The second bit, in which Katie gives several mundane, but somewhat necessary, details:

I had almost stopped wondering if Jared would remember my phone number when he called the following Thursday.  He asked me out on a picnic.  A picnic?  How perfect is that?  He couldn't possibly have picked anything better, for I am a true lover of picnics!   

Our picnic, Friday, September 18, 1998:

We doubled with Cody and Jen, Jared's friends from High School, a couple.  The couple notwithstanding, I had a great time.  We took Logan's Heroes (those are sandwiches, in case ya didn't know) to Lundstrom Park, where I learned more about Jared.  He worked building homes with his dad, but he didn't want to do that forever.  His friends informed me that he was currently the "President" of the company.  He thought that was funny and I didn't get it.  (How could I hope to understand that titles (even if just for fun) meant nothing to Jared, when I sought high and low to become the Queen of the world!?)  His favorite music was Blues Traveler.  He said he hated to drive and disliked cars in general and thought (and still does think) America needed trains like Europe has.  (Wow, I have no idea what to even say about that...)  He loved soccer, and played in High School.  (In spite of the fact that I thought it a ridiculous sport, being myself a basketball fanatic, in light of the good time we were having, I allowed it.)  And now that it was daylight and I was wearing my contacts, I saw that he was quite a handsome and well-built man.  Jared took the rest of us to a home they were building above the park.  It was kind of scary climbing to the third floor, and he took my hand, always the gentleman, as I'd come to find out.  

Jared called back the very next day, which was too soon.  I decided he must be one of those crazies looking to get married before he'd unpacked.  The date that followed was not a happy one for me.  I found Jared to be too standoffish and what I called shy (though I now know this as reserve).  I was sure it would be our last date, until he asked if we could go out again before dropping me off.

I waited for him to call, and though I didn't particularly want to hear from him, was rather irked when I just plain DIDN'T hear from him.  At all. . . . Apparently, I'm forgettable.


Tuesday, November 10, 1998:

Jared called.  Well, now, that was a surprise!  As I came to find out much later, during the 1 1/2 months that he did not call me, he was pursuing, or shall I say being madly pursued by, another girl--also named Katie.  After she kissed him, he realized he would have to "tell her to go away", so he did.  But at the time all I knew was that he had promised to take me to a soccer game, so we were going.

The next 1 1/2 months found Katie (the lovely Katie for whom we are cheering--cause let's face it, she is really a mess and needs all the help she can get!) unable to make up her mind about Jared.  Did I like him?  Did I not?  In retrospect, I realize that it always boiled down to the fact that the reserved Jared Daniel Weston just didn't use very many words.  And if there is one thing we know about Katie Nyman, it's that she NEEDS TO HEAR WORDS.  Preferably words about how great she is.  Preferably all of the time, without ceasing and never stopping.  (Is that still too ambiguous?)   And so when the words came, she was one sappy, ridiculous girl.  And when they didn't she was one confused, ridiculous girl.  (Do remember that I warned you about me.)  One thing is clear, I was a very silly girl.  Poor Jared was quite confused by all of this, as you might imagine.  It is a credit to his name that he stuck with me.

As Christmas break approached, things were still slightly uncertain on my end.  Jared came over to hang out before I left for home and kissed me under the mistletoe which my roommates and I had felt so sneaky hanging.  I had told myself that I wasn't going to kiss him while the confusion hung around.  But, when he moved me under the mistletoe, I didn't know what to do--it just happened. 

And then I left for home in American Fork for the next three weeks, feeling as Bipolar as ever about Jared Weston.

This was my first picture of Jared, taken the evening of our first kiss. I made his pose for me, cause I didn't realize then that he is completely against posing for pictures. 

This was actually post-Christmas break, but I stuck it in here, anyway.  Jared had just done my hair. He was quite pleased with the mess he'd made.