The First Kiss

Well I guess it is finally time to tell the story of the first kiss.   To truly understand why I didn't want to kiss Katie right off the bat, you need to know a few things about me.  First is that I used to be a player.  I think It was towards the end of 8th grade..... (mom you might be hearing this for the first time, so I'm sorry in advance)  I went to a party with a good friend of mine, and I loved going to parties with him.  There were usually some pretty fun people to hang out with.  This time was not an exception, and there were two girls in particular which hung around me the entire night.  Before this night I had kissed girls before, and I thought I might kiss one of them, but they had something else in mind.  This is really silly and dumb, but I suggesting that instead of choosing on of them, they could share...... So we played a kissing game, and I spent some time kissing these two girls.

That story, along with the fact that by the time I entered my sophomore year of high school and couldn't count the girls I had kissed on my fingers or toes, made me start analyzing the way I viewed women.  Other than the way I handled relationships, I think I was respectful to women, but I realized that if I weren't careful, I was going to grow up not respecting women, and the wonderful relationship I would one day build with a spouse.  So it was my sophomore year that I decided to change my game plan, and only kiss girls when It meant something.  I can say that I made it through the rest of my high school career having only kissed one girl.  Partly because I dated the same girl for about a year, and during senior year I was focused on getting into BYU, playing varsity football, working, and preparing to go on a two year mission trip.  Side note... Norway was amazing (the place I served my mission).

Back to tell the story of our first kiss now.  I think Katie and I had been dating/hanging out for 3 or 4 weeks now, and I hadn't kissed her by this point because I was nervous.  I had starting having real feelings for her before, but I didn't want to start a relationship without being sure it was what I wanted to do. It was almost like I knew that this relationship had a lot of potential, and that I had to be ready to face the consequences.

The night started out with a little bowling with my brother Hansen and his wife Angie.  I had actually taking a different girl bowling with them when I first moved to Utah, and she didn't quite get Hansen and Angie's approval.  I knew going into this, that Katie might or might not pass the test.  We met at the Miracle Bowl, home of Wednesday night dollar bowling, and got underway.  I was really impressed with how quick Katie was to integrate herself in the group, and the transition of being a fun group of people took little to no time at all.

At one point another couple that both Hansen and I knew from the young single adult congregation that we both attended before getting married, showed up and joined us.  It was all fun and games until they started sharing stories about how after two weeks of dating, they were teased about getting married, and now laughed because it happened.  Well since Katie and I had only been officially "dating", not just hanging out, for 2 weeks, I tensed up at the story.  Surprisingly enough it wasn't because I was nervous about the idea or had any other thoughts, but I realized then, that I was nervous because I didn't want them to scare Katie away.  I knew we would date longer than this couple, and be engaged longer if anything happened, but I still didn't want them to scare her.  Katie took both that, and getting beat in stride though, and we had a fun time.
We also went to Hansen and Angie's after to play Cranium.  Hansen and Katie vs. Angie and me.  We lost, but I wasn't too worried about it.  Katie had to leave the night with at least some sort of victory.  Even though kissing her was probably victory enough.  On the way to taking Katie home, I decided I was going to kiss her.  I became motivated by the awesomeness she just is, by how she got along with my family, and by the realization I had about my desire for her to not get freaked out by the other couples conversation.

When we pulled up to her apartment complex, I was nervous.  I mean, how do you kiss a girl the first time so that its romantic.  I decided that I would just let it ride, and then my moment would arrive.  We hugged and then we talked, and then my nervousness escaped me when I started making fun of myself and my squinty eyes. Then I just did it.  I pulled back from a hug, looked into her beautiful green eyes for a few moments, told her how beautiful they were, studied them for a little longer, and then I "kissed her in a style Clark Gable would have admired".