How we became "Jen & Ken" Part 6

Friday (the 18th)

He had gotten two hours of sleep. Poor guy, but he insists that I do not feel bad about it because he wouldn’t trade it. I scanned in pictures, ran, talked to Megan, and got other stuff done until he came over to go to Jeanine’s house. I had been freaking out again that morning. It went away when I read my scriptures, but I couldn’t quite shut my head up enough throughout the day. He had a great time at Jeanine’s and the kids loved him. He played with them and they treated him like a human jungle gym. I had a tea party it the girls and we blew bubbles and I made muffins and we played hide and seek. Then I put the baby and kids to bed and made s some casa Dias. Another good sign was I had told Trevin he could play video games until 7:30pm. About a half hour later it was nearing that time, but I was outside with the little girls and I heard Ken telling Trevin that they could only play one more game because it was almost 7:30. That’s good because he backed me up with the kids. To be effective in discipline you must be a united front, and he defiantly supported and helped enforce anything that I said to the kids. (I am going to go see him right now so I will finish later.)

5-20-07

Ok, so. We played a game of Ticket to Ride Europe with Jeanine before driving home. On the drive I asked if by dating he meant exclusively and said that I was freaking out again and not ready for that. The rest of the ride we talked about it and he told me he really did no want to date other people and didn’t want to see me date other people. He said he didn’t want to give me an ultimatum or anything, but the way we were behaving was boyfriend/girlfriend behavior and without that commitment it was too much. I was worried about going out because if you do that you either have to get married or break up and I didn’t want a break up scene and he said even without the title a falling out would hurt just as bad. That was true I had to admit J.J still ripped my heart out without a title. It hurt worse that I never even got the title. Then he said we were still getting to know each other. That you don’t go out because it is a sure thing, you get married because it is a sure thing. We are still just getting to know each other, but that commitment grants us more trust to do so. If you start with the backdoor open that is hard to develop. Then I remembered the statistics for co-habitation couples and how they have a much higher divorce rate because they start with that attitude of an easy out and lack of commitment. This is not on that level, but it did make a lot of sense to me. Much of what he said made sense. I told him I was not accustomed to committed relationships and he pointed out that from the sounds of it, that had always been a point of frustration to me. I couldn’t deny that. I don’t know how many times I have said I am sick of quasi-relationships. I was finally being offered what I had always claimed I wanted, and I was still a bit scared (which he understood and said it was ok), but when we arrived at Carriage Cove we spoke a little more and I asked if he would take me on our first date if I agreed to be his girlfriend and he laughed and said he would and I agreed to be his. So, I have my second ever boyfriend. Crazy. I dropped off my purse and we went for a walk on the trail by the river. We had a really good conversation and he wanted to keep a good spirit about the relationship. That we could agree on good things like him leaving at midnight beforehand and work on them together. He also said that if it didn’t work out (basically if the answer was no kind of deal) that as long as we had kept a good spirit between us there is no reason for it to get ugly. That made sense too. We don’t know what is going to happen, but obviously we hope for the best or we wouldn’t be in the relationship. However, if it is not meant to be and we did what was right, then it just isn’t. It may be hard, but acceptable. So, he walked me home and kissed me goodnight and I went to bed.

Saturday

He had stuff to do most of the day so I ran, tanned with Julie and Emily, wrote in here, and accomplished other various tasks. I told Megan about everything and she was really happy and excited for me. She thought it was a good thing and he sounded like a good guy. When I called him around 5pm he answered “Hey beautiful girl,” (which I like) and was on his way home with his sister Katy. I had gotten dressed up and told him I wanted to go out for our first date. He said we could and I went over to his place when he got home. I chilled with him, Katy, and Nolan for over an hour watching Katy play guitar hero, while I read Calvin and Hobbes and he worked on the ward menu. Then we left Katy my X-box and went to Olive Garden.

(Later Katy told me she was suprised Ken was dating me because she thought I looked like a Barbie doll, but then when she got to know me she understood)

 I was teasing him and he liked it and I asked if he was serious and he said something like “Don’t think just because I like everything about means I wont be honest.” I wish I could remember the direct quote and context, but it was really cute. He likes me. He loves every quirky thing I am worried about. It makes it infinitely easy to be myself when he likes who I am. We had a nice dinner. We discovered we like each other in all sorts of social situations. Then we drove Katy home and I rejoiced over finally not being the little sister in the back. Pretty cool. Then I cuddled with him and played with his hair as he drove home. On the way I saw the temple and impulsively suggested we go there. So we did. We talked about our goals for the future in the car and then we got out and walked around the temple. It was a movie moment. I took my heels off and we walked at night with the star up on the hill over looking the city by the temple. He pulled me in and I stood on my tiptoes to kiss him as the wind blew. It was just so cool. Then he carried me over the water for a little while until I gave up and proceeded to run through the sprinklers as he chased me. Then we got to a cool hill with a view of the temple and city, with the mountains behind us and stars above and we kissed for a little while before sitting down and snuggling and talking. It was a pretty memorable first date! Then we had to go home so with difficulty we did. I told him my story of running through the sprinklers after some confusion Megs had pointed out to me and told him he liked Megan. I explained how important Megs and I are to each other in keeping each other sane, and keeping each other in out relationships and he agreed that he did indeed like Megan. He was very glad she was on his side as well he should be. With more difficulty he kissed me goodnight for the 100th time and left.

