7.25.15

Best Day Ever

This is Avery showing me the worm she had in her hand... eww Sick!

My dad sporting his PINK shirt! I loved it!!!

Sheer Bliss!

The gangs all here!!!

My Van Zant siblings

My Cordner siblings

My Salt Lake Besties

My (now) poor dad!

The parents at the reception

I love him! 

The Cordner Clan!

The Van Zant Gang!

The BEAUTIFUL cupcake display I dreamed about my whole life

The food that I heard was amazing... didn't actually get any. :(

Thank you to everyone that was so generous to us. You guys all rock.

I had just dropped a piece of frosting... haha

Our first dance. I specifically chose this picture because we get to see his face! Love it!

All my single ladies! Look at those crazies in pink in the middle. I love those girls! :)

Our sparkler exit!

Our carriage take away. The end to the happiest day of my whole life.

BEST

DAY
EVER!

The Proposal

On May 30^th, the two of us got to spend the entire day together with my family at my cousins wedding. Its possible I saw him walk off with my dad to talk about… something ;) So I knew what was about to happen was about to happen….

Thursday, June 4^th, was one of the best days of my life. Joseph asked me to reserve this night for him. He told me his whole family was going to be in Salt Lake and he wanted me to join them to be on temple square and see the sights. In my mind going with the ENTIRE Van Zant clan to walk around visitors centers seemed a little strange, but I went with it.

He came to pick me up with his little sister. When we parked he was asking me how to get to a certain museum, and I told him we could just cut across temple square. “No, we can go around.” He was very persistent about going around temple square, and as weird as he was being about it, I just let him go with it. We were going to meet up with his whole family, but when we got to where we were going there was only one sister, Janelle, sitting there by herself. She told us the family was running late.

Joseph and I went inside the museum to use the restroom, and when I came out Joseph was GONE! Janelle told me he went to meet Jenni (another sister) and that he will meet up with us. Janelle and I are now just hanging out across the street from the temple outside the family history museum when we decide to go check out the little old pioneer house. When we were walking around, she pulls out a piece of paper and says, “What is this?” In my mind it was a piece of trash or a random old flyer, but then I notice that she is opening a sealed envelope, pulls out a pink paper, and says, “Dear Tara.” I’m not going to say everything the note said, because it was super sweet and personal. But as soon as I heard “Dear Tara” I knew that I was going to be engaged that night. The letter was about a journey that we have been on, and the mini journey we are going to be on tonight. Then Janelle took me by the arm and led me to the next spot.

We went all over temple square together. The first spot was Jan and her husband Craig with a little soccer goal and a ball set up. I once told him in all my years of playing soccer I never scored a goal. They said that Joseph was going to be there to help me with all my goals in my life.

The next spot was Julianne and her husband Vince. They had balloons and silly glasses and funny toys, and they told me how I bring out the fun in Joseph!

The next spot was his sisters Jaisica and Jenni. They had my favorite children’s book with them, and they opened it to start reading it. But instead of the real words, there was pink papers taped in with a new story written by my one and only. I had been tearing up at the other spots, but I was full on crying (like ugly crying) at this point. And I was aware of the hidden camera following us around, so I was a little nervous that I would be caught ugly crying here. The story was about a girl named Tara who didn’t know she was a princess, and how this Prince Joseph taught her what her true potential was. It was literally the best thing ever!!! His sisters put a crown on my head and I was crying so much!

As we walked to the next spot Janelle said that this next one was her favorite. His brother Jason and his wife Michele were in this cute little picture area on the temple ground and Jason read a poem that was beautiful. I am again, ugly crying at this point.

As we left Janelle said, Okay, this next part is my favorite favorite!!!  I had to laugh because she had already said that, but I would have to agree that the next part was the very best of the evening.

Remember how the first time he told me he loved me was by a wishing well. Well now I was standing in front of the wading pool where his parents were telling me how much they loved me and how happy they are that I’m in Joseph’s life. They gave me a penny and read a little card that said I had one more wish to make. They told me to close my eyes. While I did I started to hear David Archuleta’s song Forevermore playing behind me.

Once again, I’m bawling, and I hear the love of my life say, “Open your eyes.” When I did he was kneeling in front of me with a ring in his hand and he said, “Tara, will you marry me?” Of course I said yes! “YES! Yes yes yes yes yes!!!!” He stood up, put the ring on my finger, and just like that I was an engaged women! His whole family was behind us, clapping and cheering and hugging us!!! It was the best moment of my whole life. I was engaged to the love of my life and his family was all there to welcome me into the family!

After we celebrated I asked him when he would want to marry me! He said that he has already booked the temple for July 25th! Here I was stressing about when I was going to get married and this man had already had the temple booked this whole time. He is so good at keeping secrets! :)

This was 7 weeks ago today… and in less than 48 hours, I will be a Van Zant. Nothing has made me happier in the whole world!

So... Have You Thought About When You Want To Marry Me?

That was a long title, I know... but I didn't know how else to sum up the next part of our courtship. After he brought up that he wanted to marry me, it was all I wanted to talk about. I tried to bring it up as little as I could. I knew that he brought it up once as a "lets think about moving there" and in my mind it was a "I'M ENGAGED!!!" So there was still a little bit of apprehension in bringing it up to talk about. While we are not talking about it, I am planning it. ALL OF IT. I got my photographer all set up. I told my bridesmaids what I was thinking they would be wearing. I even set up an appointment to try on wedding dresses before I was engaged. I would try to bring it up casually. I would ask him about his fall school semester to see if there was any hints about being married in the fall semester would come up. I would talk about going on vacations with my roommates in August to see if he would say something about us being married in August... but nothing! There was a few weeks where we couldn't get engaged. I went on a cruise to the Bahamas while he was at home. Then I had an eye surgery that knocked me out for a weekend. Then we had my cousins wedding to go to, and I figured he wouldn't propose with my family around at a family wedding. So in my mind... we were never getting engaged.

