My First Kiss--Throwback Thursday

Today is yet another awesome Throwback Thursday, hosted by Bonnie over at Life of Bon.

Today's topic is:

In Mormon culture, we advise the youth not to date until we are 16. This is to try and protect our teens and to allow them to become friends before they worry about dating. The youth still have a lot of fun activities and programs for both genders. Strong friendships are created and parties happen all the time. When they are 16, typically we socially date--meaning we go do fun activities, we aren't serious in relationships, group dates are the norm. Sometimes, after age 16, teens do become a couple; boyfriend and girlfriend. That is perfectly ok.

And, sometimes, we "date" and "go out" and have "significant others" before we are 16.

I was one such girl. I had a "boyfriend" named Ben. He was barely a year older than me and we started "dating" when I was 14. 

"Dating"= calling each other boyfriend and girlfriend, sitting with each other, IM'ing/calling each other, holding hands, hugging. 

No more, no less. No dates, no physical-ness.

We dated on and off until I was 16. 

That year was hard for Ben. He and his father had some issues and so Ben was going to live with his Uncle for the summer, across the entire country. I was devastated and sad. This was my first love. I was 16. We had been on one date (on my birthday) and now he was leaving! I hadn't even had my first kiss!

Ben invited me over and his two "psuedo-sisters" (some of my best friends) and we watched the Bourne Trilogy. The whole time, Merissa and Amina were on the other couch, and kept sending me signals, and Ben separate signals. Ben and I cuddle and held hands tightly, knowing our time was running out.

Near the end of the 3rd movie, my mom came to pick me up. This was it. It was the last time I was going to see him.  

We all got up and headed upstairs, out of the basement. Amina and Merissa gave Ben a knowing look and rushed up the stairs. 

Holding my hand, Ben hesitated and stopped at the bottom of the stairs. We mentioned how much we'd miss each other and how much we meant to each other. Then, he said, "Tayler, I want to kiss you."

 Ben gently took my cheek in his hand and bent down to kiss me (he was much taller than me). But, he was shaking. I was his first girlfriend and his first kiss as well.

We kissed. Less than a second. It wasn't even quite a peck. 

And you think first kisses are awkward? I wasn't even sure that counted as a kiss. 

But, it was what it was. 

I beamed. He beamed.

Awkwardly.

And awkwardly, we headed upstairs to meet Amina and Merissa's devious smiles.

And that was my first kiss.

Also, don't forget about our super adorable GIVEAWAY!!!

Young Crushes--Throwback Thursday

First off, click this cute little button to follow on Bloglovin (heart=lovin) and look to the right column: see all the other cute little buttons? Click on them to follow my other social media!


Time for another round of Throwback Thrusdays, hosted by Bonnie!

Today's topic is Elementary school crush.

Well, I can honestly say I had a crush every single school year up until I started dating at 14. However, with years gone by, names escape me, but I do remember each boy!

Kindergarten: His name was Entoy. I remember because isn't that a weird name? I think he was Asian? Again, I was 5, that is super long ago. But, I do remember we had the same birthday: February 10th. So, that day, we had a party in my class to celebrate our birthdays! It was great!

1st Grade: I believe his name was Jonathon. I can't really remember. But, he was in my class and I loved to do group work with him and read with him. One day during recess, I fell off the playground and hurt my knee badly. So, he helped me to the nurse's office and stayed there with me as the nurse fixed me up. What a great boy! A few years ago, I found this random anime picture and it has always reminded me of that instance.

2nd grade: We'll call him "Ted." Ted and I actually had a group of friends. He and his guy friends were all big into Sonic the Hedgehog the cartoon, so we would all play it during recess. Ted was Sonic which meant of course I was to be Princess Sally Acorn. All they told was this was the princess Sonic fought for. I thought, how romantic. We would also play Mortal Kombat in the sandboxes, try to be in each other's play groups, and shared our lunches a lot.

3rd grade: Honestly, I don't remember a crush for 3rd grade. But, I hung with all boys, except for Sarah. During recess, we came up with a game called "Chase." The boys would chase Sarah and I around and we'd have to be sneaky like ninjas, hiding behind bushes, going behind the trailer classrooms, to escape from them. But, we loved our boys and didn't play with anyone else. 

4th grade: Let's call him "David." He was hispanic, and boy was he a looker. Tall for a 4th grader, with a smile to die for. He was also very athletic and very smart. I wished to sit by him in class and was always excited when we were on the same team during P.E.

Through out middle school (and 5th grade) there was a series of 3 boys whom I crushed on. This was a hard time for me as kids started dating and becoming couples. My church has a very smart standard (to avoid pre-marital sexual relationships) that suggests not dating until 16 (and then trying not to single yourselves out).  So, in middle school, I wasn't allowed to date. But boy did I talk about boys just as much as everyone else!

There was this one boy I liked, as well as every girl. Everyone wished to be his girlfriend. We had been in the same 5th grade class, and had many of the same periods in 6th and 7th grade. One day, (April Fool's Day), Brandon comes up to me during Health Class and said, "Tayler, we've known each other for a long time now. We're good friends. I was wondering if you'd like to go out with me?" I was speechless! This was the first time any boy was asking me out! But....But....BUT I couldn't date!!! I was only 12! I started to explain that to him, with a big smile on my red, red face. Then, a smile appeared on his-- "April Fool's!!" he shouted. Boy was I embarrassed.

 I even had this blue, furry journal called "My Secret Crush Book." In it, you would write down the boy's name, as well as some of their personal information. Then, you would rate: their car, their house, their looks, their brains, their brawn, their talent, etc. It would then rate them if they were good enough to keep. I filled out pages of this. 

Only a few weeks ago, my family found it in a box in their storage closet. They called me up, read some of it out loud, and we all cracked up. The funniest thing was that we still knew quite a few of these boys, and if I had had a chance with them before I married Justin, I would have laughed at the thought!