One ring to rule them all

At this point, I think that we are all thoroughly aware of my distaste for writing and re-writing information. So I hope y'all don't mind that I'm just going to post a previously written email to a few friends describing my view of the events leading to and comprising my recent engagement. Enjoy :)

So as most of you know, me and Stephen met in Arizona last summer where we worked together at a lodge by the grand canyon for four months. We had to keep the relationship on the down low due to ridiculous rules, so we weren't "official" till September, but we count my birthday as our anniversary. From the day I met him to the day I left for Mexico we saw each other at least once a day. And once I was gone, we talked every day. During this whole time I had been thinking about going on a mission, due to various feelings and impressions, so I wasn't sure if I should go on a mission or marry Stephen. I decided after leaving Mexico that I should come back to Utah and work for the summer up here where I could be close to him and figure things out. More and more I started to feel that getting married was right, but seeing him with all my immediate family at our reunion at Tahoe last week kinda sealed the deal for me. I let him know, and he asked my dad's permission the morning we left while I was still asleep. Next day was my b-day, but he decided to wait to propose till he got a ring. So Saturday came and I really didn't think he was going to do anything. He came by in the morning before I had work just to say hi, and then decided to make breakfast for me. He walked me to the bus stop to make sure I could get to work on time. We hung out after work and went to a bbq and water party in the park. Then I randomly felt like painting, so we went and got a bunch of paint supplies and played around the store and came back to my friends apartment to watch big fish and paint while she and her boy friend went out to a movie (I know these seem like pointless details, but it was all these little things that made it such a good day). So this friend, Kellie, has a car that we all kinda use, and I assumed that because she had it, Stephen wouldn't be able to really do anything as far as a proposal for that night. Well I fell asleep during the movie and had to wake up and walk home. So I was feeling groggy and really out of it when I got back and just wanted to go to sleep, but Stephen wanted to come in for some water. So I was waiting impatiently and started doing little things like straitening up the front room (to which he worriedly asked if I was going to sleep on the couch), and going to the restroom ( to which he suggested that I should just get ready for bed). I thought he was acting a little weird, but I thought he was really strange when he started suggesting that we go for a walk, when all I wanted to obviously do was sleep. So Finally I had him out the door, but I continued to watch him through the peep hole cuz he had been so strange, and I saw him kinda look back with a little confused face. Almost right away he called me to ask if I had gone to bed yet. I told him no ( i had been watching him), and then he told me to call him back "when [i loved him]". To put the matter to rest, I promptly called him back and told him I loved him and said goodnight, to which he exasperatedly told me to just go to bed. So I did, and what to my surprise should I find but that my room had been cleaned and decorated with flowers (including 12 white roses on my bed) and pictures of us with a single little white box with a ring in it on my dresser! :D! I called him, and he asked me to come outside and show him what I had found. When I did, he knelt down and proposed. So as it turned out, the "weird" behavior was him just trying to figure out ways to get me to go into my bedroom and see the surprise that Kellie and her bf had put in there (after Stephen had stolen and given them my keys) during their "movie".

For more details on recent events and to read Stephen's view of things, go to his blog. It really is entertaining to get both sides of the story. I promise I will write more about, but not limited to: my return from Mexico, various road trips, the Fourth of July, Richardson family reunion '09, my 21st birthday, and getting my wedding dress.