The Stranger we Called Pineapple

August 16, 2015

I had just moved to San Diego with my best friend for no real apparent reason other than, ""Why NOT move to California with your best friend"?  We had tried going to a singles ward (church) in Encinitas but it just wasn't feeling right.  We decided one Sunday to try a different ward in PB just to see if it was a better fit for us.  After sacrament this guy came up to me and started asking me if I was new to the area. He told me that if I needed anyone to show me around that he'd love to and gave me his number.  How typical...  After we got done talking me and my friends left church and they asked me what the guys name was.  Hmm what was his name?  Totes couldn't remember.  So he became "Pineapple" because of his long hair that he wore straight on top of his head.  Over the next year, Pineapple did everything he could to become my friend/date me.  But I was not having it.  I would take days to reply to him, I was always "working" and on the off chance he finally convinced me to hang out with him he was NEVER invited back to my apartment.  "Yeah you can take me to dinner but right after I have something."  

After a year, my best friend got married and moved back to Utah leaving me alone in SD til our apartment contract was up.  I hadn't really made too many friends there since I had been living with my bestie but once she left me I was left alone with nothing to do and no one to hang out with, so Pineapple started to become my go to.  We started hanging out more and more and Pineapple slowly started to become Jared and I started to like him.  

One Sunday I asked him to skip church and take me to get sushi.  He wanted to stay all of Church and said we could go after.  I said "Okay, have fun I am going to get sushi."  He quickly decided to skip church and come along.  After sushi he thought that I would want to leave and go home since that's usually how our "dates" went, but I asked him to go walk around the beach with me.  I grabbed his hand and held it.  I kept thinking, "what the hell are you doing?"  But it felt right some how.  Then we went to a cute bakery and got milk and cookies.  I wanted milk, he wanted cookies.  So I shared my milk and he shared his cookie, during which he posted a picture to IG captioning it "Friends with benefits" as he dipped his cookie to my milk.  

Later that week he invited me to one of his bands shows and after the show he came over to hang out.  That night while cuddling, I reached up for him and kissed him.  After we kissed he told me he loved me. I died.  I was like crap I am not ready for this.  I don't even know if I really like this guy.  And then a week later, not even officially dating, I asked nonchalantly "Do you want to look at rings with me?"  Are you dying yet?  That's right, a guy who I had completely ignored and avoided for an entire year, I suddenly was head over heels for him.

A month later Jared helped me pack up my San Diego apartment and helped me tackle the drive and the move back to UT.  We still weren't official and I was starting to get worried that me moving back to Utah and him being in California would mean that we would break up.  I was so confused as to why he hadn't asked me to be his girlfriend yet.  Besides, he had openly admitted to the fact that for him it was love at first sight.  We had already talked about getting married, looked at rings (on pinterest only-not THAT crazy) but he wasn't asking me to be exclusive.

September 22, 2016

The day before Jared was about to leave Utah to go back to California we had gotten in an argument about something and I had gone to bed angry.  In the middle of the night Jared woke me up and told me he loved me and that all he knew was that he didn't want to lose me.  He then asked me if I wanted to be his girlfriend.  Fin-a-fricken-ly!  Of course I said yes, yes, yes, yes!  

It's been a year and the most incredible, wonderful, eventful year its been.  I would never have guessed that "Pineapple" would one day be my husband and my best friend.  He is everything to me.  My love for him exceeds anything I have ever experienced.  I am ever so grateful for the last two years and especially grateful for what September 22nd represents for us.  

I love you Pineapple