Engaged in a good Cause

Exactly one month and six days ago, Dave popped the question that will soon change our lives. Since it has taken me this long to finally get to the story, I might as well tell the extended long version that may never be read by anyone in one sitting (mostly for selfish reasons out of my neglect of writing it in my journal, and wanting to have it somewhere for our posterity ;) but here it goes:

So here we are, Saturday, March 6. This Saturday morning I woke up as usual. Went on a good Saturday morning run, cleaned my apartment, and was chatting via web-cams with my Friend Chelsey and her precious little Kaelyn about the “what-if’s” and “whens” of hypothetically getting engaged to Dave. After a lot of laughs, and what could have been hours later Dave came over. It was early afternoon and a gorgeous day, so we decided to take a drive to one of the few places in Texas that gives you a feeling of mountains, well, let’s say more like… small hills.

On our way, we stopped at a nearby bakery called Benny’s where we had some delicious sandwiches before heading off for our “hike”. I quotate hike, because as mentioned, it’s just a well paved path with a few twists and turns. So, we enjoyed our lunch, talked about life, laughed at our jokes, and just enjoyed the company of each other. ;-)

Then off we went to the Plano nature Reserve. Though this day was warm and beautiful, unfortunately the foliage there hadn’t had a chance to catch up with spring yet, so everything was rather dead and brown, and could quite possibly be considered….very un-aesthetically appealing.

We obviously weren’t the only ones with the idea to be there. There were strollers, bikers, runners, walkers, resters and everyone in-between. Now coming from Utah and Washington, we know mountains, and this little paved path just wasn’t cutting it for us. So we ventured off to a little dirt path in a direction unknown to us. Since we weren’t in a hurry to get anywhere, we figured we’d be adventurous. Of course I brought my camera, because I felt we haven’t taken nearly enough pictures of ourselves this far along in our courtship. haha And Dave being the good sport he was, was very tolerant of our frequent picture stops, which included many moments of setting the timer on my camera, finding a sturdy tree limb, rock, or fence, and running to beat the flash. Keep in mind, I usually took at least two pictures of every pose….just for good measure ;)

So we embarked on our hike down a less trodden path observing the beautiful nature around us, and enjoying a finally warm day this spring (I know all you Utah people are still waiting for that….hopefully by June 26! ;) I took tons of pictures of the brown leafless trees, dead shrubs and us. It was fun being silly without a soul in sight (apparently the crowds don’t venture off the beaten path) and was quite entertaining as we are both quite witty ;) ha, but really, that is one of the many things that kept me coming around Dave, was his ability to keep my laughing. I just loved being there having this person whom I loved spend the day with me.

You've been warned of the brown dead foliage....

Now going back to a few weeks prior to this, we had gone ring shopping. It was everything I imagined and more. I loved the idea that we were getting more serious and what the future was to hold. We went to “The biggest engagement ring store” …or so they advertise, but isn’t hard to believe with the size of that place. It was so fun to finally be “one of those” couple looking at rings....for ME this time, rather than for a roommate or friend. So after stumbling upon the ring of my dreams, Dave went back into this cute little room to talk about who-knows-what (as Dave would have me believe) with the ring man. So that left me alone for what seemed like HOURS. So I used that time alone to peruse the cases again. There was everything from the simple engagement ring to the rings WAY out of our league and beyond, and came to the conclusion, that the one I picked—was still the best. The Olympics were also on at this time, and so I watched snowboarding as I sipped my complimentary bottle water and waited , and waited and waited. FINALLY as the store was closing, Dave emerged with the friendly ring-man that helped us discover the ring with a look of “eh, it was nice, but let’s keep looking around.” Being the bargain shopper I am, I didn’t think much of it at all. However, this whole experience just made the idea of marriage that much more real. So, I held back no reservations in making it known he could propose anytime ;) Pretty much daily I made some joke about him popping the question in some crazy way that no one would ever actually do, just to keep him on his toes. ;)

So, this particular Saturday was no different. Every time he bent down to tie his shoe, or pick up a twig, or pull his hand out of his pocket or whatever, I would shout “YES” as if I just knew he was going to ask. Keep in mind, I KNEW he didn’t have the ring yet, because we had just looked at more rings earlier this week and hadn’t really decided on a ring yet. I wouldn’t have actually been as jokey if I would have thought it was right around the corner (come to find out after the fact, Dave had actually gone to pick up the ring that same morning….HE Really WAS finalizing the ring with that ring-dude in Dallas that day—and was secretly hoping I didn’t actually find anything I liked better…phew!) I know I’m building the suspense to elude that he actually asked me here in nature, but no—the ring was actually still at his home, which he had not intended to give me that day, come to find out. So after our make-shift hike and we had seen everyplace this nature reserve had to offer, we headed back.

