spouse" with open arms.


I ran over to my recently married cousin and gave her a hug.


"I heard you are going to get married!" she said.


"Yeah. We are planning on getting married in January," I replied, excitedly.


"Plumber guy" walked over to me and my cousin and I introduced the two of them. I asked to see her ring and oooo-ed and awed at the sparkling marquis diamond and setting. Rings were constantly on my mind, lately, and I would often glance at every one's ring fingers to check out the vast sizes, cuts, and settings. "Plumber guy" took special interest in her ring also. He examined it closely, which thrilled me to no end.


"Maybe he's going to give me a ring that looks like my cousin's!?!?!" I thought to myself.


Once the reception was over, we started our little voyage home in the dark. My heart was so full that night. I loved introducing my future husband to my family. There was a calm peace in the air, as we were driving home and I started to reflect quietly on our love and how it progressed over the last 5 months. I was blessed beyond my dreams and I could hardly contain my happiness. I began to tear up with tears of joy.


My quiet reflection was then interrupted... "You know your cousin's ring?" Plumber guy asked.


"Yeah, what about it?" I said. I thought to myself that maybe he was going to ask if I liked her ring.


"Well, her ring is exactly like the ring I got you."


"It is? You already bought my ring?" I questioned him.


"Well then, where is it?" I thought to myself.


"I wanted your ring to be one of a kind," he said, in a disappointed manner.


I was taken back a little at just how disappointed he was. He wanted my ring to be unique and from the heart, which showed me just how sincere he was.


"So what are you going to do about it?" I asked him. Secretly I didn't care. I just wanted him to propose to me so that I can start to flash my own engagement ring to fellow females.


"I don't know what I'm going to do. Maybe I'll just get you a different one."


My heart sunk at the thought of having to wait longer for my ring.


A week or two had gone by, and still no ring. Every day I waited with anticipation for "plumber guy" to drop down on one knee and declare his eternal love for me and ask for my hand in marriage, but time was dragging by slowly. During one conversation, he happened to mention that he personally designed my ring and that it would be ready in about two weeks.



"Ahhhhhh! Two weeks!" I thought to myself. I was excited beyond belief, yet I was a little nervous. I had nothing to be nervous about. We each knew that we loved one another and that we had both agreed to get married, but the waiting and wondering was killing me!


The following day was November 8th, and while I was at work, "plumber guy" called my office.


"Hey, I forgot my wallet on top of the house that I was working on today, and it's not too far from your office... Do you want to have Cindy (my roommate) take your car home and I'll just pick you up from work and we can go to dinner?"


"Okay!" I said excitedly. This was a treat! It wasn't even the weekend yet and every chance I could be with the love of my life, was a chance that I just could not pass by.


Six o'clock finally hit and the night was crisp with a cold breeze. It was an especially dark evening. The kind where it was difficult to even see the stars in the night sky. "Plumber guy" arrived and I quickly handed my keys to my roommate.


We began to drive towards the east bench and he stopped at a large, extravagant home. Sure enough, you could see his wallet sitting on top of the roof. He quickly retrieved his wallet and then we began our way back down the bench.


"Did you know that there is a little duck refuge around here?" He asked.


"No. What a weird place to have a duck refuge," I told him.


"It's pretty neat... it has a little walking path around a pond and picnic areas,"


"Let's go see it!" I demanded.


We parked in a dark parking lot that was only lit by a dim street light. It was too dark to see anything, but "Plumber guy" said, "let's go walk around. Maybe we'll see a duck?"


He grasped my hand tightly and began to lead me down a path. I was wearing a navy blue dress with heels, so it was a little difficult to walk on the dirt path and amongst the willows.


"Oh wow!" I proclaimed. The moon's reflection was dancing on top of the pond's dark water, with shadows of clouds drifting slowly over the moon's reflection.


I wanted to stay and take in the beauty of the scenery, but "plumber guy" began to guide me over a small foot bridge.


