Jessi has been a ski patroller at Brighton since I moved to Utah right after high school. I even got to be a 'ski bum' for a few years and was paid to patrol! When my job with Life Flight changed from a 3-day-a-week position to a 5-day-a-week position, I switched back to the Volunteer Patrol, but I didn't lose my friends on the paid staff. They're always on the lookout for men who met my standards. In January 2005, whenever I was at Brighton, patrollers began to make comments like:"Have you met James yet?"
"We need to introduce you to Jimmy Cordova..." (James' hometown is Cordova, Alaska and the patrollers at Brighton had nicknamed him Jimmy Cordova. It was several weeks before I learned that his real name is James McCalvy.)
"James would be perfect for you... he's Mormon, and he skis!"
Jessi was determined NOT to meet James at Brighton where a dozen interested patrollers would be around for a potentially awkward meeting. But where else to meet a man who was so highly recommended?
James was also getting comments from his new coworkers. James had only been in Utah since October 2004, and only began patrolling at Brighton in early January 2005. Almost from the his first day on the hill, he was hearing about Jessica:
"I know this girl - She's LDS and she skis, so you'd be perfect together. What else do you need?"
"You have got to meet Jessica..."
Our First Date: January 26, 2005. A Life Flight coworker, Cindy Hayes, gave
Jessi a pair of Utah Jazz basketball tickets for that same night. Here was the opportunity for Jessi and James to meet at a fun event held away from the ski resort. I only needed James' phone number to see if he wanted to go to a last-minute basketball game. I called a girlfriend on the patrol, but had to leave Jen Homel a message. "I need James' phone number, I got Jazz tickets for tonight - do you think he'll want to go?" I was too impatient to wait for Jen's return call. I called another patroller. Brandon Dodge also didn't answer his phone, so another message requesting James' digits was left on phone mail. Now James was certain to get some teasing and some follow-up questions from the Brighton Patrol!James and Jen were actually working on the same hill when Jen got the phone message. She turned the story around a little and worked on getting us together for the game. She asked James what he was doing that night and when nothing came up, asked if he wanted to go to a Jazz game that night. "My friend has two tickets for tonight, and I can't go, I thought I'd see if you could go." Trick Question? James knew right away that the friend must be the famous Jessica Simpson and gave permission for his phone number to be passed along.
Eventually, we talked on the phone and agreed to meet for the Jazz game. We parked several blocks away from the event center and took the opportunity to get to know each other a bit during the walk to and from the ball game. James played high school ball, so he was great for my "Why was that a foul!?" questions. The Utah Jazz beat the Seattle Sonics - 109 to 100!
Our first Valentine's Day: February 14, 2005 - Our second date was to a Harlem Globetrotters game - they also won! Of course, I don't think they've ever lost. James brought a little box of chocolates and a single red rose. Considering we'd only had one date and skied together for maybe two runs, that was a pretty bold move! It certainly opened the door for future dates!
Slowly Meeting the Family: James and I were invited over to my sister Kim's house often for Sunday Dinner. We really enjoyed visiting and playing games with Kim and her husband, Deven. They have two kids - McKayla (2 1/2) and Carter (7 months). Carter and James became really good buddies. Carter
could always count on sharing some ice cream or whatever else James might be eating!April 2, 2005 - My parents, my Uncle Neil, my sister Kristen, and her daughter Emma (age 2 - pictured with me to the left) came to Utah. They all stayed at my house in West Jordan and everyone (except Mom & Emma) went skiing at Brighton. You know he likes you when he'll put his arm around you while you're riding the chairlift WITH YOUR DAD!
Our First Kiss: In mid-March, James went camping with some friends in Boise. We had breakfast together the day he left and we almost said goodbye with a kiss. Almost. When he returned, it was with a bad cold and a couple days off work to recuperate.
April 6, 2005 - We went to a Utah Grizzlies hockey game. Turns out that watching hockey is not James' favorite pass-time, but since it was a date with me he even pretended to enjoy the game. I think the Grizzlies lost, but I definitely won because James kissed me good night!
Officially Dating:
April 8 & 16, 2005 - James invited me to the Brighton Professional Patrol End-of-the-Season Banquet and the next weekend he was my date at the Brighton Volunteer Patrol Banquet. On both occasions James was thoroughly grilled by my "big brothers" on the patrol. Andy and Debbie Peterson even cut-in while we were dancing so that Debbie could meet James and Andy could get my opinion on how serious things might be with my new friend. Even though I didn't want to meet James while at the ski resort, we have really enjoyed the friendships, employment and skiing that we find there.
