Why I HAD to be the gentleman in our relationship!

I was living in Rexburg with my cousin Brittany as a room mate.  We had been best-friends and cousins our whole lives and this was our only chance to room together.  Graciously, she came up to Rexburg.  She happened to be engaged to the amazing, Brent Staley and love was in the air!  I had also just had my really good friend and room mate Jo get engaged to the love of her life.  I had never had a serious boy-friend and prided myself in the fact of dating TONS and never getting serious with any of them.  I was 19 for goodness sakes!  Plus I had just cashed in on my bet with my parents about not kissing anyone till 18!  It was worth it!

At 19, I had had a horrible experience with this one kid who tried to kiss me on the first date.  I wasn't expecting it.  This kid was like going 100% and I was going negative 10% and some how he caught me.  I did like him but the date had gone horribly and I had hoped to never see him again.  Needless to say his tongue touched me before his lips did and I immediately stepped back, never wanting to experience his lips if it was anything like his tongue.  So I don't count that as a kiss, would you?  I had only been in the ward with Brittany a few weeks and was getting acclimated to the (boys) environment.

We lived at Tuscany and needless to say there were extremely good-looking girls in my ward.  Some were slightly obsessed with themselves but I of course wasn't!!!  (Yeah right, when you are single and in college all you think about is yourself!)  So I was never late to church . . . . :) . . . and Brittany and I were sitting towards the back in sacrament meeting in the Ricks building.  It was one of the first weeks in the summer sememster and the "new callings" list was unbelieveably long.  I was called to ward pianist . . . YES!  I love that calling!  All the sudden 5 guys walked into sacrament meeting.  All were over 6 foot 3 and all pretty good looking.  I was annoyed they made such an appereance and even more annoyed that there was a wave of girls wispering about them.  Seriously girls, do all of you have ADD?  Focus!  I leaned over the Brittany and said, "the average height of our ward just went up about a foot!"  After the meeting had proceeded and the congregation hushed I had to check them out for myself.  Yes, they were good looking and yes they were tall.  The second one in had brownish red hair and his arm around the chair of his friends.  I immediately thought of my beautiful, red-haird sister and leaned over the Brittany and said, "see the one with his arm around his buddy . . . Tiffany would love to have him in the family!"  Little did I know!  So that night we had ward prayer slash try to find your eternal mate while praying party.  I primped a lot before but knew that we needed to get back for Brittany's call to Brent.  After the prayer we headed to the door and low and behold the freakishly tall boys were blocking the way (probably cause the were late again) with seriously about 5 girls to every boy.  Annoyed again.  The tall brown-red haired boy turned right when I walked past him and introduced himself as Devin Gneiting and his friend as David Kennedy.  The conversation was witty and fast paced.  I liked that I had to keep up with their humor and was some-how entranced that someone was finally tall enough for me.  (I was wearing my high-shoes to pray!  Of course!)

Life went on.  After every sacrament meeting, without fail, Devin came up to me and talked to me while I was playing post-lude music.  I finally got to the point where I could talk to him and play at the same time.  It was awkward for me at first and I bet he was wondering why I wouldn't respond to his humor!  I slowly started trying to find him at every social event in our ward.  Slowly I started getting more and more ready for our ward social events and meetings, hoping he would notice and come find me.

One night, we were on the bottom floor.  We were playing UNO with our room mates with our door open.  One of my room mates caught my eye and and motioned to the door.  I watched Devin and David run PASSED our door and up the stairs.  Yes, you heard me right.  PASSED MY DOOR!  What the!  So I ran out and looked up to hear some girl giggling as they walked in.  MAN!  This would have been fine if it only happened a few times.  But nope.  I slowly found out he was dating the girl on the top floor.  Then the girl on the middle floor.  Yes, I will spare Devin any more details about who else he dated in my tower!  Finally I had had it.  He still was trying to find me and talk to me after every sacrament and social event so he must kind of think I'm cool!!?

So one night after "finishing up," up stairs he was outside my building in his car with another girl.  (later I learn she wasn't the girl he was dating but she obviously had something for him:)) I could not tell you what got into me but I ran outside and started up a conversation.  Actually I know what got into me.  I was sick of him and his friends taking other girls on his boat and in his car!  My turn!

I approached the car and said something that made him laugh, something that made him wonder and then I asked for his phone.  (The girl was just staring me down!  I didn't care for some reason.)  I started typing my phone number in his phone and gave it back to him.  He smiled really big when he realized what I had just done.  Who does that with a girl in the passenger seat.  Well I felt a punch coming on from the passenger seat so all I said was, "see you later" and bound back into my apt.  I guess I needed to take matters in my own hands and take on the gentleman role!

I waited a week and started texting him.  I tried to be the wittiest person I could be.  And he always found someway to out-wit me on.  I loved that he had my dad's sense of teasing and humor.  I loved that he was tall.  I loved that he would tell me about his crazy adventures every day on the farm.  Even though I knew he was probably saying all of them twice!  We would have competitions and try to "out joke" the other one but we never talked about anything relationship-py.  We would communicate multiple times a day.  And I was usually the one that initiated the text messages and jokes.  Maybe I was annoying him and he was just being kind.  Why hasn't he asked me out!  I'm cool!  Arrogant, right?! I was started to get mad!  I knew he was probably dating someone so did I really expect him to ask me out?  I started getting ready to go on a church history tour out east with my family.  I vowed to turn off my phone during the whole trip and have a spiritual experience without thinking about him once.  I did it and it was so fun with my family.  Here we are at niagara falls!

I can't say I never thought about him but I can say I never turned on my phone.  On the flight back I finally turned on my phone and low and behold I had about 5 new jokes from him.  He missed me!  I texted him back where I was and when I would be back and he called me pretty quickly and asked me out on the first date.  FINALLY BUD!  The first date . . .


To be continued . . . . . .