Officially Official.

Friday, October 19, 2012: the best day of my life, up to this point. A perfectly perfect evening. Another magic moment that happened. The night I got ENGAGED!

Yes, my friends, it is now officially official. I am ENGAGED!! And not just engaged to any old good-lookin' Joe-Schmo, but engaged to the neatest, most wonderful man for me. I get to marry my very best friend in the whole world. Sometimes I look at how mine and Eric's whole relationship has worked out so easily, and I wonder how in the world I got so lucky? I wonder if the Lord gets excited to watch two strangers meet and fall in love unexpectedly. I mean, everyone is a little bit of a sucker for a good love story, so I would imagine He might be too. :) And biased as I may be, I think that mine and Eric's is pretty wonderful! The Lord has truly blessed me and given me my Prince Charming. Call it cheesy, call it unoriginal...but it is so true!

So how did Eric pull off one of the biggest moments in a person's life? The moment that every girl imagines in her mind from the time she is young? The moment that every boy secretly wonders how he will pull it off perfectly? How did he propose? Oh baby, he did a great job!

The Proposal

Eric and I had planned to go on a date to the Thanksgiving Point Gardens on Thursday, but had to adjust our plans a little for a good friend of ours to come and visit from Salt Lake. So the next day, we made plans to go there. I had a conference in Salt Lake that day and then met my mom and friend Jess to look at wedding dresses. (Clearly, we were planning on getting married and time was ticking, so dress shopping before the engagement was necessary. Don't judge haha.) That afternoon we went and looked at an apartment, so my mind wasn't thinking that he would propose on our date. Also, he had me convinced that he didn't have a ring yet...supposedly it was going to take a week or two to get in and he still needed to look around... You know, the classic ring bluff that I totally bought into.

So as we drove to Thanksgiving Point that night, I was just so pleased with the fact that I was with the boy I loved going on a darling little date. And, there was this incredibly beautiful sunset to help make the night just a little more perfect. Look at this...

Right? The setting was gorgeous! By the time we got to the Gardens, it was getting dusk. The ladies at the front desk were slightly confused as to why we were just arriving there when the sunlight was quickly diminishing. But we went ahead and went in. I have always wanted to go to the Gardens, and still would love to go again when it is a little lighter and the flowers are in their prime, BUT it was still absolutely delightful. There were trees peppered with autumn golds and reds. There were cute little pathways and bridges over running streams. There were flowers hanging on to their beauty despite the colder weather setting in. It was wonderful! And the most wonderful part about it was walking hand in hand with Eric. We didn't have a care in the world. Actually, scratch that, I didn't have a care in the world. Eric was freaking out inside because he knew what was going down very shortly.

Eric was a pro at not seeming nervous however. Another reason I didn't see it coming was because he acted so natural and sweet to me, as he always is. So we were just walking on random paths when we saw these four white pillars on top of a little miniature hill. We decided that it might be a fun little adventure to walk up there, so we did. I can't adequately describe how cool it was, so I googled some pictures of the spot.

Once we got to the top, Eric gave me a hug and said that he had something for me. He reached his hand in his pocket and pulled out a plastic ring with a giant pink heart on it. Let me explain...

When I was in Kindergarten, the boy in my class who I dearly loved gave my best friend a plastic ring one day after school because he liked her. You can imagine how crushed a little 5-year old girl would have been when her young love ends up loving her best friend haha. So I had told this story to Eric back in the summer. Then when thoughts of marriage started to come up, Eric would always joke about just getting me a big ring from All-a-Dollar.

So, he had done just that! It was so cute and so fitting. I loved it! But he didn't really say anything when he gave me the ring. So after a second, I was kind of confused as to what was going on. I didn't know if this was his way of proposing and this was a temporary ring until the real one was ready, or if he was just giving me a thoughtful gift... I didn't know? That's when he said that he had something else for me. He reached in his pocket again and pulled out a little black box. Yep, my heart was FREAKING out by this point. Half of me was ecstatic, and the other half was so surprised/confused because inside that little black box was a sparkling diamond ring. Eric got down on his knee and asked me to marry him. After just a few seconds of being in somewhat of a stupor, I exclaimed YES and threw my arms around my fiance. (I still am slightly weirded out by saying that I have a fiance now haha.)

Eric picked out the ring all by himself. I gave him an idea of what I liked, and he did the rest. 

He definitely nailed this one. :)

And the rest is history. It was complete bliss after that point. The night was truly magical. I always wanted to be proposed to in a quiet setting with just the two of us, and Eric did exactly that. I am thoroughly convinced that my life has some serious fairytale-like qualities to it, because this was just about as good as it gets. I was and am SO incredibly happy!

So December 27th is the big day. A wedding right after Christmas? Yep. We are doing it. Our moms had slight panic attacks when we told them, but they are all on board now haha. We are getting married in the Salt Lake Temple and having a reception in Orem that night. We'll be honeymooning in a mystery place, because Eric is keeping that one under wraps from me haha. Then on January 4th we will have a reception in Logan.

I couldn't be more excited for the future. I have had so many friends get married and I have been absolutely thrilled for them. Now it is my turn. It is still kind of a dream that I get to be the beautiful bride this time. I get to experience the happiness that true love and a temple sealing bring to life. I have dreamed of going to the temple my whole life, and now, in just under two months, I will be there. I can't wait. And I am so happy that Eric gets to be a permanent part of my life. Who would have ever thought that I would be marrying my Pickleville sidekick? The other day, I stumbled across this picture. It is the first picture that Eric and I ever took together. It is up at PVP and we were trying to look like old folks rocking back and forth on a love seat. We are looking very attractive. ;)

Oh how far we have come since this day back in the early summer. I love every little thing about this boy. He is the definition of wonderful. We often comment on how well we compliment each other and what a great little team we make. And that is what marriage is all about. Working together and supporting each other in everything. Always.

 

I am so excited to be starting a new life and a new family with Eric. One that will continue on forever and ever. I am thankful to have the knowledge of eternal life and the opportunity to be a member of Christ's true church so that I can have direct access to those blessings received only in temple. I love to see the temple; I'm finally going there someday soon!