!i! Engagement Story !i!

Not to put any pressure on the poor kid, but one day AJ and I were talking about how he would propose. I said "you better make it good because people are gonna ask how it happened!"

Ok...so this is the story.

AJ had a special date planned for Monday night. I was told to dress up. Since AJ HATES being in dress clothes, I thought something was up. (And I told a select few people I suspected it was coming...what girl wouldn't?)

So AJ arrives at my house with a bouquet of flowers...roses and daisies. Daisies are my very favorite flower and I had told him awhile ago that when I got married, I wanted to have a bouquet with red roses and white daisies.

We had "reservations" somewhere at seven so we drove around aimlessly for about half an hour. AJ was half-heartedly trying to get me lost...but mostly killing time. He had put together a playlist of lovey-dovey songs.

Finally we pull up to Tuscany. For those who haven't heard of Tuscany, it's this fancy schmancy italian place owned by Mark Eaton. It's a very pricy place! When you pull up, there is someone to park your car for you. AJ is a pretty frugal guy. I told him that the tip alone was going to be as much as if we had eaten at Chili's! But he was so cute about it and told me to order whatever I wanted. I didn't know what half of the menu items were so I picked a safe option: the chicken. I like chicken. Can't go wrong with chicken. The food was really good! (I was secretly hoping it wouldn't be good because we can probably never afford to go back!!).

After dinner, we drove to this place on Mt Olympus that overlooks the entire valley. AJ parked the car, but kept his ipod playing and opened all the doors. We got out of the car and danced under the stars overlooking the valley. A few months ago, I told AJ I wanted him to dance with me spur of the moment sometimes. And he did. I never went to any school dances when I was in high school and I never got to dress up, go to a fancy restaurant, and dance. AJ told me that this was to make up for it.

The Lonestar song "Amazed" came on and I felt AJ reach into his pocket. Then he dropped to one knee and said "Will you make me the happiest man in the world? Will you marry me?" Even though I knew it was coming, it didn't seem real. I put my hands to my face and ran backwards a few steps. I didn't know how to respond. The answer was obviously yes, but I didn't know how to make it a "memorable" yes. So...in the midst of my embarrassing tears, I mumbled "ya."

Then AJ put the ring on my finger and gave me a hug. Then we got back in the car because it was FREEZING!The ring was absolutely gorgeous (I picked it out of course) and I couldn't stop staring at it. AJ said he had been nervous all day to propose, but as soon as I got in the car, he felt more calm than ever.

He did a good job :)

!i! The Beginning !i!

AJ and I met August of 2006 in a class at SLCC. (Go Bruins!). I will never forget the first time we talked. AJ thought I was a stalker and a wierdo and I thought he was a cocky player with no manners. Our relationship was off to a FANTASTIC start.

I saw on the class roster that someone had the same birthday as I did (same day, month, and year) and I thought it was him. So I asked . The look on his face was priceless...similar to "You crazy stalker woman, how did you know that?" We eventually started talking and spending time together and our opinions began to change.

Originally AJ wanted to set me up with a companion of his so I went along with it. After secretly hoping nothing would happen between the companion and me, he asked me out and we have been together ever since.

After the first date, I knew AJ was special. I had never dated someone quite like him before. He picked me up at 7 and brought me some very unique looking flowers. We ate at Famous Dave's, carved pumpkins at his house, played at the playground, star-gazed up in the canyon (where I saw my first shooting star), watched a movie (which name I will strategically omit to prevent us from being mocked), and stayed up until 6:30 in the morning talking. Although I never admitted it, I knew after the first date that things would be different with AJ. I had finally met someone who treated me with the respect and dignity that I deserved.

After two years and five months, AJ proposed and we will be getting married in the Salt Lake temple on September 25, 2009.