The last couple of months have been a whirlwind!!! A word of advice: it's not a good idea to go school full time (commuting an hour both ways), work 2 jobs plus take odd jobs, look for a full time job, apply to graduate school, AND plan a wedding at the same time!!! It was a lot of fun, and I wasn't too stressed out about the wedding plans, but it DEFINITELY would have been more relaxing and I would've enjoyed the wedding plans more fully if I had time to focus on it. But that's my life in a nutshell--almost always more going on than I can sanely handle. :) OK, now to our story. John would probably tell it differently, but this is how I perceived the events that brought us together.
Flash back 1 1/2 years ago. It was January 2012 and I was the newly called Relief Society President of my local single's ward. A new girl and her brother moved in. When I introduced myself to the new girl, Katie Gaskin, and I also met her brother John. I thought John was fairly good looking, but he was dating another girl at the time and I was not really interested in dating any more boys in Provo. I'd had so many little crushes and so many disappointing experiences with Provo boys. Although I had a couple guys I was interested in, I kept telling myself that it wasn't worth it. I was planning on applying to graduate school and getting out of Provo as soon as possible. I thought Katie was super nice and pretty, we had a few interactions and I happened to see her brother around, but that's it.
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| Katie Gaskin |
In the summer, John Gaskin was called as a Sunday school teacher. I enjoyed his different perspective and humor, so I began attending his class regularly. I began interacting a little bit more with him, but still hardly at all. Although at this point in time he was single again, John made it extremely clear that he was not interested at all in dating me. That was a relief for me, because I was not interested in him either, so I figured I was "safe" from him. I thought he was decent looking, he just wasn't my "type".
In August I got a new roommate, Katresha Veazie, and we had a ton of fun together flirting with boys, going on group dates, etc. I had seriously sworn off Provo boys after my last crush disappointed me, and I was living the single dream.
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| Kat & me |
John was asked to do a musical number that month, and my friend Amy Wright asked if I would play the piano with him. He picked a lovely song to sing titled "The Kidron", which I enjoyed learning. I was impressed by his voice--he is a wonderful singer, very enjoyable to listen to. We practiced the song twice, and John treated me to dinner both times as a thank you. That was the first time we actually truly talked. I was impressed by his honesty--he told me some very personal things about himself and we had a very enjoyable conversation. Because I wasn't interested in him and it was obvious that he wasn't interested in me, I felt relaxed around him. It was easy to be myself around him from the very beginning, which I appreciated as I had not had that feeling with very many guys. We had fun performing the song in church and we interacted a little bit more afterwards.
In October our singles ward (Provo YSA 228) had a ridiculously silly "get to know you" activity. Each apartment was given a little pumpkin which we could decorate if wanted. We were then supposed to go to other apartments, knock on the door and say the person's name who answered it. If we said their name before they could say our name, we could steal their pumpkin. Katresha was really excited about the activity, so we went around stealing as many pumpkins as we could.
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| The pumpkins me & Sam Bant made for the activity |
One late evening on the last day of the activity, Kat and I were desperately trying to figure out who else we could steal pumpkins from. I suggested we steal John's. When he opened the door, we definitely said his name first. He said we were welcome to steal his pumpkin on one condition: we had to come in and drink a cup of fruit tea with him. We accepted. I had forgotten how much I like tea, and John said we could come by any time for more tea. "Ok sure, whatever. Like that will ever happen" I thought flippantly. Katresha and I definitely won the prize for the most pumpkins stolen, which made us happy, and that was that.
That weekend ended up being a super tough weekend for me. There were some things going on that were totally out of my control which left me feeling sad and lonely despite my awesome roommates. I wanted to talk with someone who really didn't know me (don't ask me why, I don't know).
On a whim, I decided to take John up on his offer of tea. So I texted him and said that if it was all right, I was going to invite myself over to tea in order to de-stress. He said OK, and that evening after class I went over. We were both surprised by how enjoyable tea was! John is a great conversationalist and it was truly a relaxing evening. A couple of nights later, he invited me over for tea again, and soon we were making it a habit.
