"So how was prom?" ---how Janae' & Vanny became Josh & Janae' the high school sweethearts!

**Warning! This is a long story :) **

Our first picture together :)

I have been thinking about this post a lot lately, and I just couldn't get it off my mind. I was planning to wait until Thursday to post it as my next TBT, but I guess I will have to write something else :) I am not sure why this is so heavy on my heart lately, but I was just checking Facebook. I follow "The Duggers" from TLC's 19 Kids & Counting. Michelle writes blog posts responding to fan's question, and Guess What!?!? Today she wrote about her and Jim Bob's first date! I guess that was the last sign I needed that it was finally time to write about this moment. I have a million titles for this post, but "So how was prom?" has become our "pick up slogan". Josh and I have been together for nearly 6 years. I was thinking back on all of our memories together last night, and I suddenly realized we are exactly where we are supposed to be. Never in my wildest dreams would I think I would live in NC for any period of time. I especially didn't think I would live here..with my husband..for his schooling to be a Park Ranger. I believe that everything happens for a reason. God is in control of this crazy thing we call life, and whether or not we choose to accept that, he will put us where we need to be. That being said...I guess I should tell the story of how J & J went from Janae' ... & ... Vanny..... to Josh & Janae' the high school sweethearts! 

I had a tough time in junior high and high school. I am sure everyone feels that way, but of course hormones played an important role in my fate. I had a lot of up and down friendships. I basically "grew up" with the same 4 or 5 girls in my class since kindergarten. Living in a small town and attending a small school means you take what you can get when it comes to friends. I don't mean that in a bad way. I am VERY grateful for the friendships I have both long and short. What I do mean is that when my best friend didn't like me that day...my life was hell. Yes, my day and mood was based solely on who the popular girl would pick to be friends with that day. Of course she could only have one friend at a time! Anyways I finally found myself and decided I just needed to make new friends. I was miserable, and I wanted nothing more than to feel like somebody wanted me rather than me always begging for their attention. My sophomore year of high school I started hanging out with a new group of friends. Lexi & Amy came to my rescue in a sense. I finally had girls that accepted me for who I was. I didn't have to beg for their attention like I had previously. Also in that group of friends was Vanny (aka Josh), Briggs, Grant, and a few others that were in and out from time to time. For the most part it was the 6 of us that spent most of our time together. Briggs' house became the hang out for practically half of the high school, so we spent most of our time there. I had a crush on Vanny for a while, but he was the popular, funny kid. There was no way he would have an interest in me! However, as soon as Lexi & Amy found out, they came to my rescue. We suddenly started pulling little tricks to get Vanny & I closer. One day we were hanging out at Briggs' and we decided to all walk to the store and get ice cream. In the store the three of us girls decided we would link arms and "skip". Lexi & Amy would each grab Grants & Briggs' arms so that Vanny had to grab mine. It worked! We all walked arm in arm for a half a block or so, and then everyone dropped their arms and kept going... except Vanny! Ahh my dreams had come true! We just stayed arm in arm for the entire way home. We both talked about it later saying our arms were so stiff but we didn't want to let go! It was also prom time in West Yellowstone. When you are in a small school, prom is for the entire high school; 9-12th. Also, 8th graders can go if they are invited by a high schooler. (Yes i attended prom 5 times!) I started hinting to Vanny that I would like for him to ask me to prom. I would bring it up constantly! I finally decided I was getting no where, and flat out asked him if he wanted to go. Not in a serious, formal way. Just in conversation. He said no! He didn't like prom. He thought it was crazy expensive and just awkward because you had to dance with people you didn't like. I was devastated! I was banking on him being my prom date, so basically everyone else was already paired up! Thankfully one of my classmates wasn't. He asked me to go as a friend last minute, and I gladly accepted. (Even though I already had a dress...there was NO WAY I was going alone!) So, for one last move I asked Vanny to come to the Grand March. (The couples are announced in front of basically the whole town as they walk down a grand staircase. It's kind of a big deal in West!) I told him I really wanted him to see me all dressed up. (How could he resist me then! :) He agreed, and that was that! After my date and I walked down the stairs, he came over to say hi. He gave me a hug and said he liked my dress. We never let go of our hug. We stood with one arm around each other for the rest of the time! I felt really bad for my date standing awkwardly next to us, but I didn't care enough to want to let go :) The next morning I woke up to a text from Vanny, "So how was prom?" AHHHHHHH So he liked what he saw enough to want to talk about it! I was so excited! We talked ALL DAY!! We finally said goodnight around 2 am. Then the next day was the same!
My parents had gone out of town right after the Grand March. When they returned home I knew I needed to tell my mom. Which is really weird because I never told her anything about any boyfriends or crushes. For some reason, I knew this was different. Also, Vanny wasn't always the most well behaved kid ;) I knew if my parents thought I was sneaking around it wouldn't make matters any better. Anyways right when my mom walked in the door, hands full, I told her I needed to tell her something. She goes, "Uhhh right now?" I said, "Yes." So she set down the groceries and luggage. I said, "I have been texting a boy... a lot.... it's Vanny." That's it! I just dropped that bomb on my poor mom! She knew of him, but didn't know HIM. So, she said, "Well for how long? What kind of guy is he?" I responded with the typical... "Well we are just texting right now, and he is awesome! He is like the coolest person in school." I can't imagine what was going through her mind! My lovely big brother chimed in with incriminating comments about Vanny's past! I was so mad! Here I am trying to be honest with my mom, and my brother has to go and ruin it! We ended that conversation with, "Janae' let me just think about this for a while." What was I to do? Should I have hid the relationship from my mom? No! I knew this was something I wanted to be completely honest about. How could I convince her he was a good guy? That was the last of it until the next night. My mom said, "I want to let you know that I called Cindy. (Cindy is my aunt..Vanny and her son Justin are best friends). She said Vanny is a good kid, and that I have nothing to worry about. I am not saying I am encouraging anything here, but I want you to know that I would like to get to know him." Well that was the first step right!? I told her I would keep her in the loop, and if it got serious I would have him over for dinner. Yikes! Well, Vanny & I continued to talk nonstop, everyday for the next month. It was literally one month to the day that we were hanging out at Lexi's house. It was a Friday or Saturday, so my parents let me stay out late. We were watching movies and playing games. Vanny & I kept making excuses to talk to each other alone. Nothing naughty..just a few pecks :) I finally came out and said, "So does this mean we are official?" He said, "If you want it to be." I said, "Yes. I want it to be. :)" That was that! We were a couple! It became MySpace & Facebook official the next day! I was completely honest with my parents and told them about our first time holding hands, our first kiss, and our "official status" each step of the way. I told myself in the beginning that I wasn't hiding anything! After we became "official" my parents said, "OK he has to come to dinner now." Oh man! What was going to happen? He agreed, and it wasn't so bad. Nothing too scary. I think my dad asked what his intentions were but then giggled and said I'm just kidding. I am not sure who was more nervous that night, Josh or myself! Although I am sure my mom felt she should be in the running too :) As I have been thinking about his post for the past week or so, I am not sure what I felt at the time. For some reason I knew this was special, but I didn't know why or how far it would go. I never thought I would marry him! I thought for sure this was just a high school fling, and I wanted to have fun while it lasted. Looking back now, I know God had a plan for us. We are both completely different people than we were then! Neither one of us could have predicted were we would be today :)