In the near distance I noticed something.... it was a soft glow, flickering.


"Jennifer, Jennifer, Jennifer," Plumber Guy said, as he began to rub his thumb over the top of my thumb. I noticed he began to rub his thumb faster and a little harder. It was kinda hurting me! "What's up with him?" I thought.


Then it hit me like a ton of bricks. "I think he's going to propose to me!" My heart started to pound heavily. It was pounding so hard, I was having a hard time hearing what he was saying to me. We were getting closer and closer to the flickering warm glow, and I was able to see that it was a lit candle sitting on top of a picnic table. We approached the picnic table and the candle's flame embraced us with it's warm, amber, glow. Along with the candle, there was a Lagories Pizza, red roses, and Dr. Pepper. He knew me so well. I turned towards him, expecting to be face to face, but instead he was kneeling. He pulled out a cream colored ring box, and held my left hand with his right hand. By now the tears were welling up in my eyes and there was no holding them back. My heart was about to burst out of my chest.

"Jennifer, will you marry me?" he asked nervously, but with a warm smile.

I smiled, the biggest smile I had ever smiled and replied with a soft, "Of course, I'll marry you."

He then opened the ring box and was about to put the ring on to my ring finger, when he accidentally dropped the ring into a pile of leaves...in the dark. He quickly picked up the ring and placed it on my finger. I was such a beautiful ring! I held my hand out to the candle light to observe every single detail. It had a round solitaire diamond in the middle with two emerald baguettes and two blue sapphire baguettes surrounding it. It also had 5 round diamonds set in a swirl above the center diamond and the same pattern of diamonds below it.

"Plumber Guy" then sat next to me on the bench and I embraced him and we kissed passionately. "I love you!" I said, through sniffles. "I love you too."

"I remembered you mentioning once that your favorite gem stone was the emerald, and I knew the sapphire was your birth stone. I thought the two stones would be pretty together, " Plumber Guy said.

I couldn't believe he remembered me saying that my favorite gem stone was the emerald. I remember telling him that I knew someone that had an emerald instead of diamond in her wedding ring and I loved how unique and beautiful it was.

I held my hand up to the candle flame to admire "Plumber Guy's" creation, when I noticed something odd about the ring. There was a dark space next to an emerald baguette. One of the emeralds was missing. I felt horrible for "Plumber Guy" and I wasn't sure how to break it to him, that something was wrong with ring.

"Um, is this suppose to look like this?" I asked him, as I pointed out the empty setting.

"Oh no! One of the emeralds must have fallen out!" he said.

"Maybe it fell out, when the ring fell in the leaves," I said.

My heart sunk, because I knew the chances of trying to find the emerald would be nearly impossible to find in the dark and in a pile of leaves.

I grabbed the candle and it's base and began to move it over the ground in hopes of finding a glimmer of green.

"Ha!" I gasped. "I found it!" We were both amazed that I actually found the emerald in the middle of fall leaves, on the ground. I carefully picked up the emerald and placed it in between the folds of the inside of the ring box.

We both sighed a sigh of relief and began to eat our romantic pizza dinner, but we were too excited to eat, and not too mention, it was freezing cold.

"How did you set this up?" I asked him.

"Oh I had help from Dave," he said.

We didn't stay long at the little sheltered picnic area. We wanted to spread the news to our friends and loved ones.

We drove to my apartment and I immediately held my hand out to my friend, and roommate, Cindy. We both screamed in unison and began to jump up and down with excitement. I quickly changed my work clothes into a sweater and jeans and we drove to "Plumber Guy's" home. His family greeted us with congratulatory hugs and love.

The night was perfect. Our love was perfect. I was truly blessed and looked forward to starting our future together, as an eternal married couple.

Thirteen years later, there have been some heart breaks, loss of loved ones, some trials, and once in a while some disappointments. But most important, there has been love. A love that continues to grow with each year that goes by.

