You should know that Joe and I grew up about three blocks away from each other, in the same LDS stake, in neighboring wards. When we were dating, Joe would never wear his seat belt when we were driving between houses (it drove me insane) and the incessant beeping would always turn off at the stop sign between our houses, no matter which direction we were coming from! We went to different elementary schools (we were both on the border for our schools), and then went to the same Jr. High and High School, but somehow we never talked or officially met until we'd both been graduated for about five years.
In high school, I admired Joe from a far, and after graduation we went our separate ways, but life led us right back to where we started so that we could fall in love.
A couple of weeks ago when I posted my blog feed back form, a bunch of you mentioned that you would love to hear more details about our love story from the beginning to our wedding day. There are a few posts in my archives that talk a little about some of the events, and I have an Our Story page, but those don’t share all of the little moments and details that it sounds like you want to hear. The Whole Story starts today and by the end of it all, you will know exactly how Joberly (our celebrity nickname) came to be!
You should know that Joe and I grew up about three blocks away from each other, in the same LDS stake, in neighboring wards. When we were dating, Joe would never wear his seat belt when we were driving between houses (it drove me insane) and the incessant beeping would always turn off at the stop sign between our houses, no matter which direction we were coming from! We went to different elementary schools (we were both on the border for our schools), and then went to the same Jr. High and High School, but somehow we never talked or officially met until we’d both been graduated for about five years.
The first time I ever saw Joe was across the classroom in seminary my sophomore or junior year of high school. I don’t remember a whole lot about the semester or who was in the class with us, I don’t even know what teacher we had, but I do remember staring at him discreetly across the room the first few days of class. My most vivid memory was probably during the obligatory getting to know you games that first day. We were all sitting on the top of our desks and I was facing his direction, trying to catch his eye and make some sort of “we should be friends” connection with him because he was funny and good looking! Then one day I overheard him and his friend (who is the only other person I remember being in the class) talking about a girl and a date they went on and from the conversation I caught onto the fact that he was dating said girl and off the market. So unfortunately, we never became friends, never spoke a word to each other, and I was pretty sure he never ever noticed me.
That wasn’t the end of my admiration for Joe and unfortunately I started to look like a stalker. It was all unintentional and I PROMISE I didn’t go out of my way to cross his path, it just kind of happened on its own. It was probably a bunch of serendipitous moments so that he’d leave an impression on my mind and he’d um… notice me? Joe owned a lawn care company (he still does, but he started over fresh after his mission), I babysat a lot, and we just happened to be employed by the same family. There were quite a few times when he would be mowing their lawn while I was there and the kids thought it was really fun to watch that happen, so I’d join them at the window and we’d watch Joe and his crew work. That’s not creepy, right?
Because we lived so close to each other, there were quite a few times when I would pass Joe’s house and see that little red truck with his lawn care magnet attached to the side. One of my good friends lived a block away from him and the most direct route was down his street, so obviously I had no choice but to scooter past his house a few times a week or more to go hang out with her. And ok, I will admit to one stalkerish tendency…one of my best friends and I would go on long, late night walks a lot and for some reason I thought it was a good idea for our route to go past the houses of the guys in the area who I was crushing on or found attractive. There were other guys in Joe’s neighborhood who fit that description, so it wasn’t all for him, but we still ended up walking up or down his street a lot.
Side note: That backfired on me years later when I was taking a really good friend home (before we became best friends) and I drove straight there without him giving me directions. He was one who I had a huge crush on back in high school, the summer before my junior year, and then we became really close friends years later. I remember him being so confused and asking me how I knew exactly where he lived and what car he drove. (It’s important to know their vehicle because then you know if they’re home when you walk by to possibly notice a cute girl out their window.) I wasn’t quite sure how to explain it without sounding completely insane, so I just brushed it off. The fact that guys even gave me the time of day after things like that, let alone became some of my dearest friends, is a miracle…
And that’s the beginning of how we came to be! Hopefully you will all still be my friend and not think any less of me after hearing more about my obsessive boy crazy days. I promise I’m not like that anymore!
P.S. When I asked Joe what he remembered about this story, he had nothing. I guess I was right, he never noticed me 😉 Jk He once told me that his first thought when he saw me at institute three years ago was, ‘I think her name is Amber and she used to want me.’ Obviously I made an impression, just not the one I was going for.