When we left off I was explaining how I wasn’t worried about things moving fast because basketball season, and my responsibilities as a coach were going to start in a few weeks. Then Jenna surprised me by showing up for my sophomore’s basketball games. We had formal dates, like dinner after the symphony (she played, I watched); and informal dates like me reconfiguring her wireless network while she sat suffering from a cold in her comfy reading chair (I couldn’t stand her dropping connections while I was trying to chat with her from my apartment). This led to standing dates like “dinner and Monday Night Football”. The big debate quickly became whether or not we were an exclusive couple or not.I think Jenna was worried that I was too new to the dating scene, and that she was a rebound.I kept telling her that I didn’t care if she was seeing others or not (maybe a little white-lie) but that I wanted to be the easiest-to-deal-with guy in her life (totally the truth). I think the debate lasted about 3 weeks before we realized we didn’t want to see anyone else and wanted to see where this led.

Turns out it led to Moab! We decided to get away during the Christmas break and spend some uninterrupted time together. A road trip to Moab and visits to Arches and Canyonlands was perfect. We rented a romantic apartment overlooking the town, ate bagels for breakfast and packed sandwiches for lunch. (Attractive and frugal? How lucky could I get?!) We hiked to iconic landmarks like Delicate Arch, had nice dinners, and watched movies in the evenings. It was during this trip that I really began to have the feeling that I had known Jenna for years, not just the few weeks and months that we had actually been together. Everything was easy; everything was comfortable. Jenna has a great mix of practicality and pragmatism, balanced with a clear sense of adventure, and tempered by a deep spirituality.

It took a few more weeks for me to get around to proposing, but to tell the truth, I suspected before Moab, and knew for sure during that trip, that I wanted to spend forever with my wonderful sweetheart. A New Year’s proposal would have been cliché, and I didn’t have a ring. But by the end of January I was packing the ring in my glove box, and waiting for the right day. That day was February 5th. I was more excited than nervous, and I was ecstatic that Jenna, “the one I chose”, accepted the invitation to build a life with me.

We began our official life together on April 1st, 2011. At this point, we have been married almost a year though it feels like forever, and just keeps getting better and better.