I love them.
Now, I do have a point to this. After all, this is the first chapter in the story of me and Mike. And I guess you could say that it all started out with hands. That is usually the first physical move when you like another human being, is the touching and holding of hands. It's a very miraculous feeling that you can have. It's something to do with a whole lot of butterflies in your stomach and you are suddenly wiped clean of all common sense. Yep, that's love for ya. Now, I shall start my story. Don't worry, we'll get to "hands."
Mike and I went to all of high school together. We always knew of each other, but nothing ever happened. He does mention all of the time now that in our sophomore year of seminary, he had a small crush on me and he just felt something but never acted upon it.
Well, I worked at Chick-fil-A. Lame, I know.
It was just an average day at work in February of 2012, which was my senior year in high schoool. My two friends, Maddy Thompson and Linsey Rogerson came flying in saying that I was going on a date. Well, okay! They said that Jared Hancock needed a date and that I needed to ask him. He was a boy that I had gone to all of junior high and high school with. It was the girls asking the guys. So, when I got off work, I asked him! We all met over at Shalai's. First, we had some pizza. Then, we went to Nickelcade. It was so much fun! The other people that were on the date were Shalai Matagi and Mike Peters, Linsey Rogerson and Isaac Harwood, Maddy Thompson and Austin Farnsworth, and then me and Jared Hancock. When we were done at Nickelcade, we went back to Shalai's house and played Catch Phrase and some other fun games. During catch phrase I sat in the middle of Mike and Jared. Mike kept helping me as we were playing the game. Anyway, the night was fun. I had drove, so I took Jared and Mike home with Shalai. We had to drop Jared off first because Mike needed to get a snow shovel from his house. So, we were all kind of joking about that and how he urgently needed that shovel. Hilarious! Then, we dropped Mike off. When he got out, he opened the door where I was sitting and thanked me for the ride. I thought that was really nice. On the way to take Shalai home we talked about how we both weren't really into our dates. So, yes... I did think that Mike was cute and I knew there was somethin' there. (I didn't tell her that.)
I remember the next day, Mike texted me saying, "Thanks again for the ride." Who does that? I knew that he just wanted to talk to me. ;) He would text me every once in a while after that and there wasn't really anything. He even says that sometimes I wouldn't text him back. I don't really believe him, but whatever!
Towards the end of that month, I was surprised one night with a call from Jared asking me if I had been asked to Junior Prom, which was coming up in March. I told him no and then got off the phone. I knew that something was up. About ten minutes later there was a knock at my door and I went outside. Four boys dressed in banana suits got out of the car and danced to the bananas song by Britney Spears. LOL. It was hilarious. One of them yelled, telling me to look on the porch. That's where I saw this banana:
It reads, "Kenzie, I would go "bananas" if you went to Jr. Prom with me. -Mike P."
I was so excited, needless to say!! This was my first dance that I had actually been asked to. Yes, I know that's sad. I knew it would be a great time with him!
I had a trip that I was going on with Dance Company before Jr. Prom. I remember, it was the night before I left and I was at work. He came in when I got off and he brought me my favorite, chocolate licorice and a letter. The letter just told me about fun things that I needed to do in San Fran while I was there and that he was excited for Jr. Prom and such. It was very thoughtful of him. I think I died! We talked a bunch also while I was on trip. :) So, I went to San Fran. When I got back, I wrote him a letter and talked about my trip and what not. Then, a couple days later, I won a gift card to Applebee's at a Chick-fil-A banquet. I immediately knew that I wanted to invite him to go with me. I thought it would be good for us to go on a date before Jr. Prom. Ya know? So, we invited Madi to come with a date. She invited this guy, Isaiah. That night was great and I think we really hit it off. I knew that I really liked Mike at this point.
The night before Jr. Prom, my friend Cadee had set all of us girls up on this fun date. I went with Chris Bietzel. It was not the best date. Honestly, all I could think about was Mike and how I would go with him the next day.
March 17th was Jr. Prom and it was a blast! Mike had a polo game in the day, which made it so we couldn't go with the group to the day activity. I was kind of upset about it at first, but once it had all played out, I was glad to spend some time with just him. We went to Village Inn for breakfast and then to his game. After that, we went to get ice cream at Ab's. That is when I learned that he does not eat sweets. He did not go to get ice cream for him, but for me. The polo game was cool to see and I even met his fam. It was kind of awkward to pretty much see him naked in his speedo on one of our first dates. LOL. So then, he took me home after Ab's and I got ready. He picked me up and we went to the Spaghetti Factory and then the dance. It was all so fun. And I was glad to see that he actually liked to dance at a dance! I thought it was very sweet when my best friend Natalie's date went to the bathroom and then missed a slow dance. Mike let Natalie dance with us. I loved that he did that. After the dance, we stopped at his house and his family took pictures and then we went over to Jared's. The moms set up all of this fruit and sweets to dip in chocolate. It was great. Then we watched Prom Night. It was Mike's first time and he was pretty scared. And then... he held my hand (cue butterflies). It was the best feeling. Everything was so special and it felt good just to be so close to him. I even got to say happy birthday to him at midnight. I was first! It made me so happy. After the movie, he took me home and walked me to my door. We hugged and said goodbye. What an amazing night!! All of my friends thought he would kiss me, but he did not. I was happy. It was too soon for us to do that.
