r2r

“Are you still so dull?…Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man ‘unclean’. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what make a man ‘unclean’; but eating with unwashed hands does not make him ‘unclean’ (Mathew 15-20)

Well, I spoke to Jenn about 90 minutes ago. She is going to great, and having so much fun.  Jenn will fill you in. Stay tuned.  It was so good to hear her voice.  I could not wait any longer to talk to her, so I called and talked to Jenn for about 4 minutes (or about $12 or half my left leg).  For the record, I don’t like being separated from Jenn for this long.  There should be a law against it. It should at least be a misdemeanor with a suitable punishment: Jenn should be placed under house arrest with me for at least one week.

Yesterday, it was a pretty exciting day. It started off by me finding a few love notes attached to kitkat bars inside a pair of shoes.  Naturally, this set the tone for the rest of my day.  Sweet! So happy.

 I also received a couple of text messages, including a picture text. Now, I must confess to you that the picture below is now my favorite of Jenn.  It seriously gives me goose bumps and takes my breath away.  Jenn is truly the most beautiful woman that I have ever known and know now (NOTE – Jenn will roll her eyes when she reads this paragraph). Jessica So, without further delay, here is an awesome picture of Jenn!!

Here is the reall cool thing: you are only scratching the surface, sort of speak, when you only see Jenn’s incredible beauty.  Jenn is so much more than her beauty. So much more.  Jenn has an incredible heart and such integrity that is rare to find. Jenn’s outlook and positive attitude towards life is also beyond measure.  Fun, sense of humor, engaging, intelligent, affectionate, gifted, comforting, humble, balanced, confident, dependable, laid back, soothing, uplifting, and caring are all accurate adjectives that describe Jenn. Oh yeah, as much as I hate to admit it (not really) Jenn is just plain cool, and she is normally right 98.% of the time.  It is true.

Yesterday, I had to help someone at work that didn’t know too much about computers. Pheww. I had to eat a piece of humble pie and patience. We got through it though.

I started to jump rope in morning. I am trying to keep in shape.  Nothing really exciting happened at work. Well, at least, nothing that I can disclose on the Internet. 

Today, I was blessed with another picture of Jenn. J  I am a lucky guy!

Please note the sunburn, especially on Jenn’s cute note!!

I miss her so much. Jenn is a having a great time though, which makes me happy. Next time, I will definitely go with Jenn on a cruise. I am so excited to get married to her!!! Soon. Very soon!

 ~r

OK.

 If you don’t know already, Jenn and her family are currently on an incredible cruise to Haiti, Jamaica, and Mexico.  It has only been 39 hours since I last saw her and 29 hours since I spoke to her, but it seems like an eternity.  Everything seems too quite, incomplete, not as warm, or as enjoyable without Jenn. Now don’t get me wrong, I make my own happiness.  For example, I have been gorging myself on “guy movies” and, in order fight of my “depression,” I went to the book store and purchased: Personal Finance for Dummies, McCain, and Audicity of Hope.  Yes, I love buying and reading books. It is a vice that I have, and I attend Book Buyers and Readers Anonymous on a regular basis. I also put in some extra hours. I truly love my job, which has previously resulted in your scribe to become a moderate workaholic.  Moderate is 60-70 hours a week. Right?
Anyways, I digress.  I basically miss Jenn. A lot!! I am not lonely, but I just miss her presence, who she is, her smile, laugh, kiss, and how I feel when I am around her.  I was initially “relatively” fine (NOTE - relative is the key word here).  However, I then received an incredible txt message from Jenn stating: Hotel is right off the beach. I wish you were here with me! Honey, I can’t stop thinking of u. Had tears of joy thinking about marrying u on the plane.”

