our story

a few of you have asked about my engagement in a week story. so the story goes.....


i will start before the beginning. i had been dating a guy for two years during high school. we were really good friends, our families got along great. he turned 19 and got his mission call. lets just say, i thought my life had ended for 2 years. i didnt know what i was going to do for those years and i was set on waiting for him. i lived in the small town of show low, not a whole lot to do there. so i decided to move to the hot valley, go to school and find a job basically to keep myself busy. i moved in with my grandpa. i found a job with a dentist who was 5 foot with orange hair. all the ladies that worked there were awful and so rude. it was a nightmare. i hated it. i cried every night on my drive home. so, my boyfriends, missionaries, (whatever you want to call him :), keeping his name safe, but im sure alot of you know who he is) sister helped me with my resume and found me a couple of dentists to interview with through friends of hers. i waited to here back from a few of them, in the meantime, dreading my job. one day, i got a phone call, and i will never forget it. it changed my life forever. It was Dr. Madsen. His assistant was going in for surgery and would be out of work for awhile and he needed someone to fill her spot while she would be gone. I told him my situation. He was so kind and so caring. It was a done deal, over the phone! I was to start there the following week. So i told Dr. Short Stuff i was done. i was so relieved. My first day at Dr. Madsens was great. I got along well with everyone and i loved the atmosphere. it was fabulous. so why on earth, you are wondering, am i telling you this. well let me tell you, on Oct. 30th, Dr. Madsen pulled me aside before i went and got one of the patients to seat him. He said, with a grin on his face while pointing to a name on the schedule," you tell me if you think he is good looking!" The name was Mark Higbee. I was kinda of taken back. Dr. Madsen knew i was "dating someone". Why would he say that? So i grinned back and said, "oooookkkk" with my eyebrows raised and a questioned look on my face. So i grabbed Marks chart, went to the waiting room and called the name, "Mark Higbee?????" i said... wondering who this guy is. the "how are you" conversation went on. we arrived to the room after what seemed like decades. my heart was pounding!!! why??? i felt silly that i was so nervous. but he WAS good looking. and i didn't want to admit it. i took his xrays and got out of the room as soon as i could. i went straight to Dr. M's office and said with a smile, "yes he is cute!" :) Dr. M continued to tell me this was Marks "home from his mission check up", and how he went to Texas, and he is the youngest of 10, and how he has been his dentist since Mark was 5. so we cleaned his teeth, and yes, i sucked his spit. with the spit sucker. so romantic! :) i know. i couldn't stop smiling, the whole time. good thing we wore masks. because i was ear to ear! so i thought i would never see him again. Or at least for awhile. Little did i know he was coming in the next day, for some fillings. during the appointment, Dr. M kept making comments like, "Jessica's writing a missionary, but shes still available." and "someone else always comes along". and on and on. i could only laugh and smile. i was struck. after we were done filling the wholes in his mouth (he does have very good teeth by the way), Mark asked me if i was doing anything that night, Halloween night. of course i wasn't, i had no friends there. so i took him up on his offer. he asked for my number and my mind went completely blank! i didn't know my number, my name, where a pen was, nothing. We hung out that night at one of his friends houses. We played the "would you rather" game for hours. i learned a lot about him and who he was. We hung out everyday after that. It was like i knew him my whole life. We had the same goals, same dreams, same likes. We had an amazing connection. It was like some kind of literal force between us that i could feel. When i was near him, it was like a energy surrounding us drawing me to him, i cant really describe it any other way. We both knew. I knew. I knew he was "the one". We were engaged one week later, we were unofficially engaged, and became official on Thanksgiving day. It was hard, because family and others wondered how i could date someone for 2 years, meet someone new and be engaged in a week. I couldn't explain it. I just knew. It was right. It felt right. I knew it was right. That's all i could say. And to this day, i know that was the most right decision i have made in all my life. I know my Heavenly Father played a part in our meeting. As Dr. M says," it was no coincidence." It is funny to think that i have known my husband for four years and we have been married for four years. i would never have changed a thing. i have the most amazing husband. he is so giving, patient, loving, selfless. he is everything i need in my life. I will be forever greatful to my Father in Heaven for bringing us together. I think Dr. Madsen had a part in it too! :)