Sunday

I’m on to today! I might actually get caught up in here. Ok, so I went to church with Julie and Melissa and we had relief society first. She gave a really good lesson on not letting Satan get his toe in the door that inspired me to crack down more on physical things with Ken and I. It was hard, but I made the commitment within myself to do it, and talk to him about it, as it is much harder to do alone. I met up with Kenneth at sacrament meeting and he sat by me and held my hand. Then he had to stay after for ward business so I left with Julie. At home I made broccoli salad while talking to Karen, Andrew, Linda, and their brother. Then I started on cookies and my boyfriend came over and worked on the ward menu while talking to us. Linda and Greg (Their brother) left and Karen, Andrew, Ken, and I had a blast talking and cooking and eating. It was really enjoyable. I was in a silly mood and kept singing “My boomerang wont come back” and distracting Ken from the menu with kisses and pictures. It was fun. I called grandpa Johnson and chatted with him. I told him about Ken and he asked if he had taken me to dinner. We were glad he had. He asked me a bunch of questions about him and said he had told me I would find another one and that he loved me. What a sweet grandpa. Anyways, I really liked having Ken around and it is perfect having another couple we enjoy around. Ken and I went for a little walk and he told me what had happened when he told his parents about me. He had told his mom, and when he gave her permission to tell his dad in an instant she blurted out that he was dating Jennifer Hunt and I was 21 and majoring in MFHD..etc. It was just so funny to me to hear my name in that context. Someone I have never met was talking about me and it’s just a whole new world this girlfriend business. A good world though. We laid on the hammock for about an hour before he had to go to a family dinner. Man we love lying on the hammock together. I could tell I was falling for him more because I am starting to get sappier and he loves it. I also told him about relief society and my feelings and concerns and he said he loved the things that were important to me and agreed to do his part in being good. It was a bit hard for him to hear the list of don’ts, but he quickly agreed and said I was the most restrained girl he had ever been with before that point and now it was even better. He said he was glad I cared more about these things than a Gucci bag or something. I knew he would be supportive. It is so neat. I am so glad that there is so, so, so much more there than physical things. I knew that this would be a little hard, but that we wouldn’t suffer at all for it because our affection is not based solely on physical things. There is much more between us and we can do without things that have potential to ruin other things. Anyways, he left and I took care of my feet, read scriptures, and took a nap. I also called mom and told her about him. She was really happy for me. She said I deserved it and it was about time I find someone who noticed everything. Awww. Plus, 12 Utah libraries ordered her book and one place ordered 12 copies and already has 20 holds on it! Yay for mommy! I am so proud of her. I thought she would be harder to convince than that, but she was quickly supportive. Jeff got on the phone to hang up and I told him and he said he didn’t care, and to talk to him when we had been dating longer. Funny.

He woke me up with a phone call and I went to his place and we went to ward prayer and munch and mingle. I was so very tired, but agreed to be a good sport and had a bunch of people over at my place to play ucher. A Midwestern game similar to Rook, but not as cool (hahaha). I lay on the floor next to him and he rubbed my back between hands. His friend Diana there was married to my friend Nate Walker and she kept inviting him to do things and asked what he was doing Tuesday and Friday and I just thought geeze woman lay off you have a husband. I was not up in arms or anything, but I realized more how much I value Ken’s time. I really didn’t want to share him. I admitted that later and he thought it was adorable. People were leaving and we wanted to be alone. It was funny because Nolan and Katy were on the couch and Ken just kinda looked at them and they were like “Well we’re going back to your apartment,” It was so funny. I kind of felt bad, but at the same time was really glad they left because I wanted some time. He laughed as I joking said of everyone “your presence is no longer required.” We retreated to the hammock. He convinced me to show him all of my lists of qualities I want in a husband and I thought it was cute how he justified things to fit my list, and then he pointed out how I was justifying things so he would fit my list. He liked the lists and was glad to know I was a sap at heart because I had kept it much more hidden than he had. Though I fall for him more every time I see him and I’m getting worse. It’s really convenient that he loves that. We had very serious and deep conversations. He told me that he had depression and his struggle with that. I mean, obviously that’s not a fun thing to live with (I know, I’ve seen dad), but I was glad to realize that didn’t change the way I feel towards him. No one is perfect, but he is pretty darn close to everything I fundamentally want. I will not fault him for having that problem! If things work out between us, that is something we can face together and I will try to remain a happy influence in his life. I’m glad he told me. I also told him how much I loved my mommy and sang the mother/daughter song to give him some idea of how we felt towards each other. We also had our usual funny conversations and I told him about my experience with Kyle in the ward. He mentioned again how amazed he was that none of the other guys I dated noticed how incredible I was. He is good to me. It was time for him to go. The most I could do is roll off of the hammock. Unfortunately I leaned over and started kissing him so we didn’t get out on time, but it was still much better. He asked what I was doing Monday and I told him I would do projects until it was time to see him again. He liked that answer. It was nice. At the door he kept turning around to kiss me again. He is so dang cute! When I finally went inside and came in here to make a to do list and write in here. It is past bedtime now, but at least I am finally caught up!!! So much is happening so fast and I just don’t want to forget anything, but it is impossible to capture everything. Suffice it to say, that has been an amazing week and I am really happy. Goodnight.