Our love story is a classic BYU-Idaho one. In fact, part of the reason JJ picked BYU-Idaho is because she knew her school would play an important part of how she met her future spouse (per her patriarchal blessing). Fall semester move in of September 2019 was a particularly memorable one. Unlike southeastern Idaho's crisp autumns JJ has grown to love, this weekend was particularly warm. With the help of her mother and grandmother, JJ was moving into her first college apartment: American Avenue, Building A, Unit 14, which was on the third floor. She spent the Friday settling in, and by Saturday was starting to explore the social life Rexburg had to offer with orientation and getting involved in her YSA ward. She distinctly remembers a tall brown eyed girl with fantastic dark hair coming by with the Relief Society president-- both lived next door-- and thinking she was cute but didn't imagine it going anywhere for a number of reasons. Despite JJ's desire to connect, her and the girl didn't talk or see much of each other after that outside of Sunday school and other ward events. Flash forward to the summer of 2020. Ashley had moved in with JJ's roommate at the time. (JJ was living in Pocatello, Idaho with family at the height of the pandemic.) Once JJ moved back to Rexburg and over the next few months, JJ and Ashley became very close. However, Ashley was smitten with JJ's roommate, and JJ was busy aggressively repressing her sexuality. But as time passed, JJ knew her feelings for Ashley- who had quickly become her companion, confidant, and best friend- were undeniable.

JJ was getting ready to move back home to north Georgia to save for upcoming expenses. Her and Ashley had had the sweetest, most adventure-filled summer and they were both having a hard time stomaching the season coming to a close. It was evident to both of them that the months spent on mountain tops and in lakes and in every beautiful place had served as the perfect backdrop for falling in love. Those magical moments underscored their consistent and unconditional love and support of one another, all their shared laughs and mutual passions, had turned into something special (though it was unspoken and unacknowledged). The night before they were supposed head east, they were having a late night conversation. Ashley made the incredibly bold offer to allow JJ to ask her all the questions she wanted (which was unusual given Ashley's admittedly private nature & initial annoyance with JJ's personal inquiries). After asking some surface-level questions, JJ hesitantly gathered up the courage to ask Ashley how she felt. "What if my feelings are more 'te amo' than 'te quiero?'" (Both are Spanish translations for English 'I love you,' and are often used interchangeably but 'te amo' is used to indicate romantic love and 'te quiero' to indicate platonic love.) She was quiet for some time, and explained she felt the same way. JJ's heart soared and stomach exploded with butterflies: she wasn't sure if she was excited, terrified, both, neither. To say the least, being gay in Latter-day Saint culture comes with unique hardships and complexities. Since Ashley had to work the next day, they went to bed with limited further discussion. The next day, Ashley asked JJ about pursuing a relationship and she told Ashley that she was unsure, because of the distance and their homophobic environment. But after 2 short weeks (and some begging on Ashley's part), JJ knew they had to be together and they started dating on her twentieth birthday, 08.08.21 and the rest is history <3

The accidental first date happened April 18, 2021. Ashley asked JJ to join her for a walk that Sunday evening. We walked into the heart of Rexburg, to the firepits across from the local movie theatre where a couple was roasting marshmallows for s'mores. Ashley and JJ talked at another pit, warming our hands over the fire before the other couple invited us over for s'mores. We laughed, JJ politely told them we would pass- because her mom taught her to say no to strangers offering her food! Ashley immediately corrected her and told them we would join them for s'mores, jokingly chiding JJ in a whisper for rejecting their kind gift. They started making small talk, and asked us how long we had been together. We made a silent and instant decision to run with it, acting as the couple they assumed us to be. After we parted ways we decided to continue the ruse, acting as if this were a first date and asking questions. Ashley found JJ vibrantly interesting and JJ found Ashley charming and mysterious in lights neither of them had previously seen. Ashley asked JJ on another date and JJ, nervous due to her growing feelings, blew her off. Thankfully, things worked out in the end. Flash forward to January 18 2022, nine months later to the day, Ashley took JJ on another walk to the firepits. After some laughing, reminiscing and of course a romantic, meaningful speech, Ashley got down on one knee -with tears in her eyes, though she refuses to admit it- and asked JJ if she would marry her. JJ, of course, said yes and the rest is history.

JJ graduated in December of 2021 with an Associate of Science in General Studies from Brigham Young University-Idaho (BYU-I). Though she was originally pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Communication, after receiving a severe concussion and deciding she wanted to take the next steps with Ashley, she decided it would be best for her to leave their private Latter-day Saint college to take a break and ultimately transfer to an educational institution that would not discriminate her on the basis of her sexuality. It was hard but ultimately the best choice she could have made and she is so glad she made the plunge. Ashley will be transitioning out of BYU-I as well so that we are free to get married and start our life together. She has been working remotely for the treasury department as a payment operations analyst at Conservice and is loving it. As of current, we plan to move to Cache Valley Utah shortly after getting married so that we can establish in-state residency and pursue our education at the beginning of next year. Ashley is looking at Utah State University (go Aggies!) and JJ is considering dental hygiene school in the greater Logan area but is still exploring her options. We are very excited to start our life together and are so happy for the chance we have to celebrate with y'all!