Wednesday, April 16, 2008

The Proposal

Sorry to all of those who have been waiting!
Jon really surprised me!  First of all, he had the jeweler explain (in front of me) that the ring would not be done until the first week of April.  Well, knowing the clever antics of Jon, I had somewhat speculated that this was a bit of a fib- thinking he might just get the ring a few days earlier than when they had said.  Since we would be celebrating our first year of dating the last weekend of March, I was slightly suspicious that the proposal might come Saturday night.  Boy was I wrong.

Monday, March 24th, Jon picked up the ring after work.  I have to say, this was one of the busiest school days for me!  I was running around and in classes/reviews all day, and didn't even leave campus until after 9:30 p.m.  In the meantime, Jon had been deliberating about when to pop the question.  He said he sat in his room playing guitar for hours just staring at the ring nervously.  He went to Family Home Evening and they watched the movie Enchanted.  (If you haven't seen this movie, you have to!)  So after watching Enchanted, Jon was in such a joyous mood that he surprised his entire FHE group by announcing, "I'm going to propose to my girlfriend TONIGHT!"

After the initial shock wore off, some people in his ward helped him start to put everything together for the proposal.  Keep in mind, he didn't start this process until pretty late that night.  I had an exhausting day and was pretty ready for bed, but wanted to see Jon first.  He was taking ages to reply to my texts, and I must admit I was starting to get aggravated!  Finally, around ten thirty, I brushed my teeth and put on sweats to go to bed.  Right after I turned off my light, I heard a knock on my bedroom door.

It was Jon.  I was happy to see him, but figured a quick hug and chat would be all I could manage to stay awake for.  When we went down to my kitchen, he suggested we take a drive.  I am thinking, "Okay, at almost eleven at night?" but I agreed.  We talked casually about school and work, until we got to a park here in Provo.  He parked the car, and suggested a walk because he had something planned for us.

When I first saw what he had set up at the park, the thought popped into my head -Is he proposing?!?!  But I thought, no- he doesn't have the ring yet, and its not like he would propose this late on a random Monday night, especially when I am in sweats!  Wrong again, Celeste.

He had a blanket spread out on the grass with rose petals, a platter of strawberries and chocolate, sparkling cider, and candles.  It was really cute.  After pouring me some cider and feeding me a strawberry he jumped to his feet and excitedly announced he would be giving me some live entertainment.  He asked if I had any requests, and when I didn't, he started to play the song that he wrote for me last summer.  This song is very sentimental because Jon wrote it with a very specific vision in his mind-our wedding day.  I always love when he plays it for me.  The chorus of the song is "I have fallen for you."  When he finished playing, he looked at me and told me that he had fallen for me - and dropped to his knee!  I must have looked like a deer in the headlights!  

I was in complete shock.  After a moment of silence, I finally responded by playfully hitting him and exclaiming "YOU PUNK!  You are in so much trouble!"  (Ok, not quite the sentimental, emotional response I had imagined when contemplating how the proposal would go, but I was truly so surprised!)  Jon's response to this was, "So, is that a 'I'll get back to you' or....."  Finally, the shock faded enough for me to say yes, and I gave him a big hug.  As soon as I did, fireworks started going off in the background.  He had some of his friends from his FHE group hide in the bushes to light them.  It was really cute!  

Sorry it has taken so long for me to document our proposal story, but since then I have been extremely busy - interviewing, training, and starting two new jobs, finishing up school projects and preparing for finals, and oh yeah- planning a wedding!  Sleep has pretty much been eliminated from my daily routine!  Oh well, I can sleep when I'm married!  Ha ha

For those of you who don't know, our big day is May 9th.  We are extremely excited and our countdown is now at about 24 days... but who's counting!  

I love you Jon! 
(oh, but you can blame him for us having zero pictures of the proposal- such a good surprise, I didn't even have a camera with me)