CTR Punk and S.D. Gattinha

How do you think Spencer and I first met?

6% of you thought we met @ a party.
12% of you thought it was through mutual friends.
50% of you thought it was via Internet.
31% of you thought we met at a concert in Salt Lake.

Okay, so first off, thanks for voting and taking part in my silly polls I post. Secondly, oh my gosh!...I can't believe how many of you actually don't know the truth behind how Spencer and I met! I guess I misled a lot of you in the past if you ever asked me how we did meet. I apologize. I wish our story was simple and we could simply say that we met at a party in Provo or through mutual friends, but it's not. In fact we didn't even meet at a concert in Salt Lake! We actually met through the Internet!!! If you're just reading this only because you wanted to simply know what the answer to last weeks poll was, well there you have it, and you can stop reading,... but if you care to let me explain myself then read on. Note to reader: Make sure you're sitting in a comfy chair cuz this might be a long one. Put the kids down for their naps if you don't want to be distracted from this short novel.
I must mention before I begin my memoir that Spencer insist that there is always two sides to every story; I fully intend to tell the truth with out embellishing, but I must point out, this is my side of the story and not Spencer's.
I'm not quite sure where Spencer's version of the story begins- I guess we can all just assume he was hanging out here in Utah dating lots and lots of girls in Happy Valley before he met me- let's just leave it at that.
As for myself- I had just gotten home from my mission in Portugal. Fall semester for college had already begun before I got home, so I planned to stick around with the fam in San Diego for a couple of months before heading back to school. I missed life in the mission field but to be completely truthful, I was ready and eager to begin the life I'd left behind before my mission. I had a boyfriend through out my mission who I wrote faithfully and I expected we'd resume dating and with time we'd later marry. It had been a while since I'd actually last seen "him" since he was serving "his" own mission when I decided to leave for mine. In September of 2003 when I got back to the states, "he" was already going to school again up at BYU Idaho. This means that our long distance relationship would have to continue on despite the fact I wasn't on my mission anymore. We spoke over the phone quite a bit- and we carried on our relationship via email, but I was anxious and impatient and I wanted to see "him", so I convinced my parents to buy me round trip airline tickets so I could visit "him" and my other friends who were still going to BYU Idaho. I visited Rex burg for a week, (this was only three weeks after I got off of my mish). I had envisioned spending every waking moment with "him" during my visit, but instead, "he" put off seeing me until after I'd already been there for three days, because "he" claimed "he" was super busy with school. DRAMA! This totally upset me of course since I had so many expectations, but whatever I thought; I knew "he" was nervous because here we were after 3 years of talking about marriage while we were both committed to our missions, and now both of us were available and we had to finally decide where we wanted to go with our lives. Thinking back now, I know I definitely had more direction in my life than "he" did at the time. Once "his" cold feet began to warm up and we hung out a bit, things felt like they were back to where we'd left them the last time we were together before both of our missions, but of course, I had to board that plane that would take me back home while he stayed there to finish off the semester. We returned to keeping in touch via email and through phone calls while we were apart again. It was during which one of those phone calls, it finally dawned on me, that despite my desperate attempt to make our relationship work, I had known all along that he wasn't the guy I was going to marry. How was I supposed to let him know that??? Well I never did tell him that. Instead, I just let "him" assume that everything was hunky dory, and all was well- I did however stop returning his calls and I began to really distance myself from any communication with "him". (I've always tried to avoid confrontation in any relationships I've ever had- I like to go M.I.A. when I'm done with a relationship).
Anywho, so there I was, suddenly "single" and completely bored. I wasn't working- what was the point since I was going to be moving out of state again shortly, and none of my friends I usually hung out with were around to keep me company, since most of them were away at school. I tried to find a temporary social life by going to my Stake Singles Ward; I couldn't relate much with most of the kids though who were in it. All the girls were mostly 18 or 19 and didn't quite know what it was like to be a "suddenly single Returned Sister Missionary". There were a couple of girls in the ward I had been acquaintances with. I hung out with them during church. I remember one particular Sunday afternoon, during a "Break the Fast" luncheon, they were chatting about this fun LDS dating website they liked to use. They didn't strike me to be the kind of girls who resorted to dating websites in order to find guys- probably because I always stereotyped the kind of people who used dating websites as either creepy or desperate introverts. I guess I was mistaken about dating websites though- cuz my friends were cool.
