Our Story
We met in May of 2006 on the first day of our summer job: working as telemarketers trying to sell credit cards to unknowing customers. We were in the same training class, and while Jordan would tell the story differently, I’ll never forget my futile attempts to make friends with Jordan on the first day – basically, he wouldn’t talk to me. Jordan will say that he was extremely focused on learning how to make the most money he’d ever made in one summer, but I’ve vowed to give him grief about that for years to come.
I was dating another guy when I met Jordan, so no sparks flew over the summer. We both decided to stay at our telemarketing jobs after school started (I was entering my sophomore year at Augustana College in Sioux Falls, and Jordan was finishing up his schooling at the University of Sioux Falls). My romantic relationship ended with the summer, and for a little while, Jordan and I were friends. Jordan would often email me at work (which was not allowed, unless it was work-related), and he would also email our friend Amanda, who also worked with us, about his feelings for me. What’s funny is that Amanda would simply turn to me each day at work and say, “Jordan emailed me again about you. Wanna read it?” Of course, Jordan swears that this was his plan all along, and as it turns out, his plan played out beautifully.
The fall brought along a new romantic relationship for Jordan and a renewed focus on schoolwork and campus life for me. I began working less and less to concentrate on school, and my friendship with Jordan began to fade. Yet, we came together again to attend the company Christmas party, where Jordan brought along his new flame to introduce to me. After the Christmas party, I felt twinges of jealousy and regret at not pursuing Jordan when he was so passionately pursuing me, so I sent him a text message around New Year’s Eve (this took lots of guts!). Jordan was still seeing the other girl at the time, but that relationship eventually fizzled out. After text-messaging non-stop for days, we spent time together watching “24″ and playing poker (Jordan had to teach me how).
Our relationship began on January 27, 2007, and 2.5 years later, on August 6, 2009, Jordan proposed to me at Falls Park after sending me on a scavenger hunt all over Sioux Falls.
A night to remember began with pink roses and, as I like to call them, “Nathan & Haley flowers” (purple flowers frequently seen in TV show One Tree Hill). Tucked inside the flowers was a card, which Jordan handwrote my first clue, telling me to head to “a bookstore frequently referred to by two letters.” I quickly figured out that it was Barnes & Noble (B&N), and despite my efforts to help my coworkers prepare for our conference next week, I was promptly kicked out of the office to follow Jordan’s scavenger hunt!
After arriving at B&N, I told the cashier my name, and she smiled and handed me a gift bag. Inside were three Moleskine notebooks (which I LOVE), and another card, which told me both the purpose of the notebooks (to foster creativity!) and my next destination: “a place where they wear red and is represented by a bullseye.” Off to Target I went!
Upon arriving at Target, I told the customer service desk person my name, and she too smiled and handed me a gift bag. Inside the bag was a 1,000-piece puzzle and another card. The card told me the symbolism of the puzzle (each piece represents a piece of our relationship coming together), and my next destination: “a store just down the street that we frequent together often.” HyVee, here I come!
Jordan’s mom Nachole works at HyVee in the Wine & Spirits section of the store, so my card directed me to that section of HyVee. Nachole wasn’t working, so I was forced to tell an older gentleman my name. He looked at me blankly for a moment or two, then smiled and reached for another gift bag. Whew, that made me nervous! Inside that bag were my favorite candies (Riesen chocolates!) and another card, which again told me the significance of the gift (our relationship was founded on flirtation surrounding candy) and my next stop: “A good friend is holding a green bag for you at a store I used to work at!” On my way to Triple Play Sports Cards!
Dennis, who is Jordan’s friend that owns the card shop, was indeed holding another gift bag for me. Inside this bag was another card, and an ALBERT PUJOLS t-shirt!!! J For those who don’t know, me and Albert are forever friends (that’s a lie, I just like him a lot), so this present was WONDERFUL. Plus, it symbolized Jordan and my common love for sports in general, but mostly for baseball. The card told me to head down the street to “a store with a blue sign and a yellow price tag; they sell TVs and stuff.” Off to Best Buy!
The greeter inside the door at Best Buy was holding another gift bag for me. Inside this bag was the movie Tin Cup, starring one of my favorite actors, Kevin Costner. According to the card, Jordan chose this movie because Costner’s character doesn’t realize or actualize his potential in the game of golf until he meets a woman who draws out his potential and leads him to lasting happiness. In a very humbling moment for me, Jordan said that this is how he feels about me! Wonderful words. The card told me that I had one more stop on my journey, and that was to head to “our city’s namesake” – Falls Park.
I drove conservatively through the hard rainfall, but was so excited to see Jordan upon arriving at Falls Park downtown. Just 1.5 years ago, Jordan and I sat in his Jeep and he gave me a promise ring (in the rain!) that promised to love me forever and illustrating our ultimate goal of marriage. And yesterday, we were back again at the place where everything really became more serious for us.
As he walked toward me with his green umbrella and a smile beaming on his face, I realized how lucky I am. And as he said so many wonderful, sweet things that I’ll never remember, I couldn’t help but think, “I’ll never forget how I feel at this moment.” I began shrieking with joy as Jordan got down on one knee in the rain, and with raindrops hitting our umbrellas, I shrieked, “YES!”
We embraced and walked slowly, enjoying the rainfall. After a quick reunion with Wyatt the dog (who I wish could understand English!), we went out to dinner at Spezia, where we ordered champagne to toast “to forever.”
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