i didn't think anything of it. and he doesn't even remember it.
the next time we met was at a ysa scavenger hunt at the mall. i rode there with a couple friends and we got there a little late, everyone already had their groups. we, of course, got split up. one of the girls ended up being in hamilton's group, i tried to leave my group and go to theirs, but the guy in charge had already written my name. after the scavenger hunt we all met in the food court to see who won. then we were going to get ice cream. i went over to talk to my friend and i remember not being in the best mood. hamilton was standing with us and i guess i gave him a little too much attitude because he decided to leave and not get ice cream with everyone. he said, "this girl is givin me bad vibes." directed at me. he says that he did not like me at all. he thought i was mean and rude.
i don't entirely remember this encounter, but i vaguely remember being in a bad mood and him being in the circle as we were talking. again, i was still engaged to someone else, so i didn't think much of it at all.
now the third time we met was at a mutual friends house. our friend was leaving to go on his mission so he had some friends over a few weeks before he left. there was probably 5-7 of us. we all sat outside in a little circle. it was almost like musical chairs because every time someone would get up, someone would take their seat. this was in late february or early march. there were these teeny tiny rocks that everyone kept throwing at each other, and we would crush up leaves and throw those at each other also. we were, at least i was, definitely being a little flirty, i made sure to throw some his way (just like we all used to do in preschool and kindergarden). the person that was sitting by hamilton got up, so i moved over next to him. i don't remember what we talked about, but i do remember really enjoying that conversation. i remember laughing and thinking that he was a pretty cool kid. and i wasn't engaged anymore.
he wasn't at our friends farewell party, and i didn't see him for awhile so i kind of forgot about that little encounter we had.
after this time, he changed his mind and decided that he liked me.
the final time we "met" (i'm not sure how many times you can meet someone and still consider it "meeting") was in church one sunday. it was in june, i believe it was june 8th. i'm not entirely sure but i remember meeting him a few weeks before my dad died. which was a very good thing. i don't think i would have been open to a relationship if i had met him after, i also think i would've relied on him far too much for my happiness. plus it gave me more time to date other people after breaking off my engagement. i needed a little time to adjust and live life without a boy in my life.
anyways, we met one sunday in early june. i was with my friend chelsea, who happened to also be his friend, so we walked over to him so she could say hello. we immediately hit it off. we talked so much and i knew right away that i wanted to be with him. it wasn't one of those "oh, you're cute and funny so i like you" kind of things, it was much different. i'm not sure why i felt that way or how i knew right off the bat, but i did.
it took him a little longer to figure it out, but that's okay.
during 2nd hour that day he looked at me and asked, "did you get my text?"
"no, i don't have your number?" i replied, confused. this was the first time we had really connected.
"oh, well you should." clever. i laughed it was probably the only decent pick up line i've ever heard haha. so i gave him my number and we talked a few times during the week.
and that is how we "met."
the following sunday was father's day, i went home to bradenton for the weekend. so we didn't see each other.
the sunday after that we were at church. he got there late so i didn't see him until after sacrament. we sat together during sunday school again. talking up a storm, probably being super disruptive. oh well. on that day all my friends asked if we were dating, or if we were going to start dating. two friends said that we would definitely get married. i didn't think a whole lot of it, girls say that about almost all the people you date. but i knew i wanted to be with him.
after church chelsea and i decided to go watch a movie at my place. we invited two of our other friends, and i suggested we invite hamilton. she said sure! so i did. we all went to my place and watched a movie. i tried to save a spot next to me so that he could sit by me, but someone else decided to sit there. i may have been a little bitter about that. but that's okay, i'm over it now haha.
it was a lot of fun, we just hung out.
my mom called during the movie and told me that i needed to come to town as soon as i could, because my dad was very sick. i was taking a summer class, so i told her i would leave as soon as it ended on monday so i don't miss a whole week of work. she said that was fine.
i didn't think a whole lot about it, it scared me, but i was having fun with my friends.
my dad died the next day. i was gone for a week, but i was at church the next sunday. i had a lot of people calling and texting me. it was nice that there were so many people willing to help and make me feel better. hamilton didn't text me though. i didn't notice a whole lot though.