Another week went by after that initial conversation, and one Monday afternoon I found myself completely bored. I'd already checked my email two or three times, no new mail- and I was still abstaining from calling "him". Suddenly I remembered the name of the dating website my friends had talked about... LDSmingles.com. With nothing to do, I figured it wouldn't hurt to browse the website. I really just wanted to see what kinda desperate people used the service. In order to browse though, the website required me to sign up with an account and give them a little bit of information about myself. I hesitated, but I did it anyhow. The screen name I created for myself was "S.D. Gattinha" (short for "San Diego Kitten"- I thought it was funny how all the guys in Portugal used to call the sisters "gattinhas" so I stuck with that name.) I wasn't too impressed at first use- that's probably because I didn't know how to use the website. I gave up after 10 minutes- I had very little patience. The following day, after checking my email once or twice, I figured I'd go back to LDSmingles.com and browse through more peoples profiles. I would call it "people watching". I'm a huge "people watcher" out in public, only in this sense, I guess I was "people snooping". After getting logged in, I spotted a notice that said I had mail. It wasn't really mail, but it was actually a ton of flirts from random guys who saw my profile. Flirts are really funny, cheesy pick up lines people can send to other people they want to know more about. Attached to most of the flirts were pictures of the guys who sent them to me, along with some brief information about them. One of the flirts that stood out to me was from this kid who went by the screen name "CTR Punk". The flirt said something like "Did I just die and go to heaven cuz I think I just saw an angel." Alright, so the pickup line was super cheesy I admit, I think I even snickered after reading it, but "CTR Punk's" profile picture was pretty hot. I remember thinking he had fab hair. I didn't stay logged in for long- but the following day I found myself compelled to check the website again. (I get easily addicted to web stuff like email and blogging. Because I like snooping and it was fun checking out peoples profiles, I was an instant sucker for LDSmingles). This time when I checked in, I noticed not only were there a million flirts from random guys who came across my profile (one of those flirts was from CTR Punk again); this time there were also emails and invites from some of the guys asking me to chat with them, via instant messaging. I had never instant messaged a person ever in my life and I had no intention of chatting with any of the guys- again I stress I only wanted to spy- I didn't care to develop any sort of relationship with anyone using the dating service. I was curious though to find out what some of the guys had to say in their emails they sent me. Since I joined LDSmingles freely, I wasn't entitled to using any of their upgraded services so I couldn't read any of the emails guys had sent me. Bummer... I really let my curiosity get to the best of me, and before I knew it, I had my credit card out and I paid $7.00 for LDSMingles unlimited services. Instantly I had privileges to read the silly emails all the guys sent me. Most of the emails sounded desperate- just as I thought they would. Cheesy guys asking me to share more about myself and telling me how they'd like to get to know me better. Blah, blah, blah.... I black listed most of the guys who sent me emails or flirts. (Black listing means that they couldn't look at my profile anymore or contact me- they were basically spammed). My black list was pretty long- a couple of pages in fact; any guy who sounded dorky, weird, cheesy, or desperate got the black list- I know, I'm terrible for judging the guys immediately. Anyhow, while I was reading through my emails, there was this big red box off to the left hand side of my screen that kept flashing-it wouldn't go away and it really began to bug me. I figured it was just some sort of advertisement, so thinking if I just clicked on it, it would go away- well, that was my mistake! (Probably the best mistake I've ever made though, if I think about it now). Instead of being an advertisement like I thought it was, it turns out it was CTR Punk inviting me to chat with him via instant messaging! Immediately I realized my mistake, and before I could close the box, CTR Punk wrote me and said "Hey". I didn't want to be rude and just sign off, so I said "hey" back. I don't remember exactly what he asked me, I think it was all small talk. I was a little hesitant to be chatting with a complete stranger, so of course I refused to disclose any personal info. about myself. I think I spent about 10 minutes chatting with him- our conversation seemed completely innocent, and I figured I would never chat with the kid again- (I was wrong of course). The next day, after routinely checking my Yahoo mail, I thought I'd spy and see what new interesting guys sent me mail and flirts in LDSMingles. Within just minutes after signing in again, I saw that flashing red box off to the left side of my computer screen. It was CTR Punk again- he wanted to chat. I had time to kill, so I accepted his invite and we chatted again. I flirted with him a little- (I'm always a flirt by the way- I used to like to toy with boys emotions- I guess that makes me kinda heartless huh?). We just chatted about non important stuff. Again, I avoided telling him anything personal about myself- I didn't want to give the wrong information to the wrong person- he could have been a potential stalker for all I knew. He seemed really nice though. And it didn't hurt that his picture was cute too. For all I knew though- that could have been someone else's picture he'd stolen to mask his true identity- maybe he looked like a freak- I had to be a little suspicious since I was talking to a complete stranger. We chatted for about an hour, mostly about music and hobbies. It turned out to be fun talking with a complete stranger, and although he was a stranger, we did have common interests!
I was a bit ashamed that I had signed up to use LDSMingles. Seriously, what if my parents were to find out I was soliciting myself on the Internet???! They were extremely protective of me and I knew if they were to find out they'd be disappointed with me. I wasn't really soliciting myself over the Internet- that sounds kinda hookerish, really I was just snooping, but how was I to expect my friends and family to understand that?! I was especially worried what my old boyfriend would have thought of me if he had found out I was using a dating web site's service. Technically, I never broke up with him, and for all he knew we were still together; but if he found out, I think he would have been worried and would have thought I'd lost my mind! I kept LDSMingles a secret.