And Then He Kissed Me! Part 15

Ring, ring.

"Hello," my little brother answered.

"Hey Shane, is mom there?"

"Yeah, I'll get her," he said in his less than enthused voice.

"Hello," answered my mom.

"Hey, guess what?"

"What?" my mom questioned.

"Steve and I are getting married!" I said excitedly.

"Did he ask you?"

"Well no, but we talked about it last night and we decided to get married on January 19th."

"January! It'll be freezing and there will be tons of snow! And that only gives us about about two and half months to get ready!" my mom hollered.

"I know. But Steve doesn't want a long engagement and he'll start school right after we get back from the honeymoon," I said.

"Oh the honeymoon!" I thought to myself. I imagined the two of us on a cruise ship, standing by the ship railing, in the middle of the ocean, and observing the sunset, as I was enveloped in his arms. As my mind drifted off about my fantasy honeymoon, I all of the sudden felt embarrassed that I even said the word "honeymoon" in front of my mom.

We continued our conversation about my ideas for the wedding receptions and her ideas on what food to serve. We decided to look for a dress when they came to Utah for my cousin's upcoming wedding in a couple of days. I couldn't wait!

Wedding plans were in full swing, even though "plumber guy" hadn't officially asked for my hand in marriage. I was obsessing over ring adds that would come in the mail and my collection of wedding magazines was growing. Looming decisions and choices were to be made, such as, what will my dress look like? What are my wedding colors going to be? Then there was the centerpieces, flowers, invitations, pictures, bridesmaids, and, just what kind of kiss would be appropriate in the temple, once we were married?

On one particular day we decided to make a quick trip to the mall and scope out the rings. We walked hand in hand from one jewelry store to another, like a love sick couple. It was sickening, but I didn't care. My romance with "plumber guy" felt like I was floating on a billowy cloud. It was pure bliss.

We would take turns trying on an assortment of rings and trying to narrow down our likes as opposed to our dislikes. I was quite found of the princess cut. A half karat would do. And not to many bells and whistles. However, "plumber guy" did not agree and said that the princess cut did not look good on my hand.

"What? Why doesn't the princess cut look good on me?" I asked him to my dismay.

"Well, it kinda makes your hand look shorter. And I think the diamond is too big for your hand," he replied.

"Too big? Whatever!" I thought to myself. I did want to be reasonable and did not expect the love of my life to spend his life savings or go into an enormous amount of debt for my ring. So I was sure to pick out humble sized rings there on out, even though the big shiny ones kept whispering to me, "Try me on. C'mon, you know you want to."

We left the mall without purchasing any rings, but I had hoped he knew what designs I had preferred. I wanted my ring to be perfect. This was going to be the ring that I was going to flash for the rest of my life. And I wanted everyone to not be mistaken that I was, indeed, hitched for eternity.

When we got back from the mall, I quickly cleaned my apartment for my parents arrival. The plan was to have my parents meet his parents for the first time, while we ate dinner at Sizzler's that evening. Then the following day we would look for a wedding dress.


Dinner was pleasant and I was happy to know that our parents enjoyed each other's company. Not that I had any doubts. "Plumber guy's" parents had been so thoughtful and caring to me and were quick to include me as one of their family members.

The following morning, me and my parents headed out in search of the wedding dress of my dreams. I had an idea of what I wanted and had high hopes of finding it. I knew I wanted long sleeves, since I was going to be married in the middle of the winter, and I did not want a lot of beading, poofy sleeves, lace and definitely no butt bows! I wanted it to be elegant, yet simple. And I wanted it to take "plumber guy's" breath away, as he first gazed at me inside of the temple.

Finding the dress of my dreams was proving to be more difficult than I had imagined. Trying on dress after dress was disappointing. Many of the dresses seemed to be stuck in the 1990's time warp, with huge poofy sleeves, butt bows, sweet heart necklines, and a massive amount of beading. There was so much beading on some of those dresses, I was fearful of cutting someone as I hugged them. Time ran out and I would have to continue the search on my own.

