the love story: FROM DATING TO COURTSHIP

Yours Truly:
Regardless of my hesitancy to kiss on our first date and to be exclusive I still wanted to see him a lot. That same week we went on two other dates. I can't say that I have the best memory of what exactly we did on every date from here on out... I'm sure Cole can tell you, but I know that one of them was him coming to play games with my family. That was interesting... I could tell he felt super nervous and I definitely didn't want my family to think it was anything serious so we acted like good friends. We had a good time. My family liked him, but he was being his super shy version of himself.

Cole:
After our first date, I knew things were going to go uphill from there! Although I knew that she didn't really love our first kiss, I knew that she secretly LOVED it and that she still wanted to date. I knew this because she invited me to come up to her house that week and play games with her family! I was beyond terrified of her family at the beginning though. I wasn't quite sure how to act though... They all had so many inside jokes and stories, I just didn't know where to pipe in! So I kind of kept to myself and laughed when appropriate. I really loved meeting her family though. I got to see a fun side of Annie that I had never seen before.


Yours Truly:
Again, unlike typical girls I can be bad with remembering dates and details, but at this point I found myself having an inner battle. I knew that I liked Cole, but I liked other people too. I also felt bad because I was just making him wait on hold kind of while I figured things out. (He said he was asking other girls on dates, but I never saw evidence of that.) I met his family and I really liked them and they made me feel very welcome. (Including his adorable grandpa calling me Cole's "girlfriend"... I felt a bit awkward about that.) His family wasn't very good at hiding how much Cole liked me so I was getting more and more worried that I was going to hurt him, but what I didn't realize was that more and more I just wanted to be with Cole. Even though I was excited about other dates and boys I always found myself gravitating to Cole. I couldn't help but call him and hang out with him and go on dates. And I couldn't get over what a good person he is. He really made me want to be better.

Cole:
Yeah... I didn't really date a lot of other girls once Annie was home. I went on a few dates during the Summer when she was still on the mission, but once she got home, that was it! It was fun for her to meet my family though. She straightened her hair and wore a pretty green dress. When my family met her, they all looked at me and gave me the thumbs up. My mom whispered "she is beautiful!" Good times.

Yours Truly:
Then came the date of all dates. It was the turning point for me. It was a very simple date. It was his mom's birthday so we made a very delicious cake for her, ate it with his family, and watched a movie. I know it may not seem like anything special, but for me it was. It felt like a snapshot into what real life with Cole would be like. We were laughing, talking, baking, visiting with his family, etc. Through all of that I just felt completely comfortable and happy. I remember actually thinking on that date, "I think this is exactly what everyday life with Cole would be like, and I like it." I felt so happy. I knew then that I wanted to date him. I wanted to make sure that I didn't just feel this way on a whim or that it was just that night so I didn't tell him that I wanted to exclusively date just yet.

Cole:
My mom's birthday was a really special date for us. During the whole process up to this point, I was just hoping that Annie would want to keep dating me and eventually get to the point where she only liked me. As for me, however, apparently I wasn't the hardest to get. But let's be real, it's not that difficult to love Annie. Who can blame me? That date was a really fun and memorable, but to her, it was a game changer. That's when she fell in love with me! (She tells me now). It made me happy to know that I didn't need to do anything extravagant or spend a lot of money for her to like me. She liked me because I knew how to have a good time by just being myself!

Yours Truly:
The rest of that weekend was good and we had a great time. Then on Monday we went with his family to a play at the Hale Theater in Orem. I felt so happy. Again, a simple date but I knew. I knew that I wanted to date him exclusively. I didn't have any desire to go out with anyone else. I felt so happy and excited so I finally told him after the play that I wanted to date him and only him. He was just a little excited. ;)

Cole:
The two or three days following this date were life changing. Annie really started to warm up to me and express MUCH more interest in me. After the Hale Theater on Monday night, Annie told me how much our date the previous Friday had meant to her and that she just wanted to go on dates with me. Wahoo!!!! I was so happy. This was the end of the single life as I knew it. I mustered up the courage and I said, "Annie... I think I'm falling in love with you." and she said, "Yeah, I think I'm falling in love with you too, Cole." Life was bliss.

Yours Truly:
Not too long after that I knew that I wanted to marry him. I couldn't stop thinking about it. Then, we went to the temple rededication of the Ogden Temple together and the whole time I was there I felt the strongest impression that this was who I wanted to marry. I knew it. I felt that that was something God was pleased with too, but I waited to pray about it until that night. When I prayed and told Heavenly Father the decision I had made and asked if He thought it was a good idea. I felt the most clear impression I have ever felt that this was the right thing to do.

Cole:
So I know that God really trusts me and my decision making, so when I really prayed to know if Annie was a good choice, I felt calm and confident the whole time. I never had an overwhelming answer that she was the "right" one, but I always knew that Annie was an excellent choice. As time goes on and on, I'm realizing how excellent she really is.