So in secrecy, every day, since it was habit, I would log into LDSMingles after looking at my Yahoo mail. I'd do the same thing, day after day, blacklist all the goobers, and after a week of casually chatting with CTR Punk, I found myself anxiously waiting for his invite to chat each day. We'd always chat about random stuff- I'd tell him about San Diego or Portugal, and he'd tell me about work or stupid stuff his friends were doing. We never talked much about our personal selves.
I found myself no longer interested with browsing through peoples profiles on LDSMingles; instead I only cared to talk to CTR Punk. I was beginning to see CTR Punk more as a friend rather than a stranger.
Eventually, after two weeks I felt comfortable enough to tell him some about myself. He told me how to set up my own Hotmail account so I could use Hotmails instant messaging and close my LDSMingles account. We continued to flirt innocently with one another. It was all in fun I mind you. I kept him company on his computer while he worked. He befriended me and amused me when I was bored. We were strictly friends- friends who had actually never met, but still, we were friends. My social life began to pick up- I was actually dating some guys at that point. I knew CTR Punk was dating girls in Happy Valley, he'd usually slip a hint to me about a date he went on with some girl the night before. I thought of CTR Punk as my "Harry". (That would be "Harry" from "When Harry Met Sally".) CTR Punk was my "Harry" and I was his "Sally". We confided with one another about our relationships we were involved in. While I assumed all the guys I'd been going out with just wanted to be friends, he warned me that they were probably all seeking something more than that. I thought he was foolish. I didn't heed any attention- and of course, one of the guys I went out with a couple of times, Jonathan, somehow suckered me into a relationship with him. I had fun dating him- especially since he spoiled me and took me on fun, expensive dates- I wasn't used to fine dining on dates since most of my boyfriends in the past were all poor college students.
I kept busy, running errands and doing chores during the day, slipping in an instant message chat with CTR Punk, and then in the evening I would go out with Jonathan. My relationship with him though was getting a little too serious, and since I couldn't go M.I.A. this time since he knew where I lived, I just figured I'd play it out until I left for school in January. Jonathan was scary serious about us, and since like I said before, I wasn't into him like that, I was beginning to get a little worried, and I would just pray that January would arrive quickly! Looking back, I definitely toyed with his emotions, since I obviously wasn't as faithful to him as he was with me- I mean I spent at least an hour every day talking with CTR Punk over the Internet! I was even still dating a few other guys. One of whom I was really interested in. His name was G.K. I'll get to him in a little bit.
Like I mentioned before, I used CTR Punk like he was my couples therapist- we always discussed dates we'd been on. He knew I'd been dating multiple guys, but I never let him know I was exclusive with one of them. Somehow in one of our chats I felt a little guilty for keeping that particular detail a secret from him, so I mentioned it. I didn't figure he'd care, since all along CTR Punk and I were "just friends"- but he sort of flipped and was ready to say "adios" for good! I found myself suddenly desperate! I didn't want to loose my writing buddy- my friend- all over Jonathan- a kid I didn't even really care that much about! I'm not quite sure what I said, but I know I sounded desperate and I pretty much begged CTR Punk to keep writing me. He was reluctant at first, but I think secretly he was flattered to see I begged to stay friends with him.
I always had sooo much fun talking to CTR Punk, and since I always slept in every morning, I knew that by the time I would wake up, he'd already be at work on his computer just waiting for me to sign into chat.
I remember the first time I chatted with him outside of work; it was on the weekend. A Sunday afternoon in fact. I was reading through my emails when he invited me to chat. I wasn't expecting it, but of course, I was thrilled to talk to him since I always had sooo much fun chatting with him during the week. That was the first time I remember really connecting emotionally with CTR Punk. For some reason we decided to talk about deeper stuff, more personal stuff like about our families. He told me about his family- and about his older sister who had passed away when he was just a baby. I remember crying while he told me about her- I didn't tell him of course that I'd been crying. For some reason though, it touched me how he wrote about his sister and his family. I really appreciated that he opened up to me about them and how he felt about them, since family is extremely important to me. I'd never dated any guy who ever talked much as if they cared about their families. I'm sure they all cared, they just never shared it with me. That same day, CTR Punk was telling me about how the night before he was on one of his delivery pizza runs and he went to call me, but then it dawned on him, he didn't even know what my phone number was! We'd been instant messaging one another for over a month at this point and I hadn't ever told him what my phone number was. Had it been anyone else, I probably would have said, "Tough luck Charlie- I'm not gonna give you my phone number!", but after considering it for a minute or two, I gave it to him. I trusted him at this point. (Hint: If you haven't figured it out by now, CTR Punk is actually Spencer).
He called me that evening. I remember initially regretting that I'd given him my number because for the first few minutes when we spoke he was really giddy, he couldn't stop giggling! I immediately thought I'd been deceived and I'd given my number to a goober. It turns out it was just his nerves though, and that's why he was giggling like a school girl. We talked all through the night. He called around 11pm and we didn't hang up until 6 am! I think we talked about everything! I talked more than he did of course- I bet I spoke at least 80% of the time! I remember at one point during our conversation I even told him about some random animal facts I had learned. Like for instance, that a giraffe could kick the head off of a lion if it's attacking it from the back. That totally got his attention, and I think he thought I was a little crazy for mentioning it; he didn't really believe it was a fact either, but crazy, true, or not- that was a real ice breaker and he knew I was totally candid with him!
