Decade

Justin and I met at BYU during fall semester of 1999. It was the first year at BYU for both of us. I was a junior, transferring from Ricks College (now BYU-Idaho) and he was a sophomore, transferring from a community college in San Antonio, Texas. Justin lived in the Brittany Apartments, and I was across the street at the Presidio. We were in the same ward and had a lot of the same friends. The first time I met Justin, I was at his apartment with my roommate, visiting a couple of his roommates (I will neither confirm nor deny that I may have had a teensy tiny crush on one of Justin’s roommates at the time). Justin came across as a quiet, shy type of guy. He wasn’t around much, and I assumed he probably had a girlfriend. I learned later that he was really just too busy working his way through college, and studying “real” classes like science and math and stuff to do a lot of socializing. I, on the other hand, had a full-ride scholarship paid by Mom & Dad and purposely picked the easiest major at BYU (recreation management) in order to avoid studying as much as possible.

It took a while for me to really notice Justin. The first time I remember taking an interest in him was the day after Halloween, when our apartment and his apartment all went together to a BYU football game. We wore our Halloween costumes. I was dressed as a ladybug and Justin was dressed as a hippie. On the way to the game, Justin was running around like an Olympic race track runner, dressed in bell bottoms and an afro wig with a sweatband across his forehead, dodging people on the sidewalk and making a complete fool of himself…definitely a side of him I had never seen. At the game, he was cracking jokes, cheering loudly and just being fun. I remember telling my roommate that night that Justin was my “new favorite”.

Around that same time, we developed a few new traditions among our circle of friends. One tradition was Tuesday night rollerblading. We’d round up as many people as possible and go rollerblading around Provo. Another tradition was Wednesday night “couch night” where the guys at the Brittany Apartments would move their couches out onto the balcony and invite anyone passing by to come and “chill” on the couches. Justin and I always had fun together on these nights. Then, just before Thanksgiving break, Justin and I performed a “synchronized swimming” routine with a few other friends for the ward talent show. We drove to Brenda’s house in Pleasant Grove where we spray painted a water scene on butcher paper to stretch across the front of the stage. I remember I was really nervous and excited to be alone in the car with Justin and I talked and talked and talked the whole ride there. I was afraid of any awkward silences, so I just talked the poor guy’s ear off. He had to have been thoroughly amused by my ramblings.

That November, most of the occupants at the Presidio and Brittany left town for Thanksgiving break, but Justin and I were among the few that stayed around. We celebrated Justin’s 23rd birthday, took a trip to see the Christmas lights at Temple Square, ate at Rodizio’s Brazilian restaurant, and went midnight rollerblading through an empty parking garage. That same weekend, Bev set me up on a blind date with a guy she knew from Indiana. The date was a lot of fun, but once it was done, I came home, found Justin and the two of us went on a midnight hike to the “Y”. That night, I wrote in my journal,

“It was such a beautiful night and we just sat on the mountain and watched the valley and the stars…it was great! I just hope he realizes what a great girl I am and how much he likes me before too long.”

On December 20th, 1999 I wrote,

“I’ve seen Justin Johnson every day since Thanksgiving break and I haven’t even gotten sick of him yet!”

We continued our Tuesday night rollerblading tradition, and he introduced me to the whole idea of studying at the library…a completely foreign concept to me at the time. Christmas break came along, and Justin’s family came to visit. I met his parents, and three of his four siblings (Chris was serving a mission in Mexico at the time). We went stargazing, hiking, snowmobiling, rode in a hot air balloon, and watched a lot of movies, including all three of the “Back to the Future” trilogy. I wrote in my journal

“I told Justin that I was afraid our relationship is based on movies. That, and rollerblading.”

On Thursday, January 13, 2000 I wrote,

“Okay, I am like so in love with Justin Johnson right now I think I’m gonna scream! In fact, no one else is home right now, so I am gonna go ahead and scream. So, the new semester started, and everything has been just grand. Justin and I hang out every night after class and work. He’s truly become one of my very best friends and I just can’t get enough of him!!”

