Meet Wes Malquist, PART 1

Soooooo.......I like Wes. Kind of a lot. He's pretty great. Like really great.

But I don't think I've really properly written about him or introduced him on here.

So Wes Malquist is this guy in my stake, who I met playing flag football on a Saturday before Halloween (2012). He's in the Winder 2nd ward, and we didn't play each other, I don't think, but people in this stake are usually pretty friendly, especially at sports games I feel like, and we all kind of just meet other people around us from other wards, so anyway, that's where we met. He was friendly, and we kind of just clicked in a friendly way. I thought he seemed cool, but didn't think much about him after that.
Then Jamie and I went to the Church Office Building to meet Wendy for lunch because she works there. Eventually Liz, and Julia, then Berkley came too, and then Wes came by too. By the time Wes came it was just Liz, Berkley and I. When he came over, we both recognized each other from flag football, and started chatting. We all chatted for few minutes, and then I was just chatting with him. Suddenly Liz and Berkley got up and said they had to leave, so I felt awkward, but decided to just stay there anyway and keep talking to Wes. We chatted for a few more minutes, it was fun, and then he asked for my last name (which can only mean one thing: facebook, of course), and I left. Quite awkwardly, actually. As I was saying goodbye and getting my things together and putting on my coat to leave, I suddenly lost all ability to have a conversation anymore. Also, I kind of said goodbye, and it was fun to chat, and then I still had to get my stuff on to leave. So I definitely felt the awkward silence...

So then I thought he would surely add me within a day or two, but not so much. I of course stalked him, and one of the few pictures I could see was him in Andy's a cappella group, the Advocates! No way!! So then I really wanted to just add him to ask him when he had joined the group, because I used to go watch them perform when I was down there.
So a week after I saw him at the Church Office Building, I caved and added him on facebook. I also messaged him and said

Wes, hey!
So call me a stalker, but I see that you were in the Advocates--Andy Proctor is my cousin! Small world! And Brett Goodman is actually a good friend from my mission. I used to go to a bunch of their shows when I lived down there, when did you join the group?

Then he said
Hey Melissa! 
Wow, you ARE a stalker!  Not too many people know who the Advocates are. Andy was actually probably my favorite Advocate personally (don't ever tell him I said that though). He's just a great guy. I don't have the greatest memory, but I believe I joined the group at the very beginning of 2009 and continued with them until summer of 2010. Then they brought me in every once in a while to fill in if someone couldn't perform for a night. I loved it and miss it, but I think they are officially disbanded now. We had a lot of fun though. Are you a singer/musician of sorts? Where did you go on your mission? 
Also, thanks for the add! I was actually going to add you myself but you beat me to it. Would you be interested in having some fun with me this coming weekend? If so, perhaps you would be so kind as to give me your number?I'd prefer to ask you in person but I just don't know when you'll be eating lunch in the Church cafeteria again. 

And of course I was giddy as I'll get out! 
So then I replied 

Soo...basically, what you're saying is that I'm just the faster (and thus better) stalker..yes? 
My mission was in Nashville, TN, and I got back late 2009, so then started back at the Y winter 2010, but I don't think I started going to the Advocates' shows until probably after you were out..I can't remember when I first saw them perform. But I wouldn't be surprised if I saw at least one of their performances with you filling in..maybe. And that's too bad they've disbanded, their performances were always fun to watch. And I agree, Andy is awesome. Definitely one of my favorite cousins. 
I do love music and love to sing, but just for fun. I play the guitar and piano a little bit, but I'm not a performer by any means, or good at either of them, either. Not yet anyway (I'm actually currently working on my guitar and piano skills, it's one of my new year's resolutions)..
Do you sing with any group up here or anything? 
And yeah, next weekend would be great! My number is 801-503-1252

and then
Wes. Correction on my last message. I'm actually going to be out of town next weekend, Fri through Mon--I didn't realize the holiday weekend is already upon us! I'm really sorry, I hope your fun plan wasn't next-weekend-specific! 

and then
I take it back, my weekend trip just got postponed, ironically. So go ahead and disregard the previous message..

All three of those messages were within 24 hrs. Haha, so then he said
I am so confused.  So I can still take you out this weekend? Maybe I'll just call you and we'll go from there. I'll talk to you soon. Have a most excellent Monday!

And I said
Ha, don't be. It's not like I sent you three conflicting messages in 24 hours... but yes. The answer to your question is yes. Talk to you soon. 

So then a few days later he called me and gave me the option of going to The Phantom of the Opera at BYU on Friday, or the Jazz Game on Sat. My first thought was, "Both!" Ha, but after asking what he would prefer, and him saying he wanted me to decide, I chose Phantom. For a couple reasons: I love plays and BYU always does a good job; and I thought, "Long drive to Provo, this will be fun!" So we went, and it WAS!! It was such a great date! After the show we went and ate at Texas Roadhouse, pretty much the only restaurant open in Provo after 10 pm (silly Provo), and then went home. But the whole date was so much fun! He was so fun to talk to and we had really great conversation the whole night. And I was comfortable and able to be myself, it was awesome!

So by the end of the night I was thinking, "Man, I could marry this guy. I mean, I can really see something serious happening." That's how impressed I was with him.

But at the doorstep that night, after we hugged awkwardly (I hate first date hugs), he told me there are still tickets to the Jazz game, and would I like to go tomorrow? Um YES!! So I smiled and said yeah!

Needless to say, the next day, I got next to no homework done, due to the intense giddiness I was experiencing, as well as being tired.

So that night he picked me up and we met two of his sisters, a brother in law, and a cousin downtown at City Creek to grab dinner before the game.

In a nutshell, the whole night was much less enjoyable for me than the previous night. There were two problems--problem #1: I started out nervous and not as comfortable with him, probably because I really liked him at this point and had been thinking about pretty much only him for the entire day. Problem #2: his family was there. I still didn't really know Wes, let alone his family! So I was pretty quiet the whole night, compared to the night before. He definitely picked up on this, especially at dinner (I hardly said anything), and as we were leaving the food court he asked me, "Is this overwhelming to you?" And I said, "No, I'm not overwhelmed, you just all know each other." And he said, "That's true."

The game was a little better, I got to chat with his sisters some and get to know them, but I just felt kind of uncomfortable the whole night. Partly because I started off not myself I guess. So by the time I got home I was so emotionally confused! I had been practically in love with him last night, and now I was feeling totally different about him! I saw some dorkiness in him, around his family, which kind of made me a little nervous about him (since then I've decided I'm probably more dorky around my family too, and that's probably normal.).

I sent him a post-date text that night anyway, thanking him for both nights, and said both were fun, especially last night (meaning Friday).

So then I was just kind of confused and didn't know what to think about him, or what to hope for.