We still wrote each other during the day if we had a chance and saw that the other person was online, but along with writing, we became accustomed to talking on the phone with one another- usually at the end of the night after he had just finished work and I came home from a date with Jonathan. (I know, it was really terrible of me to two time Jonathan like that).
There were times, where between Spencer and I, we were both like "what are we doing? We'll never meet each other; we're just always going to be IM and phone buddies... " Not so though. Remember in January I was leaving San Diego, and Jonathan (thank goodness), to head back up to school in Rexberg. I assured Spencer that one day, some day, we would get a chance to meet. He was from Orem though. One of my good friends was from Orem too, and between the two of them, they had sooo much in common, so I was certain that one day I would match the two of them up! I had thought Spencer looked cute in the pictures I'd seen of him on the internet, but I was actually more interested in dating this guy named G.K. G.K. was tall, dark and handsome! He also surfed and was from So. Cal. He even happened to be a lot older, 28- ( I was just 22 at this time). G.K. was everything I thought I had ever wanted in someone I'd marry. He was funny, and he loved the beach. He wanted to travel and visit Africa for a summer and volunteer his service there. I was sold- G.K. was perfect and sooo much fun to to go out with. (I went out with him the night before Christmas Eve- he was home from college for Christmas Break when I met him.) I think I may have mentioned G.K. once or maybe twice to Spencer, but I certainly never let on that I was totally crazy about him. Spencer was too busy trying to help me get out of my sticky relationship with Jonathan. He warned me a lot earlier that Jonathan would get super attatched and suffocate me with the idea of marriage, and of course, Spencer was right. Just after Christmas, Jonathan brought up the idea of "us" and marriage. Spencer warned me and told me I should have been prepared for this delema, but I wasn't ofcourse. I thought I was clear in letting Jonathan know I didn't want any commitment, but I suppose I should have been more clearer because he still wanted to marry me even after I left for school!
Spencer really became a close confidant of mine, and yet, I hadn't even met him. He developed this crazy plan to make a "Queens Day" for me. We weren't sure when "Queen's Day" was going to take place ofcourse, because I had no idea when I'd actually meet him in person, but he had all the details planned out. Welcome signs, balloons, flowers, everything! I thought the idea sounded great- was he trying to charm me? Hmmm, I wonder....We joked about "Queen's Day" quite a bit.
I was beginning to suspect that Spencer had more interest in me than just being my friend, since he often liked to remind me that we lived hundreds of miles apart from one another! I felt a lot of times he was trying to subtly suggest he was anxious to meet me for more reasons than he had let on.
Once January arrived, it was time for me to head off to school. My flight would take me to Salt Lake on a Sunday, then from there I would catch a ride from Provo the rest of the way to Rexberg with two of my friends. I would have a day to spare though after arriving in Utah before making the drive up to Idaho, so I planned to stay the night at my friend Danielle's apartment in Provo. I considered asking her for a ride from the airport to her place, but she was scheduled to arrive at the airport on her flight much earlier that same morning; I didn't want to ask her to wait there for my flight to arrive, so I was stuck with out transport. I figured I'd find some way to get from the airport down to Provo. Suddenly my answer came to me- Spencer and I had always discussed someday meeting each other, so why not there at the airport?! I guess I was kinda using him in a sense, but I really did want to meet him, and this gave us the chance to meet. My parents of course had no idea I was meeting someone I'd never met before at the airport to drive me an hour back to Provo- they would have definately been opposed! Spencer was more than willing to give me a ride.
I remember at one point during my connecting flight from Las Vegas to Salt Lake, suddenly thinking "Oh my gosh, I'm meeting a guy I met off the internet at the airport!". Then another random thought flew past me- "What if this is someone I end up marrying?!!!". ... There was one time while I was casually IM'ing Spencer, I decided to take a closer look at his profile picture since it was so eensy weensy in it's original form, so I enlarged the picture, and after doing so and looking at it for a just a split second, the most incredible, intense feeling rushed through my body- I wasn't sure what it was, but there was something about looking at Spencer's face that made me feel wierd. It was such an uncomfortable feeling, but yet also comforting at the same time- I recognized his face, even though I'd never seen him before in my lifetime.... My nerves were suddenly catching up to me, and I began to get a little anxious. I think I was more nervous about trusting someone I'd never met before to give me a lift to Provo, but I thought it was odd the marriage thought ran through my head- that was the last thing I would have ever thought, especially since I didn't think I was really into Spencer like that.
