How Gordon and I began our eternal journey.....

Sometimes we forget the details of how we and our spouse began or the words that were said and what not....I was thinking about this the other day because I could not remember what Gordon said to me when he asked me to marry him...well, at least word for word.  Luckily, I had a journal back then and I found it!  It was so neat to open it up and see the handwriting and the memories.  I read my testimony of the Gospel during that time and saw how sweet it was too.  

Gordon and I met at Broadway Department Store.  I worked in the cash office running all the previous day's money and Gordon worked on the dock (he was home for the summertime from BYU).  I remember seeing him one time walk by the gift office where I was helping wrap presents as they were short on employees.  As he walked by, I thought to myself....WOW!  He has a nice butt!! (Excuse me, but I was single and looking for a man!!!)  I asked the girl I was working with who that was...she told me his name was Gordon and he was here for the summer and he was engaged.  I was so sad to hear that...not that it mattered, I was still out of his league as.  Men who were that good looking never looked my way......boo hoo!  Well, the next time I saw him he came in carrying a television and I was there and he lifted it so I could wrap it. Oh man, my heart was pounding so fast...I did not even say one word....BUT, neither did he; again confirming I was out of his league.  I found out he played college volleyball and that made it even worse because I LOVE volleyball and played in high school.  A few days later, I handed him his paycheck at the cash office and he actually said hi to me....woohoo!  It wasn't until the next week that a mutual friend of ours (she worked in lingerie :) ) introduced us and asked if we both would go see another mutual friend who was in the hospital.  Gordon looked at me and said, do you want to go...and I, of course, said sure...That was the beginning of a great adventure!!!  After that, we talked every day and went to the beach and drove around looking at houses around Sola Beach and just had fun.  He got me playing volleyball with some of his friends and I loved it.  What was so neat about all of this is he really wasn't engaged, but he was waiting for a girl who was soon to return off her mission..so he felt committed to that and I respected that....that gave room for a wonderful friendship with no expectations.  It was great!  He soon went back to the Y and he called me a couple times just to say hello and see if I was still playing volleyball with his friends...I told him I was and actually went on a couple dates with his friends as well!!! (I wonder if he was jealous....)  From what I understand, this girl came home from her mission and they dated seriously for a while but it just did not work out...Gordon felt she was not the right one for him (perhaps he had that sweet little red head on his mind all the time...hee!).  He called me up the beginning of December and told me he was going to be home on December 19th and was wondering if he could take me out on a date.  I told him I would love to do that! The night he came home he actually came to my apartment to see me....we kissed of course!!!  It was magical and we saw each other every day!  We were at the beach with Gordon's sister and some of her friends on New Year's Eve.  We had a bon fire and all and it was great!  I love the beach at night...that is my favorite place to be...on the beach at night and he knew it!  He asked to go for a walk and I agreed.  Soon after walking he stopped me and said to me, "Leesa, my life would be boring without you; in fact, my whole life would be boring without you.  Will you marry me?"  Oh man...I was melting...I jumped into his arms, hung on tight, and whispered in his ear, "YES!"  That was so romantic and such an original statement!  He did not have a ring at the time and he apologized....but that did not matter; I did not care one bit and it actually did not even come to my mind!  We went out shopping for one the next week...it is humble, yet sweet!  We made plans for our wedding to be held on March 7, 1992.  Wow....things were moving so fast, but it did not matter; it felt right and it was right!  Here we are today reaching our 17th year of marriage this coming March. Much has happened and many adventures have been shared!  We have been very blessed with a marriage full of love and excitement....not even one fight!!  Sure we disagree on things, but never have we fought with each other, yelled at each other, or even called one another a nasty name...that is what I call a fairy tale marriage, and I will take it any time!  I sure do love that cute guy who walked past me that one day! Come to find out, Gordon felt the same way about me when he first say me...he saw me and thought I that cute, tiny (yes I was tiny back then!) red head would never give me the time of day and that I was out of his league....he said he was so nervous when we were wrapping that TV together and he couldn't say a word because he was sooooo shy!  Believe me, he was too shy for my liking, but I have worked on him a bit. Sweet memories to come....