I figured we would talk about getting married forever and it might just never really happen. I went back and forth all the time. I would tell him I wanted to be surprised, then I would tell him I needed to know what he was thinking, then I would say, whenever works, then I would say, can we just get married already?!?!?! As you can see, I'm a little wishy washy and probably not the easiest person to love. But somehow he was patient with me. I was going crazy though guys... like literally crazy. I was in love with my best friend and I knew he wanted to marry me and I wanted to marry him... but nothing.

One day, out of no where, bold Tara came out again. She straight up asked Joseph, "Have you thought more about when you want to marry me." His answer, "Yes."

"Ok... I shouldn't have asked that in a yes or no type question... WHEN do you want to marry me."

"As soon as possible."

"Just a Clothing Store..."

After he brought up that he wanted to marry me, looking at wedding rings was the only thing on my mind. He didn't seem to want to talk about it because it still was kind of soon, but in my mind he brought it up first so we should be planning the wedding! I would ask if he ever thought about buying a ring and what he thought it would be like, if he would take her and pick one out together, or if she would tell him which one to get, or if he would just do it on his own. He somehow skirted around the issue, so I was left not knowing what to do with the ring situation. I was looking them up online all the time, any down time on my phone, at work, literally all day long I was looking at rings. I had coworkers text me pictures of rings, sometimes I would be with him and would see the picture show up on my phone. I hid the message from him once and he got sad thinking I was keeping a secret from him. So I showed him and he just shook his head. Hahaha, hence the reason I was hiding it from you buddy.

One day I couldn't take looking online anymore, and just had to go to the mall to look at real rings. I had no idea how picking out my ring would go, but I had to just go look for my own sanity. It was a random Wednesday evening and I had nothing going on, so I went to the mall and as soon as I got there he called me and asked what I was up to. I told him I was at the mall and that I was probably going to go to the make up store and Bath and Body Works (which wasn't a lie because I really was going to go to those stores too!) He asked as soon as he heard that if he could call me back, which was weird because he called me, but whatever, didn't think too much of it.

I went into Kay Jewelers because... well, every kiss begins with Kay! And while I was there I told the lady the whole story. "We've been talking about getting married for a month, he kinda knows what ring I want (referencing the Charming Charlie date), he doesn't want to go ring shopping with me, he can't know that I'm here right now, maybe I'll tell his sister what ring I want..." and on and on. After I tried on 5 or 6 different rings he calls. My ringtone is a love song and his face is all big on my phone and I say, "OH, its him! He can't know I'm here!!!" So I left the store and told the lady I'd be right back.

He tells me I sound really happy.

"Did you go to Bath and Body Works?"
"Maybe!" (said in a playful way to avoid lying...)
"Where did you just come out of?"
"Oh.... just a clothing store" (I couldn't tell him I was in Kay's, and I didn't want to say a specific store because that would have been a lie... even though telling him I was in a clothing store was clearly not the truth either. I remember thinking... one day I'll tell him the truth about this story.)
"So where are you now?"
"Just in a common area on the benchs"

Looking back I should have known what was happening, but I couldn't have imagined what would happen next, so I thought he was just really interested in my mall trip.

He continues to talk about his day and how great it had been and what he'd done, neglecting to tell me a big part of his day including a night class on the Salt Lake BYU Campus. While we are chatting I look up and see a very attractive man walking toward me. "Are you here?!?!?!?!"

We hung up and hugged each other! He had surprised me with a visit to Salt Lake without me knowing he was coming! In all our 6 months of dating this had never happened! He had a class in Salt Lake and didn't tell me so he could surprise me.

He told me it was so hard to find me because I was so vague on the phone. He teased me about saying, "Oh... a clothing store" and then I hung my head down, because I knew I was caught.

"Its because I wasn't in a clothing store... I was in that store" (pointing to Kay's.)

He laughs so hard and puts his arm around me and walks with me into the ring store. I told the sales lady how I've been caught, and she continues our conversation like its not an issue. "So the good news is that ring you like can be done in Rose Gold, and the sale that starts next week applies to it..."

I felt like a kid caught red handed stealing candy from a candy store, I knew I shouldn't have done it but it felt so good! The sales lady handed me a pamphlet which he just took from me and said he got to take that. Then we left and he called me out for lying to him. I told him I didn't know how to tell him I was in a jewelry store, but was so glad that he caught me! There are no secrets between us, and now he knew exactly the ring I wanted. So it really was a win win!!!

And just in case you were wondering... we did end up going to Bath and Body Works together after that! :)

How Serious Are You?

After he told me he loved me at the fountain, it was like we couldn't stop saying it. He whispered it to me in church the next day. We said it at the end of every phone call (I was actually beginning to look forward to the end of the conversation so I could hear him tell me he loved me!!!) We were two crazy kids in love who couldn't stop talking about how much we loved each other. I thought it was great, my roommates thought it was gross! hahaha... I would write "Joseph loves Tara" and "T hearts J" all over the white boards in the apartment. I was head over heels crazy in love with this boy, and I had never been happier in my whole life.

Now it was conference weekend. My secret hope going into this weekend is that there would be LOTS of talks about marriage which would springboard us into a great conversation. The first session I watched on my own because he had to work, and I felt like ALL of those talks were about marriage and having babies. Man how I wished he was listening to this! I drove to Lehi and watched the second session with him there. And then helped him with homework until he had to go to Priesthood session.

