The First Kiss

The other day, Dave and I realized that it has been 10 years (this week sometime) since our first kiss. So, I thought I'd share our first kiss story -- because it is a classic!

So, Dave and I were set up on a blind date by our mutual friend Brian. (Brian worked for me, Brian was Dave's roommate). We had a jovial time that first night. Dave called me the next day to say what a good time he'd had. Over the next 2 months we dated sporadically. At this time, my parents were living in Hong Kong and I only saw them every 6 months at General Conference. I was 24, a returned missionary, a graduate of BYU, and SINGLE. If I didn't show up with a boy every 6 months to conference, I would get 'a talk' about making more of an effort, etc. So, I invited Dave. He was a great sport (even though his roommate had accidentally shaved off his hair the day before).

Anyway, back to the first kiss. By the end of the semester (end of April), Dave and I had gone out regularly. His mom was out from Florida visiting Dave's grandma, who had cancer. Dave wanted me to come out and meet his mom. I remember thinking that things were getting too serious if he wanted me to meet his mom. (Remember, I took him to meet my family to avoid another 6 months of sighs from my family). I had decided that Dave and I didn't really have a future. I enjoyed his company, but if I was meeting his family, I needed to let Dave know that I just didn't feel there was much of a future. Also, Dave was leaving the next day to go home to Florida for 10 days and I didn't want to lead him on -- but to break things off before he left.

So, the whole drive home (from Orem to Provo), I went through in my mind what I was going to say -- how I was going to let him know my feelings, etc. He pulled up in the 1991 Honda Accord (now Courtney Despain's car) in front of the scenic dumpster in the parking lot of my apartment building. I got up the nerve and said, "Dave, I have really enjoyed spending time with you these past months. I like you as a friend, but I really can't guarantee that those feelings will ever change into something more. You are welcome to take your chances, but I just wanted to let you know how I felt."

The next thing I know, Dave is kissing me. WHAT? Okay, now for Dave's thought process: of my speech, the only part he heard was "take your chances", so he decided to do just that.

Utterly confused and a little dazed (it's not like I have kissed a lot of people in my life), I got out of the car and tried to replay my words to see how they could have led to that reaction. Dave got out and we started the long hike up the three flights of stairs. Luckily, my roommate came out to let me know my Dad was on the phone from Hong Kong and I need to go talk to him. Dave gave me a quick hug and said he'd call me from Florida.

Over the next 10 days I laughed about the whole thing with my roommates and mission friends. No one could believe that he had done that! And, although my roommates absolutely LOVED Dave and praised his every quality, I had decided that I need to be much more clear with him and end things when he returned.

When he got back, he asked me over for a BBQ with his roommates. Me being the not-so-sensitive person that I was then, I took my roommate along with me so he wouldn't try and kiss me again! After the BBQ, he walked us home. At our house, I wanted to explain my feelings again, so he came in and we sat down on the couch. My mission scrapbook was sitting there and we started looking at it. He sat there for over an hour actually interested in my mission and all the stories that accompanied the pictures. Then, I told him in NO UNCERTAIN TERMS what I was trying to say that night in front of the dumpster. He apologized for misunderstanding. As he was leaving, I gave him a hug, and before I could pull away, there he was kissing me again!

This time, however, I thought, 'What the heck!" and kissed him back. The rest -- as they say -- is history!

P.s. His roommates hold him up high in their books because a girl told him she just wanted to be friends (the line of death), he returned it with a kiss 'so incredible' that I ended up marrying him! :)

P.P.S. I'm so happy I am married to him. He is perfect for me in every way.

Like Mother, Like Daughter

Okay, so Eden will probably hold a grudge about this entry for years to come, but I just had to capture this and share it.

Eden is an 'angel' for all her school teachers, her primary teachers, and other adults she is around. She isn't perfect, however, as demonstrated in the picture below. The only two things that really get her mad and cause her to throw a fit are if she thinks she is going to be late for school (NO idea where that gene came from), or if I tell her she can't play with her friends. She is such a social butterfly that friends are everything to her right now.

