it's about time...

well, we all know i have been slightly MIA for a while, and let me explain why.

Meet jared paul williams. my boyfriend. yes, i said it. and i love it.

jared and i got set up on a blind date in may by his sister melissa and brother-in-law tim. they are in my parents ward, and one day when i was randomly there, tim stopped me at church. tim, me, and my mom were chatting away when this came up:

T (tim): "hey reagan, are you single?"

Me: "uh yeah...."

T: "well, i have this guy i want to set you up with. it's my brother in law."

Me: (thinking in my head how much i hate blind dates and literally swore them off)

Mom: "well, she is kind of picky..."

Tim: "Well he's 6'4". full time student. studying kinesiology. hot body. great return missionary. one of my idols. what do you think?"

Me: "um, yes."

so after numbers were exchanged and mine was passed on, jared called me. and we set up our date for memorial day after work.  jared and i both were not excited as the date got closer. we both hated blind dates, (which resulted in him not shaving and me almost cancelling our date.) (good thing i didn't).

our first date consisted of liberty market and ice cream. yummy. and so rewarding. we talked the entire night, but i wasn't quite "in" yet. it took me about 4 dates to finally realized that i liked him.

 about a week later we went to tempe town lake to paddle boat. after being there and walking around for 2 hours, with no hand holding and definitely no kissing, i was confused to say the least. he sent mixed signals; i wouldn't stop talking. we both were frustrated and KNEW we had to get it over with in order for it to not be awkward anymore. so it happened. our first kiss. outside my house. and after denying him 4 times that night without even knowing i did (so he says), we quickly realized this was different. this was going to be a relationship worth holding on to. little did i know it would be for a while.

we continued to date all summer. he came to cali with me to meet my family after only dating 3 weeks. lucky huh? we had a blast, and after cali he knew he loved me. me on the other hand, still wasn't too sure. i had never said those 3 words, and really wanted to make sure before i blew it. so about a week later, the word was out. i fell in love and had found someone to call my best friend.

as we continued to spend time with each other and our families, we knew this was different. we continued to go on hot dates (he always treats me so well) and continued to fall more and more in love. he took me to my favorite places. he surprised me at swim meets. we listened to my favorite music. we did things we both loved. and spending time with eachother was a blast.

we went away to pinetop/snowflake for the weekend with my sister's family in July (the 25 ish i believe). after that trip knew we wanted to get married. jared was and is everything i have ever wanted in a husband. that checklist from when i was 12, he had it all. so the decision was easy. we were going to start throwing the idea of marriage around.

we started the ring shopping process a few weeks later. stress to the max. we still don't have a ring, but a few in mind. we went to utah this past weekend where i was the "girlfriend/soon to be fiance". all i know is i can't wait for it to be real. i honestly think i bug jared about it 15 times a day. i hate surprises... and he knows that. but apparently this is worth not knowing quite yet. :)

we love each other. and being together.

he is perfect in every way.

stay tuned for more stories :)