The next day he came to my apartment and we watched the first session together, had Easter lunch at my aunts house, and then went to his place for the last session with his family. The whole Van Zant crew was getting together for Easter. His sister was so adorable and made little easter baskets for all the nieces and nephews with little $5.00 bill rings. She folded the bill so it made a ring and put it inside a plastic egg. My mom had teased with me just the day before that he might have a ring in an egg to give to me. He actually did open one of the eggs and handed me the ring and said, "Don't say I never got you a ring!" That was such a surprise, because at this point we hadn't talked about marriage at all, and now he's teasing me about a ring. I laughed and said I didn't want that ring. Later his sister folded her 50 dollar bill into a ring, and he tried to give that one to me too! I liked that it was 10 times better than the last ring he gave me, but still I wasn't interested.

His family is nice and big, and every year they draw names to see who buys who a birthday present. His little sister is dating someone seriously, and she was writing the names to draw. She said, "Oh awkward, do we include these people?" She pointed at her boyfriend and at me. We laughed and Joseph's brother in law said, "Well it depends on how serious you guys are!" This brother in law has teased us since day one about when we were getting married, so this wasn't something out of the ordinary. But it did leave for an awkward giggle.

While we were in the car driving back from Lehi to Salt Lake I told him how much I loved his family. They are seriously one of the greatest groups of people there is, and I have loved every encounter I have had with them. I joked about how I even liked the brother in law who likes to tease us... somehow that lead Joseph to ask me... "So... how serious are we?" I was super taken aback by this question. Leading up to this he had said a lot of times how he wants to date for a year before he gets married. So I didn't think we'd be having serious conversations like this for a while. He asked how serious we were and I said, I mean... I kinda love you! He said, "kinda?" and I said I really loved him. Then he said, "I really love you too... and I would love to marry you."

My heart dropped. I know this wasn't an engagement by any means, but we were talking marriage, and I had wanted to talk about this since our third date when I started planning which pictures we would hang in our home. I asked him, "would you get me a better ring than the one oh just tried to give me?" When he said yes I was sold! He started to ask me what I wanted out of marriage, we talked about children, we talked about where we want to live, we talked about everything I could think of talking about. I have never had so much fun with one conversation in my whole life.

That night after he dropped me off it hit me. He wants to marry me. This boy is choosing to live with me forever. He wants to be with me through all my ups and all my downs. He loves me enough to want me to be his eternal companion! And I could not want anything more than to be his wife!

So... We're Good?!

During our dating courtship, we had the idea to switch off planning the dates that we went on. There was a while when all of our dates were planned for us, we had a sisters wedding, a double date with his sister, a double date with his friend, and I feel like there was some others but I can't remember weekend to weekend. But there was one Saturday that for the first time in a long time we didn't have anything planned for us! So the plan was to make dinner together, and then I came up with the idea to go visit my grandparents. They'd been wanting to meet him and I was so excited to show him off!!!

It was March 21st, exactly 5 months after he called me and asked me on our first date. I was working in the temple all day and then drove straight to Lehi when I got out. We made a cute little casserole together and sat down and ate like two newlyweds would. It was pretty much adorable cooking with him!!! Then we drove to Orem and visited with my grandparents for a while. I told him on our way there that even though I came up with the idea to visit my grandparents that didn't have to be the whole date. We didn't have to stay all night and we could do something else if he'd like. We stayed for a while and then I could tell they were tired so we took off. He knows his way around Orem better than I do, and before you know it we ended up at a mall. (Its like this kid knows that I'm the happiest version of myself at malls! haha)

Before we got out of the car he grabbed all of the pennies that were in his car. He said he had a game he wanted to play with me, so I assumed those pennies were part of the game. The first store we went into was Charming Charlie's, and that was the first time I told him what I liked in jewelry, specially what kind of rings I like. Later we passed a ring kiosk and he pointed out the ones that I would like. Man was he good! The game he wanted to play was in Mr. Mac. The point of the game was to get to the back of the store and touch the wall without someone who worked there asking if they could help you. We both failed. :(

Then the mall was closed and I thought our adventure was over, but little did I know it hadn't even started. He asked someone where Macy's was, which I thought was weird because it was closed. And we walk in that direction and stop at a little bridge and pond area. There was no water in this little pond, so just a nice little bridge over a little hole in the ground. We sat on the railing of the bridge and he pulls out his pennies. Even without water, we still threw pennies into this little wishing well of ours. We started talking about little wishes, and then they got more serious. I teased about how every wish I ever made to this point was about a guy I liked, wishing he would like me back. But now I'm sitting here with the greatest guy I've ever liked, and I was pretty sure he liked me back, and I didn't know what to wish for. He shared with me a secret hope/wish kinda thing that made my heart melt. And then before I knew it, we were out of pennies, and no more wishes. He leans in and kisses me as we're sitting on the railing, and while he is pulling away he whispers, "I love you Tara Cordner!"

Words have never sounded sweeter in my whole life. He was in love with me! And I was so so so in love with him. My answer was, "Really" to which he said yes, and then I said something along the lines of "I've been waiting for you to say that!" He laughed and said he knew I was. I could have told him how much I loved him months before, but I was waiting for him to fall in love with me. And man was it worth the wait. Oh yea, and then I told him that I loved him too!!! 

After we sat in silence for a while... he said something that sounded like, "So.... we're good?" I said, "WHAT?!" And he said, "Should we go?" I almost died I was laughing so hard. What kind of way to end this romantic moment was that? So, we're good? Him and I continue this day to laugh about that. I'm pretty sure he asked if we were good after we got engaged, and knowing us one of us will say it after we get married, and we will probably keep this joke going for the rest of forever. Not only is it funny to us, but it reminds us of one of the best nights either of us had ever had. We are SO good, and we were SO in love, and at this point... nothing was going to keep us apart!