I didn't see him till I had come down the elevator and out of the security gate, nearing the baggage claim area. He was sitting down in a seat and he stood up as I wondered out with my carry on items. He recognized me first I guess. He kinda had a smile on his face, but not a complete one, and he was quite. I guess I was quiet too. I wasn't quite sure how to interpret his initial greeting. He was wearing a black hoody and jeans- he looked cute- man I loved his hair and his blue eyes! Maybe I was sort of attracted to him....Hmmmm. He helped me get my baggage off of the baggage belt, and then together we carried it out into the parking garage towards his car. He laughed at me because I was wearing sandals and it was windy and snowing a lot outside. It kinda felt like I'd hired him to be my chaufer. I tried giving him a 20 for gas, but he wouldn't take it. I certainly appreciated his kindness.
After packing everything of mine into his Mazda, we sped off out onto the freeway. He had to make a stop at one of his work's stores in Salt Lake- I stayed in the car while he went inside. It wasn't long before we were on the road again. We stopped again at another place, a Little Ceasars Pizza. He picked up a bunch of pizzas for his friends who were back in Provo watching a NFL Playoff game- I went inside this time, but before doing so I switched my shoes, trading my sandals for my Uggs. (I don't think he was impressed with the Uggs). Finally after we got the pizzas, we were on our way down to Provo. We began to talk quite a bit on the way. I remember he kept looking at me a lot- I was worried he wasn't paying enough attention to the road- I knew though he was just excited we'd finally met! We'd planned to hang out that afternoon, since I had time to kill before heading off to Idaho.
When we finally got closer to Provo, we headed over to his friends house in North Orem to watch the rest of the football game. I had no idea all of his friends were going to be there- and somehow everyone already knew Spencer was bringing me,- the girl from San Diego he met off the internet! Talk about totally awkward!!! I was just relieved I didn't know any of the people and I assumed I'd never see them again in my lifetime!
Oh yeah- if Spencer could add a detail to this whole story, he'd probably point out I had orange hands!!! It's true, my hands were orange the day I met him. I had put on some self tanner earlier that morning before I caught my flight out of San Diego- I guess I didn't wash it off good- and well, hence the orange hands. Totally embarrassing! I'm not sure he really noticed since he was probably used to most of the girls in Happy Valley being orange (most of them self tan or fake and bake)- but I was self concious, so I told him immediately after we met at the airport, because I didn't want him to think I was an orange freak! Luckily, he was cool about it.
After the game was over and we said "Adieu" to his friends, he drove me down to the frisbee golf course in South Provo. We were going to go sledding! Spencer always told me how crazy he was about sledding, and I didn't mind having some fun in the snow, so I agreed to sled with him for a while. After we changed into our snow gear, we were ready to hit the slopes. I was a bit modest on my first ride down the hill- I rode slow, trying to avoid crashing. Spencer on the other hand- he was all about catching speed down the hill! He convinced me to ride down the hill with him, and after I begged him to take some caution and not go too fast, we were off! Speeding down the snowy hill, we hit a bump and since I was on the front of the sled I lost my seating and flew through the air probably 20 feet! I landed on the hard, wet, packed snow, and not much after that, Spencer came flying onto my leg! The pain was super intense, and after screaming and crying hysterically for I moment, I regained my composure. My leg hurt like crazy and I was worried I'd broken it! How was I ever going to tell my parents I broke my leg while sledding with a guy I just met???! I hadn't even been away from home for 12 hours!!! Spencer was sympathetic, and he layed in the snow with me for I while before I felt I could walk again. (Note: my leg wasn't broken, it was just sore and bruised up). I really enjoyed that moment laying in the snow beside him.
After our sledding adventure, Spencer took me to his favorite place to get hot chocolate- (it was a nice treat after being out in the cold snow). We parked along the side of the road and drank it in his car. I wasn't quite sure at first what we were doing, and I remember I was worried he was parking because he wanted to kiss me before saying goodbye! Well, I feared wrong- Spencer was a total gentleman; we just drank our drinks and he made no advances.
I was having a great time with Spencer, but it was nearly 6pm and I had another date with G.K. scheduled for 6:30pm. (Spencer had no idea I was going out with G.K. after our date). I insisted he hurry and take me to my friends house. He helped me with my luggage and walked me up to her door; he stayed a moment, said "hi" to my friends, and then he left. I had to hurry and touch up my make up and hair cuz G.K. was due to arrive any moment!!!
The following day, just as I was preparing to leave my friends house, Spencer surprised me by calling just to say "thanks" for hanging out with him the night before. Totally cute! Later that morning I met my friends, Heather and Sheena, and we headed off to Rexberg. It was actually Heather I really wanted to hook Spencer up with! For a good hour or so, I think I blabbered and told her all about him- I really wanted her to be interested in him because I thought they'd make the perfect match. (NOTE: I've never enjoyed reading any of Jane Austins books, but now I realize, I could actually have been one of her main characters she created, because I was trying my best to play matchmaker with all of my dearest friends!).