It was a long and exhausting day of shopping and wedding dress searching. My mom bought dozens of tiny tart pans to make individual tarts for the reception in Wyoming and was full speed ahead with wedding plans, herself. As we rested on my couch, the phone rang.

Ring, ring.

"Hello," I answered.

"Hi!"

It was "plumber guy"! I couldn't help but smile every time I heard his voice. My mom mentioned to my dad, "It must be Steve."

"Hey, do you mind if I come over right now? I have a surprise for you!" he said excitedly.

"Sure! See ya soon. Love you."

"Love you too."

"Steve's coming over," I told my parents. "He said he has a surprise for me."

My mom gasped. "Do you think he's going to ask you to marry him right now?"

I gasped too. "I don't know?!?!?! What if he does? What do I do?" I asked, while almost hyperventilating.

A minute later and there was a knock on my apartment door.

Knock, knock.

It was plumber guy in all of his glory. He was beaming from ear to ear and looked magnificent, as ever, in his jeans and tee-shirt that accentuated his pecks. Oh his glorious pecks!

"What's the surprise?" I asked him, as my parents looked on. In my mind I was hoping that he didn't plan on asking me right then and there in front of my parents. I had always thought he would ask me during a private moment between us. A moment that was romantic and timeless, and not spur of the moment.

"Plumber guy" was holding a small white bag, with the Zales logo on the outside of it. It was like slow motion, as he pulled out a gray ring box.

"Oh my word! He is going to ask me to marry him right now!" I thought to myself. Then I thought, "Hey, why isn't getting down on one knee?"

He opened the box and turned it towards me. I was dumbfounded and silent. This ring didn't look like a normal engagement ring! It had a thicker band, and a squarish top with rows of small diamonds.

I couldn't talk. "How do I tell him, that I don't like this ring?" I said to myself. "What do I do?"

"I bought my ring!" "plumber guy" whooped. "It was on sale and I got a great deal on it!" he said proudly.

Recovering from the shock, I managed to mutter a few words. "I thought I was suppose to buy your ring?" Secretly I was so relieved to find out that it wasn't my ring!

"Well, yeah, but I got a great deal on this ring," he said.

"Oh Steve! We thought that ring was for Jen! You had us so worried!" my mom bellowed.

I was very surprised by his ring choice. I always pictured him with a very practical wedding band with maybe some decorative cuts here and there, but he went with the bling ring. I later labeled the ring as "the pimp ring" and it will forever go down in history as "the pimp ring".

I knew some girls would have been very disappointed and angry with their fiance's if they pulled a trick like that on them, but this moment was one of those moments that I love to reminisce about. I didn't doubt that when "plumber guy" did propose, it would be unforgettable. It's one of those things that made "plumber guy" so alluring to me... I never knew what exciting moment was coming around the corner.

And Then He Kissed Me! Part 14/Flashback Friday

The weekend had finally arrived after a long week of work and anxiously waiting to spend every waking moment with "plumber guy". We decided to go to a movie that night and after checking my hair and makeup in the bathroom mirror, we walked hand in hand across the street to the movie theater.

I loved the location of my "bacherlorette pad". It was a mere hop, skip, and a jump, across the street from the movie theater and the mall. What more could a girl want?



"Plumber guy" was abnormally quiet and seemed to be deep in thought, as we walked.



He finally broke his silence, as we approached the other side of the street, and asked me, "So how is your money situation? W-w-well, I mean, do you have any money in savings? Are you okay financially?"



I was taken back by his question and I was sure he could tell by the quizzical look on my face.



"Ummmm. Well, I do live by myself and my hours were cut in half for a little while, you know?"



I felt a little defensive and began to defend all of my expenditures and reasons for them.



"Well I have $35 in savings and I hope to build it up, once I am more financially stable. What else do you want to know?" I asked him.



