Just because Jacob says we need a "joint blog"

Oh hey. Jacob and I have been married for nine months now, and despite the fact that I have my own blog on another site, Jacob was insistent that we get a blog for the both of us. You know, something for us to post pictures on and such.

Well, I haven't posted on my other blog in two months, and we haven't even taken most of the pictures off our camera since getting married, so we'll see if we ever update this thing. But I suppose miracles happen.

I also suppose that a fitting first post for our joint blog would be something about our "story." And since I haven't committed that to writing for the whole world to see as of yet, here goes:

Once upon a time, in July of 2009 to be precise, there was a girl named Jennifer who was living with some fabulous roommates in Provo.




(Yes, I realize that the last picture is from freshman year. But look at the hotness of Cari's eyebrows and our flattering facial expressions.)

Now, Jennifer was not expecting to find love anytime soon, despite one of her coworker's attempts to send her on flirting missions. Said missions included inviting an apartment of guys over for cookies and talking to three guys at ward prayer and things like that, but they didn't result in anything promising.

At the same time, there was a strapping man heading up to Utah for a mission reunion.
As it just so happens, this young man (hereafter referred to as "Jacob") needed a place to stay while in Utah. So he hit up one of his old mission buddies and arranged to sleep on the couch at his apartment complex.

Lo and behold, that was the very complex that Jennifer was living at!

It just so happens that Jennifer and her friend decided to throw a game night after ward prayer while Jacob was in town. They invited several apartments -- including the one where Jacob was staying. Jacob, who had decided early on that he was going to check out the BYU girls to see if they were really all that, figured he'd attend and see if there were any potential prospects.

Jacob strode into the apartment and Jennifer had a few thoughts run through her mind, not necessarily in this order: "He's really tall." "Is he new in the ward? I don't recognize him." And "He's really cute."

Throughout the game night, Jennifer and Jacob engaged in "lingering eye contact" and a bit of light flirting (nothing too over-the-top, though, as there were a good eight or nine other people there).

After they parted ways, Jennifer immediately went online to try to stalk Jacob on facebook. Unsuccessfully. She didn't know his last name, and when she tried to find him through a mutual friend, the profile pictures were all so small! Good news for her, though -- Jacob stalked her on facebook as well.

Friend requests were accepted, and the two chatted online for awhile. Finally, Jennifer had to retire to bed, as she worked custodial at BYU in the mornings, but she gave him her phone number and suggested they hang out during the week. Impressed by her boldness, Jacob agreed. And so the two made plans to hang out after she got off work the next day.

Well, Jennifer just had butterflies that whole night and had a hard time sleeping, because here was this very handsome guy expressing interest in her! What exciting news!

Jacob came over to her apartment Monday afternoon, and after he agreed to participate in a Disney sing-along, she decided that he was a pretty good guy. After that, they spent almost every free moment together.

They went to the temple:
They went hiking:

And then went on a tour of BYU campus and attempted to find an animatronic figure of Brigham Young like she'd heard rumors of, but they were unsuccessful.

And at the end of the week, Jacob had to go back home to Arizona. Jennifer was sad, but they decided to keep dating over the phone and see what happened.

After a few weeks of phone dating, Jennifer booked some plane tickets to visit Jacob in Arizona. She met his family, including his adorable nieces and nephews, and thought they were a pretty sweet bunch of people. She also thought that Arizona was ridiculously hot, but it wasn't so bad in Flagstaff, where they rode a ski lift:


Another month went by, and then the two decided to fly to California so Jacob could meet her family. And to, you know, ask a very important question to her father.

Despite claims that he was going to wait until at least October to pop the question, the day after talking to her father, Jacob surprised Jennifer by taking her sky diving! Jennifer suspected something was going on, but didn't want to spoil the moment, so she didn't say anything. Sure enough, after she had both feet firmly planted on earth again, Jacob got down on one knee and asked her to marry him. And of course, she said yes.

And so the two made preparations to get married in December after finals and before Christmas. They saw each other twice more before the wedding -- once in Utah when Jacob came up to celebrate Jennifer's birthday, and once in Arizona when Jennifer went down for Thanksgiving. But by the time they tied the knot, they had only seen each other in person for a total of about three weeks!