The day after I arrived in Rexberg, my winter classes began. I was super busy with school and with my job managing the college student radio station. I did however, find the time every day to keep in touch with Spencer, G.K. and unfortunately, Jonathan. Jonathan was having a terrible time being seperated from me, and he usually called every night to whine about it- I didn't care much for the whining of course. I tried and tried to tell him I just wasn't that interested in him, but somehow, he misinterpreted my feelings for him and he honestly believed I loved him. I was too busy for the Jonathan drama; I kept praying somehow it would all be over with. I loved the phone calls I shared with G.K. ofcourse. I was twitterpated when ever I spoke with him. Spencer continued to call and IM whenever he or I had the chance. I enjoyed our friendship and I continued to tell him more and more about my roommate Heather hoping I could ignite some sort of romance between the two of them. Neither of them seemed to be buying my efforts though.
Now that I was back in school at BYU-Idaho, you may be asking yourself if I had any runins with my old boyfriend- the one I dissapeared from for a while. Well I did see "him" around campus. In fact, we had decided earlier, while we were still talking, that we'd take a snowboarding class together. It was totally awkward the first day of class when I saw "him". (Remember "he" thought we were still together). "He" had no idea I'd been dating other guys, let alone I was trying to juggle relationships with three guys at the same time! We sat together and spoke for a little bit during class- I never mentioned to "him" that I'd been dating. After class was over with, we walked with each other across campus and just before we parted our own seperate ways, "he" invited me to go sledding with "him" later that day (what is it with guys asking me out to go sledding???). I thanked him for "his" invitation, but turned it down. I also dropped my snowboarding class immediately. (I consider that to be the moment we really ended our relationship- still though, I never actually said the words it was "over"- I let him figure that out for himself when he recieved a mass email I wrote to all of my friends announcing I was going to marry Spencer).
During one of our conversations, Spencer started to tease me about all the boys I was talking with and dating. He mistook me and thought I used guys for emotional candy. He dared to make a bet with me to see who could go the longest and abstain from kissing another person. He was sure I was going to loose, and ofcourse, I was certain he would loose since he was also dating a new girl practically every night! The looser had to buy the winner dinner at the restaraunt of their choice.
I had no intentions of loosing, especially since I didn't want to pay for Spencer's fine dining, so I accepted the bet and right away I started making plans that would ensure me a certain win.
I had already planned to drive down to Provo in two weeks with Heather. I was going to shack up at Danielle's place again. G.K. and I were going to go out- and Spencer wanted to hang out that weekend too. I planned to hang out with Spencer first on Friday evening because if he hadn't already lost our bet, I was going to see myself that he loose by getting him to kiss me! That way, I'd win our bet, I'd get a free dinner, and then I'd be free to make out with G.K. on our date the next day.
The two weeks quickly passed and I was on my way down to meet Spencer in Provo. I wasn't quite sure what his plans were for our date that evening, but plans or no plans, I was excited to see him. He actually picked me up and we drove up to the Orem Cemetary. We parked, he turned off his headlights, and there in the moonlight I could see hundreds of deer grazing on the grass through out the cememtary. Spencer had a huge flashlight and he wanted me to get out of his car so we could go spook and chase deer! Was this kid crazy I thought??? He knew I loved animals, so maybe he thought I'd love to chase after them I guess- but actually I totally refused too. I didn't want to upset the deer, and I certainly didn't want a herd of deer running past me- what if I got trampeled??? Okay, so the worry wart in me killed that plan. Spencer tried not to look too disappointed. Instead he suggested we drive out to this place in the mountains by Spanish Fork that kids called "Hell's Gate". He explained it as some cave or something that had a huge drop off that opened out above a canyon. Once we got close to "Hell's Gate", we had a hard time finding the right path in the snow that would take us to the cave's entrance, so we ditched that idea and decided to drive back to Orem. He took me to his parents house. We had decided we would just watch a movie. By the time we got to his home, we had already been driving around for a couple of hours, talking and laughing the whole time. I was really having a great time and I began to find myself thinking that I was actually attracted to Spencer! It was late when we started the movie- in fact we scared his mom when we came through the front door cuz she wasn't expecting him to come home as late as he did- he briefly introduced me to her- I didn't stay and chat much with her since she was in her nightgown. She seemed pretty nice and I was impressed she didn't seem to mind Spencer was bringing home a girl with him so late into the night.
We decided to watch "Seabiscut". It was Spencer's favorite movie and I had actually never seen it, but I'd always wanted to. There was only one couch in the den downstairs where we chose to watch the movie. We decided to share the couch by spooning (an activity almost all college couples do- it's completely innocent by the way). Midway into the movie, we were still spooning, when suddenly I remembered I still had to pull off my plan and get Spencer to kiss me so I could win our bet. By this time though- I didn't think of it as just being a task I had to accomplish for the sake of winning the bet, I also kinda wanted him to kiss me. I gave him the "kissy eyes"- (if you don't know what "kissy eyes" are, I can't explain it- it's just a look a person gives to another person when they want to be kissed). Spencer certainly knew what "kissy eyes" were, and with out saying anything he kissed me! Okay, so I'm going to skimp on the datails here, but in brief, we continued to kiss and that was our night.