Me and My Boyfriend!

The next month or so went by really fast, kind of like a blur really. After he asked me to be his girlfriend my first question was, so whats going to be new, because I kind of thought I already was! haha. He came up with the idea to do things together that we would have already been doing separate, so we started going to church together. Every other week I would go to his ward and he would go to mine. He is also the FHE co-chair in his ward, and he needs to be at his wards FHE every week. This was one of my favorite things, because we would be around all these people he knows and he would say, "Have you met my girlfriend, Tara?" Man... did I love that title! I was his girlfriend! And he wasn't even embarrassed to tell the whole world. Or at least his whole ward! Sometimes he would put his arm around me in church and I would smile bigger than anyone in the whole church building. I loved being with him like this.

The dating started to change a little bit, instead of me waiting for him to ask me on a date, I knew that we would be together. We had a pretty regular pattern of Monday FHE, Saturday Dates, and Sunday Church. The weekends were the best, but then I had to wait all week to see him. But with his school schedule and my work schedule thats all we could figure out. Dates were a lot more chill, but I still loved them. I got to know his family a lot better because we spent more time with them. I went to his sisters wedding with him and that was a lot of fun! We talked on the phone almost every day! He was already my favorite part of the day, but it was getting to the point where he wasn't just a favorite part, but a necessary part. I couldn't imagine a day without him. I was getting serious fast.

I was in love, but I knew I couldn't say it first... but I didn't mind, because watching him fall in love with me was just about the best joy there ever was!

Check Yes or No

The snowboarding day with my family was on February 13th. He knew my family was going to be in town this week, so a couple of weeks ahead of time he asked me if I had plans for the Saturday my family was in town... oh, you mean the 14th? I think I'm free that night!!! So after spending the whole day with him that Friday, he went home and I stayed in Park City until about 3 that next day, and went back to my apartment to get ready for my first ever real Valentines Day with a boy!!! Valentines Day has always been one of my favorite holidays, even though I've never actually celebrated it with anyone, the hopeless romantic in my just loved the idea of celebrating love! Maybe I had too high of expectations for this day, but in the end he met all of those expectations and more, and I wasn't disappointed.

The plan was made for Lehi, so he asked if I wouldn't mind driving down to him and of course I didn't. He did ask me ahead of time what I would like from a restaurant, and he went out and got that food for us to eat at his house. (Who wants to be in a restaurant with a thousand other people on that day!?) So when I got to his house he led me to the dining room which he made all fancy and it had our take out boxes! He pulled my seat out and there was a dozen roses on the seat. I could have died from happiness right there, but wait... it keeps getting better.

After we ate he said he had something for me. Originally I was planning on making him a gift, but then I didn't know if we were in a relationship or what so I didn't know if a gift on valentines day would be saying too much, so I told him I didn't think Valentines Day needed to be a gift giving holiday... so when he said he had something for me I said, wait?! We weren't getting each other anything. He said he didn't get me something, he just had something for me.

We went to the living room and he grabbed a piece of paper from the counter and handed it to me while we were sitting on the couch. At the top it said my name... and then there was dates and sentences.

October 3rd: I met this hilarious girl.

October 21st: I finally called her! She was so funny....

And the list went on and on saying things about our first date, first kiss, there was even quotes straight from his journal entries!!! There was one from just a few days before that basically said he received an answer on if we should continue dating... and then the last one was said...

February 14, 2015. I haven't asked a girl to be my girlfriend since I've been home from my mission, because to me its kind of a really big deal. But tonight that changes. Tara, will you be my girlfriend?

I didn't notice then but later I noticed that he had written, and then erased, a little area that said, "Check yes or no". He said he felt like that was too elementary school but I didn't care at all. It was the sweetest way anyone could ask me to be their girlfriend ever!

After that he had selected a few romantic comedies to watch because he knows how much I love them, and we snuggled up together and watched Letters to Juliet! 

So there you have it... that is how I got my first ever REAL boyfriend!!! And the story just keeps getting better from here! I knew that night that if he went into this much thought to ask me to be his girlfriend, I could not wait to see what he would do to ask me to be his wife!!!

So Are You like... Official?

After I got home from Christmas he picked me up from the airport, and I kinda sorta invited myself to his families New Years Eve Party. We had a super fun night, and yes, he did kiss me at midnight!!! I loved the night because it was just exactly how my family would have celebrated the new year.

A few weeks later we went to his friends wedding. While we were there he was introducing me as "my friend Tara," and most people acted like they knew who I was. In fact everyone knew who I was. His old bishop went ahead and told me my whole back story. "Ah yes, you are the girl from the mission reunion who lives in Salt Lake and you aren't from Utah but you moved here and you are continuing to date Joseph..." Yes... Yes old bishop, that is me!!! There was one girl who came right up to me without needing an introduction and just said, "TARA!!!" and hugged me. Turns out a girl in his ward also was in my bowling class in college a few years ago. So we chatted a bit that night and caught up with each other.

