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.....