chapter one: where it all began...

April 2012. It all started in a Boston apartment, on an Apple computer, and an online LDS dating site. I will be completely honest and say that this is not a choice way of meeting (there's a lot of frogs and dishonest men out there), but it happened that way and whatever means I needed to use to find a prince, at the ripe age of 31, I was willing to try it. We lasted on on the site a few days before I wrote Aaron and said, "I'm getting off of this dating site, but here is my e-mail should you wish to contact me further".

One week later...an e-mail from Aaron in my in box, changed our lives...forever.

Shortly thereafter, we switched from e-mailing to phone calls and Facetime conversations. Thank goodness for technology. My teaching job in Boston was ending and I had a summer position as a chef in New York. All I kept thinking is..."When do I get to meet this guy? We talk everyday!" It didn't take us long to book a flight for Aaron to New York, since he had never seen Manhattan. I was very excited to show him around, but also nervous that we'd just be friends or go our separate ways when the weekend was over. I had taken a personal chef job in Connecticut, and I didn't think we'd make it through the distance.

I picked up Aaron at JFK on July 13, 2012. He was even more handsome in person than he was on the phone (usually it's the opposite). I was immediately impressed by his chivalry.  Aaron is a true gentleman...the kind who opens doors not only for his significant other, but for strangers, his mother, his sisters, his grandma. He has a high respect for women in general, and I love that about him.

the only picture we took all weekend

We spent the first day gallivanting around Manhattan and hopping on and off a tour bus. Aaron grabbed my hand walking out of Grand Central Station (girls don't forget these things), and we shared our first kiss on the Staten Island Fairy while staring at the Manhattan Bridge over the Hudson water, romantic eh?. We visited the Empire State Building, ate lunch in little Italy and spent that warm summer evening at Central Park eating rare fruits we purchased in China town. It was perfect! Ironically. at the end of the night, when we were all alone in the park...BAM!...there were fireworks in the sky! I like to say that we definitely had a spark! We finished the night with a train ride and a hot dog from Gray's Papaya (yum).

The next day we drove up to Palmyra for the Hill Cumorah Pageant. We visited the sacred grove that afternoon and spent a good amount of time walking through the trees and sitting on the benches, Aaron is so considerate, and I remember the exact spot where I first thought, "this guy would be such a good husband". He was spiritual and kind, and I could see after only a couple of days that he was the kind of man that would do all he could to take care of his wife. This had a big impression on me!

I had to work the next day and it was brunch day at the camp. We'd arrived back at the camp extremely late, and I told Aaron to sleep in. I was just prepping the berries and cream when Aaron came into the kitchen, put an apron on, and kissed me on the cheek. I thought, "is this guy for real?"
He then whipped up over 160 pieces of french toast for the campers, and proceeded to start on the dishes when he was done. What? Who does that? Aaron does that. Since Aaron served his mission in Norway, and the campers are from all over the world...that night we teamed up with the Scandanavian campers and made Swedish meatballs, potatoes, cabbage. and added the lingon berries we'd purchased in New York. Aaron didn't skip a bit, and refilled the dishes before they were even empty. He's good like that.

Our last day of the weekend was spent at Six Flags New Jersey. Aaron and I both love roller coasters, so this was a perfect adventure for both of us. Afterwards, I took him to the airport and we said goodbye until my visit home in August. So many questions in my mind at that time...and I just remember thinking, "Crap! We had this amazing weekend...and now what?" I think I half expected it to turn out the opposite, and it would have been easier at the time if it did. I was committed to my job in Connecticut and the relationship was only in a beginning stage, not anywhere near the point where I could turn back and move home to Salt Lake for him. The only way I could make sense of it wasto tell myself, "If it's meant to be, and you miss each other, it will work out someday". It did!

Stay tuned...part two of this story to come!