She asked me when I thought I was alone, "So... are you guys official?" I said, "I don't know, have you asked him?" She said she hadn't and I said, "Yea, I haven't either!!!" We laughed a ton, and I just assumed he didn't hear that... but oh was I wrong. Later that night while we were dancing he told me he heard what we were talking about. BUSTED!!! There was no recovery... This was going to lead to that DTR that I wanted but kinda was scared of because I'd never really had one before and things were going really well as they were. I was really enjoying dating this kid, and in my head he was my boyfriend, and thats all that really mattered! That night we talked about where we were and what we were doing. This led to other talks on other nights, and it was made clear that we are dating. Not in a relationship yet, but getting to know each other by dating each other. (Although I knew for a fact he wasn't dating other people and I most certainly was not either! So like I said, in my head he was my boyfriend.) But we did have a little bit of ups and downs and didn't really know where we stood besides the fact that we both liked each other and wanted to keep dating to see where it could go!

I got him a day off at work (he worked for his sister and I asked her if he could have the day off) so that he could go snowboarding with me and my family. It was such a fun day, he came up to Park City that morning, and the two of us spent so much time on the moutain. We had lunch with my family and went back out again. And then that night we went to dinner with my parents and Keri and her husband. He offered me some food off his plate... I took some of his and he took some of mine. That is something we've kinda done the whole time we were dating, and someone made a comment about how cute we were, and I said just that, "We've kinda done this since we started dating." To which my dad thought he'd be funny and reply, "YOU GUYS ARE DATING?!?!?!" But the best was when Joseph answered my dad and said, "Yea, last you heard we were probably just friends..." My parents still love to joke about how funny that was to this day!

Christmas!!!

Joseph met my dad the same week his family was having a Christmas party. I met him at his house and before the party started we ran to the store to buy presents for his family. This was one of the first times he held my hand in public. Here we are walking around the store holding hands picking out presents for his family! I was already having the best night ever, but it just got better. His whole family was so much fun. We ate great food and played dominos. There was a really fun gift giving game, and the two of us worked together to make our gifts locked so no one else could steal it from us. We felt like we made a pretty great team! I just loved being with his family because they all just made me feel like I was one of them right away!

Then the next week I was leaving for Colorado to have Christmas with my sister. This was going to be the first time we were apart since we started dating. We had talked about presents and what we would do for each other, and he put a price limit on them because he didn't want me to go crazy getting him a Christmas present. (It was like he knew me or something). I ended up not spending too much at all, I have saved little things from each of our dates, so I wrote this cute little poem about my favorite ten dates (the tenth being the Christmas party) and then had a little box of trinkets that came from each date. So here I was thinking I was the best gift giver ever, but this boy blew me out of the water with what he did for me. He showed up the morning I was leaving to drive me to the airport with a bag full of wrapped presents and flowers. He asked if I had room in my luggage and I said I did, and he said good. So he pulled out tons of presents and told me to pack them, because I was to open one a day until Christmas, and that on Christmas Eve he would be sending me something.

The first present I opened with him right there. It was a snow globe that you put a picture in. I loved it because now I had a reason to take more pictures with him! Then each day I was gone I opened another cute gift that he had a card to go with, and each one represented something he liked about me or something that reminded me of him. My mom was traveling with me and was upset because I would open it the second I woke up and wouldn't wait for her! hahaha. Then I got a list of 25 things he liked about me on Christmas Eve, and then on Christmas I opened a nice big fuzzy blanket. I felt so loved!!! This boy was so adorable. Anyone could go to the store and buy the girl their dating a bath and body works package or a gift card to her favorite store, but he just went above and beyond. I knew he was a keeper before this, but that Christmas pretty much sealed the deal!!!

Meeting My Dad

My dad was coming into town for a mission homecoming of one of my cousins. I jokingly told my dad he wasn't allowed to meet the boy I've been dating, because I didn't want him to scare the kid away. But as the day got closer, the more I felt like maybe my dad should meet this boy. On one of our dates Joseph and I were talking about the week ahead of us, and I might have casually mentioned that my dad was going to be in town. "Would you like to meet him?" (That question really did come out of no where because I wasn't planning on asking him that at all!) He said he would, so just like that I had a dinner date set up with my dad and Joseph. Now I was starting to get worried. This night was going to be so awkward. A make it or break it kinda night. Not that my dad is scary or anything, but his approval means EVERYTHING to me. And here I was just introducing him to this guy after about a month and a half of dating. I've never really brought a boy home to meet my family, and I didn't know how the whole thing would go down. But I did know that I liked this kid and needed to know if my dad liked him too!

(The best part of that story was the fact that we were in the car when I asked him and right after I asked him the song Rude came on, and the irony of the whole thing just made us laugh a lot!!!)

My dad flew into town and came to my apartment that night. Joseph was stuck in crazy traffic which gave me and my dad some good time to catch up with each other and chat. When Joseph shows up I didn't really know what to do. I think I gave him a super awkward hug at the door and then was like, "this is my dad." He was a champ though, he shook my dads hand and introduced himself and was so normal about the whole thing. If only I could have been that normal meeting his family! lol. We went to Olive Garden and had a really nice dinner. Joseph asked my dad one question about flying and the conversation was pretty much that for the rest of the night. (How can you tell a pilot at a party.... don't worry, he'll tell you!) Then after dinner we went for ice cream and Joseph offered to pay since my dad bought dinner. I thought that was sweet, and it really made an impression on my dad. Of course my dad said no, but he said he could pay him back by taking me on more dates and taking care of me. Joseph seemed to agree to those terms. Oh man, my two favorite men in the whole world were joking about taking care of me. I couldn't have felt more blessed in that moment! I loved seeing the two of them get along, and knowing that my dad approved and that Joseph thought that he wasn't too much of a crazy!

The next day when I called my dad to see what he thought, only good things came out of his mouth! He was very impressed by this boy I found, and that made the decision to keep dating Joseph just about 1,000,000,000 times easier. 

My Favorite Holiday with my Favorite Boy!