By this time, we had worked up an appetite for some fresh guacamole and smoothies, which we made as we watched a movie at my apartment. It was just one of those days that it didn’t really matter what we watched, because it was just fun spending the day together, the chemistry was there, and things just felt right. After the movie ended, Dave’s sister-in-law invited us over so we could watch the recording of the “Office” we had missed from earlier that week.

(Remember Dave's tolerance of pictures? He even put up with a picture of our snack time....I must've been inspired to capture every bit of this special day!)

We drove in separate cars so that I could save Dave a trip and drive myself home after. Also, in later news—I found out it was sometime during the course of our hike and sipping our delicious smoothies that today was going to be the day after all day in Dave’s mind.

As I was following him over, he was calling my dad (and yes, I was oblivious to all of this) who’s number he had only asked me for that morning. Also, another reason to believe it was not coming anytime soon-especially in the upcoming hours! So we get there, watched the episode and decide to call it a night. I know what you’re thinking…did I miss the proposal? But no, it is yet to come. It was only about 11:30. I say ONLY because in young adult lives, the night is young! Ha, jk! But since we both had early church meetings, and had already had fun filled day, I thought nothing of it. So on my way home, I passed by Wal-mart, and what else is one to do at 11:30 on a Saturday night but stop by for some last minute items. As I was leaving Dave called me but my hands were balancing the “must need” iteams of stuff, probably both that I actually needed, and didn’t actually need. (I rarely grab a basket and as a result end up stacking items to teeter on my arms!) I wondered why he was calling of course, and figured he must have been wondering why I hadn’t texted him upon my safe arrival home yet…or just being sweet to say goodnight ;) I called him right back on my way to my car…and it sounded like he had just woken up. I thought he might have been sleep-calling me….but from outside? I could definitely tell he wasn’t in his bottom bunk of his 7 year old roommates. He chatted with me during my 6 minute drive home about pretty much nothing. The thought crossed my mind to joke about him standing outside my apartment because he missed me already…which, I might have said, this part is a blur. But was completely caught off guard when I pulled thru the gates of my apartment to actually see his car parked right in front of my apartment.

Now, I say “the night is young” mostly as a joke. We generally are not the night owls…together anyway-I am quite the night owl on my own. And secondly, now that we are considered the adult world and not college kids, some of the spontaneity that comes along with that is lost. I couldn’t figure why he drove back to my apartment when I had driven to his house separately to save him the trip. However, I was so excited none the less. He told me to wait by my car and he would come pick me up and we could take a drive. So we hung up, he pulled up, and as he opened my door, he stammered something along the lines of “I didn’t realize how early it was, and it was such a good day, let’s take a drive together.” (Neither or nor him can remember his exact words) Judging on the look of his face, and the nervous air around him…I would’ve thought this was going to be a serious not-so-good ending, talk. So I nervously hopped in, and we headed towards the church where we had met.

Of course, since this is Texas, and spring had sprung, it was warm enough to get out and stand at the exact door we had walked out about 6 months prior…. Where we spoke our first words together. Awe.

So there we stood on the stairs, Dave holding my hands and giving me a hug said to me “You know, the day I decided to talk to you as we were leaving was the best decision I have ever made”. As I realized the sentiment of bringing me here I thought, “Oh, that’s so sweet!” and he continued with lovey-dovey comments and what the future could hold and the next thing I knew, He pulled the box out from behind my back where he was gingerly holding it and he dropped down on one knee, and asked me to MARRY HIM! He presented me with this beautiful ring that I could only describe as “perfect.” As he knelt down I felt like my stomach was going to rise up through my throat and I lost complete feeling in my legs and I couldn’t tell you what my face was doing, but all of a sudden, he asked me and BOOM I felt calm. Naturally the next words out of my mouth were YES, yes of course! And I practically Fell into his arms.

(Keep in mind, this picture was taken moments after...with my phone...in the dark, and after a long day of being outside, but it captured the moment....well, minutes after the moment :)

Now, up to this point, I had my camera on me all day-but of course, I left it in my apartment, for this most picturesque moment. All I had with me was my flashless iphone. Dark night plus no flash equals not great pictures. But we took the pictures we could with it there, and then being the Wonderful FIANCEE he is—agreed to come back to my apartment with me so we could get some real pictures. So we grabbed my camera and headed down to our little gazebo as to simulate it as closely as possible ...On his one knee and all.

Keep in mind, by this time, it was about 1:00 am and NOBODY was still awake to call. So being as anxious as we were…we settled on text messages as our means of breaking the news to family. My brother Dave was the only one to respond that night. (He falls in the same category as Young and Fun of course :) ) Needless to say, I barely slept a blink that night because every part of me wanted to call everyone I knew and tell them the wonderful news. But I decided they needed their beauty sleep and called them as early as I could the next morning instead.

So there we have it, the minute-by-minute of our day =-)