The summer of 2005 was a strange one. I had just finished my first year of teaching in Gilbert and had decided after a hard year and much thought and prayer to take a summer off and go back to Glacier National Park. I was certain I was going to find my future husband because I had been so positive this is what I was supposed to do. Summer drove with me to Montana, after a brief stop in Idaho to see Ty and 4 weeks later I made the trek back to Arizona on my own. Montana was beautiful and the job driving the tour boat was so much fun, but my heart wasn't in it. One day while hiking a trail I got a phone call from a company I had sent a resume to in Washington DC, they said they wanted me to come out and interview. This was the dream job for a single girl, I prayed and knew I was supposed to come home. I now knew that that coming to Montana had been a test of my faith, and now DC would be my new reality. Once I got home I called the DC company only to find out they had gone with another candidate, I was shocked. Now I was home, jobless and not knowing what my next step was going to be. I looked for jobs that would help me use some of my interests and settled on working at an organizing store. I got several calls from the school district asking me to come back and work, but I didn't want to go back and feel that same stress I had felt my first year. I then got a great job offer from Fulton homes that was comparable to what I had been making as a teacher, and the hours were perfect.
When I came back from Montana I called up the guy I had been dating before I left, and after one date knew that he was not someone I wanted to waste the rest of my summer with. I thought to the cute boy at church that was so much younger than me, but had always been so nice. I put on my best moves, casual seating arrangements that led me to sitting with him at church, arm touches, you know. After a couple of weeks he asked me out for the 4th of July. It was great, my whole family was there to critique my outfit and James as he came to pick me up. We went to a backyard BBQ/concert that was all together so funny, and we were gone about 1 1/2 hours. When he dropped me off I wanted to do something else, but I didn't know him well enough to suggest anything like that. After some persuasion from my family I called him and asked him to go see fireworks with me, then a couple hours later I called and canceled. I felt so bold and I was sure he would think I was crazy. After that first date I knew I had found someone special, he made me feel awesome. I was determined to go on at least one more date to see how things panned out.