I called him on his birthday and we chatted for a while that night. He told me it was his best birthday ever, and it started two days before on our date! I'm over the moon with this boy, and at this point I just hold my breath and wait for him to ask me on the next date. On one date we played with uno cards and he made up a game where depending on the color of the card one person got to ask the other one a question. One question he asked me was what my favorite holiday tradition was. I told him about how my family goes to the movies on Thanksgiving after we eat dinner. This was the week before thanksgiving when he asked me that, and on the inside I was hoping he would ask me to spend Thanksgiving with him, but I also knew it was too soon. We had only been on a handful of dates and it hadn't been a month yet. But a girl could hope... We did talk about what my plans were and I told him that I had extended family in the area and that they had invited me over.

On the Tuesday of the week of Thanksgiving as I was driving home he called me! We chatted about the day for the first few minutes, and then the tone of voice changed a little bit. He told me he had a question to ask me. He said he knew that I had plans with my family, but he wanted to know if I would spend Thanksgiving with him and his family! (I died on the inside). I think my answer was, "Uh, yea... I think I could do that." At this point the conversation didn't last too much longer, and as soon as we hung up I called everyone I knew to tell them the news. And then I got on facebook and stalked all of his sisters, because I knew he had 5 and if anything was going to go anywhere with this boy I knew I needed approval from his sisters. I was so nervous because they were all so beautiful, and looked so fun via facebook. I now was worried about what I would wear and how I would fit in... scary stuff meeting this kids family!

Thanksgiving day finally came. I woke up with the biggest grin on my face. It was my favorite holiday and I got to spend it with my favorite boy. He picked me up and drove me down to his place in Lehi. As soon as we got to his house we put together a vegetable tray. While we were doing this one sister after another would come up and hug me and introduce themselves to me. They were all just so great, and one told me she liked my necklace so I felt like that was a big deal! We ate dinner and then he asked if I wanted to go outside and throw the football around with him. It was him, his brother and brother in laws, and a bunch of nephews. I loved it because I had 6 nieces and never got to play football with them. There was one nephew in particular who seemed to like me a lot. He held my hand and hugged me, it was just adorable. I loved spending time with his family. They were all just so nice to me and they made me laugh so hard! In a lot of ways I felt like I was with my family! I just loved it so much!!!

One by one family members had to leave and before you know it it was just us and his parents. He asked me if I'd seen Big Hero 6, and I told him I hadn't. He then asked if I would want to continue my tradition of seeing a movie on Thanksgiving. 1. The fact that he remembered melted my heart. 2. The fact that he wanted to go to the movies when I know he doesn't love them meant so much to me! We went to see it at the theater at Thanksgiving Point. What?! Thanksgiving Day at Thanksgiving Point! I asked if we could take a picture because I loved that it was Thanksgiving Day at Thanksgiving Point, but really I just wanted a picture of the two of us that I could show my coworkers and friends. On the way home we talked and he asked how I felt. I told him there was a song that reminded me of him, and we listened to it on the way home. (Little did I know that was going to be the first of many songs we would share between the two of us each time the song reminded us of the other.) At this point there was no secret. He knew I liked him, I knew he liked me. Things were going great! 

It was absolutely the best day ever. I just spent 10 hours with the cutest boy around and I loved everything about his family! I was happier than I had ever been in the world. This was the boy for me, and I was just hoping that a year from now I would be doing the same thing and then go shopping with his sisters on black Friday!

The First Kiss

Our fourth date was only three weeks into when we were dating. We hadn't held hands yet, and actually that whole day I was texting my family to get their ideas, "should I be bold and hold his hand tonight, or should I wait for him?" All of my brothers told me just to do it, while the girls told me to wait for him to make the first move. I just knew I liked him, and at this point he had hinted pretty strongly that he liked me too. His exact words, "I think I kinda like you... but don't get a big head about it or anything!" I remember the phone calls with the sighs.... "I just really like you..."

So the fourth date starts with him being grilled with questions from my friends Amy and Dylan. They "just happened" to be at my apartment when he comes to pick me up. Their questions started out silly... republican or democratic, do you like basketball, how tall are you (those were Dylan's). Amy had some serious ones... and then she ended by asking him what his intentions were with me. Dang Amy... coming on pretty strong for a guy about to take me on a 4th date. His answer was perfect though, he said he wanted to be my best friend, and even asked her permission if I could.  (Since she is a best friend, he thought it'd be polite to ask). 

Then when they were finally done grilling him, the two of us cooked dinner together in my kitchen. I had to keep telling him how bad I was at cooking, I hated the thought of him falling for me because he thinks I can cook, because I can't. And I didn't want to lie to the poor guy. We had a blast cooking our turkey tacos, and then we decided to go to the arcade.

This was so much fun. I felt like a kid in a candy store, just having a blast with this cute boy. He would put his arm around me and we would walk around together, and I think I was smiling as big as I ever have in my whole life. At one point he was just looking at me while I fed the tickets into the machine. I said freeze which is a game he made up which means, "whats on your mind right now?" He said, "I'm just thinking about how happy you are and how cute it is!" Stop it. Did he really just say that?! How did I find myself in the middle of the cutest chick flick in the world! This guy is perfect!!!

On our way home we were playing with the finger trap we bought with our arcade points. He said something about how he doesn't need both hands to drive, so I was bold and told him I had an idea of what he could do with the other hand. I stuck my hand out and he held it. For about 2 seconds, and then used his hand to turn the steering wheel. But after that he held my hand again. We just drove home, listening to the words of the songs on the radios and found out what the deeper meaning of the song was. Holding his hand put me on cloud nine... and I couldn't imagine it could get much better... oh but it did.