That same night, I learned that Justin had virgin lips, and didn’t intend on kissing until he had found the girl he was going to marry. I thought it was incredibly attractive that he wanted to save his kisses for his future wife. At the same time, I felt almost unworthy of him, knowing that I had kissed my fair share of guys. I wrote in my journal that night,

“I know now that I may never get to kiss Justin, however, if I do, I know it will mean something far greater than all those other kisses. It will mean something eternal, and something very beautiful.”

On Friday, February 4, 2000 I wrote,

“We’ve discovered two new favorite places to go: Souper Salad and Barnes and Noble. It’s really convenient because the two just happen to be in the same parking lot. Our routine is to go to Souper Salad, load up with every good thing on the buffet line, and then sit in Barnes & Noble, studying until we can’t stand it anymore, come back home, hang out, and then by around midnight I’ve gotta go to bed or I’ll never make it to work the next morning. We do this about once or twice a week, which is more than I ever studied before, so you’d think I’d be caught up with school this semester but I’m just as behind as ever…which just goes to show that studying is highly overrated.”

“Justin and I like to take long walks whenever we get the chance. Like a few weekends ago we wanted to walk to Wendy’s for a frosty. Once we got there, though, we figured we might as well go to Leatherby’s instead. By the time we got there, though, it was midnight and they were closed, so we went across the parking lot to Galaxy Diner for shakes. Another night, we were about to go running, but decided to walk up to the base of “Y” mountain instead. It was really nice. I guess I just like spending time with Justin, no matter what we’re doing. Sometimes we’ll just be sitting there, eating potato soup and watching “Animal Planet” and I’ll just get this feeling inside like I’m gonna burst I’m so happy! Justin makes me so happy!”

On Sunday, March 5, 2000 I wrote,

“I took Justin ‘camping’ on the roof of the Brittany Apartments. I packed a huge camping backpack with a tent, sleeping bags, hot water, flashlight, charcoal and any heavy thing I could come up with, strapped it on his back, and we hiked to the Brittany roof. We set up the tent, sat inside and ate dutch oven peach cobbler with Stephen’s mint truffle hot chocolate.”

I had been preparing all semester for a two-month internship in Zimbabwe. By April, I had my passport, my plane ticket, my immunizations complete, sold my car to finance the trip, and was having doubts about whether or not I should go. There was government turmoil going on in Zimbabwe and things here were going so well with Justin that I didn’t want to leave him for two months.

At the end of the semester, Justin and I took a fantastically fun road trip to California where we stayed with Bernice in La Habre, went to Disneyland, boogie boarded at the beach, and walked down the Hollywood walk of fame. On the way back to Provo, we stopped in Las Vegas to eat at the Luxor buffet and ride the New York, New York rollercoaster. On Saturday, April 29, 2000 I wrote:

“We got back to Provo and stopped at Food 4 Less to buy milk. We were both pretty worn out from the drive and were cracking dumb jokes and laughing pretty hard. It was so fun because Justin is my best friend and I have more fun with him than with anyone else. When we got back to the Brittany, I parked the car and we both just sat there for a minute. I guess I really didn’t want the vacation to be over, and it was hard to find a really good way to bring it all to a close. Justin managed to pull it off though. When I leaned over to give him a big, tight, long warm hug, he kissed me…

The realization of what this kiss could mean overwhelmed me. Does this mean that I might marry Justin? I really hope so. I love Justin, and I can’t imagine ever being without him.”

On Sunday, May 7, 2000 I wrote:

“I’ve pretty much concluded that Justin and I will eventually go ahead and get married…In my extensive pondering on the subject, I’ve realized that an eternal commitment to one individual is a terrifying thought…I really believe, however, that though marriage is frightening, it is even more rewarding. It is an ordinance, and an exalting step towards eternal life and progression. I know that Justin is a good and righteous person, a worthy priesthood holder who loves the Lord, who will work hard to provide for his family, and will be valiant and faithful to what he holds dear. I also know that I love Justin, and that he loves me. Who else would I want to spend eternity with? If marriage is terrifying and risky and daring, then it might as well be taken on with someone I adore as much as Justin.”