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| This is the very tea set that began it all!!! |
I was completely unaware that a couple weeks previous to our tea, John had a gut feeling that said "you should pursue Natalie--she will make you happy". John fought off the feeling for a little while because he was convinced that I wasn't his "type" and he tried to dismiss the thought of dating me. But after our first conversation over tea, John decided it was worth giving a chance. It was a good thing that I didn't know this, because I was convinced that I wasn't interested in John--we were just becoming good friends. Because I thought of him as a good friend, I was able to be myself with him the entire time we got to know each other. My roommates kept asking what was going on with me and John, but I told them not to worry "we're on the same page. We're just friends and that's all we'll ever be." Little did I know. :)
The Saturday before Halloween, our ward had a super fun dress up Halloween activity at Classic Skating. John came over and asked for a ride. My roommate Kim and I were making dinner for Aaron, so John had dinner with us and then we headed over to the Halloween activity. After the activity, John came with us to a dance and then to my apartment for a game night (where I flirted with another boy I was mildly interested in).
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| Kimberlee Pixton & Aaron Smith |
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| Katresha Veazie, our new friend, Janeece Veazie (Kat's sister) |
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| John Gaskin |
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| Me in my prison garb |
The following Wednesday, the actual Halloween, John invited me to come with him to a haunted corn maze. It turned out the corn maze was closed (on Halloween--what???) so we went to the haunted forest in American Fork. He picked me up on his motorcycle and we went together but I didn't even realize it was a date until we arrived and he was paying for my ticket. But I dismissed it and figured it was just a friend's date--because he'd made it so clear that he wasn't interested in me and I sure wasn't interested in him. When I felt claustrophobic and scared John let me hold onto his arm and hand. I dismissed that as him just being polite.
Yes, that's how clueless I was.
Beginning in the summer, a group of friends and I got together every Monday night after FHE to watch "Avatar: The Last Airbender" at Sam Heinzen's house. Nerdy perhaps, but super fun! I knew that John liked that show, so after our first date I invited him to come along with Kim and I. He came and somehow we ended up sitting on the same love seat. I always got really cold at Sam's house, and that particular week my normal cuddle buddy (Amy Wright) was sick and not in attendance. I stole my favorite blanket of Sam's, and because I was trying to be nice, I offered to share it with John. Partway through the first episode, John reached over under the blanket and grabbed my hand!
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| Avatar The Last Airbender |
So I've already admitted to being completely clueless--so don't laugh. Up to this point I really, truly, honest to goodness believed we were "just friends". I really thought we were on the same page! So when John grabbed my hand, I started freaking out inside. I didn't want him to know I was freaking out until I decided how I felt about it, so I didn't move my hand. I finally realized that John was pursuing me, and after I was done panicking, I decided it didn't feel too bad holding his hand. As I thought more about it, I decided to give him a chance. I figured that if I didn't like it, I could always end things in a couple weeks.
So we began dating. I enjoyed being with John, and I realized quickly that I enjoyed dating him. I was still really worried about putting my heart on the line, so I went to have a heart to heart with my good friend and bishop, Bishop Ray Nelson. I told him what was going on and I spilled all of my fears. As I talked I suddenly realized that I was worrying about how other people in my life had disappointed me. I realized that my fears were unfounded--that John was not the person I was so worried about hurting me. Bishop Nelson listened and then asked if John treats me right. When I said that he does, and how much I enjoy John's company, Bishop Nelson told me that he couldn't see any red flags. He said that if I needed confirmation that dating John was a good choice, he would give it to me. He said that even if we didn't keep dating, this had been a good experience for me because I now knew that I wanted to marry my best friend.
Over the next few days, weeks, and months, I become increasingly happy with the decision I made to date John. I enjoyed going to plays with him, concerts, movies, talking over tea, and cooking dinner with John. I realized that John is my best friend, and I loved dating him!
This is the story of how John and I started dating. In the next blog post I'll continue our story. :)
