The Set Up!

         Yes, it's true. 

We began our relationship on a blind date. It was the end of September 2000 when I received a phone call from our friend Eden. Eden and I became friends at the college of Southern Utah University. Nathan and Eden met and became friends in a singles ward in Las Vegas.  I roomed with her and our friends Angela and MaryAnna for five weeks while I did a required teaching practicum in Cedar City prior to moving back to West Jordan to do my student teaching in March of that year. During that stay, she had received a birthday card a month early from Nathan who was serving a mission in Peru. She complained up and down about how Nate could just NOT get her birthday right. (it's in April not March). She continued to talk about him that week and frankly I thought she was in denial and liked the guy. Fast forward...Eden calls me up at the end of September to tell me all about Jared. He was a guy she was set up with and really hit it off. She really liked him and their relationship was progressing quickly. She then goes on to ask me if I would be willing to go on a date with her friend Nate who had recently returned from his mission. He just so happened to be the individual who set her up with Jared (they got married by the way). So he asked her to return him the favor.

She at first wanted to set him up with our friend Fiona but our friend Angela convinced her to set him up with me. I was clearly hesitant.I had just been on the WORST blind date ever and I was very numb to blind dates because of that "awful" experience. (another story in and of itself). BUT, Eden had a lot more "class" than the last person that set me up and I tried to be positive about the idea and listened to what she had to say. During our conversation it hit me that she said that he had JUST returned from his mission and that he was heading to Salt Lake for a mission reunion. I thought to myself,  "Wait, he is JUST getting back from his mission?" I had been home for 2 YEARS from my mission. All of a sudden my mind went numb and my proceeding thoughts were "He is younger than me!" That was kind of a huge deal to me. After talking with her some more about him, in the end she somehow convinced both Nathan and I to agree to the blind date.

A quick view of Nathan's perspective:

When Eden told him she would set him up, she mentioned to him the possibility of Fiona. He thought wow what a cool name. When he found out in the end she wanted to set him up with me, he was not as enthusiastic about it since his mom's name is Ruth. But somehow they even convinced him to take me out. I think they convinced him with the fact that I looked like Uma Thurman. (Yes, I use to get that a lot) and she happened to be his celebrity "crush" at the time.