One year!

Tricked you all! It's not our anniversary...exactly. One year ago was the night Miles proposed.
Before THIS story, I should probably mention that a year ago we'd also just been broken up for a week and a half or so. To explain THAT story would take more time than any logical person would want to spend on a blog, so we'll skip that for now and just say that we'd been dating for a year and a half and it felt like something needed to happen. We'd been talking about marriage for months but I was afraid of making the step and thought that Miles didn't seem to be coming to any decision. Little did I know that he had, and had had a ring since October. I guess he just really wanted me to be sure all on my own, and I wanted him to be sure all on his own, and... we got all confused and broke up :) ...which ended up being a good thing, since it made things really clear for both of us. So, this is the point we were at last year...

Now, I wish I'd written more about this sooner, because even though I wrote in my journal that night it's just something like, "SURPRISE, WE'RE ENGAGED!" and tells a vague story. I'll do my best, though. However, consider yourself forewarned: *this is a love-ish sort of story and may contain large amounts of cheesyness*

This was during BYU's Christmas break, but since I was working at the MTC I was still staying up in Provo, walking back and forth from work. I would LOVE to see what I'd done with the missionaries that night...I wonder what our lesson was about? :) Anyway, on that night's walk home I finally got to the outside stairs to my apartment, and noticed two balloons tied to the railing. Looking closer, I also found an envelope with my name on it sitting in the snow on the steps.

The handwriting looked familiar, but I couldn't be sure.

The "security card?" A pack of matches

I read it (click on the picture to enlarge it), and looked around suspiciously. The only person I could see was a guy standing across the street. He looked a lot like this creepy Russian MTC volunteer that hit on me when I caught him sneaking around in the classroom building at work. Hmm. The instructions were clear, though, and my curiosity got the best of me. I'd rather face Mr. MTC-Creeper asking me out than live never knowing what could have happened, had I cut the balloon.
I released the green one, and sure enough, the creeper-look-alike started across the street. As he got closer, I was both relieved and confused to see that this guy was totally unfamiliar. He walked up and said (in a British cockney accent), "Hello! I'm Roger. I'll be your chauffeur for the evening. If you'll just follow me, my car is parked over across the street."
At this point it occurred to me that this is probably how kidnappings happen, but I WAS curious, so when he assured me that he did know someone that I knew, I went along with him. I think when we tell our engagement story to our kids, I'll have to edit that part, so they don't go around getting in cars with random strangers all the time.
All this time I was secretly hoping that it might be Miles, and secretly afraid of not knowing what I'd do if it was. I had no idea that this was anything more than a really cute date idea.

Right abooooout here. Just with a lot more snow

As Roger pulled up to the back of the old President's House on campus, I knew it had to be Miles. We'd discovered this spot in the summer and we thought it was a super secret garden. (Later I found out that just about everyone knows where this is, but we thought it was a find!) Roger came around and escorted me out of the car, complete with a carpet covering the snow where I stepped out. I could see candles in the snow and Miles was behind a tree lighting some luminary lanterns he'd made. (He later told me that I came home faster than he thought, and he'd had all kinds of hold ups along the way, including the microwave in the Wilk being broken)
We talked, and as Miles started telling me how much he loved me, he noticed that I was looking at something over his shoulder. It was a policeman, coming around the side of the house. I thought, "Wow, Miles really planned this thing!"...until I saw his face, and realized that the policeman was not part of the plan. I guess you can't light floating luminaries on BYU campus...anyway, after delivering that message, the sheepish cop left awkwardly, and somewhere around this point Miles said that he'd talked with my dad, and suddenly it clicked: he was proposing!!! He knelt down and pulled out a little ring box, and...asked.
Talk about surprise proposals! The funny thing is, I'd been thinking about things the whole week and had had so many moments when I knew that if somehow things worked out, I definitely wanted to marry Miles. I was still super freaked out to make such a huge decision, though, and it was a few minutes after he got up off his knee and we talked that I felt calm and said yes.
BEST DECISION EVER!!!

okay, so this was on Valentine's, but close enough

Lookin' our best

Colonel Mustard and Mrs. White

some engaged night or other...

We got married on April 9th of this year, and it's the best thing in the world to be married to my best friend! We have SO much fun together, and eight months, nine or so road trips, a move, a couple mini car accidents, and one awesome Christmas later, life is pretty incredibly good!