We have only been married for 3 months, but this week marks our 2 year anniversary since our first date! So I figured on this 2 year anniversary of ours I would journal on here the story of how we met. Here goes...
This, my friends, is where it all began. Liberty Square Apartments. This place BREEDS marriages. I swear it is its sole purpose. Shelter? Meh. That's just a perk ;) haha kidding. But really, me and 2 of my roommates married Sky and 2 of his roommates. Craziness.
And there we are! (with some of our bestest friends.) We were all just dating at this point, and people already thought that was crazy enough. "3 roommates dating 3 roommates?! They'll never all survive." Well... we proved them wrong!
Em & Ty were the first to go... getting married in the Denver temple on December 17, 2011. We all flew out to Denver to be there right after finals week, and it was a fun weekend... love these 2!
Then came Jas & Sky (us) getting married in the Salt Lake Temple on June 16, 2012. A day we will never forget!
And last, but certainly not least, Jeff and Lo topped off the 3 for 3 and got hitched on August 14, 2012, in the Salt Lake Temple.
So to say the least... that place treated us well. Made some amazing, life long friends there, and met my eternal companion. I loved Lib Square.
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| My Apt: Lafayette 18 |
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| Sky's Apt: Lafayette 31 |
So although we met the first week of living here, we just dated through the 2 semesters while at Lib Square. Then we each moved home for the summer, took a little break (long story), and moved back to each live in cute little (ancient) houses south of campus.
We continued dating throughout the year and got engaged on February 12, 2012. It was the CUTEST, most well planned proposal ever and I love every minute of it!
So there, in a nut shell, is the timeline of our dating experience. We dated for quite a while and it took us quite some to get going. We met and went on dates, but it was quite a few months before we became exclusive. To give some background, we met when Sky had only been home from his mission for a week or so. He was white as snow, had a huge part, and an British accent. He was very proper, and a little backward with girls. BUT... there was something special about him. I saw something in him that no other guy seemed to have. Sure he was a little nerdy, but he was so respectful, so sweet, and VERY cheesy. Haha. He was a spiritual giant, and I remember being so moved by a Sunday school lesson he gave in our ward one Sunday. Sky's missionary service truly transformed him into a better person. He holds those experiences dear to his heart and I feel privileged to have met him when I did so that I could see a glimpse of the Elder Ridley who worked so diligently in the Manchester mission for 2 years. So although he was a little awkward when he got home (he hates when I say that), I believe it was just evidence of the transformation that took place while serving as a missionary. So once the awkwardness wore off a little and we REALLY got to know each other, we began to fall in love...........
Now on to the details... At our reception we had on display a scrapbook we had made that we titled "Sky & Jas: Our Story". It included a bunch of pictures and journal entries about our whole dating experience. So for those of you who weren't able to see that, here are our entries and a few pics :)
First Meeting
Jasmine's View
I don’t remember much about our first
meeting. I remember I was with another boy from the ward when my roommate Emma
went into Skyler’s apartment. So I just kind of stood at the door talking to
the other boy. Robbie and Skyler kept telling me to come inside, so once the
other boy left I went in and sat down. I remember Robbie telling Emma and I
that Sky was on the football team. I wasn’t sure if he was joking at first, but
after I found out it was true, I was very impressed. I remember Sky was wearing
a brown/tan striped collared shirt—and he had a huge part. Haha.
Skyler's View
I had been home from serving a mission for just over a
week. It was a Monday night just after the first ward social of the semester. I
returned straight to my room to finish some reading. I was there for about a
half an hour when my roommate walked in and told me there were girls in our
apartment. I told him I needed to finish my homework (can you believe that) but
he said that I needed to socialize, especially with girls. I met Jasmine’s
roommate Emma first. She came over because she met my roommate Taylor. Jasmine
tagged along but she was with ANOTHER GUY. She was standing outside our door for a while flirting away. I thought
she was really pretty. The first
thing I noticed was her smile. I’m pretty sure she didn’t even notice me. We
didn’t talk much other than when a few other people walked in and we were
introducing ourselves. I said my name was Jasmine and she said her name was
Skyler. I was trying to be cute.
