At the end of my junior year of high school I tried out for Laytones, Layton High's advanced show choir. Having been a part of the choir program for 2 years already, and approaching my senior year, I was pretty confident I would make it. Mr. Everton (the choir director) always posted the choir rosters on a Friday night at 10:00pm on the doors near the auditorium. That night I went to check the list with one of my best friends, Amanda. As we looked at the list for Laytones we realized that we were relatively good friends with everyone on the list. All of the seniors in the group were great and the few juniors on the list were part of the group as well. The only name we didn't recognize was Matthew James. Standing outside the auditorium that night Amanda and I promised that we would try to include this unknown guy as much as possible- we didn't want him to feel like an outcast. He was officially our "project" for the year.
The beginning of the school year came around and it turned out that Matt was in my calculus class as well. With choir being 2 class periods and calculus being 2 class periods, we had half of our classes together. It gave me plenty of opportunity to introduce myself and be friendly toward him.
I outdid myself.
Partway through the year I could tell that Matt was starting to like me. I flirted with him without really meaning it (he wasn't the only one- I was appalling) and we talked all the time. We started a note war by leaving funny notes on each other's cars, we texted nonstop, we walked in the halls together. By the end of the school year it was obvious he had grown extremely attached to me, and I loved being around him because he thought my spaziness was adorable.
Our first real date was before school ended for the year. My friend Jessica got asked out by a guy she wasn't interested in and asked if I could get a date to make it less awkward for her. I needed someone I could take who would be fun and I could act like a goofball around. In calculus I tapped Matt on the shoulder and asked if her wanted to go to Classic Skating with me. He said yes and we went on our first date. We had fun, and I didn't think another thing of it.
We started hanging out more and more after that, then just before I went to BYU to start my freshman year we went on another date. We grabbed a blanket and a laptop and watched a movie in the park. When he dropped me off at home he was acting a little bit awkward (more than normal) and after I gave him a hug goodnight he swooped in. (Up to this point I had never been really kissed. I had a moment of panic and thought to myself "I do not want my first kiss to be Matthew James.") I dodged. I dodged like I was being attacked by a spider. Then I blushed furiously and ran in the house leaving him standing there like he'd just been punched in the stomach.
We had a long conversation after that (via text message because we were both cowards) about how he thought it ruined our friendship, about how I didn't like him that way, about how we were going to act around each other from now on... It was ridiculous.
Luckily the awkwardness of that situation burned off pretty quickly. I moved down to Provo to go to school and we fell back into our habit of texting constantly. We told each other everything (flirting the whole time) and he became my best guy friend. I didn't see him much, but that didn't matter.
The following year (2009) he came down to Provo for school too. I was working at Heritage Halls in the office and he would come see me. I would also call him whenever I needed a break from my roommates (who were awful) and we would just walk around Provo until late at night. I was not very happy that year in school- I didn't like my classes, I didn't like my roommates, I didn't date very much, I had a hard time socializing in my ward. But through it all, Matt was my rock. I always knew that I could call Matt and he'd be there if I asked him to be.
After winter semester ended we both moved back to Layton. Matt was getting ready for his mission and I needed to find a job. We still hung out by going on walks around our neighborhoods and talking. Just before he left on his mission he made me a cd of music he had recorded and I gave him a journal for him to write in during his mission. I also gave him a letter that said he was never getting rid of me, no matter what happened.
During his mission I continued to write to him as a friend. (I wrote to all my friends so I thought nothing of it). I kept him informed of everything that was going on in my life, told him I was proud of his decision to serve a mission, and closed every letter with "You're never getting rid of me." I dated a lot while he was gone, and near the end of his mission I started seriously dating someone. I had never been serious with someone- I had met his family, I told him I loved him, we had gone on a few small trips together. In June of 2012 Matt came home from his mission. I was surprised at how excited and nervous I was for him to come home. My heart went through the wringer that summer.
I was in love with the man I was dating, but I was also in love with Matthew James (something I never expected myself to admit). I remember sitting on the floor of my bedroom in my apartment trying to sort out my feelings. I had told both men about the other and that I was having a hard time. They were both maddeningly kind about it to me (though I could tell neither of them liked it). I was trying to imagine a future with my boyfriend, and I could see it. But then a thought came into my mind that I know was Heavenly Father directing me.
"I can't imagine my life without Matt in it."
And right then I knew that I was supposed to give Matt a real chance. I told my boyfriend what I had felt. I then immediately called Matt and told him that his job now was to date me. He didn't have a choice. The more time I spent with him, the more right I felt about my decision. We fell back into our habit of talking about everything and spending all our time together. He really was my best friend.
Our first kiss was on August 5, 2012. We had gone on a walk around his neighborhood that and I was feeling overwhelmed about everything that was happening. I started crying and he asked what was wrong. I stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and told him to kiss me. Without hesitating, he leaned down and kissed me. It felt right. No fireworks, no floating feeling, just a feeling of rightness.
We started talking about getting married pretty soon after that. We decided that we didn't want to wait very long to get married (sure we had only been dating for a few months, but we'd been close for 5 years) and we chose December to get married. I wanted to start planning everything right away- the reception center, the temple, the dress, the flowers, all that jazz. My mom said that I couldn't do anything until I had a ring.
We had gone ring browsing already, but I didn't actually have my ring yet. Matt could see that I was slowing falling apart trying to plan things without actually planning them, so he went to Deseret Book and bought a simple CTR ring and proposed to me at the pond by Heritage Halls (a frequent stopping place on our walks earlier). I said yes. I could finally putting my plans into action. A week later my ring came in and Matt proposed a second time on Y Mountain. I said yes again.
We got married on Dec. 20, 2012 in the Brigham City Temple. The wedding is a whole other adventure, so I'll hold off on those details for now. But there you have our love story summed up. Its unique and quirky, but then again I would expect nothing else from us.
I will tell you one thing though, falling in love with Matthew James the best thing that ever happened to me. He is my best friend and I know that whatever we do together, it will be an adventure. And according to President Gordon B. Hinckley, "Love is meant to be an adventure."
