Sunday, April 28, 2013

How Greg Met Tess

BIG CHANGES

So it only seems suitable that it has been almost a year since my last blogpost. I'm not as fancy as some people (*cough*Trina*cough*). It's also pretty amusing that my LAST blogpost was talking about life changes - namely, moving. Well, I have even MORE big changes to report!

First, last Friday I received my diploma for my Bachelor's of Arts from Brigham Young University. I am officially a college graduate! That means no more classes, no more homework, no more finals, or tests, or teachers, etc. etc. Basically, this is a HUGE life change. I am going to have to get a job and just be a big kid now!

Second, as many have been aware, in February I received a call from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints to serve a full-time mission to preach the gospel in Nagoya, Japan. That was pretty exciting, too, and it was essentially my plan for my next eighteen months. I was going to go to China for a month, hang out for a month, then report on June 26.

Well that plan changed a LITTLE bit when a little while ago I started dating someone. Whelp. I'm getting married! I think that's pretty much the biggest life change there is, no? So Trina said, "Now you're getting married you have to write on a blog!" SO here I go. Revamping the old blog. Maybe I'll even learn how to design the background thing (*gasp*).

I have decided to start off by the story of how I went from MISSION to MARRIAGE. So this is the first installment of HOW GREG MET TESS! By the way, that's the person I'm marrying (Greg).

So here's the story. And you'll find that it is a VERY long story. About two years long.

Boy Meets Girl and Girl is Unimpressed (aka First Impressions/Meeting)

So almost exactly two years ago now, the Young Single Adult stakes in Orem and Provo were COMPLETELY redone. My ward, which I loved, was metaphorically butchered into a bunch of different pieces. Our ward's people were divided into all three stakes and multiple different wards (due to the new boundaries). This was not totally thrilling to me, but my boyfriend at the time lived a block west of my house so that was comforting that we'd still be in the same ward.

First or second FHE, we were at a member of the bishopric's house. The aforementioned boyfriend at the time was coming from work and thus not there. I was helping prepare refreshments while staring uneasily at the people that had just been thrust on me as my new ward family.

*Sidenote** You probably already know this if you've ever met me, but I do not warm up to new things very quickly. It takes me sometimes months to start feeling comfortable in a new environment. Socially, this new ward was VERY discomforting.

So there I was, innocently avoiding socializing by hiding in the kitchen cutting bananas. One of the unfamiliar young men new to my ward family was sitting at the dining room table and chatting with the bishopric second counselor. I don't know that I knew this at the time, but he was the new EQP (elder's quorum president). As they conversed, this young man made some comment he must have found amusing, because he smiled at me like I was supposed to laugh. Very friendly-like. Kind of too friendly.

And I thought..."Back off, creeper. We're not friends."

Now you may be thinking, "So this is when the future husband swept in and saved the day, yes?"

Nope. That was him. The creeper was Greg. Yep...moving on.

New Friend

So not long after this initial "creeper" impression, the aforementioned boyfriend and I broke up. No big deal. We were cool. The only issue was that I now found myself in a ward with no good friends to interact with. Friends, there is wisdom in the idea that all new converts need a FRIEND. I had been a member of the church for nineteen years at this point and came dangerously close to going inactive, because I felt so uncomfortable in the new ward. Now when I say "dangerously close" I just mean that I thought about it wistfully. Wishful thinking. My calling kept me going.

I decided then after this period that I needed to be more social if I wanted to enjoy being in the ward. I had to pick a friend and make them mine (yes, that's how I make friends, I pick you and your mine forever). There just so happened to be a very friendly EQP that had been attempting to be my friend. I decided he'd be my friend. I also picked a girl from my old ward, whom I hadn't known very well, and chose her to be my friend as well.

Imagine my joy when we all started hanging out together. She was interested in Greg's friend, and we just made a happy little family friend group going to bonfires and playing ultimate frisbee and having a dandy time. Things were looking up socially. I was even considering starting to have a romantic liking for this Greg person.

Then he started dating my friend. Heh. Awkward. Nevermind then.

Best Friend

I like to think I have experience with backing off my own interests when my friends have the same interest. It wasn't a big deal to me, since I hadn't decided if I was officially interested or not. I was mainly just thinking about it. And we were still a happy friend family group, including other good friends that were in the ultimate frisbee bonfire book reading family.

Well a few months later after multiple breakups and getting-back-togethers, Greg broke up with this girl individual friend once and for all. Interestingly enough, he got most of the friend family in the semi-divorce (cause they were his first). As for me, who was a mutual friend from the start, they obtained joint custody. I was pretty content with this decision, and I got to practice my dancing skills (around the awkwardness in mentioning either of them to the other).

Long story short, this Greg individual was available once again. He and I were pretty good friends, and I could've decided then to start liking him again. I decided I didn't want to deal with figuring that out. Even though the aforementioned broken up mutual friend girl individual even told me on my birthday that I could date him (because he was texting me). "Happy Birthday, Tess, have a future husband!" But not in those words. She just said I could date him if I wanted. Actually, according to Greg, this was the point when he was starting to view ME in that potential dating manner.

I said, "Gee. No thanks. I'm good."

A couple months later I moved to Provo, and I severed ties with many Orem friends in the process, out of laziness. I stayed friends with my good buddies in the Greg Group, however. It turned out that moving was good for making us even BETTER friends. Also, his going to Alaska. Because he was leaving for Alaska for the summer I was taking up some of his last precious social moments before he left. This was bringing back those "What if..." wonderings in the back of my mind, but I mainly just enjoyed being around him. We talked for hours sometimes. Things were good. I could tell he was growing more interest in the matter.

Then he left for Alaska, leaving me with those "maybe" thoughts for his return. He was gone for 3-4 months.

He came back with a horrible ugly patchy beard thing. All those "maybe" thoughts flew out the window again.

Once again, I said, "Gee. No thanks. I'm good."

And that is the first installment of How Greg Met Tess....and later asked her to marry him.

7 comments:

  1. I am obediently commenting on this blog, as per your request. Please see my facebook post for my feelings on the subject matter of this lovely blog.

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  2. Lol. I too have been summoned to comment by a force that is very strong. Congrats to both of you and your new adventures in the world.

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  3. Wait I wasn't done reading. :) please do more.

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  4. I lol'ed at the creeper comment. Haha. I like how you pick your friends. I wonder what the friend who dated Greg thinks? What did he do in Alaska? You could take him to the dinosaur park in Ogden. Remember that? I believe we used to call it Jurassic park. At least I did. I like your background. Or has it already been revamped? I'm glad you are a blogger like me! Trina has super human blogging powers or something. But I like it. I need things to read. Can't wait to hear about Cali!

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  5. What a wonderful blog! Tess you really have a way with words! Laughed throughout, just imagining Greg sayind and doing all those things. Love this!

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  6. Fun writing Tess..as usual. It is fun to read the background o. Your friendship with Greg, I hadn't realized u were buddies for so long. Good thing he got joint custody of u lol

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  7. I understand that my beard was patchy, but one simply can't leave Alaska "the last frontier" without one. I'm pretty sure it's in their rulebook. I'm also glad that I got joint custody and not just visiting rights on major holidays... That one aspect has changed everything in my life.

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