How I got engaged to the most amazing man in the world... and other such stories

I suppose everything begins with a hot Saturday afternoon sitting in Ryan's yard - having just finished a trial triathlon with his family, and discussing what we would do that night. Ryan's mom says, "Ryan, you should plan a nice date for Jen." And he says, "Okay, that sounds good." So a surprise "nice" date for me is planned for Friday. Nothing out of the ordinary.

Enter Thursday morning - and I wake up with that sinking feeling that I'm sick. Quite sick. Too sick to go to work. So I stay home, and Ryan brings me cough drops and soup, and insists I'm beautiful even though I haven't showered. Yes, I know, I'm quite a lucky girl.

Friday comes - the day we're supposed to go on the date he's planned. But I still feel pretty bad. Although he seems pretty disappointed, we decide to postpone until Saturday. He comes over and watches a movie with me, and that evening I go to bed early, and he spends the evening with his parents and a mission companion who stops by.

Saturday dawns with me feeling tired, but marginally better. I tell Ryan I feel better, but I still think perhaps we should push back this surprise date until Monday. I mean, I don't want to be no fun, or not enjoy it. However, he is quite insistent that we go. He says we'll be mostly in the car, and that it won't be tiring, and that he thinks it'll be good for me and I'll be glad I went. So I agree, somewhat reluctantly.

He picks me up and we take off in the car - armed with cough drops and a water bottle! We drive to our high school and we walk over to the sidewalk outside our old Spanish classroom. He hands me a present to open and it's a book about "our story" - which pretty much started in AP Spanish in 2007. So I read the first page, and then he says I can't read any farther. 

We then drive to a bunch of places, all places where we have memories together. And at each place I get to read another page in the book - all about how this one guy did all these things with this one girl and they both fell in love. And at each place he gives me a small gift - something that has to do with the memory at that place. It was super cute. After driving around to a number of places - Wendy's, the bowling alley, the freshman dorms, etc - we end up at the MTC - where he gives me his name tag - and I cry... I'm such a girl. Those were two good years. Long, sometimes difficult years, but rewarding, and a blessing to both of us.

Finally we start heading up the canyon. A couple times during the date, I had thought, Huh, this could be a good way to end up proposing. But I shrugged it off, because I honestly didn't think that he was ready. So we head up the canyon. At first I think we're going to Sundance - perfect ending - picnic by where our most recent nice date had been - maybe dessert or something, who knows.

Nope. We turn off at this park I've never been to before. We walk past a pavillion of people and down this little trail by the river. He opens the book and there's a picture of the exact spot we're at. At this point, I'm so confused. "Ryan, I've never been here before. What is this supposed to represent? I've never been here!" "But Jen, don't you remember?" "No, Ryan, I don't remember, I've never been here!"

"Oh... Well, that's because it hasn't happened yet."

And he turns the page over and the book continues our story, and I see the words "propose" and "forever" and I don't know whether to laugh or cry, I'm so happy, and he's kneeling down and pulling out a ring, and he said something that he apparently practiced for a long time, but I don't remember a word of it (I'm sorry, Ryan...) and I nodded, and said yes, and then he asked me if I would be his tennis doubles partner for eternity (I remember that part! inside joke) and that is how I got engaged to the most amazing man in the world. And I have never been happier in my whole, entire life!

And, like the book said, this story would normally end right here with "The end." But that's the best part of this story. There is no end.

I love him.


Viva la Vida.