A lot of people have asked how Derek and I met. I thought this would be a great place to share it. However, that means you just get my version of it. Lol… maybe we’ll post Derek’s rebuttal later.
The very first time we met was actually at a ward activity in a lodge up in Big Cottonwood Canyon. We were in the same picture together but I think that is all we remember. That was January.
In February some mutual friends threw me a birthday party. Derek was invited but we didn’t end up meeting. I did see him sitting in the lower living room. He said that he saw me too but there were always a lot of people around me.
Jump now to a Family Home Evening we were both at in March, March 21st. Ironically I had been out on 3 dates during the previous few weeks and was unhappy with the guys that had been taking me out. I had three criteria for saying yes to a second date: compatibility (or potential for), spirituality, motivation for their life. Not one met all three and some none at all. I had been talking with a guy that sat next to me and he just wasn’t pulling through with it either. I remember turning to my friend and saying, “How can they expect us to date if there is no one worth dating!” A few minutes after that conversation I met Derek. He was sitting a few chairs down and taking with another girl about band trips to Seattle. The conversation was intriguing and so I joined. I think we must have dominated the conversation because she ended up leaving and we continued to talk. We talked in the gym then Derek invited me to grab some refreshments and then invited me to sit on the couches in the foyer. By the end of FHE we had talked for almost two hours. When I got home he had sent me a friend request on facebook. I accepted of course!
March 28th, Stake Talent Show FHE Activity. Derek asked me for my number. We had had a fifth Sunday lesson on dating the previous Sunday and so he was making a mockery of the advice on how to do. Lol, I think we all were! I laughed. He pulled it off well. However, I didn’t realize he was really asking for my number so I didn’t give it to him. However when he asked me again 2 weeks later, I said yes. I’m glad he had the courage to ask again!
April 14th, the following Thursday. Derek and I had our first date. There is a neat story to how it came about. I had been called as the Relief Society president the previous January. We had decided with the bishop (it was my idea but the bishop loved it!) to do a ‘boycott hanging out month’ with the sisters. As a result of that and perhaps other things I was being asked out on more dates then I had any other time previously. With being the R.S. Pres, work, family and some other things I had picked up, I had only one night a week I could save for dates so I had been scheduling them 2-3 weeks out. That Thursday evening I was swimming at the pool and decided to take the night to get things ready for our R.S. retreat the next day. I had been swimming for about 10 minutes and I had the urgent feeling to leave. At first I was worried that maybe something bad had happened and so I didn’t even take a shower but rushed to my phone in my car to see if someone had called. I continued to feel the urgency so I rushed through the evening’s errands. Everyone was fine. Derek called me that night. He had seen that we had our RS retreat that weekend and was leaving to California for a week while I was in Park City. He asked if I wanted to get together that night. He had a great chocolate cookie recipe. We could make it for the sisters and then listen to music for his road trip. Typically I would have scheduled for the next available night, which would have been at least two weeks away (didn’t know it at the time but by then we were not even in the same stake due to boundary reconfigurations), however I had the evening free so I said yes. He came over with all the cookie making ingredients we needed and we baked, talked and listened to music. He took my new favorite song with him on their trip and he and his roommate came back with it memorized (a whole new story :) We text while he was gone. Derek likes to share that he had text me to ask me if we were in the same ward. I told him that we were not even in the same stake. He text back (he was still on his road trip) and said then he would have to take me on a lot of dates so he could still see me. I then said that we should start with that as soon as he got back! He loved that comment.
I continued to go on dates with others already scheduled but by the time we had our fourth date, the end of the week he had been back, I knew I didn’t want to date anyone else. Not only did he live up to my big “three” but he continues to be everything else on my list. We became “official” as boyfriend and girlfriend May 1st.
