How long is eternity again?

Ever pondered how long eternity really is? Hard to comprehend I know but for Jeff and I, we're 6 six years into eternity as of today. Yup, it's the ole' anniversary and as happens every year, Jeff was the first to remember and tell me happy anniversary. When we got engaged he said July 11 was the perfect day to get married because he would always remember the date - he loves Slurpees hence the 7-11 reference. And he has yet to forget! So just for kicks and giggles, and because I don't have an electronic pictures from our engagement/wedding (pathetic I know), I thought I would share some of our "firsts" together.


First time we met: I had just finished my first year of college and my friend Rachel drug me to a BBQ at Jeff's house. I didn't want to go but she kept insisting I needed to meet these guys she had been hanging out with. So I went. I figured I needed to get out of the house anyway and who can go wrong with free food. I remember walking into Jeff's backyard and getting introduced to "Johnson" and "Palmer", two guys who instantly made me laugh. The one thing I couldn't figure out was why a parent would name their kids' Johnson and Palmer. That's all I ever heard anyone call my Jeff and his best friend Jeff until I figured out everyone called them by their last names. Admittedly I was a grump that day and I'm sure didn't leave a good impression. But something clicked and the three of us starting hanging out all the time. We did everything together. Even people who had known Jeff since he was a kid starting thinking I had grown up with him because we were always together. After awhile, I started calling "Johnson" Jeff and he called me Jenny instead of "Jewkes" which at that point we figured hey why not give dating a whirl? The rest is history!


First date: Our first official date was going to James and the Giant Peach at Ellen Eccles Theatre. The catch with this play was it was all in sign language. It was really cool to watch a play in sign language and amazingly we stayed pretty caught up on the story line. The only downside was when the kids all started laughing and pointing in our direction and we didn't have a clue why. Remember, everyone there could sign except us and I'm positive there was some inside joke going on.


First kiss: Jeff was pretty determined to get the first kiss and had been trying for weeks before I finally gave in. I figured after making him go to a flute recital for one of my classes and buying me a Jamba Juice (every guy's dream date), I owed him one. He's a great kisser too!


How we got engaged: Well first of all, let me clarify by saying the first time I found out we were getting married was at a USU basketball game. We were watching the game and during a timeout Jeff told me he had booked a room at the temple. I hadn't ever gone to the temple before and figured, although I thought it was odd, you had to book a room for some reason when you wanted to go. I said oh that's nice. Jeff knew I didn't quite grasp what he was saying so he said he had booked the biggest room at the temple on July 11. At this point I figured I didn't know what he was talking about and asked him why. Casually he said we're getting married. By this time the game had resumed and the next thing I know I'm yelling "WHAT?" and Jeff is jumping up and down screaming at the officials. Everyone around us was laughing.

That was in January but Jeff officially proposed on St. Patrick's Day. We had gotten into this huge argument the night before over some really, really dumb wedding stuff and both of us weren't talking and quite frankly were about ready to say we're done! But Jeff had already planned things out so he still proposed this day. When I got home from church (we didn't even sit by each other we were so mad), my friend Becky called and said she wanted to make cookies or something like that but at my parent's house. Lame I thought and why at my parents? Then my brother called and begged me to come home and make him a sandwhich. Even more lame, something fishy is going on. I told him no over and over again but when he said my dad wanted a grilled tuna fish sandwhich and that he was sick, I gave in and had Becky take me to my parents' house. I took my roommate Kristy with me because I didn't want to go alone - which according to Jeff was NOT in the plans. We got to my parents and I made Jesse and my dad lunch. The phone kept ringing but Jesse wouldn't let me answer it. At this point I knew something was going on. Finally I got the phone and Jesse handed me an envelope with a note inside. I don't remember the exact wording but I do remember it said if I wanted to get "lucky" (remember it's St. Patrick's Day) I had to find Jeff. Jeff was listening on the phone hoping for screams of joy when I clued in that today I was getting proposed to but all I said was oh great, I don't want to drive all over town! I don't even have a car! I think I really disappointed him but I was still so mad about our fight the night before. I think Jesse ended up taking me back to my house and when we pulled up there was in chalk and huge, "Jenny will you marry me?" all over the driveway. I was so embarrassed because all the neighbors would see it! All through our dating we liked to chalk each other's driveways or spray paint our lawns with funny things and so it really was cute because it was fitting for us. But man was I embarrassed. Plus I forgot to mention that morning it had snowed and Jeff's best friend had come over and snowblowed our driveway - again I thought kinda weird - but he had no idea Jeff was proposing that day, it just sort of worked out. When I got into my house I found a monstrous bouquet of gorgeous flowers! They were the only reason Jeff went through with proposing that day because he had already ordered them before we got into our fight. I remember walking into the living room, seeing Jeff (who was in a sweatshirt no less, got really dressed up for the occasion) and the flowers, and then he just handed me the ring box. I said, aren't you going to get down on one knee and ask me to marry you to which he responded "this is lame." Real romantic, huh? Needless to say, he did ask me and I said yes (I was so excited to put this big rock on my finger!) and as Jeff always tells everyone when we talk about how we got engaged, we made out. It must be his favorite part of the story I guess!