The wedding was beautiful, and everything ran smoothly. And now Jacob and Jennifer are together forever.
Life still has its ups and downs, but they're enjoying the ride . . . together. ::cue the cheesy music::

(Not) the end.

If you had been driving -- or even if you had been walking or riding your bike -- around my neighborhood this evening, you might have seen me jogging down the street in shorts and a sweatshirt, sweat dripping down my face.

But Jennifer, you might ask, if you were so sweaty, why didn't you just take off your sweatshirt?

That, my friends, is an excellent question.

The answer is this: Somewhere between taking off my regular shirt to change into my workout clothes and putting on a sweatshirt to protect me from the initial outside chill, I forgot to put on another shirt. And I didn't find this out until I was already several minutes into my run, and I clearly didn't want to throw off my groove by running home and putting on some proper attire, so the sweatshirt stayed.

Whoopsie.

"Look! Erosion!" -- Griffin

Me, sitting in bed with my laptop, notebook, box of Kleenex, and a small container of Mentholatum, which in this case means "ointment you rub under your nose to help clear up the ol' congested nasal passages": coughs weakly and, as it so happens, fakely. "Do you want to get me some ice cream for my poor, ailing throat?

Jacob: "No."

I go back to my homework and Jacob leaves the bedroom. After a few minutes, I decide to stop being lazy and get my ice cream myself. Jacob is standing in the kitchen with a carton of ice cream and a package of waffle cones.

Jacob: "It's supposed to be a surprise!"

I cover my eyes and quickly tiptoe back to the bedroom. (Why I tiptoed, I do not know.) Jacob enters a few moments later, with an ice cream cone that he presents to me with great flourish.
Me: "Oh! I'm so surprised!"

And that's why he's (to steal a phrase from Heather) the best in the west.
P.S. I wrote almost that entire entry one-handed, as I was holding an ice cream cone in the other hand. It was tricky.

"I don't think saying 'toesies' makes you sound manly in ANY context."

Today, as I was walking home from school, I was suddenly afflicted with a case of the hiccups. If you know me at all, this is not unusual.

Eight minutes later, I was still hiccuping. "Self," I thought to myself, "if you keep this up for long enough, you might break a world record!"

My hiccups stopped immediately. Go figure.

Have a caffeine-free weekend.

Once upon a time, I had a roommate we'll call Miscilla. (Hi, Miscilla!)  When she got ready in the morning, she would sometimes leave her pants unzipped until the last possible moment.

And let's be honest, my friends, I judged.

But these days, I've come to embrace her ways. Buttoning and zipping up pants just seems so burdensome these days. And buckling the belt? Good heavens! Who do you think I am, Wonder Woman?

Maybe I'll properly fasten my pants before Jacob and I go out tonight. Or promptly after they fall down. Whichever comes first.

EDIT: Um, I just realized that this entry makes it sounds like I'm pregnant. Which I most definitely am NOT. So don't get any funny ideas.

For nonjudgers only.

I like free food. A lot. To the point where I'm seriously contemplating having Jacob and I attend my current stake's institute after we're married just for the free dinner they serve afterward. (I have not yet mentioned this to him. But I'm sure if I flash my winningest (read: cheesiest) smile at him, he'll agree to it. Especially if I end up serving cereal for dinner three nights a week.)

But I think my love of free food has escalated to an unhealthy level. Allow me to explain:

Today I got my grubby little hands on a free brownie outside of the Wilkinson Center. I walked inside the Wilk because I had to mail something off, and I was trying to juggle the brownie, my sandwich, and a flier all at the same time.

In case you weren't aware, I'm not really one for jugglin'.

Before I knew it, the brownie tumbled out of my hands onto the floor. I hurriedly scooped up the brownie, peeled the frosting off the tile (it had fallen off the brownie in the snafus), and quickened my pace to escape the scene of the crime.

And then when I had walked about ten feet away, I shoveled the whole mass of chocolate into my mouth. I feel no shame. (C'mon, tell me you didn't see that coming.)

And that's why I shouldn't be allowed to have children.

"I'm making a hexagon!" -- Heather

Me: I'd like to announce that this is the second night in a row I'm not eating cereal for dinner.

Roommates: [quite literally burst into cheers and applause]

Me: Last night I made soup!

Roommate: What are you eating now?

Me: A burrito.

Roommate: You're going to be the best wife ever.