The story of us.

Okay...so that's not a quote from my quote wall.  2nd post ever and I've already broken a rule.  Oh well.  So I decided it's story time.  I'm going to post an email that I sent out...most of you probably got it...about the story of me and Joe.  I know...lame post...get over it. :)

Hey guys!  So A lot of you have been asking about me and Joe and what our story is.  I know it’s weird because a lot of people didn’t even know we were dating.  So…here’s the story.  Enjoy! Once Upon a Time…(couldn’t resist…sorry!)  I lived in Orem.  I started my job teaching and it was the first time I really lived out on my own…the two summers previous didn’t really count in my opinion…  I finally got to know people in my ward and was feeling comfortable with where I was at in life.  I went to church one day and when I made it to Sunday School there was a new guy there.  He was HUGE and very intimidating looking, but we were late for some reason (this was two years ago…so I can’t remember details…but who cares really?) and there were seats next to this guy.  Jenny made me sit by the new guy and she and I proceeded to giggle and make obnoxious comments to each other about the Sunday School lesson.  (mature, I know) Well this big HUGE guy kept glaring at us (he claims he was just looking at us…I swear I remember a glare).  Sunday School ends, story over.  Apparently this drew his attention and he thought I was cute.  I was oblivious.  He slowly got up the courage to talk to me and come to find out he lived in the same building as me, kitty corner.  He’d come over occasionally, but I wasn’t interested…and I also didn’t really get it.  I didn’t realize he liked me.  Months went by with teaching, pipe banding, familying, etc and nothing happened.  This whole time he was admiring me from a distance (wow..that sounds conceded) and trying to work up the courage to ask me out. One night he sent me a text and did just that.  Asked me out.  I didn’t get it (I’m dumb) and thought he just wanted to go hang out.  Finally he had to tell me he wanted to go on a date with me and take me to dinner.  I reluctantly agreed as I was interested in someone else at the time.  Somehow, for some reason the date ended up getting cancelled and I never called back to re-line it up.  He gave up and life went on. 
Eventually I decided to make the big girl decision to buy a house and found my cozy little condo in Springville.  Joe decided to move to Texas for work.  The end of the Susan/Joe story? Apparently not quite.  I moved and settled in down where I am and was pretty happy with life.  Joe meanwhile moved to Texas, work sucked and he moved home to live with his parents in Missouri.  Later, he told me that he dated other girls but ended up dumping them because they weren’t me (sweet and sappy…but it’s cute…don’t lie).  As he couldn’t get over me (again!  So conceded!!!) he moved to Facebook stalking.  Hee hee.  Creepy?  Meh…not really.  He wasn’t that bad.  He would comment on statuses and pictures and that was about it.  There was an occasional chat session that usually lasted about an hour.  He kept my attention and didn’t let me forget him.  I actually found myself trying to post statuses to get him to comment, etc.  I liked the attention.
Well, back in January Joe decided to try something new and he texted me.  I responded and he replied…needless to say…we became attached (at the phone).  We’ve texted each other every single day since then, morning, recess, lunch, prep time and after school until bedtime. (I think he said we sent over 20,000 texts in the month of February…yeah…we’re awesome)  Don’t worry…I’m not basing my marriage off facebook and texting!  He calls as well and we talk for hours.  Well at the beginning of March he asked me to take a chance to come see him in person out in Missouri.  I thought a Spring Break vacation sounded fun, so I said oky-doky and booked a plane ticket.  Meanwhile, we continued to get more and more attached (as much as you can via phone I guess...) and he decided he needed to come out to Utah before Spring Break.  He came out over conference weekend and I met him face to face for the first time in two years on Friday.  Things went GREAT!  We had dinner, hung out all night, went to conference the next morning then the aquarium and hung out together more and got to know each other better in real life.  I thoroughly enjoyed myself and when he left Tuesday night to go back home I was beside myself.  I really wasn’t looking forward to the rest of that week without him! (Again…pour on the cheese).  The funny thing was, my flight went out the following Saturday! 
We went back to our usual schedule of texting each other.  As we were texting he started dropping hints about wanting to be with me “for a REALLY long time” and we starting making a list of things we wanted to do together and it’s “definitely going to take us at LEAST fifty years”.  You get the idea.  I knew something was coming and so starting trying to assess my feelings and decide if it was more than a boyfriend/girlfriend relationship that I wanted. 
I flew out to Missouri last Friday.  I’ll spare you the nitty gritty details, but I met his family, we hung out, we went to church sites and I came to realize during my time out there that I couldn’t imagine NOT being with him.  He’s treated me fantastically and has always been honest with me.  I feel like I’ve known him for years…which…technically, I have…but I think you know what I mean. Of course I’m realizing all this while I’m there in Missouri.  I wondered if he’d propose while I was out there, because of the hints he’d dropped, but didn’t dare hope or think he would.  The whole thing still seemed a little surreal.  “This type of thing doesn’t happen to me” I thought.
Well, amidst all the church history site touring and card game playing vacation, we made plans to go up to Nauvoo (about 3 ½ hours away) and do a temple session.  You have to call ahead of time to set up an appointment, so he set it up for 5 pm, which seemed a little late to me, but whatever…he was boss on this vacation.  We headed up there around nine, went to Carthage then over to Nauvoo.  We wandered the historical sites and listened to the little old missionaries tell us all about everything. 
Funny thing, the night before I decided I should probably make a decision of whether I wanted to marry him so I could have an answer if he asked.  Call it cheesy, but I figured it would be so memorable if he proposed in Nauvoo and both mom and roommates (who I had been texting this whole time) said they thought he’d do it in Nauvoo.  I realized I had slowly fallen in love with him and if he asked I would definitely say yes!  Anywho…back to the story…
Well, as we wandered the sites, we had one missionary couple ask if we were married and when we said no they scolded us.  (Hmmm…can I take a hint?)  So we go up to the temple, get changed and meet up in the chapel.  As we’re sitting there waiting for the session to start the temple president guy (whoever it is that greets you at the beginning of the session) came up and asked us if we’d be the witness couple.  Well…we told him we weren’t married and we got a second scolding for not being married. (Hint number 2…TAKEN!!!) We did the session and when it was over we decided to meet up outside.  He beat me out and waited for me by the flowerbed.  He distracted me by making me look out over the Mississippi river at the sunset (CHEESE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) and when I turned around he was down on one knee.  The rest is history.  Needless to say, he basically had to hold me up as we walked to the car because I could barely walk.  Ha ha ha! 
So there it is!  The story of me and Joe.  I absolutely adore him and am excited to spend the rest of forever with him.  He’s an absolute blast to hang out with and I think you’ll all love him too. He’ll be moving out to Utah on May 4th and we’re getting married in Nauvoo on October 18th. I’m super excited and hope I didn’t bore you with all the details! Love you all!!!