A few months later, on the hottest day of the year, we got married in the Logan Temple. It was beautiful and filled with laughter, family and friends, and so much fun. My grandpa Allen sealed us and the few bits of advice I remember him telling us were that there's always a spender and a saver in a relationship and as long as we have one of each we should be okay. I really wish I would have written down more of what he said because I just can't remember much now. We moved into this tiny house we affectionately call the "toolshed" (it seriously had four rooms and the ceilings were only 6 feet tall in the basement - that's another post for a slow day), graduated from USU, got our first "real" jobs, moved to Bountiful, bought a house, had a baby, and have been happily married for 6 years. I really can't imagine my life without Jeff. He makes me laugh, pushes me to be better, is a great cook and help around the house/yard, and I just love him more than words can even describe. I asked him last night after we had gone golfing if he wanted to give it another go for 6 years. He said, nah, let's just take it one day at a time because I just don't know if I can commit to more than a year then laughed. What a character! But that's exactly what I love the most about him. Happy Anniversary!

Happy Birthday Jeff!

Today is the day - Jeff is officially OLD! He has jokingly told me for the past 5 years that come his 30th birthday, his life would end. Luckily for me, he's not dead yet and if we can keep him alive for another 2 hours or so, I'm betting he lives to be 100. Although he is worth more dead than alive with his life insurance policy - just kidding. We celebrated by having hamburgers and cake and ice cream on the "you are special" plate that gets dusted off for only the most special of occasions. German chocolate cake with coconut frosting to be exact, Jeff's favorite. Oh and spending the evening watching him organize his new "toy chest" a big new tool chest in the garage. Even Kimmy was around for the celebration.

Happy Birthday Jeff! Pearl and I love you very, very much and hope you had a great day. You are a ray of sunshine in our lives and we wouldn't know what to do without you. You're the best, even though the young hot stud I married is now an old hot stud!

The longest drive to Logan, EVER!

I figured the day would come when we realized that roads trips were not in our family's best interest but I really thought I had a few years before the dread of driving anywhere with Pearl would come full force. But no, Pearl has decided that sitting in a "big girl" car seat and driving to Logan on quite possibly the hottest day of the year in tons of traffic is not her idea of a good time. It doesn't matter that Jeff and I have never ceased to disappoint her with any of our trips - I mean who can complain when they get to go see the grandmas or buy cool stuff - because she was determined to push us both to the limits. I honestly thought Jeff was going to turn the truck around and go home (doesn't every one's dad threaten this at one time or another?). I naively thought our 4th of July weekend was going to be fun when we began the drive to Logan. Yes, Logan. We've tried the fireworks shows down in Salt Lake (well the free ones) and even drove up the University of Utah to scope out the valley shows in years past and well, nothing compares to USU fireworks which you can watch from just about anywhere in the valley.

Anyway, back to the drive. We left Bountiful late, thinking we could avoid traffic if we took the back roads but noooooo, traffic was horrible! Oh sure the freeway looked clear but for some reason we took the back roads and got stuck. Pearl didn't even make it 15 minutes before starting her ear splitting banshee screams. I know everyone thinks their kid screams the loudest, but seriously Pearl's screams can shatter glass. My child screams like a girl, a very loud, very high pitched girl. She'd been screaming at us the entire week (which you would think would be our first clue to just stay home) and yet, we figured a long car ride would somehow be entertaining enough to avoid the screaming. Boy were we wrong. By the time we got to Farmington, Pearl was not only angry about being in her car seat but she was hungry too. Not to mention she had thrown all of her toys to the floor, spilled Cheerios everywhere, and ticked Jeff and I off so much that now we were fighting. URGHHH!!! We ended up at Taco Time after what seemed like 4 hours on the road. By the time we got to Logan (no the screaming did not end with full tummies or a nap in Pearl's case), I was ready to just turn around and go back home. I mean what was another 2+ hours of screaming from Pearl and yelling between Jeff and I? Well, Jeff and I don't really yell at each other, more like bickering until I cry then turn as far away from him as humanly possible in a vehicle all while staring out the window not saying a word (and inside boiling mad because I know that's exactly what he wants me to do so he doesn't have to keep talking to me) while Jeff in the meantime blasts the radio full force to drone out any and all conversations. As soon as I walked in to my parents' house my mom could tell something was up and all I had to do was say here's your granddaughter for her to know that we had just experienced the longest drive to Logan, EVER!!!

We did end up watching the fireworks from the elementary school. Jeff even broke out a box of sparklers. Are all men little boys when it comes to fire and explosives? Pearl wasn't nearly as fascinated with the sparklers as Jeff had hoped but hey, he tried. She did seem to like the fireworks but couldn't figure out why everyone was clapping and not in bed, since it was obviously way past bedtime. I was still so ticked off at Pearl and Jeff that I didn't want to take any pictures of the night's events. Hence, no pictures on the blog of our 4th of July weekend. It was fun seeing the family though and we had a nice visit with my Uncle Randal who was up from Nevada for the weekend. I really hope her attitude the past week is due to teeth coming and not her personality! Honestly, I kept thinking she's not even 2 yet, how can she be acting like the terrible two's? I mean, I know she is feisty but good grief if this is a sign of what's to come I don't know if I'll survive 'till she's 12. Jeff and I joke about how it's a good thing she is so dang cute or else we would have given her up a long time ago! But this week, it's the truth!