WOW!! What a text!! It was followed by two knock out punch photos
 

OK, by now, you may be wondering why I did not go on the cruise. I wanted to go, but I didn’t feel right about it. I had decided in December 2007 not to go on a 2008 April Haiti mission with Ray Jon Share Care because it wasn’t financially the right time.  I just felt that it would have been inappropriate to decide it was financially OK to “live it up” (and trust me, I wanted nothing more than hang out with my love, Jenn)  in Haiti, but not OK to help build roads, schools, and educate children in Haiti.
Call? Of course, I could, but my Jenn is out of the USA, so it costs 3.00 per minute plus an arm, a leg, your first born, and your favorite pet (not pet rocks though). I think that txt messages cost only 75 cents. Jenn and I decided to exercise some restraint and wait until she returns this Sunday to talk again. 
I will write more tomorrow. I have lot thoughts, questions, and feelings that I need to articulate and share.  
(Side bar – the ring has been selected!!!!! Yeah!! I am so excited!!!!! My friend is a master jeweler at a local jeweler store, Coffin&Trout. I highly recommend them.   Jason will make the ring after the cast has been made. So cool!!!)
I will conclude with a quote from my journal. It is an entry that I wrote early this morning at 5:00 AM. Please keep in mind that I only had 3 hours of sleep because I helped a buddy move until about 1:00 AM.  I am not sure what it means yet, or if I truly mean all of it. I can say that I felt incredible happy today and I was filled with an undeniable peace and joy. I also went out of my way (more than normal) to help people today, and went to make amends with someone that I don’t really like. I felt even better after helping people.  More to come!
…I prayed…I read the New Testament (Mathew 13). I read part of the Book of Mormon (2 Nephi 26). I finally got up. My 445 AM sleepiness subsided. I felt incredible focused. I felt genuine happiness. This is why I know God is in my life. Why the Book of Mormon is true and the Bible is God and Jesus’ Word. And you should be grateful for both”
 

Now, I know some people may argue with the above and bold statement, but please let me elaborate.  First, I know that God loves me and I have not been agnostic for about a year and half. Sweet!

Second, I truly live a blessed life and I am so grateful for everything.

Third, on a typical day, I usually radiate a quite happiness and love so I can make other people smile.

Fourth, I have great and patient friends and family.

The fifth reason can be summarized by a simple name, which means white, fair, smooth and is a form of Gwenhwyfar,  yep, you guessed it:  Jennifer.  There are millions of reasons that I could list why being with Jennifer makes me the luckiest person in the world.  There are millions of feelings that I could try to express that would explain it, but these feelings are too difficult to write down, too personal and for Jenn’s ears only. 

Nonetheless, I will you give  some examples of why I am the luckiest person:

1)      After my return from a trip to Denver, my car was filled with balloons and the windows had hearts painted on them.  There was a “I love you”

2)       “I love you” and “You are so special”   had also been written on my bedroom’s cement floor with chalk  (No fear of being arrested by police here. Please ask Jenn for details).

3)      I truly am a better person when I am around Jenn. Jenn makes me better and complete

4)      I am more focused at work because I want to get everything done, so I can spend time with Jenn. Please note that I truly love my job and probably have one of the best bosses around. Also, I get a lot satisfaction from working (i.e., I am a former workholic ).

5)      Jenn has really good friends, a sweet dog, and an incredible mother. For example, I went to probably one of the coolest birthday parties in my life several weeks ago. It was Todd’s birthday. Todd is the husband of Emily, who is a long time friend of Jenn. The party was a solid 4.

6)      I can actually pray with Jenn without feeling self-conscious; this results in deepening my connection with Jenn.

7)      I received an email this morning from Jenn that made my day.  Not too reveal too much, but here are some highlights:

a.       I love spending time with you

b.      I love you

c.       Xoxoxoxo

d.      I can’t wait to look at rings with you this evening

8)      Jenn can melt my heart with a simple glance

9)      Despite my many faults, flaws, imperfections, and weird habits, Jenn still loves me. Wow!

10)   The number says it all. Jenn is a perfect 10. Yes. 10.

Now, the astute reader would have paused on item  7d. I will give you a moment to re-read it. Go ahead. I will wait here. Still here.  Shall I go the bathroom while you read it? No. All done. OK.

Yes. You read it right.  Jenn and I are looking around for engagement rings, and I am so so so excited and happy. It feels beyond right. We want to marry each other.   Yippie!!! (Yes, I just wrote that infantile word. You know you want to say it out loud).