When we were sitting in his car in the parking lot, he asked me what I liked about him. I couldn't have thought of a better way for him to bring up the fact that I had something for him. I told him he needed to come upstairs to my apartment so I could answer that. You see, this date was 2 days before his birthday. I love birthdays, and I felt like this thing with him was going to last, so I wanted to do something for him. But at this point, I didn't really know too much about him. I knew what color he was on the personality color test, but I didn't know his love language. So his birthday present consisted of oreos (because I knew he liked them, and that was a gift.) A gas gift card, to represent quality time (spent with me, that cute girl that lived 45 minutes away!) And in his birthday card, I wrote "24 things I like about 24 year old Joseph." (You know, in case his love language was words of affirmation.) So it was funny he had just asked me what things I liked about him, because earlier that day I had listed 24! He started to read the card out loud, but that was embarrassing for me, so I told him to read it to himself. Once he was done he just looked at me with those beautiful blue eyes. And then he closed them and leaned in to kiss me! Totally unexpected as we had just held hands for the first time, but turns out... I was okay with it!!! In fact, I kinda liked it... a lot!!! :) 

And Then it Began...

After that first date, I could not stop talking about it. Even the very next day I was out on a date with another boy and all I wanted to do was tell this guy about the date I went on the night before! (I didn't.... because thats rude, but gosh I really wanted to!) Any free time I had I was on the phone with someone, a sister, a mission companion, an old high school friend, telling them about this super cute boy and the best first date in the history of first dates.

Two days after the date, I was on the phone with one of my best friends telling her all about him, when my phone buzzed and he was calling!!!. I quickly hung up on her (sorry Noelle) and started to talk to him. This was the first phone call since the date, so thats a good sign right?! I mean on the date he mentioned that we should do it again sometime, but now he is calling me again!!! Somehow on that call he brings up that the next weekend he was going on a group date with people in his ward, and he asked me if I'd like to go on that date with him. I said yes, and then I said something about how next weekend was so far away. He agreed, and then asked if I would also go out with him the next Tuesday! (Woah, two dates in one phone call, thats always a good sign, right girls?!) So at this point I'm over the moon... and to top it off, that very same day he called I saw that David Archuleta was going to be singing at a Christmas concert, and the tickets went on sale the next day. My plan was to buy two tickets and find someone to go with me, but here I was on the phone with this great guy who asked me to go on two dates with him the next week, and somehow bold Tara came out, and she asked him if he would want to go to the David concert with her at the end of the month. I think it was something along the lines of, "So... David Archuleta is singing... and I like him... and if you still want to be my friend in a month, maybe we could go see him together?" So just like that we arranged our 2nd, 3rd, and what would be our 7th date.

The second date was a super fun chill date. He took me to... you guessed it... Cafe Rio! He had to prove his point, remember! I had just gotten my nails done before and he impressed me by asking if I had shellac nails. And he said he loved the french tip. This boy was killing me with his nail knowledge, and before you go off thinking he is too much of a weirdo, you should know he was managing his sisters salon at the time, so it was kind of his job to know about that stuff! And I loved it!

After Cafe Rio we went bowling. I knew he must have liked me because even after I CREAMED him at bowling he was still a nice guy! Turns out he is the least competitive guy I've ever dated, and since I'm the most competitive person I know... rubbing it in his face just wasn't as much fun as it usually is. Is this boy going to teach me how to be a good person? Maybe my little sister will start playing games with me again!!!

The third date was the group date, that ended up being a double date. We made pizza at his house and then played board games with the other couple. I had been working at the temple the whole day, and then I went to his house, and I just LOVED the feeling I felt there. It was just like an extension to the temple. The pictures on the wall, the genealogy whiteboard with names to take to the temple, the peace and Spirit I felt while I was there. I knew this is how I wanted my house to feel. And I loved knowing that this boy grew up in this home... maybe he could help me have this kind of future home. (Woah, am I jumping ahead of myself or what, third date and I'm already planning the pictures we are going to put on our walls in our future house!)

Sometimes when you just know... you know! ;)

The First Date

October 28th, a whole 25 days after I met this cute boy, I came speeding home from work to get ready for a six thirty date. I was more excited for this date than I've ever been for a date in my whole life. My roommates knew this, so they stationed their computers in the front room so that when he picked me up they could meet him. He came, and he was even cuter than I remembered.

He gave me some suggestions of where we could get dinner. Naturally I chose Costa Vida. He told me he was more of a Cafe Rio kinda guy, and we both made our points on why we liked the one we did better. He suggested that maybe the next time we'd get Cafe Rio (to which I was just excited he was referring to a next time).

I waited in the car for him to come around and open my door, which he did. I remember he commented on how a lot of girls don't do that, but he liked that I waited! We spent forever at Costa Vida just talking. He was really good at asking me questions about myself. No awkward first date moments at all. I told him all about my college and my major and my current job. In the car he asked me if I like country music. Shoot... he found our difference. I knew he was way into it because I fb stalked him, and I didn't want him to think I hated it on our first date, so I said, "Do you like it... then I do too!" He could tell it wasn't my favorite. He drove to a place for dessert, and while he drove I danced a little to the song on the radio, and he asked if I liked to dance. I told him I loved it!!! Then when the bakery was closed, he told me his back up plan was to go country dancing. I told him I would love to, so we ended up in downtown salt lake at this dance place. We were there before the dancing started, so we danced a bit in the parking lot! He taught me the basic steps, and then we went inside once it was open. I had the best time dancing with him, country dancing, line dancing, slow dancing. All of it. I loved it.