I caught this on camera after telling her she couldn't go to a friend's house. I only took it because years ago, my older sister caught me on camera throwing a similar fit. I now love that picture because it is so realistic of how I still feel sometimes, and how my kids all act at times. So, here are two fit-throwing pictures -- one of Eden (2008), one of me (circa 1978). Enjoy!

Random

So, I got two phone calls yesterday about very random things. One of them was the following message: "Hi, we are wondering if you can babysit our 20 snails and 2 slugs?" (It was from Eden's good friend Miriam while they are going to Utah for her dad's BYU graduation). So, now I have a container of slugs and snails on our back porch that EDEN gets to babysit (feed, water, and ENTERTAIN) for the next 6 days. I still have to figure out where to put them during Cub Scout Day Camp which is in our backyard this Saturday. Can you just imagine 13 cub scouts discovering a container full of snails...

The other random thing was a phone call from my sister up in Utah. She had received a letter from a mystery man addressed to me as my maiden name. Long story that I don't want to reveal on this public blog -- but essentially, this man in Idaho read a book my dad wrote a few years ago. From some of the things my dad included in his book about me, this man felt 'prompted' to get to know me and tracked down an address (have NO idea how he got my sister's address) and wrote a 4 page letter with photos asking me out to dinner. Now how is that for RANDOM. Little creepy as well. Dave wants to go to Idaho and 'take care' of the situation. Ha!

So, anything random happen in your life?

25 days and counting

So, for those whom I haven't already BORED with my training regimen -- 25 days left until the triathlon! My friend Liz decided to do a triathlon on May 10th. She brought it up at our ward book group and 5 of us decided to all join in! We should have had Barnes and Noble sponser us!

Anyway, it's a 1/4 mile swim in Tempe Town Lake (aptly nicknamed Tempe Brown Lake) -- that is going to be GROSS. I guess it is just filthy -- and an open water swim is supposed to be tons harder than a pool. Then, a 12 mile bike ride, ending up with a 5K (3.1 mile) run. I'm the least looking forward to the run. The last triathlon I did was in college, 11 years ago when I was in great shape (I had just run a marathon and worked out like 2 hours a day to avoid dealing with the fact that all my roommates were getting married and I was graduating from BYU without even a boyfriend... but that is another story for another day -- in fact, check out my friend Wendy's blog for a song we recorded about just that epoch in my life).

Anyway, even then, the 5K at the end was TORTURE. TORTURE. And now, I love to swim and enjoy biking, but running -- ugh. I need to figure out a way to get my ipod for the running portion. What are your favorite songs to work out to?

But, I've thoroughly enjoyed having a fitness goal and working out with my friends. So, in about 26 days, look for another blog about hopefully having successfully completed the all-woman's SheRox triathlon!

Bathroom etiquette?

When Josh goes #2 (poo) in the bathroom (Do people even know what #2 is anymore?), he strips down --- ALL of his clothes. We never taught him this, but he just feels that this is essential. Hey, I don't complain -- he's potty trained! He also takes about 15-20 minutes each time he has to go. It is quite the ordeal.

Well, yesterday he was in the bathroom and I was in the kitchen and could hear him calling out for something. Assuming it was toilet paper, I opened the door slightly and asked him if he needed some toilet paper.

"No," he replied, "But, can you bring me the cheetos?"

I immediately said no, but was laughing about it the rest of the day! I explained that is simply wasn't appropriate to eat while going to the bathroom. "But I'm STARVING!" he said. I told him to just hurry and he said, "I can't hurry! Please! Eden brings toys into the bathroom, and I'm so hungry!"

I drew the line. I guess we need to have a little family lesson on bathroom etiquette.

Scrabble anyone?

One of my absolute favorite games to play is Scrabble. I love all word games in fact (Boggle, crosswords, etc). However, Dave does not. I have tried and tried to get him to like -- or even just play -- scrabble. No such luck. So, the other night, we had some friends over who also like to play Scrabble. They brought it and we roped Dave into playing. (It was either that or watch "The suite life of Zack & Cody" with all the kids).

Anyway, later that night, as we were getting ready for bed, I told him, "Honey, you looked so sexy playing scrabble tonight." It didn't work. He still doesn't like scrabble. Oh well.