So, I guess you could say that this is what started it all.
Right off the bat, it was like I knew that I loved this guy and that I would be with him forever. I immediately started to journal everything and cherish every moment.
A couple nights later, Mike asked me if I liked pie. Of course I do. He does not like pie, but he asked if I would want to go to pie night at Village Inn. I remember he picked me up after he had gone to something for church. He was dressed nice when he came to pick me up. He was beautiful. We talked in the car and when we got out of the car at Village Inn, we walked in and he put his arm around me. He said, "It's really great to see you tonight." That is seriously my favorite moment in all of history. I get chills when I think about it. At that point, it was just so innocent and beautiful. Honestly, I already felt like I loved him at this point. Mind you that this was only our second date. I could just feel it.
I guess the rest is history...
Well, we started to not date other people and hang out a lot! We saw each other at school every day and we did stuff after school most days of the week. It was so fun. He never asked me to be his girlfriend, it just happened. I ended up asking him to Sr. Ball and I did it quick before anyone else got to him. I could go on and on about that night and all of its perfection. We danced the night away! Mike was even crowned Duke. That was cool, but he did have to dance with another girl for the ONLY slow danced. I was kind of bummed. But, the whole night was just perfect, as I said. One moment I love to look back on was when we were driving home. I remember we sat in the back of Madi's Expedition. Mike took off his suit jacket and lay his head on my lap. I remember we were so sweaty and it was nice to feel the cool breeze as we drove with the windows down. I remember stroking his wet hair and we were just staring at each other. It was the perfect moment and I will always remember it. Oh, we were so in love already. I knew it. So, that was in May.
We graduated together in June 2012 and that summer was one that I will never forget. We spent so much time together. It was always so fun when I was with him. We were together almost everyday. But, the summer went by fast and it was time for college. Mike had been planning to go to Dixie and he was still going. I was staying here and going to Salt Lake Community College. It was so hard to take him down there and say goodbye. Mine and Madi's family came with and we all stayed in a hotel together so that I could have my last weekend with Mike before school started. We did have a bit of a rough patch as Mike had a hard time balancing having me and his family there. We had our first big fight, but then we worked it out and had a wonderful last night together. We were just both having so many emotions and it was hard to leave each other. But we have made it work and it has prepared us for his mission. He came down so much during the school year on weekends and for a month during December. It wasn't too bad. My friends and I even went down to see him one weekend. That was way fun! All I know is that distance really makes you realize that you need to cherish the time that you do have together. Also, I would like to thank technology (long phone calls, texting, skyping, emailing, etc.). How hard this journey has been!
Mike received his call in February to go to Kingston, Jamaica on July 3rd. It was an emotional roller coaster for me after that. School really took the back burner. I just wanted to spend so much time with him, but it was hard since he was away at college. I had really bad anxiety. I missed him so much.
On March 17th, we celebrated one year together and we decided to make it a tradition to go to our place, Village Inn on that day every year. That is where we went to breakfast for Junior Prom and it was really a special place for us. It kind of took us back. I remember Mike picked me up early that morning. We loved our date and we really cherished every moment. We knew that it would be the last anniversary that we would celebrate together for two years. I felt sad, but I tried to brush that aside. It was a lovely morning. We both got our normal VIB meals and had wonderful conversation. It was wonderful to be with my love at our favorite place.
Later in March, he gave me the promise ring that we had been looking at. It is a beautiful pearl.
He was dropping me off before heading back to St. George and he pulled it out of his bag. Of course we both started crying. He told me how he loved me so much and he knew that I would wait for him and we would be together when he returned. He trusts me and that is what I love. We both cried. It was a wonderful day.
In April, my friends and I decided to surprise Mike and go to St. George. I pretty much ruined the surprise, but it was definitely a wonderful weekend. We stayed in the Condie's condo. It was very relaxing and Mike and I really needed that time together. I remember when we were just lying on the bed and held each other for the first time in weeks, it just felt so good. I could not get enough of him. We stood on the stairs and kissed for so long when it was time to say goodbye. We really could not stop and I didn't know how I was going to leave him. To read more about the surprise, the blog post about that is here.
Yes, we made it through the school year. I think at this time, we really had learned that we were supposed to be together. Afterall, we had made it through that whole year. We knew that we could definitely take on his two year mission.
Our love is beautiful. It is something that I never imagined having in my life. I always imagined what love would feel like. It is unexplainable. If you can explain it, it really is not love. I love our hands. I love when they meet. There is such passion in hands. I especially love his crooked hands, one hand being with a small mole on his index finger. Oh, how I love that mole. Oh, how I love him.
Watch out for Chapter Two: Cherished - that will be all about our last two months before the mission, the months that we will never forget.
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