If you are just joining me now for the first time…welcome! Before you continue on, refer to my first blog post The Beginning Pt.1 and start my story from “The Beginning”. Taylah came back to my car and she said she was going to an afterparty with one of the other girls we were with. I told her I wasn’t going because it was already midnight and Hudson was at home with my mom who was watching him. The next morning we had an early morning tennis practice. I saw Taylah and asked her how the party was last night. She responded, “oh my gosh I have so much to tell you… I haven’t even slept, I stayed up all night.” She proceeded to tell me that she met “the hottest guy last night” and that they kissed. I was stoked for her! So, that night she wanted me to come with her to meet up with him again at some work party he had to go to. She called his phone and told him we were here. A guy walks out from the party, I assumed it was Jacob. I was thinking, “hmm this guy is definitely not as cute as she made him seem like.” But then this guy that was talking to us says, “let me go get Jacob, he’s inside.” I was relieved because I knew Taylah had pretty good taste in guys so I was really questioning her judgment at moment. Then out comes Jacob. I remember thinking, “damn he is super hot”. I wouldn’t say I was jealous but I was thinking… what the heck Taylah somehow finds the hottest guy in Utah who happens to be from Southern California and is the same religion as me? WHAT! He seemed like just what I needed. Jacob was wearing a black leather jacket hoodie, which just happened to be one of my favorite things for a guy to wear. He was tan, dark hair, blue eyes, and tall… literally, my type to a T. We all chatted for a while and it seemed like Jacob and I talked to each other a lot. Mostly because we both had the California thing in common. JACOB: The first time I saw Mayci I remember thinking, “Wow! She has the prettiest smile I’ve ever seen”. I introduced myself to her and as we began to talk. She had an outgoing personality and her humor started to show as well pretty fast. When I was looking into her eyes talking, I couldn’t help but smile back at her the whole time. I knew this was a good thing. I left that night and Jacob and Taylah stayed and hung out longer. I remember the next day I called my parents and told them that Taylah had met the hottest guy and he was from California. They immediately crept on his Instagram and told me, “yeah he’s a good looking dude.” Taylah and Jacob ended up spending more time together over the next couple of weeks. They never went on an actual date but they were hanging out at parties. However, there was this one time we went on a “double date”. Taylah with Jacob went out with me and “Chad”. So weird to look back at now and even crazier to think that even happened. After a couple weeks of hanging out, Taylah’s 19th birthday was coming up. It was also the end of the semester so everyone was about to leave to go home for the summer. I decided I wanted to throw a surprise birthday party for her. So I texted a bunch of friends and got it all planned out. I remember I got Jacob’s number and I told him to blow off Taylah for the night and act super sketchy because I wanted it to be a surprise that he was coming. We took Taylah out all day and as it was getting closer to the time of her party I could tell she was getting upset. She told me she was mad that Jacob was being all sketchy because she wanted to see him on her birthday, and because he was going to be leaving for California the next day. I honestly started getting so excited because I knew she was going to be SO happy that he was waiting to surprise her.

Taylah and Jacob on one couch, me and this other guy on the other couch and then another couple laying on the floor. Taylah and Jacob were making out and then I and this other guy were too. I wanted to mention this mainly because I look back and think it is absolutely hilarious haha. If you would have told me that night that my future husband was making out with my best friend on the couch next to me, then I would have told you, you were crazy!

After about a month and a half, I headed back to California for the rest of the summer. Jacob somehow ended up working and living literally ten minutes away from my house. Coincidence? I think not. About a week after I got home from Utah, I decided to text Jacob (as a friend obviously). I said that if he ever wanted to come over and hang with his other co-workers he was more than welcome. I also texted Taylah and asked if she was ok with me hanging out with him as just friends. She told me that she was totally cool with it. So Jacob came over with a couple guys he worked with a few days later and we all hungout and went in the hot tub. I liked Jacob’s personality. He was relaxed, outgoing, but also just really fun to talk to. JACOB: I knew I wanted to hangout with Mayci, but didn’t walk to seem too into her so I decided to bring a few of my friends as well. I was extremely attracted to her and her smile. We all had a great time and I noticed again how conversational she was with my two friends. I liked that about her. It was similar to my personality and I loved how she wasn’t intimidated or scared to just be herself. That’s the one thing I learned that night was that Mayci will always be her true self. Once we had hung out one time we started hanging out even more. Jacob came with his roommates for the first couple of weeks and then started coming alone. Looking back this seems weird. I mean, what guy wants to come over and hang out with a girl and her family if he’s not interested in dating her? We were friends but not good enough friends to where this would be considered a normal thing. I never let him meet Hudson though. I would always make sure Hudson was asleep upstairs in his bed before Jacob came over. I didn’t like the idea of guys meeting my son when I was a single mom. I didn’t want them to use it to their advantage to get me to like them or have Hudson grow up and be confused why there were random guys around. Jacob knew about Hudson though, Taylah had told him that I had a son when they were seeing each other so I don’t think it was weird or anything for him. Jacob started coming around about four times a week, and my parents absolutely LOVED him. Which was such a weird concept to me since my parents typically didn’t like anyone I ever dated. But I reassured my parents that we were just friends. As it got deeper into the summer it was obvious that there was something growing between us. I would come to get lunch with him during his lunch break and then we would go to the beach. I really don’t know how we stayed just friends for that long. I think it was because I didn’t want to hurt Taylah or ruin our friendship. Then one night I was at dinner with my sister and her family and Jacob texted me asking to meet up. I said I was at dinner with Hud and the fam and he said, “oh good, I have been wanting to meet Hudson.” I was kind of panicked. I was trying to insinuate that I didn’t want him to come and he just invited himself. I was panicked because I didn’t want him to meet Hudson yet, I wasn’t prepared for it. Jacob insisted on coming and he met Hudson for the first time. He was SO cute with him. I got mad at myself thinking, “this is the exact reason why we don’t bring guys around Hudson.” At that moment I definitely started to crush on him.

