08 Oct
From Those Friends to That Couple: Engagement in March
Several months of monthly visits passed and I was starting to get a bit impatient. I wanted to know where things were going and how quickly they were going to get there. The reason a brief visit on a random weekend in March made my list of significant events?
This was the weekend That Boyfriend sat down with me (actually I believe we were lying on my bed together, shhh, don’t tell the BYU Honor Code police!) and committed to a wedding in October. He fought for March at first, but I didn’t want to wait that long. I just wanted to be together. In the same state, same city, same house. For an LDS couple the only way to make that happen is to get married, and so this was the night we “got engaged”.
Of course, those of you who were reading Weddingbee when I was introduced know that it was months before he put a shiny diamond on my finger. I told him he could propose on his timeline, but he had to let me plan the wedding on mine (which meant starting immediately). I continued to refer to him as my boyfriend, moved down to Dallas to spend a few months being closer to him shortly after, and waited not-so-patiently for him to get around to officially proposing.
This relationship is definitely all about give and take. He made me wait over 4 months. 
Also:
I'm a farm-raised almost-crunchy stroller-pushing picture-taking lifestyle-blog-writing gastronomy-obsessed divine-seeking thrift-store-combing cheese-inhaling pavement-pounding laughter-sprinkling lover of individuality and taking chances.
Jenna I am loving these stories! My boyfriend and I just had this talk on Monday, so it was fun to read your story this morning. Thanks for sharing
1I love that you are sharing these tales! I know how it ends… but I check my GoogleReader constantly just to see what’s next
I know you felt on WeddingBee that perhaps some people didn’t take you seriously as a bride, but how did you share the news with your family? Did they have any qualms about you leaving BYU and moving to Dallas before you were actually married (or “with ring” even!)?
I think its so interesting that you acknowledge, “For an LDS couple the only way to make that happen is to get married.” I have had several friends marry (and some divorce within four years) immediately after college because they wanted to live together or to have sex and their religious beliefs or parents obliged that they marry first. In the end though, they just were not ready and some of these marriages have fallen apart. Its always frustrated me that they took the plunge allegedly because of adherence to their faith but then didn’t REALLY make their marriages work (realizing it takes two and that each divorce is shrouded in its own set of issues).
I think LDS’ serious commitment to marriage makes LDS couples like you and TH take marriage more seriously than some of the southern Christians that I knew from school. Obviously there are people who leave the LDS church that would disagree with me. But I think that because you learn from a young age that marriage is really a lifelong (eternity long!) partnership, you put more thought into the commitment. Its like, at a really elementary level, if you grow up not being allowed to have Coca-Cola because its drifting from the Church, well, maybe you’d take committing to the sacrament of marriage with a little more gravity.
Anyway, that was my attempt at saying I know you and TH married for many more reasons than you just wanted to live together
And I love that your engagement wasn’t about That Ring - it was about That Life Together.
2I have to agree with both of the ladies above me- your stories are wonderful! I dont even know you- but I anxiously hop on my blogger account to see if you have posted anything. I love it!
I have a lot of cousins that are LDS and went to BYU and I used to go with them all the time to the Laurel activities.So reading about all of this brings me back to all those happy memories! Keep on blogging and im sure we will keep on reading!
Oh, and you two are ADORABLE! (or should i say two and a half now!!)
3Awwww… You know how the old saying goes “good things come to those who wait”
4I am enjoying this story. WAY more entertaining than any work I have to do right now.
5I love this one too. I love reading about people falling in love. You are inspiring me to write things down so I don’t forget.
I don’t think there is anything wrong with being “engaged” before you are engaged. I think it is sweet, but I am such a sap when it comes to weddings.
Keep the stories coming!
6Hi Jenna
7I just wanted to come on and say hello. I’ve been following you for ages now on google reader so I haven’t commented. But I enjoy all of your posts so so much - thanks for sharing. You have such an entertaining voice for blogging. This little recap of the story of you and TH is adorable!
Keep up the great work!!!