Tall Bob with a Jeep

When I was at BYU living the wild single life (as wild as one can get and still be eligible to go to the Y), I had 3 quirky criteria for the type of man I was going to marry. There are the usual standards: strong testimony, returned missionary, hard-working, intelligent, good kisser, handsome, etc...those are qualities I expected. These 3 qualities were in addition to all of the normal desired traits. They were something more...more of a long-running roommate joke than anything!!!

Criteria1: He had to be named Bob. This dates back to High School when I called everybody Bob. If I didn't know someone's name they were automatically called Bob. I decided it would be easier for me to remember my husbands name if it was already Bob.

Criteria 2: He had to be tall. I dated some guys that weren't tall, which was fine, but the majority of them were over 6'2" (I was so happy to get to college and find there were whole TEAMS of men that were tall-and they were actually willing to date someone over 5'2". I never made it to the basketball team...I started with the football team and ended with the volleyball players!Pleasant Grove High School unfortunately was NOT a tall-boy dating mecca). Now there was such a thing as too tall...I went out dancing with a guy that was 6'10" and I felt like part of the freak parade! I digress...sorry!

Criteria 3: He needed to drive a Jeep. Valerie, Rachel and I were going through a 2 year phase where we wanted to date guys with Jeeps so we could go up digging in the canyons.

Ironically, Rob fit the bill for ALL of the qualities! When he showed up for our first date, my roommates, Valerie and Rachel, flipped out. They knew I was going on a date with a man named BOB (back then, Rob was known to all his friends as Bob. A habit I had to break when I met his mom-I'll explain that some other time). They swung open the door and saw a TALL Bob...Rob is 6'4" (a perfect height, I can wear 4" stiletto heels and still feel shorter than him). The most amazing part was when we walked out to the parking lot and hopped into his JEEP! Rachel and Valerie stood on our balcony giving me the thumbs-up sign and yelling "he drives a Jeep-HE'S A TALL BOB WITH A JEEP...it's him"!

Rob kept asking what all the ruckus was about and it took me half of the evening to come clean and admit my quirky criteria lists. If you want to completely scare a twenty-something year old man, tell him that he is the only man you have met that fits your 3 main criteria for marriage on your first date! I did put it more delicately than that, but all he heard was RUN AWAY, RUN AWAY!!! He almost went and dropped me off right then without so much as a backward glance, but thankfully he persevered (I think he was persuaded by my kissing prowess-hahaha).

The moral of the story? Set your standards high...if you want a Tall Bob with a Jeep don't settle for anything less! I have NEVER once been unsatisfied with my goal achievement!