Here is some background information:  On the day I returned from a trip to Denver, Jenn blurted it out that she wanted to marry me.   WOW!!!  This great event occurred while we pursuing for a PG-rated movie in Hollywood video. Have you ever tried to find a PG-rated movie? Please let me clarify: a good PG-rate movie.  No, I don’t consider a movie about an animated dog that is a professional wedding singer during the day, and super hero that saves the world from stinky kit litters at night at good movie; it is maybe a 4.  As you can probably tell, I definitely felt the same way about Jenn, so  I quickly expressed similar feelings to her while standing beside a wall of “The Simpsons” movies (Sidebar  - I started to feel the same way for Jenn about 1 month prior to her proclamation in Hollywood video.  I was initially in denial about these feelings because I never expected or anticipated that I was going to marry her.  But now, I have no doubt or denial with my heart, body, and mind.  To be honest, I truly knew that she was so special the first day that I saw her .  From the very beginning, I chose to date her and be around her as much as possible.  I did not fall, auto-pilot, or zombie into anything!! I have not done, or felt this since my high school sweet heart. Umm. This is a lot longer then you probably realize, especially compared to Jenn and Jenn’s friends. J )

So…you may be wondering what is next. Good question.   Here is the checklist so far:
 
1) ask permission and blessing from Jenn’s parents to marry her . This is occurred on February 1, 2008 at Applebes in Mesa. Gecko was too busy.  Jenn’s parents already knew that I was taking them out for dinner, so I could ask them. I was a little bit nervous, but it is amazing how love can give you strength and calm your nerves.   I will take love to calm my nerves over vodka and 7 up any day (Side note – Yes. I used to thoroughly enjoy an alcoholic drink [e.g wine, or vodka) once in a while, but not anymore [see Item#3 in list above]). I received the blessing and permission from both parents. Phew!!
2) pick ring - in progress.
3) wedding.
4) honeymoon
5) spend life and eternity together!!

The end for now.

PS

Help , pray, and sincerely smile (not with malice, or sarcasm) at your enemies today!

So…I am now closer to 40 than 30. Am I upset or bothered by this chronological fact. Nope. I still feel young, and it also helps that I had incredible day.  In fact, to be honest with you (FYI - weird expression. this implies that I normally would lie to you. right?), my 36th b-day was one of best b-days ever! Why? You can probably guess. Yep. I spent the day with the coolest girl that I know: Jenn. Jenn. Jenn. Jenn.
The party actually started on 36th B-day -1. I received a cool, home-grown card with clues on it. The clues provided insights to the events and actions that would happen on my 36th B-day.
Well, without further delay, here is a brief summary of the events: 1) Jenn woke me up and she brought over breakfast from LGO (clue #1). We snacked on tasty toast, a day breaker, and omelet. Hmm..good; 2) we went for a quick hike and picnic at North Mountain (clue #2). Please note that there was an elaborate picnic menu that involved fruit, the best peanut and jelly sandwich that I have ever tasted, pasta salad, a not-so-tasty tofu salad, apple sauce (not organic), orange juice, and yes wait for it, a birthday cake. Below is picture of the b-day cake.

We just chilled and laid down on the blanket for an hour, or.  It was so nice out. I also spoke to my friend Dave, who called to wish me happy b-day.
After the hike, I had to go home to attend a conference call for work. Jenn of Jenns ran some errands and including picking up a package from my mom.  Jenn and I opened up the package together. Very cool gifts, including a snake that feels weird and lights up.  There were a lot of maple leaves.
We next went to Paint on Pottery (clue #3). Jenn painted a plate and I painted a picture frame. We will upload pictures of this pottery next week. We finished off the perfect b-day by going to Chelsea’s kitchen (clue #4). Chelsea’s Kitchen is where Jenn and I had our first date on 09/01 at 6:00 PM. Jenn paid because I had conveniently misplaced my wallet.

**Sidebar - Our first meeting outside of work actually occurred on 08/31/2007 at Armadillo Grill, but was technically not a date. We just hung out with a group of Jenn’s friends and I showed them how to play pool. I do remember distintcly recalling that Jenn was looking really really cute. OK. Beautiful. Hot**. 

Anyways, the dinner was very tasty and conversation was even better. It almost got ugly when I “accidentally” put key-lime pie up Jenn’s nose. Jenn also got me a sweet, phat Guess watch. It actually comes with interchangeable wrist bands; a silver wrist band for more formal wear and a leather one for more casual outfits. Nice!! 

I also received e-card from my dad and Corrie. G left a nice card, a bottle of wine, and flowers at my door. My buddy Greg called from Sioux Falls, S. Dakota. Sucker!!
Well…doesn’t that sound like a fantastic b-day? Now, you have some idea of why I love Jenn so much. What a great day!!!
Ciao for now from a guy that is a little bit older, not so much wiser, but very happy and no longer an agnostic.  Ha!!!