Last night was one of those wonderful nights when you and your spouse stay up WAY too late talking. Especially when you’re normally asleep by 9/9:30 to get your seminary kid out the door. While I love my sleep, I also love when we have those late night talk sessions – uninterrupted by children! (well, kinda… the toddler started crying at one point and went back to sleep). I may be surviving on diet coke today.
Last night, we were reminiscing on when we were dating. Not sure why, but I had been thinking about it all day and it brought back happy memories. It was fun to see what he remembered compared to what I remembered. It also was surprised how much we couldn’t remember. I may have a journal somewhere with some stuff in it, but I think with college, dating, friends, a job, I didn’t make time for it. A shame! We need to write what we remember down before the kids do in our memory/minds/sanity for good 😉 (hopefully, I’ll write more detail on our family blog)
Honestly, I don’t remember when we first “met.” I remember going to a dance and my friend coming back from a dance with a guy and saying: “That was Jacob Davis’ brother.” Why I remember that I have no idea! But yes, that was my husband. Who knew?!?!
The first time I can remember noticing him, was when they separated us into Family Home Evening Groups one evening. I knew his roommate, but I couldn’t remember seeing him before that day… Since we were in the same group, myself and a bunch of my friends started hanging out at their apartment. I didn’t really have any interest in any of the guys in the apartment, but they were fun to hang out with. One night, we were hanging out there and chatting about dating, and my friend asked Joseph, “Hey Joseph, Do you know anyone that would date Jenny?” (She said this jokingly because I had more than one guy I was dating at that time)… He actually replied and said: “Who wouldn’t?!?!” I instantly looked at him differently. He jokes that those were the 2 best/most inspired words he’s ever said. ha!
By the end of the night, I had a hard core crush on him. Of course, I left like 2 days later for a month in Nicaragua (my parents lived there at the time. No I am not Latin, my dad was working for the US Government there. I went for Christmas/the entire month of December) I thought about him a lot in my time away.
When I got back, I was determined to go out with him. Now, I was too young for him, so I had no idea if he would ever ask me out, even though I knew he thought I was cute 😉 After a few weeks of hints, I took matters into my own hands. I had to see a play for a class at school and had two tickets, so I knew I’d ask him to go with me. Now here is the part I’d forgotten (Joseph reminded me last night) and it makes the story better, so I am surprised I forgot! I asked him while we were both on dates with OTHER people. Oh yeah… I tend to be bold 😉
We were at some sort of dance, but a dance where you have dates. I think it was some sort of Winter Formal. I knew he had been on dates with the girl he was with, but our mutual friend was pretty sure they weren’t serious. We won’t go into the guy I was dating. Anyway, he and I shared a dance, so I asked him if he was available the night of the play and if he’d go to the play with me. I mean, it was a school assignment and all 😉 He quickly said “yes.”
He picked me up for our first date. I remember him opening the car door for me and that made an impression. At intermission, he told me about his family, and the fact he had triplet siblings! After the play, we didn’t want the date to end. We went back to his apartment and then went for a walk on the OSU campus. He had keys to the Deerborn building, from when he worked there (he was a recent grad) and he took me up to the roof. We talked the entire time. I think we were both extremely smitten by the time the date was over (lasted way longer than either of us anticipated). I was super late when we got back to his apartment, but his roommates were still up. He went into his room, got a change of clothes, and went to take me home. His roommates joked that it must have been a REALLY good first date – ha! In reality, he was staying the night at his parent’s house for some event the next day (neither of us has any idea what that was!)
After that, I don’t remember many other dates. However, we both remember the first time we held hands. It was not long after that first date (less than a week). We think we were coming home from a dance, in the back of his roommate’s car, and he slid his hand into mine. We both, still to this day, can vividly remember it and how electric it was. I’d held several guy’s hands before and never had that feeling. He says the same thing. I think we knew then that this was something different.
I was in his apartment when he got home from his first day of his first real job after college (a job he held for 17 years… just recently switched to a new company). I think it was only a week or so after our first date (a day or two after holding hands). I was there studying/working on homework with his roommate, so I was there when he got home and we talked about his new job. He says he remembers thinking how much he liked having me there when he got home from work (he told me the same thing way back on that day too).
I can remember near Valentine’s Day (2ish weeks after our first date) he bought me roses. Since he got me flowers, I got him a giant stuffed Pikachu – we still have that Pikachu. Then we had to talk about dating other people because we both had dates with other people planned. You could tell neither of us wanted to, but alas, we had previous plans. (Those were our last dates with other people).
Our first kiss was on the floor of my best friends apartment. On the floor, because poor college students don’t have furniture (her first apartment). I can’t tell you a timetable or after how many dates it was. I remember the kiss, but not much else!
Fast forward through all the dating we don’t really remember much of – other than attending a Weird Al concert and him trying to get me to watch Star Wars for the first time and me falling asleep each time 😂
The day we decided to get married, I had actually gotten my ears pierced for the 3rd & 4th time (one ear had one of the earrings at the top of the ear – I loved it and still kinda miss it). We were at the laundromat across the street from his apartment doing his laundry and chatting. Apparently, I was impulsive that day after getting another set of holes on my head (at Joseph puts it). He was like, “You know, I think I want to marry you.” “I think I do too…” I told him that he had to officially propose though… I picked out my ring and even went with him to buy it. His roommate was with us when we bought it, but went to another store and had no idea what we were up to!
He proposed one morning, super early, after we had been out late the night before. I was completely surprised. He had Tp’d “Marry Me” in the bushes in front of my house (if you knew me then, it makes total sense), then he and his roommates sang, “Families can be together forever” at my window to wake me up. My dogs started barking, and I yelled, “Shut Up!!” To the dogs. In my sleepy stupor, I heard laughing while people were singing?!? Took me a couple of seconds, then I ran out front. Joseph was in a suit, came up on my doorstep, got on one knee and proposed. We have pictures thanks to his roommates coming. He then had a picnic of brownies and ice cream for breakfast for us. It was perfect for me. I didn’t know he had that day off work – a work holiday (it was a Friday, so I didn’t have classes), he kept had a surprise too, so after going back to sleep, we went to the beach for the rest of the day.
After a few months of engagement that I barely remember (I had my mom plan everything, ’cause I didn’t care!), we were married in the Portland, Oregon Temple. It was a wonderful day.
Of course, it was not all roses getting to that point. I almost called off our engagement at one point (all happened in one night and I won’t write about since this is a public blog and others were involved) and had some obstacles. We also had great times – one time I remember him being so happy, and I was so proud of him for getting something right in his life again (again, too personal to write here).
17+ years & 5 kids later, I’m still happy about that impulsive time in my life. From asking him out while we were on dates with other people, to saying yes to marrying him, when it went against every “plan” I had ever made for myself (if you know me, you know I am a big planner!!), I now walk past his office (he works from home – we are around each other 24/7), I look in and think he’s so cute sitting working at his desk. I think about how good looking he was at the temple when we took our kids a few days ago. I may not get the electric shock every time we hold hands, like the first time, but what we have created over the last 17+ years is even better 😊
We are so thankful you married Joseph. You have made him happy and share a testimony . The terrific children who get to grow up in a loving, prayerful, family are an added bonus!
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