after that we hung out more and more. i convinced him to come to a thing at ucf with the missionaries. he didn't want to go, but he did. him, chelsea, and i all went together. afterwards we took chelsea's car to checkers (she was hungry and that's what she wanted), we all sat in her car talking for about an hour or so. then hamilton and i left (we drove there together). we talked the whole way home, about random things. then we talked about how tired we both were. but we stayed in the car for probably another 2 hours. we were there until midnight or so. he apologized to me for not texting me or asking me how i was doing after my dad died. he was with me the sunday after it happened so he knew that everyone was asking how i was and if i needed anything. he said that he figured i was tired of talking about it and hearing the same things, so he didn't want to bring it up and say the things that everyone else was saying. it makes sense and i wasn't mad at him in the first place so it was okay, and i appreciated that he didn't ask me the same things everyone else did.
we talked about my family and his. some of his adventures. he told me about how he climbed the ucf billboard with a friend a few times. i told him about how i've always wanted to climb a billboard. so he said, well let's go then! i drove us back to ucf and he told me where to park.
we walked over and as we were walking he said, "okay, so what's our story if a cop asks what we're doing?"
"uhh, i don't know? we're just going for a walk?" i replied.
"we're going on a romantic walk in the middle of the night. we're dating." (he said something like that haha).
i think my heart skipped a beat when he said that. no one stopped us though. when we got there, i looked up and the ladder starts a few feet taller than i can jump, so he lifted me up to the ladder. we climbed up to the very top. there are these little beams that go up a little higher to hold up the score board. so i climbed up to that beam and laid down there. he looked at me like i was crazy and even told me i was crazy haha. it wasn't scary though, it was a lot of fun. he eventually followed me and laid down next to me. we continued talking about all sorts of things. we have so much in common, yet we're so different. it's a good thing though. there was a moment when we were just looking at each other, into each other's eyes. i would've bet you anything that he was going to kiss me right then and there. he didn't though. which was okay. i may have been a little confused after because i was almost positive he liked me too.
we were probably up there for 2 hours. by the time we got back to my place and he got in his car to leave, it was just after 3am. we had been talking for 5 +/- hours. it didn't feel like that long at all!
after that night i knew i would marry him.
fast forward a little bit. we had gone on a few other dates. movies, food, etc. during the month of july we hung out a lot. we hung out at his house a lot and would just watch netflix movies.
the first time he kissed me, we were at his house. it was late, probably 11 or so (it was usually a little later when we'd hang out because it was the only spare time we had). we were probably 30 minutes into a movie when i knew he was looking at me, so i turned my head to look at him. i hate eye contact so i turned my head shortly after. he leaned over and kissed me on the cheek! i had never had a first kiss that was on the cheek before, that meant a lot to me and showed me that he respected me.
soon july was over and it was august. i was starting to wonder a little bit if this was just a fling to him or if it was going to be the real deal to him. i knew what i wanted.
we were driving around one night because he had to go drop something off to a friend and on our way back he took a detour and drove all around his neighborhood. he told me everything that he had done in the past and told me his mistakes and anything that he though might effect how i feel about him. it didn't change anything and i told him my mistakes. i know he's not perfect and neither am i. i especially can't judge him when i've made similar mistakes.
if anything having that conversation made our bond stronger. i knew that it wasn't just a fling to him after that.
on august 4th we were at his house again, watching a movie. i told him about how a guy wanted to date me, so he called someone i was friends with to ask what the deal was and my friend told him, "she's basically with hamilton now, so it isn't really worth trying."
after i told him, he laughed and said something clever like, "since we're basically together, do you want to make it official?"
i obviously said yes! i had only been waiting weeks for him to ask!
and that is how it all started. we had a little bit of a rocky start, but that's okay! it was fun and i'm glad that we connected when we did, instead of earlier or later.
thinking back on where i was in my life when we first met, we probably would've never started dating in the first place.
the time we talked at our friends house wouldn't have done much either. he went to louisiana fairly soon after and would've been gone for 2 or so months. plus i knew that i needed to date different people and not be with anyone for a little while.
there are so many things that helped us get together that there's no way it was coincidence. he never went to the ysa ward, but decided that he would go that particular sunday in june. he also didn't like me the first time he met me.
i think we both had some shenanigans that we needed to get out of our systems and it was a very good thing that we did it before we started dating.
and if it would've been any later, it would've been after my dad died and i don't think i would've opened my heart to anyone new for a long time. he's such a catch and such a great guy that he would've gotten snatched up.
i love him so much and he really means the world to me. we've come so far from that sunday in june. i know that he is the one i am going to marry and i can't wait to start our life together!
he almost had to drag me to this dance. it was fun though!
xoxo,
jacquelyn
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