One of the dance steps we learned was called "the cuddle". Another one was called "the friendzone". That night as we were driving home I told him I liked getting into cars that were warm, and he asked if I liked cuddling with blankets and hot chocolate (woah, a little forward for a first date bud!) I told him I really liked that, and he reminded me that we "cuddled" that night with that once dance move. I told him I liked that move, and he said something about the friendzoned move. I told him I DID NOT like that move. Here I am, first date, telling this boy straight up, "I do not want to friend zone you." I think he got the picture pretty clearly!

The First Phone Calls

On October 17th, I was sitting in a meeting at work when I looked down at my phone and saw that Joseph Van Zant sent me a message on facebook.  I could hardly contain my excitement. It had been exactly two weeks since I met this boy, and I had almost given up hope. I hadn't stopped thinking about him in those two weeks, but I was thinking the chances of him responding to my message were becoming slimmer and slimmer. The message said, "Hey you! Sorry I don't get on facebook to often. Here's my number though lets chat soon!" Followed by a phone number! I was dying. It was a Friday around 3:00, and I wanted nothing more than to get off work and talk to Joseph. As soon as I was out of that meeting I booked it out of work and sent him a message. Something along the lines of, "Hey, this is Tara, thanks for your phone number! I'd love to chat, how's your Friday?" To which I held my breath............


and waited some more........


By Saturday afternoon I was fed up. I had already come up with a million reasons why this boy never texted me back, including a very detailed story of him going on a camping trip just immediately after he sent me the fb message, where he had no access to him phone or any electronics and was probably eaten by a bear and I would never hear from him again. I did the usual, "BOYS ARE THE WORST" speech in my head and to anyone that would listen to me that weekend. He never replied, what message was he sending? He wanted to chat, but yet didn't?! He gave me his number, but then never replied! What kind of boy was this?!?!?!

Tuesday after work I was at the gym, and during my cool down I got on my phone and was checking facebook. It was hard not to notice if he posted something since I had memorized what his profile pic looked like and my heart almost stopped every time I saw it. He had written something on facebook that day, not too long ago... so I felt like this was my last chance. I responded to his fb message with a message of my own, and I was going to make it a little sassy while I was at it. I'll show this boy with no response to my text whats up.

"Joseph! I'm down for chatting with you! My number is _____. I texted you but didn't hear back. So... Tag! You're it. Call or text if you want." (Followed by a winky face, thats right!)

Not 5 minutes after I sent that message was my phone ringing with a number I had recently saved as Joseph Van Zant. My heart skipped about 10000 beats and I answered. The boy on the other line said, "Tag! You're it!!!"

And then the conversing began. He apologized for not getting back to me. Said that he hated texting and was planning on calling me that day already! Talking with Joseph was like catching up with an old friend. Sure we had to get to know each other, but it was so easy to talk to him. Not even 15 minutes into the call he was teasing me about the way I say the name of the streets in Utah. He knew I was not a local. He got my back story, I got his. We chatted about the mission. I told him I knew we had things in common the first time I met him because we both think I'm really funny. He laughed a lot at that one! Before I knew it an hour had gone by, and he asked me on a date. The only problem was it was a Tuesday, and he asked me out for the following Tuesday. 7 days I had to wait for a date with this boy. 7 DAYS!!! I thought I could die waiting so long....

Two days later he calls me while I'm at work, and I answer. He seemed surprised, and he asked me when I got off work. He asked me if he could call me then, and taught me what a phone date was. I don't remember the details of that call as much, but I do remember him double checking that we had a date the next Tuesday. It was like this boy was excited to take me out or something!

The Monday before our date, he calls me again, and leaves me the most adorable voicemail. He wanted to chat about our date the next day! So I called him back, and I remember his exact words. "I want to plan the best first date you've ever been on, and I feel like I know you, but I really don't know you..." Then he goes on to ask me lots of "would you rather" type questions to get to know me, and he goes on to plan what will go down in history as the best first date ever!

The Meeting

October 3rd, 2014 is a night I will never ever forget. It was my first mission reunion. I had been home for about 8 months and was so excited to see some of the people I hadn't seen since I started my mission. I wasn't even thinking of the possibility of meeting new people when I went there. I spent the majority of the evening socializing with the people who I served with and who I cared so much for. Then when people started going home, I found myself meeting new people and talking in circles with people that I didn't know. Its hard for me to leave a party when there are still people to talk to. Well it just so happens I'm not the only person with that habit, because standing in a circle next to the circle I was standing in was the cutest boy my eyes had ever seen. I didn't even notice him until I said something funny to the people I was talking to, and he turns into the circle I was standing in to tell me that he thought what I said was funny. Its not news to me that I'm funny, but it sure was great to hear this cute boy tell me I was! He then stayed in the circle of friends I was in and talked to me for the rest of the night. The mission president and wife are cleaning up around us and shoe-ing us out the door, but we just kept staying and talking. One guy in the circle made a comment of how funny I was on facebook, to which this Joseph kid said we should be friends on facebook. He asked if I'd add him and I told him I didn't even know what his last name was! So instead of telling me, he takes my phone, gets into facebook, and adds himself on my account. Nice move Joseph!


My friend Cori was coming to stay with me at my house that night, and she made a few observations she shared with me. Apparently she was talking with this said cute boy for a while, and he changed demeanors when I came into the circle. He was way more interested in what I was saying than the others. He laughed at everything I said. And in her words, he liked me. I was smiling the whole way home. He was seriously good looking AND he thought I was funny, could there be better qualities in a guy?! I think not!!! I went home and thought carefully about what I would send him on facebook. After finally figuring out a smooth but not over the top "I'm interested" kinda message, I sent it to him and held my breath. And thats when the waiting began.....