Jerem & Emma

The first day Jerem and Emma ever laid eyes on each other, Emma had come into the office of the program, For the Strength of Youth, for a job interview as a Project Assistant. Jerem had already been hired and was working as a Project Assistant. When Emma walked into the office for her interview, she was a little bit confused about what she needed to do. There were many students there who could have helped, yet Jerem looked up from his desk, they made eye contact, and then ignored her and went back to work. Leaving Emma still standing there. Emma immediately thought, "If that kid is working there, I would never want to work here; he looks like an absolute player". Needless to say, Emma was offered the job at FSY, and she took it. Much to her dismay, she had to work with Jerem. Yet, over the weeks that the students in the office were prepping their project, Emma started to think Jerem was incredibly cute, very interesting, but cute. She was way too nervous to talk to Jerem like that. All while telling her roommate, Jocelyn, about the guy she was interested in at work. Jocelyn pushed Emma to try to hang out with Jerem for weeks. And much to Jocelyn's dismay, Emma filed that away and didn't do anything with it. When the summer officially started and everyone was working full time, they were assigned desks, and Emma prayed that she would sit near Jerem. It just so turned out that they were to sit across from each other...for the whole summer. For weeks, there were little moments of eye contact between Emma and Jerem, but nothing came of it. Emma still had a deep crush on Jerem, and Jerem was taking other girls on dates. And talking about it...openly. Meaning Emma heard everything. And she was honestly a little devastated. Yet, it was fate. Just one Monday, Jerem decided to come sit next to Emma for hours at work, just talking about anything and everything. And he continued that for the rest of the week. Emma knew there was hope yet for this relationship to work out. And Emma knew it was time to act. The following Monday was the season premiere of The Bachelorette. Emma invited a group of people from work to make Jerem's invite a little less inconspicuous. When Emma invited Jerem to the premiere, he said, "I don't really want to go, but I'll go to hang out with friends". To Emma, this was a weird thing to say, but she still got him there. When he arrived, they talked the entire night (and in Jerem's words, he would say that Emma was making eyes at him the whole night), and Jerem ended up messaging Emma, and they began talking all week long. Emma was babysitting her cousins that week, so she wasn't at work as much, which made Jerem want to talk to Emma more. The messaging led to FaceTime, which led to Jerem coming over to bake Emma cookies the following weekend. Jerem decided to kiss her that night. And Emma said to him, "You better not be playing me," to which Jerem responded, "I am not". They continued to see each other at work, go on dates, and hang out all week until Jerem went back to California for 2 weeks. Emma went back to Missouri following Jerem's 2 weeks at home. So they didn't see each other for 3 weeks. They called and messaged the whole time they were apart. Growing closer together. When Emma came back to Utah from being at home, Jerem surprised her in her apartment with flowers and snacks because he missed her so much (her roommates spoiled it a little bit, so she knew the surprise haha). Two days after they saw each other again, they became official. Jerem was smitten from the beginning of the relationship, and Emma just thought it was a long time coming.

In the commotion of the BYU library, Jerem and Emma’s roommate were scheming a plan to best surprise Emma. Ideas bounced from road trips to involving family. Ideas were lacking, and time was running short. The ring was coming in soon, and very little of a plan was in place. After some time since their initial meeting in the library, both had a stroke of genius as they devised a final plan for the proposal. The plan was set, the only question is: could they keep it a secret? Well, almost. You see, Jerem received a phone call while at Emma’s apartment when a “very important package” came to his apartment. He received a call while with Emma from his apartment complex stating that the deliveryman needed someone to sign for the package. Curious after cluing in on the phone call, Emma confronted Jerem and asked, “Was that the ring?” He became instantly flustered and came up with the best response he could. “Maybe… I don’t know for sure,” he said, struggling to keep a straight face. “I KNEW IT!” Emma exclaimed excitedly. He blew it. At least, he thought he did. As they were driving to the temple, they stopped by his apartment to pick up this important package. As he brought the ring to his room, he realized a detail that could help him recover from giving away the secret. The package was supposed to be shipped by FedEx. However, it came in a UPS package. It was in that moment that he came up with a plan. As he got back in the car, Emma inquired, “So, what was it?”. Jerem, with one of the best poker faces he could muster, responded, “If you thought it was the ring, you’re wrong,” and proceeded to explain how the packages were different from what they should be and that the ring hadn’t come in yet. He displayed as much concern as possible in regards to the whereabouts of the ring, stating he now had no idea where it could be. At first, she thought he was lying (which he was, partially). Then, fear entered Emma’s mind. “Where could the ring be?” “How long could it take for us to even become engaged?” “Is this him slowly starting the process of breaking up with me?” Many questions like these began to loom in her mind through what would be the most emotional weeks she would have experienced. Jerem did his best to comfort and console her as she expressed her concern and struggle with him. He wanted to tell her, but knew he couldn’t. There were many times he wanted to laugh as tears streamed down her face. No, he wasn’t sick in the head. Rather, thinking of how she would react after the dust settled and they were finally engaged. After about a week, it was time. The weather was perfect. Everything was set. Emma’s roommate had planned to go to the Springville Art Museum with Emma to find where to take bridal photos. Emma was slightly suspicious of Jocelyn’s outfit recommendations as they were getting ready. Meanwhile, just as coordinated, Jerem wore a matching outfit for the photos they would take after. He turned off his location and started his way down to Springville. This is it. He would make one of the most important decisions he would make in his life. As he arrived, he got everything ready and waited for Emma and her roommate to come around the corner. He may have forgotten the speech he prepared, but he was able to speak from his heart. After getting down on one knee, the rest was magic. Don’t worry, she said yes! ;)