On Tuesday, May 23, 2000 I wrote:

“Justin and I are getting married!! It’s the weirdest, most wonderful feeling in the world. I’m sure it doesn’t even feel real yet. I wonder when it will ever hit me…probably not ‘til our five year anniversary. Tonight, we finally talked about the “M” word. It was a beautiful, warm night, so we went for one of our walks up to a bench on a trail below campus. We sat and snuggled and finally Justin asked if I ever thought about us getting married. I tried not to laugh at his understatement. Have I ever thought about us getting married?! Hah! Only everyday! He asked what I thought and I told him that I want to marry him and so we talked about when and where and decided that August would be good if we could pull it off by then and that the Salt Lake Temple would be ideal and I haven’t a clue where to start planning for this thing, but Justin thinks we should start by picking out a ring, which sounds great to me! We also decided not to tell anyone yet, which will be hard for me ‘cause I’m awful at keeping secrets about things that I’m just so excited about!!!"

There were just three weeks before I was to scheduled to leave for Zimbabwe for two months. I needed to have all of the wedding plans made before I left so that we could get married as soon as I got home. The day after Justin and I decided to get married, I called the Salt Lake temple, scheduled the sealing room, and bought my wedding dress. Two days later, we went looking at engagement rings. I wrote in my journal,

“We went to several jewelry stores and finally found it at Bullock & Losee in the University Mall. We hadn’t planned on buying anything, so Justin didn’t have his wallet and the store was about to close, but we really wanted to get it A.S.A.P., so I went ahead and charged it on my credit cards. It took four of them to pay for the thing and I think I’ve pretty much maxed them all out.”

It wasn’t long before I realized that I didn’t have the time or the money to both go to Zimbabwe and get married that summer, so I called my professor and told him I wouldn’t be going to Africa after all. Luckily, I was able to get a full refund on my plane ticket, and the day after I decided not to go, the internship was canceled altogether because of government warfare going on in the country.

In June, Justin took me to visit his family in Bandera, Texas. While immersed among an entire new clan of relatives that I would soon become a part of, the reality of what I was getting into became overwhelming. On Sunday, June 11, 2000 I wrote,

“I’ve been such a wreck the last couple of days, second guessing every decision I’ve made about getting married, wondering if I’m prepared sufficiently to be a wife, doubting if this family is the one I want to be a part of for eternity, you know, just really freaking myself out. Well, after crying myself to sleep for two nights in a row, I finally took a walk with Justin tonight and asked him how on earth he’s been so calm about the whole thing. From our conversation, I now know even more than ever that Justin is a man of incredible faith and trust in the Lord. He knows that he has lived his life in a manner that entitles him to certain blessings and that Heavenly Father will bless us and help us through any trial if we are keeping His commandments and living in accordance to His will. The decision that we are making to be sealed for eternity is a choice that God trusts us to make, and with His confidence in our judgment, we can have confidence that He will bless us, and help our marriage be fruitful and joyous and wonderful. Justin also pointed out that Satan does not want us to be married in the temple. He will do all he can to keep us from making those sacred covenants that lead to exaltation. He would have us doubt and second guess and fear the sacred union in order to keep us from making these covenants that will bring us so much joy. I love Justin, and I want to marry him. I am so excited to spend all of eternity with him, to raise a family with him, and to grow to know and love him even more.”

On August 1, 2000, Justin and I were married in the Salt Lake temple. Ten years later, we are still best friends and happily raising our five beautiful, healthy children. There is no one else I would rather share the ups and downs of life with than him. Marrying Justin was and is the single most important and best decision I have ever made or will ever make in my life!


Happy Anniversary, My Love!
I can hardly wait for the next ten years!!!