Later that night we were watching a movie and just talking all night long. At 4 am I finally told him he needed to leave so I could get some sleep. It was official, I had my first MAJOR crush since having Hud. We had such a connection. I think it was great because everything between Jacob and I started as friends and it was also based on a love for each other’s personality. We definitely had a lot of tension between us because although we definitely had a connection, he never really flirted with me or gave big clues that he was into me. JACOB: Hudson was an adorable little guy and I was excited to finally meet him. He was hanging out in the baby carrier and I thought how cute it was that I began to see the whole Mayci, and what her life is like on a daily basis with this little angel. I felt like Mayci was nervous to let me meet Hudson and I knew that I would be able to get her more relaxed about it by being my genuine self with Hudson. We left and went into an ice cream shop for dessert and as she was ordering he was squirming around so I asked if I could hold him, knowing it would help her finish her order. I just stood there holding him looking into his big blue eyes and I loved it. I really like babies and little kids so it was super easy and fun just spending time with him in my arms. I noticed Mayci and her sister peeking over to look at me, and then looking at each other whispering and smiling. I knew that Mayci liked me and that her family had their eyes out protecting her. I think it was later that night she was getting Hudson ready for bed and she changed him into his pajamas downstairs. It was the three of us on her living room floor. Mayci forgot something upstairs and she asked me to watch Hudson. This was the first time she trusted me with Huddy alone for a minute and I just started to play with him and his little chewing toys. He was so much fun to be with because I genuinely love kids and enjoyed talking to him and playing for a few minutes. I knew he had to be into me or else he wouldn’t want to hang out all the time, but I was also worried about Taylah. Then, out of the blue one day, Taylah texted me and said, “this is random but I think you and Jacob would actually be a really cute couple.” Like WHAT?! I swear other girls are not as chill and cool as Taylah. Now I had the green light, but at the same time, I wasn’t sure about everything. Jacob and I now had such a good friendship and if we kissed it would probably ruin everything. But at the same time, if we don’t take the chance and turn it into something more then I would always wonder, “what if”. I remember thinking, “how?” we are stuck in this friend zone… we literally haven’t said one flirty thing to each other since knowing each other. Which, keep in mind, I am naturally flirty… so refraining from flirting with him over the past few months was not easy! So, I decided I wasn’t going to hold my flirty self back… this time I will flirt and see how he reacts. Let me tell ya, he was definitely picking up what I was putting down haha… We were in my hot tub and I said, “just so you know, you’re not a very fun texter.” He said, “what do you mean?”. I replied, “you never flirt, you’re so boring… you don’t seem too fun!” Keep in mind I said this in a way that implied that I wanted him to flirt with me. Then Jacob grabbed me and put me on his lap. He kept getting super close to my face. This was seriously going from 0 to 100. I am not even exaggerating… before this night Jacob and I would basically side hug when we said “hi” and “bye”. At this point, I got a little nervous. Like stage fright. I started second guessing it and I reverted back to worrying about our previous friendship. But then… I gave in. We kissed, and it was a great first kiss! JACOB: The night I decided to make “the move” Mayci was being extremely cute with Hudson. Her softer side always came out around Hudson and I was able to see how she thinks and what she cares about, and it was all based on Hudson. I loved that and I now started to picture myself in a relationship with her. We both knew we had the feels for each other, but I don’t think she was expecting me to make a move at all. We both felt like our relationship would just be friends. I knew what I wanted and I could see it more clearly now. Later that night he left and I was excited but also just in my head a bit. “Was that just a random hookup or a one-night thing?” I thought. Nope. The next day Jacob texted me wanting to take me to dinner. After we kissed I saw a different side to Jacob. The romantic side that I never thought he had in him. We went to the mall, and he would hold my shopping bags. The little things like holding my bags or always opening my door did impress me. JACOB: I knew I liked Mayci a lot and I had feelings for her. I think it was a few days after we first kissed we went to the mall and I wanted her to know I cared about her. I was trying to show her my sweeter side and I was hoping she would know that our kiss meant more than just me being attracted to her. Only a couple days after we kissed I left for Mexico for a week. I thought things might fade but they didn’t. We texted every day and Facetimed. When I got back from Mexico, we were already back to before.

Jacob was there for everything. One of the most memorable things is that Hudson took his first steps coming out of Jacob’s arms when he was 10.5 months old! Summer came to a close and it was time to go back to BYU. Jacob ended up wanting to drive up with my mom, Hudson and I. He even volunteered to sit in the back with Hudson for the whole drive. He seemed way too good to be true. Jacob only had a couple days in Utah with me before he left. He had planned a big trip to go to Japan to visit his brother who was working at Disneyland Japan. Jacob was leaving for a whole month. To be honest, I was kind of sad he was leaving but at the same time we weren’t an official couple and fall was the perfect time to meet new people. NEXT WEEK: DATING OTHER PEOPLE AND “LIAM” COMES BACK