"Do you have any debt?" he replied.



"Ug! The "d" word," I thought. "My car is paid for but I have some debt on one credit card," I said. "Oh please, please, please, don't ask me how much is on my card?" I thought to myself. Although it wasn't an outrageous amount, I was worried about what he would think of me. If he thought I was too irresponsible.



"Why do you want to know about my financial status?" I asked him.



"Well, I just need to know for when we get married and when we start planning the wedding."



"What!" I thought to myself. "Did I just hear him right?" I stopped dead in my tracks and my mouth dropped to the ground.



"What did you just say?" I asked, while trying to contain the excitement that was building up.



"You heard me!" he said with an enormous smile on his face. "Now, this isn't the official engagement. I just wanted to talk to you about getting married," he continued to say.

I wanted to scream with excitement and jump into his arms and cover his face in sweet kisses. "He does want to marry me! He does want to marry me!"

"I knew it! I knew you wanted to marry me!" I yelled.

We then embraced one another and kissed. It was a good kiss. A kiss that was semi passionate, yet sweet. It was our first kiss as an engaged couple.

"I love you," I told "plumber guy".

"I love you too," he said.

We began to walk towards to the theater again, but this time I was holding his hand tightly. "I'm getting married!" I thought to myself. "I'm getting married! I can't believe I'm getting married!" I kept repeating these words to myself, as if I needed to convince myself that "plumber guy" had actually broke his silence about the "m" word.

It was hard to concentrate on the movie, due to "plumber guy" finally muttering those sweet, sweet words to me... "when we get married." I immediately began to plan the wedding in my mind, during the movie. "Okay. We can get married in April and I want to get married in the Bountiful Temple. I want tons of flowers and I don't want a long reception line," I planned.

I really never gave it much thought of what temple I wanted to get married in. I grew to fall in love with the Bountiful Temple. When I was unable to fall asleep or I felt a little lonely, I would look out my bedroom window, from my old apartment, and gaze upon the Bountiful Temple, radiating on the hillside in the dark. From my window, it appeared as a small squarish building, but it glowed like a beacon. It would often bring me comfort and peace during those times when I needed the comfort the most. I couldn't wait til we were married for time and eternity.

Once the movie was finished we walked back to my apartment. We immediately pulled out a calendar and began to look at dates.

"I don't want a long engagement," plumber guy said.

"So how about April?" I asked.

"April! That's way too long," he said. "There's no way I can wait til April! I was thinking about a two month long engagement," he said.

"What! Uh, you know that that's gonna be hard trying to plan the wedding, and two receptions here and in Wyoming," I replied. But then again, I couldn't wait to be "plumber guy's" wife. I couldn't wait to decorate our home together, to wear a wedding ring, to be called "Mrs." and especially, to go on a honeymoon with my future husband.

I decided that "plumber guy" was right and that it probably was best to have a short engagement, due to the growing passion between us. We narrowed it down to a Friday in January. January 19th, 1996 was going to be the day that I was to be sealed to my eternal companion, in the Bountiful Temple.

Before we knew it, it was 1:00 a.m. and we had both fallen asleep in each other's arms on my couch.

"I had better go home," "plumber guy" said, as he we slowly woke up.

I walked him to the apartment door and we performed our "goodbye ritual" that we had performed countless times before. We gave each other a long kiss on the lips, professed our un-dying love for each other, then I watched him from the top of the stair well, until I could no longer see him.

As soon as I shut the door I ran to my bedroom and jumped on to my bed. As I was jumping up and down with exhilaration, I began to yell, " I'm getting married! Ahhhhhhhh! I'm getting married!"

I didn't care if I woke up my neighbors from their deep slumbers. I couldn't contain my happiness.