The following day, Spencer really wanted to hang out with me again, but I'd already made plans to go out with G.K. during the day and then in the evening G.K. and I were going to go up to Park City for the Sundance Film Festival. I was excited about my date with G.K., but in the back of my mind, I couldn't help but remember how much fun I had with Spencer the night before. G.K. took me out during the day to get lunch and then we went to some pool place to bowl, shoot pool and play arcade games (is that a total guy date or what???). I was thrilled to be with G.K. since he was such a hottie and I had hoped we'd kiss again, but my heart and my mind for some reason just weren't into G.K. and the date that day. G.K. took me home so I could have a couple of hours to nap and freshen up before going out with him again later that night. I could hardly believe what I was thinking as soon as he dropped me off, but I actually just wanted to cancel my Park City plans and call up Spencer to see what he was doing, which is exactly what I did!!! I don't remember exactly what I told G.K.; I created some lame excuse for not going out later- he bought it of course. I called up Spencer and we decided to go out to eat- I chose the Macaroni Grill and he paid ofcourse since he technically lost the bet by kissing me- then we went to the movies to see "Along Came Polly" and then we went back to his parents house to snuggle in front of the fire for a couple of hours. That was the weekend. That following day was Sunday and I had to catch my ride back up to Rexberg. What a crazy weekend! I suddenly found myself kissing and engaged kinda in a relationship with Spencer while before we were strictly just friends, and I blew off G.K., the guy I so desparetly wanted to marry because I thought he was just perfect! My life was becoming a screenplay for a t.v. soup opera!
After settling back at home and into school, I continued to talk occasionally with G.K.. Although, the more I talked to Spencer, the more I began to care less to talk to G.K. Eventually, after a couple of weeks, he stopped calling- I think he may have finally realized I'd lost interest in him. Jonathan continued to call me still- I couldn't get rid of him. Spencer and I spoke or IM'ed each other as often as we could in between classes and work. It had been about a week since I'd actually seen him last, and I just happened to catch him online while I was in between my classes. I IM'ed him and invited him to chat. We talked about random stuff at first, then I think we started to poke fun at ourselves about the kinda relationship we'd developed. We didn't discuss the matter for long before we moved onto talking about other random stuff, like dreams. I mentioned to Spencer that I'm a person who dreams a lot; my answers to questions I'd have, always seemed to come in a dream, and I always had repetitive dreams. He asked me what some of those dreams were, and with out using any discretion, I began to explain one of my dreams I'd had since I was 17 years old.

In the dream, which always repeted iteself, I am dressed in Sunday dress and I am standing in the foyer of the church, (in the doorway to be exact) as the congregation sings the opening hymn. I am looking for my family who is already seated. Standing to my right, is a man- this man is my husband. I could never see his face though. My husband is holding our first born son who is dressed in white. Our son is just an infant and we were at church that day to bless him.

That's it! That's the dream that would oftenly repeat itself over the years. As hard as I would try each time to recognize my husbands face in the dream, I never could. In fact, that was how I knew all along that I was never meant to marry my old boyfriend (the one I wrote through out my mission). I'd tried for so long to paste his image into my dream, but I knew he wasn't the one. I always envision the dream every time I ever dated a new guy- hoping my new interest would have the face that matched the face in my dream , but it was never so. It was beginning to become frustrating, and I'd lost hope that I would ever recognize the face I'd seen in my dream. That is, I'd lost hope until that moment when I was writing Spencer randomly about this dream; replaying the dream in my mind as I wrote out the details. When it came time for me to tell Spencer about the man in my dream, I recognized the man's face!!! It was Spencer's!!! At the same time, the Spirit confirmed to me what I'd seen and that I was supposed to marry Spencer! You can't imagine how totally shocked I was! I couldn't believe what I had envisioned!!! Ofcourse, I stopped describing the dream when I had gotten to the point that I'd seen Spencer's face- I didn't want Spencer to think I was some looney for suggesting he was my husband in the dream! Spencer wanted to know more about the dream of course, but I was beside myself and I couldn't go on to write and tell him any more about it. I became really brief and told him I had to go. I spent all day after that debating whether or not if I should explain the moment I'd had and tell him he'd been the man in my dream. He called me that evening, and before I had a chance to say anything, he asked me what details is was about the dream I was keeping from him. I hesitated for a moment to tell him the truth, but the Spirit calmed my doubts and I told him. If I remember right, he was at a loss for words. I think we both kind of just tried to laugh it off. I mean, I sort of just indirectly proposed the idea of marriage to him!!!
The following day, while we were IM'ing each other in between classes, Spencer was foward and insisted we DTR (determine our relationship). Funny, cuz just a week before we were only friends, then we were kissing buddies, and then before we could determine we were dating, I'd envisioned "us" as husband and wife. I didn't expect Spencer to accept my dream so open mindedly and the idea of "us"- but he did. In fact, he was anxious to know what we were going to do about "us"- he wanted to make a life plan. (This was on January 26th by the way). We talked about marriage maybe being 2 years down the road, but then we setteled on a June wedding, just 6 months away! Looking back on it, maybe we were crazy for jumping into marriage so quickly, since technically we never even dated- but this story was being written by us, and we were ready to start the next chapter in our lives together!