Disco Skating
Skyler's View
After we had spent a little time together in big groups I
was quite attracted to the tall dark haired beauty in my ward. Jas and Emma invited
Robbie and I to see a movie and it was that night that I decided I wanted to
take Jasmine out on a date. I found out that a bunch of people were going on a
group date but I was the last one to find out. I wanted to ask Jasmine but as I
was telling my roommate that I wanted to ask her he told me that he arranged
for his good friend to be her date. I was a little upset because we were going
disco skating which means the touch barrier was sure to be broken. So I had to
find a last minute date. I have to be honest I wanted Jas to be jealous so I
had to get an attractive one. I found a date, the only problem was when we got
there I found out that my date was not the best skater. One lap, when I stopped
to talk to my brother Cody, I saw Jas skating with my date. I think she was
sizing her up. She even admits that she was now. Jasmine was all over her date,
or at least I thought so but she says she was just being a good date.
Jasmine's View
I wasn’t interested in Sky at first, until
we started hanging out as friends a lot and I got to know him more. I
kind of started to become interested, but I didn’t tell anyone. Then in class
one day, Emma said, “I think Sky is into you.” I was pretty happy to hear that.
Then that weekend there was a big group date that a bunch of people from the
ward were going to (Friday, Sept 11, 2010). I got set up with someone’s friend,
and Sky asked some blonde girl. I remember wishing we were going together.
Once we were at the disco skating place, I
remember seeing Sky there with his date. He kept on skating off without her so
I decided to skate by her and assess what I thought of my competition. She was
nice and pretty cute, so I toned it up a bit with my date :) haha.
First Date
Skyler's View
I was nervous. She was pretty, smart, and I
could tell she wasn’t quite sure about me. I knew that she liked that I played
football but I think she had a hard time believing I was actually on the team.
Although we were going out Friday night I invited her to our intramural
football game before our date. I wanted to show off a little bit. I thought it
would help my chances and I think it worked. Our date started just me and
Jasmine. I took her to get Slurpies and then we walked around the MTC fields. I
wanted to get to know her better. We talked about our families, school, where
we grew up, and anything and everything else. I loved talking to her, and could
tell right away that she was an amazing girl and great catch. After our walk we
met up with Emma, Lauren, Robbie, Tyler, and Brian at Robbie’s house to build
forts and play games.
Jasmine's View
Sky asked me out on our first date the next
weekend after disco skating. He texted me earlier in the week and asked if I
wanted to go on a scooter ride to get our all-sports passes at the Marriott
Center. I was very excited. When we got back he asked if I would go out with
him that weekend, and of course I said yes! For the date, we first made
a stop at the ward BBQ and ate some hotdogs. I remember being proud to show up
to the party with Sky :) We ate and then went to Skyler’s intramural football
game. Once again, I was impressed! His team got killed, but he did really well.
Then he cleaned up and we went on a walk around the Provo temple, sipping
slurpies and just talking. Then we went to Robbie’s house and made forts/played
games. The fort thing didn’t go so well… but the games were fun! When he
dropped me off after the date I had kind of lost interest and didn’t think
anything would really happen after that. But I was very wrong… stay tuned :)
First time holding hands...
Even though I didn’t think we really hit it
off on the first date, we had mutual friends so we kept seeing each other and
hanging out. I remember slowly becoming interested again; I was always excited
to see him and I always hoped he would be there when we’d all hang out as
friends. We would all go to football games, hang out at Robbies house, and go
on fun little group dates. Skyler and I always went together, but we were still
just friends—although we were both interested. Then after what seemed like quite
a while, Sky finally pulled the moves during a movie at Robbie’s house. I
remember him first reaching for my hand, and I put my head on his shoulder. I
was so giddy/excited/happy!
