How It All Began- Ch. 2

January 24, 2024

I was sitting in church with a friend and I was giggling and whispering to her during a service. That’s when Aaron noticed me. After the service, I noticed him. I thought he was cute and so I introduced myself. I had thick curly hair, stood with confidence and poise and was trying to make an impression. I didn’t see him for a week or two and was bummed, thinking he was only visiting. Come to find out, he was sick. The following Sunday I walked into church with my hair blow dried straight and he had a shock in his voice on how different I looked as he called me by name. “Britney?” “Hey, sorry I forgot your name.” “It’s Aaron.”

I felt awful that I forgot his name. But I loved that I could play 2 different women, one with curly hair and one with straight hair. Our first date was a halloween dance in 2001. We dressed up as a biker couple and put tattoos all over us. Thats when it all started. I was 18 and he was 25. The best part is, I looked older than I was ( BONUS ). He never asked my age until a couple months into dating and was completely shocked.

I was drawn in by how amazing his arms looked and his eyes were truly dreamy. I pinched myself many times in shock that I could attract such a good looking guy. You see, in high school, every time I went after a guy that I thought was cute, another girl would get jealous and sweep him away from me. So, I thought I was ugly. I just focused on how quickly I could finish school and get OUT of the stupid drama.

I graduated high school with my cosmetology liscence and Aaron was an electrician. He said he was going to go to ASU to get his bachelors in business.

(( THE HAIR!!! OH MY GOSH!! What was I thinking? lol ) Well, Aaron propsed in February of 2002. One night we planned to go out and he called me to tell me that he wasn’t able to go out. I was so mad. I was excited to go out. And then I looked out my window and there was this limo in my driveway. The driver came to the door, drove me this crazy route to get to his parents house and Aaron had this incredible dinner all layed out on the table and thats when I knew.

“I know what you’re going to do and I can’t eat right now.” So he took me to the couch, got on one knee and poured out his heart to me. I was in shock and so much excitement. Bless his heart, he told the jeweler that my ring finger is a 4 1/2 and she convinced him that it wasn’t. So when he put the ring on my finger it dangled on my finger. I laughed. I couldn’t help it. He was so embarrassed. He found some string, wrapped the inside of it so it would stay on my finger and not fall off. ( That is a memory I wont forget).

As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints you have the choice and opportunity to get married in the Temple if you are worthy. Aaron and I got married in Nauvoo IL July 2, 2002. Many people have never heard of Nauvoo, but it is a beautiful historic city that has so much history. I have a lot of ancestors that come from Nauvoo, ( but that can be another journal entry). Aaron served a 2 year mission in Baltimore Maryland for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. When men or women choose to go on a mission, there is tremendous spiritual growth and powerful direction given to you for your life. Men go for 2 years and women go for 18 months. Marrying a return missionary was on my bucket list. The experience was indescribable. Truly magical and full of so many beautiful memories. So many family and friends worked so hard in planning and decorating for my wedding. My parents are HUGE party planners and always go over the top. They decorated a church cultural building and it looked like a completely different room. When I say it was magical, like a fairy tale, it truly was. My friend, Valerie ( the one in the black dress) made my wedding dress. She did only charged me $60. I still have it to this day.

So many family and friends worked so hard in planning and decorating for my wedding. My parents are HUGE party planners and always go over the top. They decorated a church cultural building and it looked like a completely different room. When I say it was magical, like a fairy tale, it truly was. My friend, Valerie ( the one in the black dress) made my wedding dress. I found this dress in a magazine and I asked her if she could make it for me. She did, and only charged me $60. I was shocked. I still have it to this day.