He told his parents immediately that we were getting married and I told mine. I wasn't expecting my parents to be so accepting of our marriage plans, since last they'd known I was still dating Jonathan and they'd never even heard of Spencer. My sister Tricia warned me, prepping me to expect my parents not to be keen on my marriage plans. My parents made my other sisters date their husbands a while before they could get engaged, and then their engagements had to last at least 6 months. I guess being the youngest had it's advantages for me. My parents were already prepared to expect surprises from me, so when I told them I'd met someone I wanted to marry, they were surprised, but totally thrilled! Niether my mom or dad opposed my plan to marry Spencer. My dad was however, a bit concerned because I still hadn't officially told Jonathan we were totally done with.
Breaking up with Jonathan was quite the chore. I'd tried for so long to tell him I wasn't interested in him; but yet he was never willing to let "us" go. So imagine what my call to him was like when I had to tell him our relationship was over with and that I'd already met another guy I was going to marry!!!! Of course he cried- he cried a lot- then he begged for me to give him another chance- he was convinced "we" were meant for each other. He seemed to be completely missing the fact that I was already making wedding plans with Spencer! I'm convinced everyone dates at least one person in their life they regret ever dating; Jonathan happens to be that one person for me. Over time and tears, he finally came to grips with the reality that I never loved him and that "we" would never be.
So it was official, approximately just three weeks after initially meeting Spencer at the airport as strangers, IM'ing confidants, we were now engaged! Most of Spencer's friends knew how we met, and they were all pretty much cool with it- my friends on the other hand all wanted to know how I met him so quickly, and ofcourse, I tried to spare them the details. I didn't dare tell the vast majority of my friends and family members because I didn't want people to think I was some "Mail order bride" or be skeptics since we met throught the internet. The truth came out a couple of times; friends of mine in my ward or in school found out we met on LDSMingles, and then a lot of them would begin to tell me that they were dating guys they met off internet websites too! They began to get hopeful once they heard that Spencer and I were getting married- they began to hope the same would happen to them with the fellows they met off the internet. I hated getting their hopes up and I would never encourage a person to try to find love through internet dating websites. There's just too many weirdos out there who use the internet. Fortunately, for my sake, it just so happens that by my luck- the first person I met on LDSMingles was Spencer.
We were engaged for exactly 6 months. In those following months after our initial engagement, we continued to write and talk to one another over the phone. Practically every other weekend I would drive down to Provo so I could be with Spencer. We took a couple of trips to San Diego, once over Valentines Day weekend so he could meet my parents and respectively ask my father the traditional way for my hand in marriage; that same weekend I gave him a book I found called "Giraffes Can't Dance"- it's an illustrated childrens book that talks about a Giraffe named Girald- I altered the book's title a little bit and added the words- "...but they can kick the heads off of lions" - it was an inside joke I had with Spencer, since one of he things he remembers from our first telephone conversation was that candid, crazy animal fact I shared with him. He loved the book. We still read it to each other and now we also read it to our boys. Another time before our wedding, we drove to San Diego over Memorial Day weekend. Spencer made our engagement official the first week in March when he surprised me in Rexburg at my apartment with 200 beautiful pink tulips and an engagement ring he designed himself. At the end of winter semester (which I have to admit, I got terrible grades, since I was striken with love and didn't care for studying), I moved down to Liberty Square in Provo so I could be closer to Spencer before our wedding. When he wasn't working, we spent practically every moment together.
On June 26th, 2004 I "C.hose T.he R.ight Punk" by marrying my true love, Spencer Lee Campbell, in the San Diego Temple.
Initially when we were just friends, we planned a "Queen's Day"- never knowing when we'd have the chance to celebrate it- thinking it would probably only happen once; if only I had known what was to become of "us", it would have been evident to me that we'd have eternity to celebrate "Queen's Day".
I used to be embarrassed about how we met since it was completely out of character for both he and myself; but I've gotten to the point in our marriage where I'm no longer embarrassed with it and I realize, we met through divine quirky intervention. There's absolutely now way I believe Spencer and I would have ever met if it hadn't had been via internet!
Okay, so if you've read my mini novel, I thank you- I hope you enjoyed it and now you know "our" dirty little secret about how we met. You may also like to know that I've considered writing this story as a screenplay. I've thought about pitching the idea to Halestorm Production Company (it's an LDS film production company). I'd embellish a little bit ofcourse, but don't you think it would make a good romantic comedy??? You'll have to tell me what you think about that idea. Wish me luck.
P.S. I haven't had that dream I mentioned earlier since the time when I fessed up told Spencer about it. I have however, had the priveligde to joyfully live that experience I had in my dream- it was the day we blessed Noah as a baby, on November 20, 2005.