COMPROMETIDOS

Here's the scoop, y'all.

We actually set our wedding date about a month ago because my mom wanted to make sure we could get the venue and photographer we wanted for the reception, etc. etc. I dragged my feet but with a little loving pressure from mama I picked the date. So to me, I was already engaged. It was just the logistical matter of getting the ring and making it official.

My mom offered me her first wedding ring since she got a new one a few Christmases ago and it was pretty much exactly what I had been looking for myself. It was so nice of her to let me have it and I feel really thankful...over the break we took it in to get resized and cleaned and tightened and everything so I brought it to Provo and gave it to CJ when we both got back from school on January 6th. You must know that pretty much every day after that I was expecting to get engaged. I would wake up and think "This is the day!" But it never was...haha. I was so glad he waited a bit longer to do it though because I was completely surprised! After about a week or so of my psycho-ness I started to relax about the whole thing and I wasn't thinking about it and anticipating it as much.

OKAY SO. I was not expecting to get engaged this past weekend AT ALL because CJ was really busy getting his portfolio ready and I thought he would be working on it all weekend. And just based on some other things he told me like "Don't look at my phone for the next few weeks" I thought it would be this week or this upcoming weekend. SILLY ME. So a few days before he proposed CJ told me that his sister Shannon (who we hang out with a lot) didn't have to work on Monday and was wondering if we wanted to do something fun with her and her husband. He told me he didn't know what we were going to do but to just keep my afternoon and evening free. I was really excited for a fun day with Brian and Shannon but I was honestly not suspecting a thing!

Then on Monday afternoon a little before we were supposed to leave, CJ texted me and told me that Shannon had been called into work so she and Brian wouldn't be able to come to Park City with us like we had planned. I was super bummed but he asked if I minded if we just went by ourselves...obviously I didn't mind. So we started heading up to Park City. I have only been a few times, and I thought maybe we were going the wrong way but I didn't know for sure and I didn't want to say anything. Then we got to this place that had some sign about "Sleigh Rides Horseback Riding blah blah blah" and at that point I started to get a little suspicious. CJ was like, "So I know I've been really busy this week so today I have a surprise for you." I basically knew what was going to happen but I also was feeling like maybe I didn't want to get my hopes up if it wasn't going to happen, etc. etc. internal conflict.

I was super bundled up but I decided not to wear a hat. Well, it was too cold to not wear a hat so I just grabbed an extra one that CJ brought in his car. Hence the hat that doesn't match my outfit...haha. Anyway, as soon as I saw the sleigh I pretty much knew that he would propose. I was SO excited I felt like I was in a fairytale. That sounds SO dumb but that really is the only way to describe what I was feeling. We had to sign some papers and I was paying attention to CJ's hand to see if it was shaking with he signed the waiver but it didn't so I guessed that he wasn't very nervous.

We got on the sleigh and our sleigh driver was named Skinner. Oh, Skinner was quite the character...he was talking to us pretty much the ENTIRE TIME! He started off with fun facts about the valley we were in, the hot springs near by, the natural crater, BLAH BLAH BLAH he really would not stop. I could tell CJ was a little put off by the chatter but he was a good sport! I snuck a word in when I could but then I made the mistake of asking Skinner about his life and he just went on and on. He's from Canada, was married for 3 days just to get US citizenship, joined the circus when he was 16, sews custom shirts, and plans to cross the country with 3 mules and a covered wagon visting every hot springs in the US. It will take him 3 and a half years...that's Skinner in a nutshell. Just a few tidbits from his 30 minute ramblings. (I really don't hate Skinner as much as I'm making it sound like I do.)

Back to the good stuff though. As we were coming back around to the beginning of the loop, Skinner stopped the sleigh and finally shut up. The sunset was so beautiful and so I told CJ he should take a picture. (I am such a dummy! He is about to propose and I'm like, hey CJ you should take a picture of the mountains LOLZ) He did, and then Skinner tried to take a picture of CJ and I but he doesn't know how to work an iphone. It didn't seem like a big deal at the time but I really wish he would have been successful at taking a picture! Oh well. So then CJ said the sweetest little speech...I might have cried but my smile was so big that my cheeks were shoving the tears back into my eyes. He got out of the sleigh, got down on one knee and asked me if I would make him the happiest person in the world and marry him.

I was absolutely giddy, and acting like it, too. I nodded. Then I said "Yeah." Then I realized how STUPID that was and then I said "YES. DOUBLE YES." and I realized the double yes thing was stupid pretty much as soon as I said it. I can't be held responsible for my actions though because I was practically not in this world.

Then CJ got back in the sleigh and we were hugging and kissing, Skinner decided to impart some wisdom to us which I did not really care to hear but it seemed kind of charming at the time. Or something like that. Then I whispered to CJ "I want pizza" because that is just the way I am, I suppose. So we get off the sleigh and I scream "I'M ENGAGED!!!" at the people waiting in line for a ride...thanked Skinner, talked to the other guy who was working inside, and then I went to the bathroom. I came out and CJ was like, Okay I found a pizza place in Park City we can go to so let's just head up there. I was like wow could my life get any better now I get to eat PIZZA.

So basically I thought that I picked the restaurant but CJ had another surprise up his sleeve. We got to the restaurant, Maxwell's, and I was like "CJ! Oh my gosh, I have had the pizza here before and it's so good!!" So at this point we were both feeling pretty great. We started walking to our table and we turned the corner and all of our closest friends were there. CJ made arrangements ahead of time for everyone to come to Maxwell's. I was SOOOO surprised!! I was not expecting it one single bit, especially because I thought that I had picked to go there!!! I felt a little silly because I had been texting all of them ever since we left the sleigh ride being like "I just got engaged!" and they were like "OMG NOOOO WAY" but they were actually sitting around together probably laughing at me! I was so happy and I felt so loved that everyone came up for me and CJ. It was perfect. And I got delicious pizza.

We ate dinner together and then some of us headed down to Park City Main Street to look for celebs and just enjoy the sights. We took some pictures too and it was so much fun. I saw Ben Savage (Corey Matthews from Boy Meets World) so that was my celebrity sighting for the night. So basically D-list celeb..haha.

I really do feel like the happiest, luckiest girl to be marrying CJ. We have had so much fun over the past year first as friends and then as lovers and I am so so so so so thankful to God for guiding me to make the decisions that led me to CJ. (seriously) (that's another story though). Thrilled to spend the rest of my life with him!

The guy taking the photo made me do this hand thing and I really didn't want to but I wasn't going to be like "NO."

(not all friends who came pictured here)

May 24th, Columbia River Temple. See you there!