After a few minutes, I was able to calm down and I got ready for bed. My cheeks began to ache from the smile that I was unable to erase from my face. I lay under my covers and began to think of how this relationship was perfect. Everything about it was perfect. There was not one moment that I had ever questioned whether "plumber guy" was right for me. As I said my prayers that night, a warm peace enveloped me and I knew it in my bones that Steve was the one for me. The one for me for all time and eternity.

And Then He Kissed Me! Part Thirteen

My favorite season of the year was drawing near and my love life was perfect. The trees, with their ochre yellow, orange, and burgundy colored leaves, embellished the skyline and the air was turning crisp. It was the season of warm sweaters, hot chocolate, pumpkins, Halloween, and snuggling with my honey to stay warm.



"Plumber guy" professed his undying love to me over a month ago and there wasn't a conversation, let alone a day, that I didn't hear those beloved words from him, "I love you!" on a constant basis.


Every day seemed to be a dream. I was living the life of an independent, working, young woman. I had my very own apartment, my car was paid for, and I no longer was in search for "the one". I had found him. But "the one" seemed to be taking his time to talk marriage. I was ready. In fact, I was more than ready. What was the hold up? Maybe he needed to get his finances intact or maybe it was the timing.

"Plumber guy" started school again and his schedule was becoming more hectic as he tried to stretch his time between me, work, studying, me, and then me. Did I mention "me"? We lived for the weekends when we could relax and spend countless hours with each other. We would take turns attending one another's wards, for church, every Sunday and many times I was invited to eat Sunday dinner with his family or I would prepare dinner for the two of us. I loved to cook dinner for my man. It was as if, we were a real married couple!

General Conference was coming up, which also meant that it was the season of mission reunions. "Plumber guy" often talked about his experiences of his mission to Korea with such humility and love for the people. He would also impress me with the language, although I had no idea what he was saying. And I still don't. He had studied it and studied it, in order to try to perfect the language, while on his mission.

We had attended a Korean friend's mission farewell, one Sunday, in a Korean branch in SLC. She had asked "plumber guy" to give the opening prayer in Korean, and after sacrament meeting many of the Korean members approached us and said they would have never known that "plumber guy" was an American. I felt such pride to be with this humble and righteous man.

A couple of days before "plumber guy's" mission reunion, he asked me if I'd go with him. "Hey, would you like to go to my mission reunion with me?" he asked.

"Sure. You know, everyone is going to ask if I'm your wife." "Yeah, I know," he replied. This same scenario had been played out time after time over the past few months. In fact, "plumber guy's" boss' six year old daughter would just call me "Steve's wife". Even SHE knew the obvious! And "plumber guy's" response was always the same... a snarky little laugh and smile.

"That's it! That's your answer?" I thought to myself. I played out the different scenarios in my mind over and over again of what would happen at the mission reunion.

"Hey Elder Lewis, how are you? It's nice to see you again. Is this your wife?"

"No. This is my forever girlfriend, Jen. I just plan on stringing her along for month after month until she gives me an ultimatum."

"Is this your wife?" "plumber guy" would ask he fellow companions in return.

"Ya, we just got married a few weeks ago. We got married in the Provo temple. I love my wife! I love being married!"

"Oh congratulations. It's nice to meet you," "plumber guy" would reply and then he would probably change the subject.

Saturday was here and "plumber guy" picked me up to drive to Provo for his mission reunion. He greeted me at my door with a kiss on the lips and a smile. I absolutely loved his smile. His eyes twinkled and reminded me of Santa Clause. I often would tell him he had "Santa Clause" eyes and he would just shake his head side to side and laugh.

"You look great!" he said.

"So do you!"

I wasn't sure what you wear to a mission reunion and decided to wear my Gap khakis and my silk, hunter green blouse. The very same outfit I wore on our first date. "Plumber guy" was wearing jeans and a fresh tee-shirt. I felt a little over dressed, but that was okay. His jeans suited him and me, perfectly fine.

