Chapter Eighteen* …Any News?

This is the story of how the Hubster and I met, fell in love, and were married within 8 months…

…and lived happily ever after*

After being “reprimanded” by several devoted readers for the short length of the last chapter, Here you go…

Sometimes when I go back and reread the chapters that I’ve already written even I am amazed at how fast my relationship with the Hubster moved. In 23 days we progressed from a shy hello to “I love you” while he was working full time and I was in my first year of university. While I was living it it seemed perfectly natural… I can now better understand many of the shocked reactions I received when I announced my engagement… but we’re not there yet. ;)

Adding “I love you” to our relationship seemed to push things into warp speed. The next 9 days flew by in a whirlwind of new love. Having already had that first scary discussion about marriage (which in fact turned out to be not so scary with him) we knew that we’d have some pretty big decisions to make in the future about our future. We decided to take a trip to the temple to allow ourselves some time for reflection. I will forever remember the ride there… it was just the two of us in the car, listening to some country station, and for the first time I actually felt what it might be like to be married to him. As we were driving we both settled into our own thoughts and it struck me just how… normal everything felt. That might sound odd, but several of my past relationships were so full of drama that I often missed out on that “comfortable” feeling that relationships tend to settle into. Driving with him I had a glimpse of what it might be like doing every day things together… going for groceries, driving to church, or running errands, and I loved the feeling I had. I looked over at him while he was driving and could actually picture a life with him… a happy life. I liked it.

However, apparently I wasn’t the only one who seemed to notice that the possibility of the Hubster and I building a life together was a real possibility. My mother noticed first. Since leaving the womb I have always been a Daddy’s girl. My Dad and I just understand each other and we’re very much alike. But my Mom and I have a connection that almost spooks me sometimes… she knows me inside and out. It’s like we’re on the same wavelength… once, after a family tragedy a couple of years ago, I had been brave for several days until my body registered what had just happened and I broke down. I had been in the basement looking for something while throngs of people were upstairs and I began to shake and sob uncontrollably. I was a mess, to say the least. I couldn’t go upstairs because of all the people, and I couldn’t be alone. So I hid in a corner and sobbed wishing that my mom were there. Within 3 minutes she found me in my hiding spot and held me until I was okay. To this day I don’t know how she knew where I was or that I needed her as I didn’t tell her where I was going and hearing me would have been impossible, but she found me. A mother’s intuition I guess. :)

Anyway. My mother had seen me through the men in my life, but I think she always suspected that this one was different. She had only met him once, but she surprised me by asking why the Hubster was different from the other (many) 3-week relationships I had had in the previous 2 years. I knew that she was a little worried that I was moving too fast, but I could tell that she was also aware that there was something different between the Hubster and I.

My Dad was next. While I was living in the city my Dad would often pop in to say hi as he was passing through for work. One night he popped in and chatted with me about the Hubs. He relayed some of my mother’s concerns to me, but also told me that he knew that I wouldn’t do anything that I wasn’t sure about. He also knew that they didn’t really have a leg to stand on as my Mom and Dad only knew each other for 6 weeks before getting engaged… and now, more than 30 years later they are still more in love than ever.

Next came the relatives. We went back to B-town for Peeah’s birthday party and a snow tubing adventure. Quite a few members of my extended family were tubing with us… my Dad has 4 brothers and 3 sisters, and, like my Dad, they all have a hilarious sense of humour and like to know EVERYTHING that’s going on in the family. Once my Auntie Moosey (who I’m close with) got wind that I was not only dating someone, but had brought him home to meet the family, she made sure to come over and meet us on the hill with the following question:

“Sooo… any neeews? Is there anything I should know about and be helping to plan? Hmm??”

The Hubster was mortified. haha! It was his first experience with Auntie Moosey, and certainly wasn’t his last. Until he put the ring on my finger she made sure to ask us if there was “any news” each and every time she saw us. haha!!Needless to say, he survived my family and is now just “one of the gang” and fits right in.

The following Friday was the FERP dance (remember his cute invitation??) and I spent HOURS getting ready… I wanted to look PERFECT. I curled my hair and put it up:And I wore a long, crimson red skirt with high black heels and a black top. :) However, as the weather was REALLY bad that night, we ended up enjoying a long dinner together at the Keg, and only made a brief appearance at the dance. We did take our very first picture together, and even now it’s one of my absolute favourites!!
We happily dated through the end of February and into March… and March turned out to be a rather exciting month. :)