First Kiss
Skyler's View
Jas and
I had been hanging out and dating, but I kind of thought she was losing interest. I knew that if I wanted her to stick around I
would need to make my move. I had wanted to kiss from the start, but had just
been nervous, and I was following my Dad’s advice of not kissing a girl until I
had taken her on 5 dates… which I already had with Jas. So I knew I had to make
my move soon. One night Jas called me and asked me to go out to dinner with her
mom. I had the feeling from when we spoke that she was only asking me because
her mom wanted to meet me. So we went to dinner then both returned to our
apartments, and Jas thought that was the end of the night for us. But I stopped
by her apartment later and asked her to come spend the rest of the evening with
me. I took her to Timpview High School, turned on some music and asked her to
dance with me in the parking lot. I was showing her some moves that I learned
in social dance when I went in for the kill. It was perfect. It was not just a
small peck…we really kissed ;) Jas
definitely knew what she was doing!
Jasmine's View
After we had held hands the first time, we
would cuddle/holds hands often, but we still weren’t exclusive. I was still
dating other people, and I don’t know what Sky was doing! It took him quite a
while to kiss me from this point. Then one night, while my mom was in Provo for Josie’s dance, we all went to dinner at Macaroni Grill because my mom wanted to meet Sky.
After dinner, I just went back to my apartment and was hanging out with my
roommates. Someone knocked on the door, Sarah answered it, and it was Skyler.
He asked if he could steal me away for the rest of the night. I went with him
and he said he wanted to spend time with just me, cause we were always with
other people. He took me (in Robbie’s car) to Timpview high school, and started
playing music. He had us both get out of the car and he asked me to dance. We
started dancing to some soft, sweet love song, and we started showing each
other how we liked to slow dance. When I put both of my arms around his neck he
pulled me in and kissed me! Not just a peck, but he really kissed me :) that’s
when the song changed to “Love in this Club” by Usher. Haha. I remember being
totally shocked he had done it and once again… rather impressed at the kiss. Haha.
Best first kiss ever! I loved kissing him, and throughout the rest of the night,
he would just randomly kiss me and I loved it!
Falling in Love (Cali Road Trip)
I wanted my family to meet this girl I was crushin’ on
and spending so much time with. They had seen pictures but that was about it,
so I decided to take Jasmine and some friends to California. This way they
could meet her and see what I loved so much about her. It was the drive back
and forth that I think Jas and I really connected; I could tell the feelings
were getting deeper. Over the course of the trip we went to the beach, played
games, and barbequed. Of all things I remember about this trip, I remember that
I couldn’t stop staring at Jasmine. She was so beautiful! I knew I was falling
in love with her, and I just remember hoping she was falling as hard as I was!
Jasmine's View
When Sky asked me to go to California on a
road trip to meet his family, I was totally excited! We had been dating for a
while, so I was ready and excited to meet his family. I will never forget the
long car rides there and back and just being able to talk and cuddle for 10 straight hours. I could tell my feelings were growing quickly… I was falling in
love! I loved being able to spend so much time with Sky in the city where he
grew up. It was fun to see his home, his high school, and hear about all his
fun memories there and see all his pictures. As we both look back, we agree
that this trip was when we both began to really fall for each other.
The Proposal
Sky took Jas to Rock Canyon Park in Provo and said he had
a cool look out point he wanted to show her that looked down over the Provo
temple and the lake. When we got there, Sky said we had to walk a little bit to
the view. We walked between some trees, and when he stopped the tree we were
under lit up. The whole tree was filled with lights. Two of Sky’s friends
walked out from under a pavilion and began to play and sing an acoustic version
of "It Girl" by Jason Derulo. When they stopped the real song began
playing from speakers that were set up on the other side of the nearby
pavilion. Sky had this all arranged. A huge light switched on right as the
music began. Moments later all this cheering came from below the hill in front
of us. A huge group of people were running towards us! They stopped about
30 ft. away and then Sky got on one knee, proposed, and she said YES! We hugged
and kissed for a few minutes and then our family and friends came over to
congratulate us. It was PERFECT.
So that's that! Now, after that crazy ride, we are hitched as Mr. and Mrs. Ridley, and I wouldn't have it any other way. The other day on our way driving to school I said, "Wow. I'm just so glad we're finally married. Best decision I've ever made." Then Sky said, "Best decision I'll ever make!" Haha. He's so cute :) we are very blessed and are just enjoying this crazy/fun time of our lives together as newlyweds.
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