The drive to Provo was quick, as we talked about his old companions and who he had hoped would be attending. As we entered the church building's doors, "plumber guy" immediately recognized some old missionaries from the mission. There was a mixture of Americans and Koreans and some of their children running about. All of the former missionaries, slipped into the Korean lingo and began talking amongst themselves, as us non-Korean speaking wives, husbands, and me (the one and only girlfriend attending), stood beside them smiling and watching the conversations.

As we worked around the room, the former missionaries would look right at me and say something like this in Korean, "Ahn-nyong-ha-se-yo!" Then they would look at "plumber guy" and wait for his response, which sounded like this, "mahn-na-bwep-ge-dwe-o-seo!" Then they would all smile and laugh. "Plumber guy's" face would turn bright red and he would light up. I knew they were talking about me, but I had no idea about what they were talking about.

Through out the night, I watched my future husband in his element, as he talked about memories and experiences he shared with his fellow companions. The conversations always led to the same questions and comments. "Did you know this guy is buff?" they would ask me. "Oh yeah! How could I ever forget," I would think to myself, as my mind would flashback to that glorious picture of him tanned, and flexing his bulging muscles in his swimsuit. Then the conversation would be led to that same daunting question, "So, are you two married?"

The night had ended and we began our journey back home.

"So what did you and your old companions talk about, when you were speaking in Korean?" I asked "plumber guy".

"Oh, you know, missionary stuff."

"Whatever! You guys were totally talking about me! Give it up, muscle boy!" I yelled.

"Okay, okay! They asked about you and asked if we were going to get married," he said with a clever smile.

"I knew it! So what did you tell them?" I asked, while trying to not be so obvious that I was trying to pry out this most important of all important information.

"I just told them I don't know," he said.

My heart sunk. "What the hell!" I thought to myself. (Oh yes I did!) I give up!

I was ticked and like most women, I decided to display my disgrace in the most appropriate manner known.... I gave him the silent treatment. I tried to hold my tears back and turned my head towards the darkness of the night sky. I didn't want him to see my raw emotions begin to shed so I rested my head against the cool, car, window and fell asleep.

We approached my apartment building and I rubbed the sleep from my eyes. I just wanted to curl up on my couch and watch some pointless t.v. show in the dark and alone. I was tired of wondering, if and when "plumber guy" was going to marry me.

"Plumber guy" walked me to my door and asked, "Do you want me to pick you up tomorrow to watch Conference at my house?"

"I think I'll just stay home and watch it here," I sulked. I was mad and I wanted him to know it. And of course, I expected him to read my mind as to what exactly I was mad about.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

He could tell something was wrong and he tried to pry it out of me.

"I'm fine!" I said. "I'm just tired!" I snapped. My responses were all lies, but the only thing I could think of was curling up and cry a big, fat, ugly cry.

"Well, okay," he said timidly. "I love you. I'll call you tomorrow."

"Bye," I said as we gave each other quick kisses. "There, take that!" I thought to myself. No long, lingering smooches and no "I love you too"!

I closed the door and plopped down on my couch, turned the t.v. on and watched the rest of an episode of X-Files. Then the phone rang.

Ring, ring.

I knew it was "plumber guy". As much as I would have liked to not answer the phone in my moment of anger, I just couldn't resist. All of the anger in the world couldn't prevent me from not loving him. My heart softened and I answered the phone.

"Hello,"

"Hey, I'm sorry," "plumber guy" pleaded.

"Oh that's okay. I just felt a little out of place and I was grumpy. I'm sorry too," I responded.

All was well again with us and we agreed to watch Conference at his home the following day. We never did really talk, and I mean, REALLY talk, about the root of my hurt feelings. For some odd reason, we each kept on tip toeing around the subject. But with out my knowledge, that night "plumber guy" approached the "marriage" topic head on! Little did I know that the Korean conversations shared between old companions and friends, included me. In fact, when "plumber guy" was asked about me and if we were going to get married, his response was YES! YES, I tell ya! He told everyone in Korean that night, that he was planning on marrying me! And soon.