Dating

Ok, I'm going to switch to first person now. Haha.

Scott asked me to be his girlfriend on December 11, 2009. This date was also significant because it was a reading day. While I'm very glad I started dating Scott, I would not recommend starting a relationship during finals week. It is very hard to focus on studying when you are excited about dating someone! The next day was also a reading day. We spent the day apart and then went for Scott's favorite dessert at Applebees, the maple butter blondie. Then we went to a park and talked for a while, then we went and played smurf with some friends. Everyone thought Scott had already kissed me, and so that was a theme of the night. They were all very surprised when Scott asked me if I had "smurfed" that day and I said no. A little later he dropped me off and went home. But about fifteen minutes later (after I'd already changed into my pajamas) he asked if he could come back over because he forgot to give me something. I already knew exactly what was up. A few weeks earlier, Scott had been looking at my "bucket list" and seen that being kissed under the mistletoe was on it. When he knocked on the door, I looked up and sure enough, there was mistletoe hanging there. He told me he wanted to help me out with my bucket list and kissed me. He was so cute and so pleased with himself. :) He was even cute when he tripped as he walked away.

A few days later we separated for the Christmas break but we talked on the phone every couple of days, a couple of times holding out because we hoped the other would call first! I was very happy when I opened my suitcase because Scott had put a mix CD in there when I wasn't looking, full of romantic or funny songs that seemed to fit in perfectly with our relationship.

When we came back our dating was really able to begin. I always appreciated that Scott made an effort to plan creative dates and ask me on them. Some of the favorites were making painting on canvases, making edible peanut butter play dough, "Italian night" when we made me delicious spaghetti carbonara and then took me to the International Cinema for an Italian movie, and the festival of colors at Spanish Fork. While the dating was a lot of fun, I was very freaked out by the idea of marriage. Scott made no secret of the fact that it was on his mind, but he also didn't push me to talk about it. He told me he was as ready as I wanted to be, and I told him I was NOT ready!

In early March we both participated in the Rex Lee Run. This was a particularly special experience for Scott because he ran in honor of his mom, who passed away from cancer 8 years ago. However, about a mile into the race, I was in extreme pain due to that too-familiar monthly visitor. I tried to keep running, but it was so bad that I had to sit down for several minutes. I felt bad and told Scott that he could keep running. I didn't want to ruin his special race. But he stayed with me until I felt better. At the end, he wanted to run faster and I didn't, so I told him I didn't mind if he went on ahead. He said, "I've gone this far with you, I'm not going to leave you now!" That was one of the first moments when I thought that I could possibly marry him.

A few other changes also had to take place before I was ready to marry Scott. I had been planning on going to pharmacy school pretty solidly. I had gone through most of my undergrad education and figured that I probably wouldn't be married by the time I graduated, so I thought, why not pursue higher education? However, as things got more serious with Scott I wondered if my academic goals were compatible with my eternal goals of marriage and a family. I also started to think about the financial realities of going to pharmacy school. I shadowed a pharmacist and found myself envying the nurses as we rounded with the doctors. After talking to my roommates (who were nursing majors) and some other personal experiences, I decided to change my post-graduation plans and apply for a spot in U of U's accelerated nursing program (It is a fourteen month program where if you already have a bachelor's degree you can quickly complete another for a BSN). It was a very hard decision and it freaked me out (even though I knew it was the right one) and so I couldn't think about marriage for another several weeks.

However, there came a point where I knew that I felt how I wanted to feel. I was still really scared (and continued to be really scared up until we got married) but I knew that Scott fulfilled every hope I could have for a husband and that I felt strongly enough about him to be in love with him for the rest of my life. I wasn't sure what to do once I came to this realization because he knew I was freaked out about marriage and was hesitant to bring it up. One Saturday morning after going to the Provo Farmer's Market, after hugging me for a long time I asked him what he was thinking about. I felt his heart start beating really fast and he said, "I want to marry you, Lorren." I felt so happy and said, "I think I want to marry you too but I'm not sure how to be sure about it!" But we started taking steps forward. He asked if I wanted to go ring shopping before or after we visited his family in California (a trip that had been planned for a while and was coming up in a couple of weeks) and I freaked out. But a few days later I told him I was ready to go ring shopping. We did and it was super weird and super fun. I wanted to try my ring on again so bad but Scott wouldn't let me see it. Then we went to California... and I was left wondering if we would end up engaged at the end of the trip or not!

To be continued of course!